Mobile & app · also called Deep link, deferred deep linking
Deep linking
Deep linking is using a link that opens a specific screen inside a mobile app, such as a product page, rather than just the app's home screen or a website.
A normal link from an ad takes you to a web page or the app's home screen. A deep link takes you straight to the relevant content: tap a shoe ad and land on that shoe inside the retailer's app, ready to buy. That reduces friction and usually increases conversion.
There are variants. Standard deep links work when the app is installed. Deferred deep links remember the destination if the app is not installed: the user goes to the store, installs, and on first open lands on the right content. On iOS, Universal Links, and on Android, App Links, associate web URLs with apps so the same link opens the app if present or a website if not. MMPs and linking platforms provide tools to manage them; Google shut down its Firebase Dynamic Links service in 2025, pushing developers to alternatives.
Deep links are used in retargeting, email, social and install campaigns. Poorly implemented links that break or open the wrong screen waste ad spend, and link parameters must not carry PII.
Think of it like this
Deep linking is like a friend giving you directions straight to a specific shelf in the supermarket, rather than just the car park.
An example
A travel app in Spain runs a retargeting ad for a Lisbon hotel; tapping it opens the hotel's booking page inside the app, with the dates pre-filled, and conversion is three times higher than landing on the app home screen.
Related terms
App install campaign
An app install campaign is advertising designed to get people to download and install a mobile app, usually optimised and often paid per install or per post-install action.
MMP (mobile measurement partner)
An MMP (mobile measurement partner) is an independent company that attributes app installs and in-app events to the ads and ad networks that drove them, and detects mobile install fraud.
Retargeting
Retargeting is showing ads to people who have already interacted with a brand, for example by visiting its website, using its app or adding a product to a cart without buying.
Landing page
A landing page is the web page (or app screen) a person arrives at after clicking an ad, designed to convert that visitor into a buyer, sign-up or lead.
Conversion
A conversion is a valuable action that an advertiser wants people to take after seeing or clicking an ad, such as a purchase, sign-up, app install, call or form submission.
Sources: Apple: User privacy and data use