SSubida Skills

Esc to close · results from all notes, skills and people

Mobile apps›User acquisition

Apple Ads single keyword ad groups (SKAG)

Why and how to run Apple Ads SKAG campaigns — one exact-match keyword per ad group, search match off, bid near target CPA, 5–10 keywords.

Updated 2026-10-23·1 source·user-acquisitionapple-adsskagkeywordscampaign-setup

Apple Ads single keyword ad groups (SKAG)

TL;DR

  • One ad group = one exact-match keyword, search match off, manual bids.12
  • Start the max bid close to your target CPA (Steve: $3.50) to buy data fast, then lower it.3
  • Find variants by typing the keyword into the App Store and taking its autocomplete suggestions (“green noise” → “green noise app”).4
  • Keep it to ~5–10 keywords; beyond that it’s hard to manage.5
  • Run it in parallel with Max Conversion — see Apple Ads account structure — the two starter campaigns.

Details

Why SKAG exists. Some attribution tools (Steve mentions RevenueCat and certain MMPs) attribute only at ad-group level, not keyword level. Putting one keyword per ad group turns ad-group data into keyword data.1

Real example. One app Steve bought (~$40K MRR) was run purely on SKAG by its sellers; he kept the structure. In May 2026 it spent ~$6K at ~$6 revenue per install, ROAS positive; he is lowering bids to push CPI toward ~$4.1

Setup (June 2026 demo):6

  1. Create campaign → app → Search results → United States → choose manage bids (manual).
  2. Name SCAG_US_2026-06; daily budget = whatever you can afford.
  3. Ad group named after the keyword (e.g. “green noise”).
  4. Max CPT bid near your ideal CPA (he ignored Apple’s suggested bid and used $3.50).3
  5. Search match off. Add the single keyword with Exact match.2
  6. Audience: new users only; optionally attach a CPP to the ad group.7
  7. Repeat for each variant — new ad group, same bid range, search match off, exact, new users.4

MaxCon is broad/search-match “discovery”; SKAG goes straight after known terms.2

Disagreements / caveats

  • Steve says he’ll “adjust down” bids with a simple formula but doesn’t give it in this video — gap.3
  • If your attribution already reports keyword-level revenue, SKAG’s main advantage is control, not data.

See also

Footnotes

  1. Copy Our $85,000/Month Apple Ads Strategy @ 13:25 — Steve P. Young ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  2. Copy Our $85,000/Month Apple Ads Strategy @ 15:42 — Steve P. Young ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  3. Copy Our $85,000/Month Apple Ads Strategy @ 15:42 — Steve P. Young ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  4. Copy Our $85,000/Month Apple Ads Strategy @ 17:10 — Steve P. Young ↩ ↩2

  5. Copy Our $85,000/Month Apple Ads Strategy @ 18:04 — Steve P. Young ↩

  6. Copy Our $85,000/Month Apple Ads Strategy @ 14:54 — Steve P. Young ↩

  7. Copy Our $85,000/Month Apple Ads Strategy @ 17:10 — Steve P. Young ↩