---
title: Send paid traffic to a web quiz or straight to the App Store?
slug: web-quiz-vs-direct-to-store
summary: Evidence from Built With Science (90% of paid traffic to a long web quiz after it beat direct-to-store head to head) and Simply (web flows made Facebook work for the first time, ~20% of Simply Piano revenue) on when a web quiz outperforms an app-install campaign — lean-back social users, older non-app-native audiences, bundles.
domain: mobile-apps
tags: [web2app, user-acquisition, meta-ads, web-quiz, experiment]
related: [why-web2app-funnels, web2app-funnel-structure, web-quiz-funnel-length, web2app-ad-optimization-events, built-with-science-meta-scaling-case, web-funnel-partner-and-family-plans]
sources: [yt:EyoYQU6JyV8, yt:Xv04J1cr16Q]
updated: 2026-10-24
---

# Web quiz or straight to the App Store?

## TL;DR
- **Built With Science** sends ~90% of paid traffic to a long, personalised web quiz; in a direct test, the quiz converted much better than sending ads to the App Store.[^1][^2]
- An **almost identical quiz inside the iOS app** still lost to the web; on **Android** the in-app quiz converted on par with web — the gap was specific to App Store traffic.[^3][^4]
- **Simply** was 100% app campaigns; web campaigns now bring **~20% of Simply Piano revenue**, and the web flow made **Facebook work for the first time**.[^5][^6]
- Why: social users are in a **lean-back mindset**; jumping straight to "download and start learning" is too much friction, while a quiz moves them through consideration.[^7][^8]
- Treat web as **audience expansion**, not fee avoidance — Jacob Eiting says the net gain from saved store fees is "pretty close to marginal".[^9][^10]

## Details
**What the quiz does (Ethan Ethier).** Educates about the product, overcomes objections, raises perceived value, shows how personalised the plan will be — and the answers actually build the user's plan in the app.[^2]

**Holistic flow (Yoav Sharon).** The win comes from carrying the ad's message through onboarding to the paywall: someone clicking a parent-targeted ad gets an onboarding about their kid's needs. Don't replicate the App Store experience on the web; set expectations so the paywall's value is clear.[^7][^11]

**Who responds.** David Barnard relays Rise Science's experience: web funnels worked almost exclusively on Facebook, attributed to older users who are less "app-native" and need more warming up.[^12]

**Things only the web can do.** Simply markets its multi-app bundle on the web ("welcome to Simply — access all apps"), impossible when an app-install ad sends someone to one store page.[^13]

**How Simply decides.** No fixed rule — creative × placement × destination (store vs web) are tested together per app and maturity stage.[^6]

## Disagreements / caveats
- Ethan's hypothesis for why direct-store traffic converts worse: store-direct users today may be higher-intent organic types who don't need the quiz — he plans to retest.[^3]
- RevenueCat's own test (linked in the BwS episode description) found web subscriptions reduced take-home revenue ~6% in one case — web isn't automatically better; test.
- Compare [[why-web2app-funnels]] for the fee/cash-flow case and Steve P. Young's warning about bolting web checkout onto an in-app paywall.

## See also
- [[why-web2app-funnels]], [[web2app-funnel-structure]]
- [[built-with-science-meta-scaling-case]]
- [[people/ethan-ethier]], [[people/yoav-sharon]]

[^1]: yt:EyoYQU6JyV8 @ 00:00 — Ethan Ethier
[^2]: yt:EyoYQU6JyV8 @ 24:51 — Ethan Ethier
[^3]: yt:EyoYQU6JyV8 @ 26:23 — Ethan Ethier
[^4]: yt:EyoYQU6JyV8 @ 27:09 — Ethan Ethier
[^5]: yt:Xv04J1cr16Q @ 17:34 — Yoav Sharon
[^6]: yt:Xv04J1cr16Q @ 23:14 — Yoav Sharon
[^7]: yt:Xv04J1cr16Q @ 20:42 — Yoav Sharon
[^8]: yt:Xv04J1cr16Q @ 21:30 — Yoav Sharon
[^9]: yt:Xv04J1cr16Q @ 24:48 — Yoav Sharon
[^10]: yt:Xv04J1cr16Q @ 28:49 — Jacob Eiting
[^11]: yt:Xv04J1cr16Q @ 25:37 — Yoav Sharon
[^12]: yt:Xv04J1cr16Q @ 24:01 — David Barnard
[^13]: yt:Xv04J1cr16Q @ 19:07 — Yoav Sharon