Google Analytics adds app conversions to cross-channel reports. Budgeting stays web-only

Apps used to sit outside the reports that show which channel earns a sale. Google said on 29 September that this has changed in Google Analytics, but only for some properties so far. App conversions now appear next to web conversions in three cross-channel reports.

Google Analytics adds apps to performance, attribution and model reports

The performance report shows which channels drove a chosen conversion. The attribution analysis report splits assisted conversions into early, middle and late touchpoints. The models report compares how different attribution models share out credit. Teams can set attribution rules for app conversions separately from web.

App conversions only credit Google paid channels

The update comes with limits. App conversions cannot use the setting that counts both paid and organic channels, so their credit always goes to Google paid channels. The performance report only lists conversions shared with a linked Google Ads account. Cross-channel budgeting, which arrived with the scenario planner in March, still works with web conversions only.

Some reports also still run on key events rather than conversions. Google says it is “actively working to bring it to more” properties, without a date.

Google Analytics has shipped three changes in September

The app update follows drag-and-drop dashboards with a 15-card cap earlier in the month. It also lands weeks after a reporting gap that dropped traffic for 1 September.

Brands that run most of their sales through an app gain the most, since their Google Ads results can now be read next to the website. Teams that rely on organic app installs lose part of the picture, because those installs cannot take credit under the new rules.