Apple Search Ads now has an Ad Repository. Here's what to know.

Last updated: Aug 28, 2023

Summary: New EU legal requirements mean that Apple has released a Repository of Apple Search Ads data. App developers and agencies can utilize this repository to research competitors and develop strategies for Apple Search Ads campaigns.

Ad Repository

Under the European Digital Services Act, Apple released an Ad Repository for Apple Search Ads in August 2023, along with some interesting metrics such as active users in EU countries. Unfortunately, this means the Ad Repository includes only EU countries, excluding important regions like the United States and the United Kingdom etc. It's unclear if Apple will release non-EU data in the future. Our guess is it's unlikely unless non-EU regions create similar legal requirements.

Even though currently only EU countries are included, the Ad Repository provides app developers and agencies with important competitor research based on first-party data from Apple.

App developers and agencies can now go to Official Apple Search Ads repository and input an app or developer name to understand what type of Apple Search Ads placements where their competitors are currently running, as well as the creatives and keywords used in their ad creatives.

Specifically, it's useful to understand which regions your primary competitors are running ads from, audience refinements, ad formats, placements (Search results, Today tab, Search bab, and Product pages), and recent dates of impressions.

There are a few caveats to keep in mind with the metrics 'First Impression' and 'Last Impression'. It looks like Apple only started gathering this data in August 2023, which means it's currently not possible to understand the real First Impression dates, and the 'Last Impression' dates are usually delayed by a week. Hopefully, in the future, Apple can include much more updated last impression dates.

EU App Store active users

Hidden behind Apple's legal documents released along with the ad repository are additional important metrics regarding the EU's active users by country. Keep in mind that the metrics below can include iOS, iPad, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS users, and the metrics are average monthly active ad recipients or qualified device users over six months from January 2023 through July 2023.

The total number of active EU app store users according to Apple is 123 million. Below is the breakdown by country.

• Germany - 27 million
• France - 24 million
• Italy - 14 million
• Spain - 11 million
• Netherlands - 8 million
• Sweden - 6 million
• Poland - 5 million
• Belgium - 4 million
• Denmark - 4 million
• Austria - 3 million
• Czechia - 2 million
• Finland - 2 million
• Hungary - 2 million
• Ireland - 2 million
• Portugal - 2 million
• Romania - 2 million
• Greece - 1 million
• Under 1 million : Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovakia, Slovenia

Apple Search Ads advertisers can utilize this valuable information to make informed decisions, prioritizations, and campaign strategies. This information can also guide which localizations to prioritize for their respective EU country in their ASO (App Store Optimization) efforts.

Although the Ad Repository website can be a little buggy at the moment, we predict that it will continue to improve. If you happen to encounter the bugs, we recommend refreshing the URL in your browser.

We are working diligently to make sure that soon all of our Search Ads Optimization (SAO) platform users will be able to access a much more useful, accessible, and detailed aggregate of the ad repository. Our users will be able to track their primary competitors and category summaries in Apple Search Ads.

Apple Search Ads Ad Repository now joins the list of existing ad libraries from various platforms like below.

• Apple Search Ads Ad library
• Meta Ad library
• Google Ad library
• TikTok Ad library
• Microsoft Ad library info

We will be updating ad library links and info in the above list as we expect more platforms start to comply with European Digital Services Act (EU DSA), so feel free to bookmark this page to access all ad library links in one place.