Three Dashboards. Three ROAS Numbers. None of Them Wrong.

Name: Intent+
Rating: 4.8 (32 reviews)

By Intent+ Team · June 11, 2026 · 11 min read · Measurement

Every Monday, the same meeting. Apple Ads says 2.1×. Adjust says 1.6×. Finance says 3.4×. Everyone defends their number. The numbers aren't broken — they're measuring different things. Here's the map.

The Three Sources and What They're Actually Measuring

Apple Search Ads Console measures Apple-attributed campaign performance using Apple's first-party attribution with a 30-day click window. Your MMP (Adjust, AppsFlyer, Branch) applies SKAN 4 plus probabilistic modeling with its own attribution windows. Finance reports actual cohort revenue with no attribution separation — real cash, but no channel split.

The SKAN Postback Timing Problem

SKAN 4 postbacks arrive on a schedule: window 0 (day 0–2) arrives 24–48h after install; windows 1 and 2 arrive up to 144h after their close dates. Day-7 ROAS pulled on day 7 is always incomplete. The number improves as postbacks arrive — which teams often misread as campaign performance improvement.

Assigning Each Number to the Right Decision

Use ASA Console for campaign optimization decisions. Use MMP day-14 cohort ROAS for growth trend analysis. Use finance cohort revenue for business-level unit economics. Use blended spend vs finance revenue for P&L decisions. Stop trying to reconcile — start assigning.

When Discrepancy Signals a Real Problem

A gap over 25% usually indicates a setup issue: MMP not passing SKAN events to ASA, attribution window mismatches, or revenue event definitions differing across systems.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Apple Ads show different data than Adjust? Which ROAS should I trust? What causes SKAN data to be incomplete? How do I reconcile Apple Ads with my MMP?