In 2026, Apple says more than half a billion people start their App Store visit on the Today tab each week, and you can buy the top of it (Apple Ads Help, Today tab, 2026). The Today tab is one of three Apple Ads placements that run without a single keyword. The other two sit atop the Search tab's suggested list and in the "You Might Also Like" row on other apps' pages.
Many teams, some still searching for "Apple Search Ads Today tab," treat these as cheap search. They aren't. They reach people who haven't typed anything, all of them bill per tap, and 2025's two big benchmark panels disagree by up to 3.6× on how well they convert. Below, each is compared with what search results ads cost and convert.
Key Takeaways
- All three bill per tap, under invoice codes CPT-TT, CPT-ST and CPT-WB (Apple Ads Help, 2026). CPM is only a report column.
- No keywords: each ad group gets one max CPT bid and audience settings.
- The Today tab needs an approved, localized custom product page. Ad variations run in search results only.
- In MobileAction's 2025 data, Today tab ads averaged a $5.08 CPA and Search tab ads $1.81.
What are Apple Ads' discovery placements, and how do they differ from search results ads?
In 2026, Apple Ads Advanced sells four App Store placements: the Today tab, the Search tab, search results and product pages (Apple Ads Help, Ad placement options, 2026). Only search results use keywords. In the other three, "ad groups include bids and audience settings only" (Apple Ads Help, Ad groups). These are the Apple Ads placements built for browsing.
In 2026, Apple counts over 850 million weekly App Store visitors (Apple Ads Advanced, 2026). Its 2022 data says "nearly 65 percent of downloads happen directly after a search" (Apple Ads, Ad placements best practices). Search results ads catch that intent, and the other three work the rest of the visit: the browse vs. search split, in paid form.
Where the four Apple Ads placements sit, and what each ad is built from
A Today tab ad is separate from editorial featuring. Editors pick the stories and App of the Day, and Apple bans the phrases "App of the Day" and "Game of the Day" from ad assets. That route is covered in earning an editorial Today tab feature.
A campaign "is set up to run ads in one of several ad placements" (Apple Ads Help, Create campaigns), and Basic accounts only buy search results. See how to structure Apple Ads campaigns by placement.
Are Today tab, Search tab and product page ads bought on CPM or CPT?
All three are bought per tap. Apple lists a "cost-per-tap pricing model" for all placements. Its invoices bill CPT-TT for the Today tab, CPT-ST for the Search tab and CPT-WB for product pages, each for "Apple Ads Advanced accounts only" (Apple Ads Help, Understand invoices, 2026). CPM appears only as a reported metric.
Search tab ads were once bought on CPM, which is why Apple's dashboard still has a "Max CPM Bid (for historical Search tab ad reporting only)" filter (Apple Ads Help, Dashboard metrics).
Each ad group gets one default max CPT bid. Apple's placement table marks target CPA, suggested bids and the Maximize Conversions strategy as "search results placement only" (Apple Ads Help, Ad placement options). So Maximize Conversions, which covers search results only, can't bid for you here. Daily budget recommendations do cover these placements; Apple added them on June 18, 2024 (Apple Ads News).
You never choose between CPM and CPT. Every Advanced placement bills per tap, and Avg CPM just restates spend per thousand impressions. Use it to compare what reach costs, and use your max CPT to control what you pay. The real choice is reach versus intent.
The cost chain holds per placement: CPA = CPT ÷ conversion rate. In MobileAction's 2025 Today tab data, Q3's $0.81 CPT ÷ 22.24% CR = $3.64, its reported Q3 CPA. Q4's $1.33 ÷ 19.41% = $6.85, against a reported $6.86 (our arithmetic on MobileAction, 2026). The cost guide derives the break-even bid formula; below, we apply it per placement.
What can you target on each placement, and what can't you?
Targeting runs on audience settings alone. You can refine by customer type (All users, New users, Returning users, Users of my other apps), age, gender, location and device. Refined audiences "must have more than 5000 customers." And "the people in your desired audience who have Personalized Ads turned off will not see your ads" (Apple Ads Help, Modify audience settings, 2026).
Age and location rules narrow things further. The youngest targetable age runs from 18 in the U.S. and Europe to 21 in Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait and the UAE. Location refinement works in 30 countries and regions, and never in multi-country campaigns (Apple Ads Help, Modify audience settings). Apple also "doesn't allow explicit targeting" of under-18s (Apple Ads, Privacy).
Product page ads can't target a named competitor. You choose all app categories, "app categories like yours" or "app categories different from yours" (Apple Ads Help, Create campaigns). Eligibility is the other gate: some app categories "aren't currently eligible" on some placements, varying by country, and Apple doesn't publish the list. Devices matter too: Today tab ads run on iPhone only, while Apple's Search tab and product page help states no device limit.
What does each ad look like, and what creative do you need?
Search tab and product page ads are built from your existing product page and "feature your app name, icon, and subtitle," so there's nothing to upload (Apple Ads Help, Search tab, 2026). The Today tab adds motion. Assets from your chosen custom product page "animate in the background of your ad, appearing in a color from your app icon" (Apple Ads Help, Today tab).
Search tab and product pages
A Search tab ad can tap through to your default page or a custom product page with a deep link. Product page ads use "the assets you've already uploaded to your App Store product page" (Apple Ads Help, Product pages). Some vendor guides say they take a custom product page, but Apple lists that support for the other three placements only.
Today tab
The Today tab adds content rules. There's no "violent, offensive, sexually explicit" material, "no pricing, offers, ranking, or other incentivized promotions," and no award claims. Ads are submitted for approval automatically, and approved assets skip re-approval in the same country unless you update them (Apple Ads Help, Create Today tab ads).
On all three discovery placements, the only copy taken from your metadata is your app name and subtitle. A vague or truncated subtitle shows in every impression you pay for, so subtitle work is ad-creative work. Preview how your name and subtitle read before you fund a flight.
Coming soon: your own creative for Today tab and search results ads
As of October 6, 2026, Apple's help page lists custom creative for Today tab and search results ads as "Coming soon" (Apple Ads Help, Design your own ads with creative assets). The organic placements went live in App Store Connect on October 5, so you can get 3:2 assets approved now (see our Asset Library guide). Apple announced it on June 8, 2026 (Apple Ads News). The published specs:
- Assets are approved in App Store Connect first, then Apple Ads reviews the ad.
- "Images and videos must use a 3:2 aspect ratio."
- Videos run 5–30 seconds and "can only be used in search results ads," so the Today tab gets images only (our reading).
- Audio "will not play," and embedded text can be localized by country or region.
Last verified against Apple's pages: September 28, 2026.
Apple's help page doesn't give content rules for this creative yet. Until it does, follow the Today tab rule and leave out prices and offers. For the organic side, see the organic creative-asset specs.
How do custom product pages work in Today tab ads, and where do ad variations fit?
A Today tab ad can't run without a custom product page, and the page must be "set up and approved" in App Store Connect before you build the campaign (Apple Ads Help, Create Today tab ads, 2026). Ad variations are something else: "a search results ad with creative based on a custom product page" (Apple Ads Glossary).
The Today tab page has to pass five checks:
- Approved in App Store Connect. Marketing role access is enough, with no new app version.
- iPhone assets. An iPad-only page puts the ad on hold.
- Localized in the country's default language, with the app name and subtitle in it too.
- Deep link if you want one. It works on iOS 18 and later.
- One active ad per ad group. "Activating one ad will cause your other active ad to pause" (Apple Ads Help, Manage Today tab ads).
So you can't rotate two Today tab creatives in one ad group. Compare pages with sequential flights of equal length and budget; Apple doesn't say whether parallel ad groups split one audience.
A Today tab ad in Germany needs a German custom product page, name and subtitle. Many US-first apps lack that, and the rule blocks them there. Apple states it for the Today tab only. For other placements, it says only that some markets, "like Brazil," need translated metadata for any campaign.
On the Search tab, use a custom product page when the tap should land on a focused story, like a launch. In search results, you can build "up to 70 custom ads" (Apple Ads, Ad variations best practices), and "each ad group can only have one active custom ad" (Apple Ads Help, Create ad variations). Our guide shows how to pair each ad variation with a page and its keywords.
Our Today tab build rule: one page per moment (a launch, an event, a season), retired when it ends. Make its first screens tell that story alone, since Apple doesn't say which assets animate.
How much do Today tab, Search tab and product page ads cost?
In MobileAction's 2025 data, Today tab ads averaged a $5.08 CPA at a 0.64% TTR and 18.66% conversion rate. Search tab ads averaged $1.81 at a $0.95 CPT, 1.25% TTR and 54.58% CR (MobileAction, 2026 benchmark report). AppTweak's 2025 global medians put the Today tab at 0.32% TTR and 7.7% CR, against 7.40% and 56% for search results (AppTweak, August 19, 2026).
Last verified: September 28, 2026. Search results and product page figures: MobileAction's executive summary and product page ads sections.
What do the two 2025 panels say?
| 2025 metric | Search results | Search tab | Today tab | Product pages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TTR, AppTweak global median | 7.40% | 0.29% | 0.32% | 2.00% |
| TTR, MobileAction average | 8.08% | 1.25% | 0.64% | 3.28% |
| CR, AppTweak global median | 56% | 15% | 7.7% | 15% |
| CR, MobileAction average | 65.82% | 54.58% | 18.66% | 17.99% |
| CPT, MobileAction | n/a | $0.95 | $0.77–$1.33 by quarter | $1.02 (Q2), $0.93 (Q4) |
| CPA, MobileAction | $2.51 | $1.81 | $5.08 | $5.67 (Q3), $5.26 (Q4) |
Why do they disagree? AppTweak reports medians from nearly 3,500 apps across 38 countries. MobileAction reports averages from campaigns in its and SearchAds.com's tools, where search results took 81.82% of 2025 spend (MobileAction, About the report). Read the two as a range, and never average them.
Two panels, two answers: 2025 conversion rate, tap to install
On CPM, the discovery placements look like bargains: AppTweak's 2025 U.S. medians are $4.20 for the Today tab and $125.16 for search results. By country, the Today tab spans $0.74 (Brazil) to $5.50 (New Zealand).
On September 28, 2026, we extracted AppTweak's 38-country CPM table. The Today tab's CPM was below the Search tab's in 36 of 38 countries. Yet MobileAction's 2025 Today tab CPA was 2.8× the Search tab's.
Tap prices roughly agree. AppTweak's $3.53 global Today tab CPM ÷ its 0.32% median TTR implies about $1.10 a tap, inside MobileAction's $0.77–$1.33 range. Dividing medians is rough, but the gap sits in conversion.
How did costs move by quarter in 2025?
Q4 is the expensive quarter. Today tab CPT rose from $0.81 in Q3 to $1.33 in Q4 (+64%), and CPA from $3.64 to $6.86 (+88%). Search tab CPT went from $0.83 to $1.23 (+48%), with a Q4 CPA of $2.51 (our arithmetic on MobileAction, 2026). Budget holiday flights for that jump.
Today tab and Search tab costs by quarter, 2025
What can you afford to bid on each placement?
Max CPT = target CPA × expected conversion rate. At a $5 target CPA, search results support about $2.80 a tap at AppTweak's 56% CR. The Today tab supports $0.39 to $0.93, depending on the panel. Its 2025 taps cost $0.77 to $1.33, so it rarely pays on last-tap installs alone. It needs a different success metric, not a lower bar on the same one.
| Placement | 2025 CR range | Max CPT at $5 CPA | Max CPT at $10 CPA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search results | 56%–65.8% | $2.80–$3.29 | $5.60–$6.58 |
| Search tab | 15%–54.6% | $0.75–$2.73 | $1.50–$5.46 |
| Today tab | 7.7%–18.7% | $0.39–$0.93 | $0.77–$1.87 |
| Product pages | 15%–18.0% | $0.75–$0.90 | $1.50–$1.80 |
Each range runs from AppTweak's median to MobileAction's average; the bids are our arithmetic. Swap in your own conversion rate after a first flight, and run your own break-even bid.
When does each placement make sense?
Run the Search tab as an always-on partner to search results. Apple recommends running both "at the same time to reach additional users and increase searches for your brand" (Apple Ads, Ad placements best practices, 2026). It also had the lowest reported CPA of the three in MobileAction's 2025 data. Save the Today tab for dated moments and product pages for comparison shoppers.
| Placement | Best job | You need | Judge it on | Skip it when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Today tab | Launches, big updates, events, seasonal pushes, win-back | An approved, localized CPP; an iPhone app; a reach budget | Impressions, TTR, total installs, brand-search lift | You're CPA-capped, iPad-only or unlocalized in the market |
| Search tab | Always-on reach beside search results; brand priming | A name and subtitle that explain the app alone | CPA vs search results; brand impressions | Your name and subtitle don't say what the app does |
| Product pages | Shoppers comparing apps in or near your category | A strong icon, rating and first screenshots | CPA and CR vs your default page | Your rating trails the apps you'd sit beside |
| None of them | Browsers land on your product page, so a weak page wastes taps | Search results aren't profitable yet, or your page converts poorly | ||
Apple calls the Today tab "the go-to option to reach people who wouldn't have found your app otherwise." In 2026, its Rocket Money story reports a "10% increase in impressions in brand campaigns after running Today tab ads" (Apple Ads, Ad variations best practices). That's a success story: measure the halo, but don't bank on its size.
The last table row is our house view. Discovery placements amplify whatever your product page and search campaigns already do, so fix those first. Choosing which placements to fund, and in what order, is where our Apple Ads management starts.
How do you set up and measure a discovery placement test?
Give each placement its own campaign, a broad audience and a max CPT bid from break-even. Judge it after two to four weeks on total installs and brand-search lift as well as last-tap CPA. Apple counts view-through installs from people who "viewed your ad, but didn't tap it, within one day of the ad view" (Apple Ads Glossary, 2026).
- Check eligibility for your app in each country.
- Approve a localized custom product page (Today tab required, Search tab optional).
- Create one campaign per placement.
- Bid from break-even: target CPA × the low end of the CR range above. Treat Apple's daily budget recommendation as a ceiling (house rule).
- Keep the audience broad unless the job is win-back.
- Read the Ad Placements report in Insights: "installs, spend, tap-through rate, conversion rate, and total average CPA across all your active ad placements" (Apple Ads Help). Add view-through installs.
- Check the halo: brand-keyword impressions in search results during the flight vs the two weeks before. For causal proof, run a brand holdout test.
- Decide at the end of the flight: keep, re-bid or pause (house rule).
- In Insights, open the Ad Placements report for the last 28 days.
- Add TTR, CR (Total), Installs (Tap-Through), Installs (View-Through), Avg CPA (Total) and Avg CPM.
- Work out each placement's view-through share of total installs.
- Compare each Avg CPA (Total) with your search results CPA and break-even.
This is a protocol to run yourself; we're not publishing account results here.
Apple agrees that "an install isn't necessarily only the result of the last ad placement a user saw" (Apple Ads, Ad placements best practices). One caveat: we haven't found Apple documentation on which App Store Connect source type these downloads fall under, so reconcile with care. Our guide to how Apple Ads attribution works covers the rest, including AdAttributionKit.
Frequently asked questions
Are Today tab ads charged per impression (CPM) or per tap (CPT)?
Per tap. Apple bills every Apple Ads Advanced placement on cost per tap, and the Today tab's invoice code is CPT-TT. The dashboard still shows an Avg CPM column, but what you set is a max cost-per-tap bid (Apple Ads Help, 2026).
Do Today tab ads need a custom product page?
Yes. You must set up a custom product page and get it approved in App Store Connect first. It needs iPhone assets, must be localized in the storefront's default language, and runs as one active ad per ad group (Apple Ads Help, 2026).
Can you use keywords or ad variations on Search tab or Today tab ads?
No. Apple says Today tab, Search tab and product pages ad groups "include bids and audience settings only." Ad variations are a search results feature. The Search tab can still send taps to a custom product page (Apple Ads Help, 2026).
How much do Today tab ads cost?
In MobileAction's 2025 data, Today tab taps cost $0.77 to $1.33 by quarter, and installs averaged $5.08, peaking at $6.86 in Q4. AppTweak puts the 2025 global median Today tab CPM at $3.53 (MobileAction; AppTweak, 2026).
Can product page ads target a competitor's app?
No. They show at the top of the You Might Also Like list, and you can only choose all categories, categories like yours or categories different from yours. They run in 90 countries and regions, everywhere Apple Ads runs except mainland China (Apple Ads Help, 2026).
Do Today tab ads run on iPad?
No. Today tab ads run on iPhone only. The current format needs iOS 17.1 or later, iOS 16.4 to 17.0 gets an older format, and an iPad-only custom product page puts the ad on hold (Apple Ads Help, 2026).
Is the Search tab worth running if I already run Apple Search Ads in search results?
Usually, as a small always-on line. Apple recommends running both to "increase searches for your brand," and MobileAction's 2025 Search tab CPA of $1.81 came in below its $2.51 search results average. The panels disagree on conversion, so judge it on your own CPA.
The bottom line
The three discovery placements buy reach, not intent. Bid them from break-even, judge them on total installs and brand lift, and fund them once search results pay back.
Run your own max CPT per placement in the free Apple Search Ads calculator. Then book a free 30-minute call, and we'll review which placements your account should fund and build the custom product page each one needs. The fixed-price ASO audit is the usual starting point.
