What is an Organic install?
An organic install is when a user downloads and installs your app without interacting with any paid advertisement. These users typically find your app through unpaid channels such as app store search, word-of-mouth, social sharing, or editorial placements.
Organic users are important because they represent interest in your app that wasn’t driven by marketing spend. They’re often considered higher quality in terms of retention and lifetime value (LTV), although this can vary based on app category and user intent.
In Tenjin, any install that cannot be attributed to an ad network (i.e., there is no click or impression within the attribution window) is classified as organic. Organic traffic is grouped separately from attributed installs and is visible under the "organic" channel in dashboards and reporting tools.
Understanding the balance between organic and paid users helps developers measure the efficiency of marketing spend and the overall health of their app’s discoverability. Growth in organic installs can also be a sign of successful brand recognition or virality, often referred to as “organic uplift.”