An app install is credited when three things line up: the click carried your ID, the store kept it through the install, and the app reported the first open back to the same network. Every missing install reward is one of those three links broken, and almost all of them break on the user's side before the app is even downloaded.
Step by step
- Check the device and platform
The offer names a platform. If it says one operating system and you have the other, it will not pay.
- Turn off VPN, proxy and browser shields
Location mismatch and stripped link parameters are the two commonest silent failures.
- Tap the offer on the device that will install
The click ID is attached to that tap. Do not send the link to another device.
- Install from the store page you land on
Do not search for the app separately; the search result has no click ID.
- Open the app and finish the first step
The install event fires on first open. If the offer asks for a signup or a first action, complete it in the same session.
The chain from tap to reward
When you tap an app offer, Bountura records a click and sends you to the provider with an identifier for that click. The provider redirects to the store with tracking parameters. The store hands the install to the app, the app's measurement software reads those parameters on first open, and reports an install to the provider. The provider matches it to your click and sends Bountura a postback. Only then does a reward appear in your activity.
Each hop can lose the ID. Bountura verifies its own hop, that the identifier is filled and attached, because a missing identifier on the first link is the one failure a platform can cause itself. The rest of the chain runs on the provider's and the app's software, and that is where the setup rules come from.
Why the same device matters
Attribution is per device. The store and the app's analytics identify the device that clicked and the device that installed, and they have to be the same one. Reading an offer on a laptop and installing on a phone produces a click with no install and an install with no click. If the offer is mobile, do the whole thing on the phone.
The same rule catches multiple accounts. A network attributes one install per device per app. Two accounts installing the same app on one phone produce one credited reward at most, and usually a flag.
Why a returning device is not paid
Advertisers pay for new users. The store and the app can tell that a device had the app before, even after an uninstall, and most publishers reject those installs as not new. Offer listings rarely say this because the listing is written for the general case. If you have had the app, assume the offer will not pay, and pick another.
When it still goes missing
If you followed the setup and the install is not credited within the verification window, report it. Include the app name, the date and time you installed, the device and operating system, and a screenshot of the app installed on the device. Bountura can match your click on its side and raise the install with the provider. What a platform cannot do is credit an install the provider never confirmed; the reward policy is explicit about that, because pretending otherwise would be paying from thin air.
Common questions
Questions beginners ask
How long does an install take to be credited?+
Usually minutes to a few hours once the app is opened. The offer card shows the verification window the provider allows; wait for it before reporting.
Does an ad blocker affect app offers?+
It can. Browser shields sometimes strip the tracking parameters from the store link, so the install arrives with no click ID. Turn them off for the tap.
Can I install on an emulator or a second profile?+
Networks detect emulators and reject them, and a second profile on one device still counts as the same device. Use a real phone that has not had the app.
The offer said install, but nothing was credited until I signed up. Why?+
Some offers pay on the first in-app action, not the install itself, and the card says so. Read the requirement line; an install offer that mentions a signup or a first order pays on that step.
Sources and further reading
Primary and platform-specific references used to review this guide.