Ranksy API

Meta ad destination links

When you run Meta ads for a Shopify app, the click has to survive a rough trip — from the Facebook or Instagram in-app browser, to the App Store listing, through Shopify's install flow — and normally most of that signal is lost along the way. A Ranksy ad destination link fixes that: you point your ad at it instead of the raw App Store URL, and Ranksy measures the click and gives Meta the signals it needs to optimize your campaigns.

This is a setup guide for whoever runs the ads. It does not require any code or API calls — you copy one link per app from Ranksy and paste it into Meta Ads Manager. The Conversion signals page covers the API side that your app integration handles.

Why it matters

Meta ads for Shopify apps attribute badly by default. Someone taps your ad inside the Facebook/Instagram browser, but they install the app later through Shopify's own OAuth flow — a different place, a different context. By the time the install happens, the browser context that identified the click is gone. Meta can't tell which clicks turned into installs, so it optimizes half-blind and under-reports your results.

The destination link re-establishes that connection at the moment of the click. The payoff:

  • Meta sees your installs. Conversions report back to your pixel with far higher match quality, so Event Match Quality in Events Manager climbs.
  • Better optimization. Once Meta can see which clicks convert, it can optimize toward installs — and toward higher-value merchants — instead of just cheap clicks.
  • Per-campaign truth. Your utm tags flow through, so you can see which campaigns and ad sets actually drive installs.

What the shopper experiences

Nothing changes for them. They tap the ad and land on the exact same App Store listing they would have reached from the raw link. On Android the listing opens in their normal browser (instead of the cramped in-app one), which keeps the rest of their journey trackable; on iOS and desktop it goes straight through.

The link is safe and can't be abused as an open redirect — it only ever forwards to that one app's Shopify App Store listing. It never sends traffic anywhere else, no matter what's appended to it.

Before you start

  1. Connect the app to Meta CAPI in Ranksy first. Each app needs its Pixel ID and an Events Manager access token saved in Ranksy (app → Settings → Meta CAPI). Until that's connected, no link is generated and nothing can be sent to Meta.
  2. One link per app. Every app has its own pixel and its own link. They are not interchangeable.

In Ranksy, open the app, go to Settings → Meta CAPI, and copy the Meta ad destination URL. It looks like this:

https://apps.ranksyapp.com/your-app-handle/xxxxxxxx

Treat the whole link as opaque — copy it exactly as shown. Don't hand-edit or try to construct it yourself; the trailing part identifies the app's pixel, and a wrong character sends the signal to the wrong place (or nowhere).

Use it in Meta Ads Manager

Paste the link into the ad's Website URL (the destination field), in place of the usual https://apps.shopify.com/... link.

Keep your campaign tags on the end — they pass straight through to the listing, so your source/campaign/ad-set breakdown is preserved:

https://apps.ranksyapp.com/your-app-handle/xxxxxxxx?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=summer-launch

Meta automatically appends its own click identifier when the ad is clicked — leave that behavior alone. It's part of what makes the attribution work, and it's handled for you.

What to expect

  • Clicks start flowing immediately; conversions report to Meta as merchants install.
  • In Events Manager, watch the pixel's Event Match Quality — it should rise as installs report with richer signals.
  • In Ads Manager, install conversions become attributable per campaign, so you can shift budget toward what actually converts.
  • Give it a little time after your first clicks before judging — some signal is deferred until the merchant completes the install.

Do and don't

Do

  • Use the link straight from each app's Settings → Meta CAPI page.
  • Use it as the ad's final destination URL.
  • Append your own utm_* parameters for reporting.

Don't

  • Don't edit the link, shorten it, or build one by hand — always copy the exact link from Ranksy.
  • Don't wrap it in a third-party link shortener or another redirect that strips query parameters — that can drop your utm tags and Meta's click identifier, which breaks attribution.
  • Don't reuse one app's link for a different app — the conversion would attribute to the wrong pixel.

FAQ

Does the shopper see anything different? No. They reach the same App Store listing. On Android it opens in their normal browser; on iOS and desktop it's a direct hand-off.

Do I still need the Meta CAPI connection in Ranksy? Yes. The link and the pixel connection work together — connect the pixel and access token in Ranksy first, or no link exists to use.

Can the link redirect somewhere unsafe? No. It only ever forwards to that app's Shopify App Store listing.

I run ads for several apps — what do I do? Repeat the setup per app. Grab each app's own link from its Settings → Meta CAPI page and use it only for that app's ads.

What about iOS? iOS clicks are still measured. Attribution there leans on merchant identity rather than the browser hand-off, so you don't need to do anything special — just use the same link.

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