App Deep Linking Guide

App Marketing Networks 2014
App Deep
Linking Guide
Deep-linking for apps and mobile is still in its nascent
stage, but there’s already a number of platforms
working hard to get this technology off the ground.
Find out all about them and their different takes and
solutions in this guide.
2015Edition

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App Deep Linking Guide
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Communicating between apps is often clumsy and usually results in breaking up the user ex-
perience and losing customers and users. However, “Deep linking” is changing the way that
apps interact with each other, moving from a world of ‘closed gardens’ to a much more open
and seamless platform. The way deep linking works is known to everyone who has used the
internet: a link that takes you directly to a page deep within a website hierarchy, bypassing
the upper pages to immediately take you to the content you wanted to see. It’s what the
internet is built on, and the difference in user experience between that and mobile surfing
is obvious: thanks to international standards for URLs, you don’t have to download a new
browser or a plug-in every time you reach a new webpage, every browser can read anything
in HTTP and take you you directly to the content you want. Unlike for mobile apps, at least
until now …
Deep-linking for mobile is a URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) that links to a specific loca-
tion within an application or app, as opposed to the generic homepage or simply launching
the app and starting at its home screen. The technology has been going mainstream with re-
cent coverage in the likes of the Huffington Post, which examined insights from a Deeplink
conference and ReadWriteWeb, who called it the next big thing and a huge asset for
marketers. Rightly so, as it promises to radically improve mobile app user experience and
replicate the ease of navigation that the internet offers, but between applications.
As an example, imagine booking a restaurant table on the restaurant’s app. Once complete,
the app shows you an ad for a cab company, and a fare from your home location to the
restaurant in time for the reservation. Clicking on the link, there are currently a number of

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possible flows here: 1) the link takes you to the correct page in the cab’s app, which you have
downloaded before, and retains time and location data; 2) you don’t have the app, so the link
takes you to its download page 3) the link takes you to the cab company’s web-app (in a web
browser), potentially losing your data for end location and time of booking. The second two
effectively break the user experience, but if deep-linking is done correctly, you will be able to
transition seamlessly from booking a table to booking a cab quickly and efficiently. The deep
link, which would take the user to the native app or web-app, would point to the right page
with all the necessary data, allowing you to book a cab with a single click after the initial one
on the advert.
The technology is still in its nascent stage and is yet to be perfectly streamlined. There are a
number of companies tackling the issue, all with their takes and solutions: URX for example
will detect whether you have the correct app, and if not, bypass the download process entire-
ly by taking you to the correct web-app page, without losing metadata. WildCards creates a
“card” – effectively extracting a snippet of code from the app, allowing you to use it without
having to download it fully. Button and Branch, which has a handy guide on Deep Linking ba-
sics, will install the native app, but without losing the metadata, avoiding having to re-enter it
or search for the content again within the website. OneLink aims to produce a single “smart”
link able to direct users to the correct URL, a solution similar to that of link-shortening giants
Bitly who have recently thrown their considerable weight into the technology. Finally there
is Applinks, which has the advantage of being open source, and DeepLink, who offer a wide
support base with translation rules for pre-existing pages into deep-links.
These solutions, as with all new technologies, each present some issues. For starters, for
cards and direct deep-links, the entirety of the mobile and web apps need to be coded to sup-
port it, which can be daunting for smaller developers. If the link does detect which OS your
user has, it will need a native app for that OS. While UX may be seamless, it’s hard to track
user information with deep links, decreasing the precision of your metrics and segmentation.
Another very important issue is that Apple, for one, does not allow credit card data to be
passed between apps: you may have to download the application, sign-up and re-enter de-
tails manually regardless of how streamlined the experience is, making “cards” more valuable
for content-only websites.
Lastly, unlike HTTP, there is no settled, international protocol on deep linking and app
structure, and what works for one app, browser or OS might not work for the rest. Mo-
bileDeepLinking, however is a collaborative industry effort attempting to bring deep-linking
companies together to establish a standard, and is also a great learning resource on SDKs,
implementation and protocols. The companies working hard to get the technology off the
ground are listed below.

URX
URX seamlessly takes you to the mobile website if the specific app is not installed, and does
not lose metadata in the process. Very easy to implement with a drag-and-drop widget
framework, URX’s API supports both iOS and Android with different SDKs and allows you
to track actions and audience behaviour. As one of the pioneers of the technology, it also has
extensive documentation in place.
Key feature: Monetises deep-link “actions” and keeps user’s contextual data.
Tagline: Intelligently Links Apps Together
URX is combining deep linking with monetization opportunities
Source: urx.com
Button
Button‘s solution, which supports all platforms, is to “break out” the app silo. It’s DeepLink
Commerce platform drives complementary app installations to increase functionality. It
offers both server and SDK solutions for the technology, its API also allows for links with
specific rewards for loyal customers. It has also partnered with Uber, among others, making
it a key player in the business of corollary app installations.

Key feature: Has both server-side API and app SDK implementation
Tagline: Building Connected App Experiences
Button is positioning itself as the leading deep linking platform
Source: usebutton.com
Branch
Branch allows you to personalise the flow through which users will see the links to your
application and how they install. With a one-for-all-platforms system it will attempt to install
the app if you don’t have it, but retains metadata in the process and brings users to the cor-
rect landing page. It’s link creation is also free of charge, and tracks a large number of stats
including clicks, installs, referrals and conversion rates.
Key feature: Incentivises referrals by monetising them, very easy implementation (three
calls to add)
Tagline: Grow organically with referrals and invites

An example of a personalised deep link invitation flow
Source: Branch.io
DeepLink
Deeplink offers custom translation rules allowing for your pre-existing app pages and stand-
ard URLs to apply to specific platforms, ad formats and campaigns. With a focus on coders,
it was built with the intent to track LTVs and the routes users take to arrive at their desired
content. It is also free up to 30k clicks per month, after which there is a scalable price plan
based on volume. Their links support engagement analytics and card-based apps, as well as
native-app retargeting.
Key feature: Does not require an SDK to install
Tagline: The Largest Mobile Deep Linking Platform for iOS and Android

Deeplink’s two major services, deep-links and AppWords
Source: deeplink.me
Bitly
Bitly has dived in to Deep Linking technology by applying it directly to its already extensive
link-creation and brand management platform. Its “BitLink” takes the user directly to the
page they want to see or the product they want to add in their basket via either downloading
the relevant app or taking the user to the equivalent HTML5 page. It also carries contextual
data through, analysing and segmenting it with Bitly’s tracking tools, and the company offers
a huge support knowledge base in the forms of ebooks, webinars and slides.
Key feature: Already integrated in its large Bitly Brand Tools Platform
Tagline: The Largest Mobile Deep Linking Platform for iOS and Android

Bitly’s three main resource tools
Source: bitly.com
Wildcard
WildCard, as the name implies, creates “cards”: these borrow snippets of code from the
target website, extract data and display it to the user on a “card” application such as Twitter,
Pinterest, Tumblr and its own app. Though currently available only on the US App Store, it
offers an immediate way of accessing a web app without having to download it, its library of
pre-made cards and extractions rules is growing fast and it is very easy to implement using
Ruby.
Key feature: Different “extraction rules” depending on whether the content is video, text,
or commerce-based.
Tagline: Browse a Better Mobile Web

An example of a WildCard Card
Source: trywildcard.com
AppLinks
AppLinks is free and open source, is fully compatible with all platforms, and comes with the
Facebook Index API, allowing for links to be checked to see if they are deep-linking compati-
ble. It keeps metadata and supports mobile-only; if you don’t have a mobile website or app, it
will translate your internet app via the use of Parse. It can also already count Spotify, Good-
Reads and Hulu among its top-line partners, and it has a strong support community on Stack
Overflow.
Key feature: Fully customisable API, down to the coding level
Tagline: Cross-Platform, Open Source and Simple Deep Linking
OneLink
OneLink is the deep-linking solution created by AppsFlyer. The platform creates one single
“smart link” which directs users to the correct app or website native to their platform. With
either direct or deffered links, it carries metadata through to the install, has an organic
pricing plan which scales with volume and is already compatible with other deep linking
platforms and code.

Key feature: Smart links can direct to specific newsletters, QR codes or campaigns, not just
landing pages.
Tagline: One Smart Link to Rule Them All
How deep linking changes flow depending on the user
Source: Appsflyer.com
Final thoughts
Seamless surfing on mobile is not as polished as its internet big-brother, which benefits from
an established standard. The technology however is moving forward quickly, with creative
solutions to the “app silo” problem, increasing the quality of user experience for millions of
app users worldwide. The current deep-linking solutions may not be flawless, but they take
a step in the right direction in making mobile app browsing, buying and consumption as
smooth as can be for users. This is surely a technology that is only going to get more sophisti-
cated and now is the time to get to grips with it in your apps.

App Deep Linking Guide

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