Overview

Create deep links that open the right screen, fall back to the store when the app isn't installed, and credit installs and re-engagement to your campaigns.

RightLinks are AdShift's deep linking and attribution links. You build a template once — which apps it covers, its rightlink.me subdomain, and where users go when they don't have the app — then create as many links as you need from it: one per campaign, channel, or experience. Every tap is measured, so the traffic you drive shows up in your attribution and re-engagement reports alongside every other source.

Use a RightLink anywhere you can put a URL: a push notification, an SMS, a social post, a QR code, a referral, or a paid retargeting ad. When someone taps it:

if they have your app, it opens directly to the screen you chose, and
if they don't, they're sent to the App Store / Google Play (or a web page you pick).

Either way, AdShift records the click and credits the resulting install or re-engagement to that campaign.

You'll find everything under Engage → RightLink Management in the dashboard.

What you can do with RightLinks

Deep link to a specific place in your app — a product, a promo, a saved cart — instead of dropping users on the home screen.
Re-engage existing users — links in push, SMS, or social bring users back and are credited as re-engagement to that campaign.
Run paid retargeting — hand a link to a DSP or ad network so their retargeting clicks attribute back to you.
Handle "no app yet" gracefully — send non-users to the store or a web page.
Use your own domain — links can run on *.rightlink.me or on your own branded domain (e.g. link.yourbrand.com).

Key concepts

Term	What it means
Template	The reusable base: which apps, the `rightlink.me` subdomain, and the redirection behavior (store / web / open the app). Create once, reuse for many links. You rarely need more than one or two.
Link	A single shareable URL created from a template and tagged with one campaign's parameters.
Experience	A preset you pick when creating a link — Social-to-app, Referral-to-app, Text-to-app, QR-to-app, App-to-app, or Custom — which pre-fills the typical media sources for that channel.
Deep link value	Which screen the app should open. Your app reads it and routes the user there.
Redirection	What happens when the app isn't installed (App Store / Google Play / web), and what happens when it is (open the app via Universal Links / App Links).
Branded domain	Your own hostname mapped to a RightLink subdomain, so links show your brand.

What you configure

On the template (set once, shared by all its links):

The apps the template covers (iOS, Android, or both) and a subdomain (yourname.rightlink.me).
Redirection per platform: where users without the app go (App Store / Google Play / a web URL), and whether installed users open the app via iOS Universal Links (Team ID + Bundle ID) or Android App Links (SHA256 fingerprints).

On each link (per campaign):

Media source and Campaign name — how the traffic appears in your reports.
Retargeting settings — turn these on for re-engagement campaigns, and set the re-engagement window.
Deep link value — the in-app screen to open.
Optional: extra attribution parameters, a custom lookback window, cost-per-install, and a social-media preview (Open Graph) image and text.

How attribution works (in short)

A user taps your RightLink.
If the app is installed it opens directly; if not, the user goes to the store.
AdShift records the click and, on the next app open, matches it to the user.
With retargeting on, an existing user's return is credited as re-engagement; a brand-new user is credited as an install.

You don't need to put any device IDs in the link — the AdShift SDK identifies the device and links the click to the open automatically. Device IDs in the link only matter for paid retargeting through external networks (e.g. a DSP), where the click happens outside your app and the network injects the device ID at click time.

Get started

Setting up RightLinks involves a marketer (who builds the template and the links) and a one-time developer step (so taps open the app and route to the right screen). The full walkthrough — creating a template, creating a link, testing, and measuring — is in the RightLinks onboarding guide.

For the most common owned-media use case, see Measure push notification re-engagement.

Tips & troubleshooting

Re-engagement isn't showing up — make sure retargeting is configured on the link and that re-engagement is enabled in your App Settings. Without it, the traffic counts as a plain app open.
The link opens the store even though I have the app — the template's app-opening setup (Universal Links / App Links) isn't configured or verified for that app. Check with your developer.
Wrong screen after tapping — confirm the deep link value matches what your app routes on.