A Google App campaign puts your Android or iOS app in front of people on Google Search, Google Play, YouTube and partner apps, and charges you for installs. You pick the app, the country, a few lines of text and a daily budget. Google builds the ads from your store listing.
I set one up for the MagicSlides Android app after watching a video of someone getting around 100 installs a day on ₹100 a day. I didn't click through the wizard myself. Claude Code drove my Chrome browser and did it.
This guide shows every click with real screenshots from my own Google Ads account. You can do it by hand, or paste the prompt at the end and let Claude Code do it.
What you need before you start
- An app that is live on Google Play or the App Store. Google searches the store to find it, so a draft app won't show up.
- A Google Ads account with billing set up. If you use prepaid billing, make sure the balance isn't near zero, or the campaign will publish and then never serve.
- About 15 minutes. The wizard has four parts: settings, ad group, bidding and budget, and review.
- Optional: Claude Code with the Claude in Chrome extension if you want the AI to do the clicking. See the last section.
Create the App campaign, click by click
Step 1: Pick the "App promotion" objective
In Google Ads, click Create → Campaign. On "What's your campaign objective?", click App promotion.
Step 2: Keep the "App" campaign type
Google preselects App, which covers Search, Play, YouTube, Gmail, Discover and partner sites. You don't need to change anything here. Rename the campaign below it to something you'll recognise later, like MyApp | Android | IN | Installs.
Step 3: Choose "App installs" and your platform
Scroll down. Under the campaign subtype, keep App installs. App engagement needs at least 50,000 installs, so it isn't for new apps. Then pick Android or iOS. You need one campaign per platform.
Step 4: Find your app
In Look up your app, paste your package name (for example com.indianappguy.magicslides) or your Play Store URL. The package name is the fastest way because it matches exactly one app. Click your app in the results, then click Continue.
Step 5: Check the app on Campaign settings
The next page opens with your app at the top. Check that the name and developer are right before you go on.
Step 6: Set the location
Google defaults to All countries and territories. Change it to the one country you actually want users from. I picked India. Start with one country so the cost per install you see means something.
Step 7: Set the language
Keep English if your app and store listing are in English, or add the languages your users actually speak. Leave view-through conversions on, then click Next.
Step 8: Write 5 headlines
This is the ad group step. You get up to 5 headlines of 30 characters each. Write one per field. Google mixes and matches them, so each one has to make sense on its own. These are the ones I used:
- AI Presentation Maker
- Type One Line, Get a Deck
- Make PPTs With AI in Seconds
- Free AI Slide Generator
- Slides From Text, PDF or URL
Tip: while you type, Google shows a dropdown of "Ideas" under the field. It catches the next click, so press Escape after each headline before you click the next field.
Step 9: Write your descriptions
Add up to 5 descriptions of 90 characters each. Say what the app does and who it's for.
You can also add images and videos here. I skipped them on the first run, and Google used the screenshots and feature graphic from my Play Store listing. Ad strength will say "Poor" without them. That's fine for a test, but videos help a lot once you have them. Click Next.
Step 10: Bid for install volume
On Bidding and budget, keep Install volume as the focus. Google creates the install conversion for you, called "YourApp (Android) installs". Keep that selected. Leave the users setting on All users.
Step 11: Set a target cost per install
Tick Set a target cost per install. Google shows the typical cost for your country. For India it showed $0.04, about ₹3.5. Click Apply to use it.
Step 12: Set a budget of at least 50× your target cost per install
Scroll down to Budget and enter your daily budget. If it's too low, Google shows this warning:
Your budget is too low for your target cost-per-install, which means your ads may not show. … increase your budget to at least 50x your target cost-per-install.
So at $0.04 per install, the minimum is $2.00 a day (about ₹170). I set $2.00 and the warning went away.
Click Next.
Step 13: Review and publish
The review page lists everything you set. Google will also recommend adding an audience signal. It's optional for an install campaign. When everything looks right, click Publish campaign.
Step 14: Confirm it's live
Open the campaign. The status should say Enabled and Eligible (Learning). Learning usually lasts a few days while Google figures out who installs.
The budget mistake I made
My first campaign went live at $1.20 a day (₹100) with a target cost per install of $0.03. On paper that's 40 installs a day. In practice, the first day got 3 impressions, 0 clicks and $0 spent.
The reason is the rule from step 12. 50 × $0.03 = $1.50, and my budget was $1.20. Google mostly didn't enter auctions, because the budget couldn't pay for enough installs for it to learn from.
If you want to spend ₹100 a day, lower the target cost per install to about $0.02, or remove it. If you want Google's suggested $0.04, budget at least $2 a day. Pick one of the two numbers and set the other from it.
Let Claude Code do it for you
You can skip the clicking. Claude Code can drive your own logged-in Chrome through the Claude in Chrome extension. It sees the page, clicks, types and reads back what's on screen.
- Install Claude Code and the Claude in Chrome extension.
- Log in to Google Ads in that Chrome.
- Start Claude Code with Chrome enabled (
claude --chrome) and paste this prompt with your own values:
Open Google Ads in Chrome and create a new App campaign. Don't publish until I say yes.
- Objective: App promotion, type App, subtype App installs
- Platform: Android, app: com.yourcompany.yourapp
- Location: India only. Language: English
- 5 headlines (max 30 chars) and 5 descriptions (max 90 chars), written from my Play Store listing
- Bidding: Install volume, All users, target cost per install = Google's suggested value
- Daily budget: at least 50x the target cost per install
- After typing each headline, press Escape before clicking the next field
- On the review page, take a screenshot, list every setting, and wait for my OK
It takes a few minutes. Claude stops on the review page, and you read the settings and say yes. Logins and payments stay with you: Claude doesn't type passwords or card details, so if Google asks you to confirm it's you, or the account needs funds, you do that part.
What to check after you publish
- Day 1–2: impressions above zero. If it's still near 0, check the prepaid balance first, then the 50× rule.
- Day 3–7: cost per install vs your target. Don't change bids or budget more than once every few days. Every change restarts learning.
- Week 2: installs that turn into users. Installs are cheap. Track sign-ups and first actions in the app, and once you have enough of them, switch the goal from installs to an in-app action.
- Add a video. A 15–30 second screen recording of the app in vertical format opens up YouTube Shorts placements, which usually brings the cost down.
Google explains the setup options in its App campaigns overview. If you also run Meta ads, TalkToAds lets you do the same kind of thing from a chat: ask Claude or ChatGPT to check, launch or pause campaigns in your ad account.