Writing

Data studies and field notes from real paid UA accounts. Real numbers, stated methods, caveats included. Published here first, syndicated to LinkedIn.

2026 · August
Aug 2 · 2 minMeasurementWhat predicts D28 ROAS: day-0 value or cost per purchase?

I ranked the same 38 Meta app campaigns, $606,462 of spend, two ways: by day-0 ROAS and by cost per purchase. Rank correlation with day-28 ROAS came out at +0.96 for day-0 value and -0.81 for CPA. Back the best 13 and the gap is 96.6% against 85.9%.

Read
Aug 1 · 2 minChannelsMeta, Google, TikTok, or Apple Search Ads for your app?

Real D28 ROAS from one subscription app across four paid UA channels: Meta 1.61x, Apple Search Ads 1.30x, Google Ads 1.09x, TikTok below parity. What each channel is good for, and why the effort spent chasing a new channel usually earns more back on Meta.

Read
Aug 1 · 1 minMeasurementShould you turn off 1 day view on Meta? I keep it on.
Aug 1 · 2 minMeasurementMeta vs RevenueCat vs Adjust: which number do you trust?
2026 · July
Jul 9 · 6 minSubscriptionWhat happens when I remove the trial from my app?

A subscription app removed its free trial for paid Meta traffic. Conversion went from 7.1% to 12% and cost per result fell from $58 to $40. The full test, week by week.

Read
Jul 2 · 5 minMetaCan I trust the Meta algorithm? Perhaps.

An audit of $383K in Meta tROAS spend, country by country. 7% had been failing the exact metric the algorithm optimizes, and no dashboard flagged it. The scoring framework that catches it in thirty minutes a month.

Read
2026 · January
Jan 16 · 4 minMetaI admit I paused a $45K Meta campaign. Here's why.

A bootstrapped fitness app, $1,500 a day, 40+ creatives, and a $30 cost per trial that would not move. Why we paused instead of pushing, and the five lessons from the decision.

Read
Jan 8 · 7 minChannelsGoogle Search Ads for app installs: the complete breakdown

Google Search for app installs is broken by design: no keyword control, no search term visibility, and iOS attribution that dies at the App Store redirect. The five workarounds and their trade-offs. Co-written with Burak Arslan.

Read
2025 · December
Dec 17 · 10 minMetaMeta Andromeda killed your 2025 playbook. Here's the 2026 one.

Andromeda changed how Meta processes signals and finds audiences. The full playbook: channel order, Tier 1 West testing, IPM benchmarks, the three-phase campaign structure, signal choice, scaling, and subscription cash flow.

Read
2025 · October
Oct 29 · 2 minCreativeWhen ad volume misleads, why IPM is not enough, and how emotion builds ROAS
Oct 9 · 2 minChannelsThe case for second-tier markets (when Tier 1 CPIs hit double digits)
2025 · August
Aug 14 · 1 minProductThe lonely first minute test
Aug 5 · 1 minCreativeHow I use AI to improve App Store screenshots (with the exact prompt)
2025 · July
Jul 29 · 1 minCreativeFrequency beats duration: what Meta's attention research says
Jul 11 · 2 minMeasurementThe ROAS equation: intent, fit, funnel, and cost
Profitable App Growth · weekly · 1,000+ subscribers · Subscribe on LinkedIn ↗