Custom event versus standard event

How it works

Both kinds are sent the same way: the app calls the SDK when the action happens. The difference is who decided the name and shape of the in-app event.

Because standard events have a known meaning, the MMP can show them in revenue and funnel reports with no setup. A custom event is only as useful as your own definition of it.

When it matters

Start with standard events. For most apps the actions that matter to ad spend are install, sign-up, trial start, subscription and purchase, and those are usually on the standard list. Reach for a custom event when your key action has no standard match: finishing a level, booking a class, sending a first message.

Plans treat the two differently. Some entry plans record standard events only. Airbridge Core is one: it collects standard events, and custom events are in the Growth Plan.^[1] This is one of the capabilities often outside an entry plan, so check the event row in the plan table.

How it relates to attribution

Attribution credits events to ads, so the events you can record set the outcomes you can measure. If your real goal can only be expressed as a custom event and the plan does not allow one, your reports will rank campaigns by a stand-in such as sign-up. When that stand-in stops matching revenue, it is a signal to move up a plan.