Kochava launches certification for major ad platforms Meta, Google, TikTok

Measurement platform Kochava launched its Partner Certification Program on December 15, 2025, establishing formal recognition for advertising platforms and networks that meet specific requirements around integration quality, traffic health, and technical collaboration. The program designates six companies—Meta, Google Ads, Snapchat, TikTok, Liftoff, and YouAppi—as initial certified partners within Kochava's integrations marketplace.

The certification initiative arrives as mobile app advertisers navigate increasingly complex measurement environments shaped by privacy regulations, platform policy changes, and fragmented attribution frameworks. Patrick Hurley, Director of Technical and Product Operations at Kochava, emphasized the program's focus on operational reliability. "Across today's complex advertising landscape, marketers need confidence that every integration supporting their campaigns operates with integrity, technical precision, and reliability," Hurley stated in the announcement. "The Kochava Partner Certification Program ensures that our customers can trust these partners to meet the highest standards for performance, transparency, and traffic quality."

Partners achieving certified status must demonstrate adherence to three distinct program requirements. Integration Best Practices encompasses technical implementation standards, API usage protocols, and data transmission specifications. Traffic Health & Quality involves monitoring ad traffic patterns, detecting invalid activity, and maintaining signal integrity across conversion tracking systems. Certification Training requires participating organizations to complete educational programs covering Kochava's measurement methodologies, platform capabilities, and optimization frameworks.

The program structure positions certified partners at what Kochava describes as "the premier ranks" of its global partner ecosystem. These organizations receive priority partner support for expedited troubleshooting, testing, and integration optimization. They gain access to joint co-marketing programs including thought leadership content, case studies, and event participation. Certified partners also receive deeper product insights and early visibility into new features and roadmap developments, alongside new growth opportunities across shared customer accounts.

Technical precision matters particularly for mobile measurement partners operating within Apple's privacy framework. TikTok enabled real-time iOS conversion tracking through Kochava partnership launched October 21, 2025, addressing delays associated with SKAdNetwork attribution. That integration allowed app marketers to access near real-time, granular conversion data for iOS campaigns without waiting for SKAN reporting windows. The system provided visibility into detailed performance metrics and conversion data through TikTok Ads Manager by integrating mobile measurement partner iOS-modeled conversions.

Kochava operates as a badged partner across multiple platforms' measurement ecosystems. Meta announced improved AI optimization for app and gaming advertisers on November 3, 2025, delivering 29% higher ROAS through enhanced mobile measurement partner alignment for iOS and Android campaigns. The company's badged mobile measurement partners include Adjust, Airbridge, AppsFlyer, Branch, Kochava, Singular, and Tenjin. The certification framework establishes formal criteria beyond these existing partnership relationships.

Google launched enhanced measurement tools for iOS app campaigns on August 14, 2025, including Target ROAS bidding and expanded on-device measurement capabilities. App Attribution Partners—third-party mobile measurement companies certified by Google including Kochava—provide analytics for app campaigns. Each partner maintains distinct technical specifications for optimal integration, with Kochava implementations requiring specific attribution window configurations and SDK versions.

The measurement technology landscape has experienced substantial consolidation around mobile measurement partners throughout 2025. Amazon DSP expanded MMP integrations in February 2024, including Kochava among supported partners for app conversion tracking through its Events Manager beta program. That expansion allowed advertisers to connect in-app conversion data from leading mobile measurement partners directly to Amazon DSP campaigns, facilitating improved attribution and audience targeting.

Measurement methodology debates have intensified as platforms implement privacy-preserving frameworks. Research from Kochava announced September 23, 2025 found that marketing mix modeling revealed TikTok campaigns generated an average of 35% higher incremental impact compared to last-touch attribution reporting. The study analyzed major Android and iOS applications across North America during the first quarter of 2025, highlighting measurement methodology's influence on perceived channel effectiveness.

Last-touch attribution assigns conversion credit to the final touchpoint before a user action, while marketing mix modeling employs statistical analysis to evaluate all marketing activities' contribution to business outcomes. TikTok's unique video platform characteristics contribute to measurement challenges, with user engagement patterns that differ substantially from other digital advertising platforms. The research indicated that TikTok advertisements frequently initiate broader customer exploration journeys that traditional attribution models struggle to track comprehensively.

The certification program addresses traffic quality concerns that have complicated mobile advertising measurement. Invalid traffic detection, fraud prevention, and signal integrity represent critical challenges for platforms managing billions of daily ad impressions. Certified partners must maintain specific thresholds for traffic health metrics, though Kochava did not disclose numerical requirements in the December 15 announcement.

Technical implementation standards vary significantly across certified platforms. Meta activated SKAdNetwork 4.0 in June 2025, implementing Apple's attribution framework that provides aggregated campaign performance data without device-level identifiers. The framework covers 77% of all referral-based conversions to the App Store, making proper implementation critical for iOS advertising success. Mobile measurement partners must navigate these platform-specific requirements while maintaining consistent measurement methodologies across different advertising ecosystems.

Snapchat's inclusion among initial certified partners reflects the platform's measurement infrastructure investments. TikTok's certification follows the October 21 real-time conversion reporting launch, demonstrating rapid integration between announcement and formal recognition. Google Ads maintains extensive mobile measurement partnerships across its advertising portfolio, including Display & Video 360 programmatic buying platform and Google Ads API implementations.

Liftoff and YouAppi represent mobile-first advertising platforms specializing in app user acquisition and retention campaigns. Their certification acknowledges measurement capabilities specific to app marketing objectives including install attribution, in-app event tracking, and lifetime value optimization. These platforms operate within competitive user acquisition markets where measurement accuracy directly impacts campaign economics and client retention.

The certification structure creates differentiation within Kochava's broader integrations marketplace, which encompasses hundreds of advertising platforms, analytics tools, and marketing technology vendors. Not all integration partners qualify for certification, suggesting the designation carries meaningful technical and operational requirements beyond basic API connectivity.

Priority partner support represents a substantial operational benefit for certified platforms. Expedited troubleshooting reduces integration downtime that can disrupt advertiser campaigns. Testing resources enable faster implementation of new features and capabilities. Integration optimization ensures maximum measurement coverage and attribution accuracy across complex technical environments involving multiple tracking frameworks, consent management systems, and privacy regulations.

Joint co-marketing programs provide certified partners with distribution channels for thought leadership content and case studies demonstrating measurement capabilities. These programs position certified platforms as preferred integration choices within Kochava's customer base. Event participation at industry conferences and trade shows reinforces certification status through public recognition.

Early visibility into new features and roadmap developments gives certified partners competitive advantages in platform planning and customer communication. These partners can prepare integration updates before general availability, minimizing deployment timelines when Kochava releases measurement enhancements. Product insights enable certified platforms to optimize their own advertising products based on measurement trends and technical developments.

Growth opportunities across shared customer accounts suggest Kochava will facilitate introductions and partnerships between certified platforms and advertisers using its measurement services. This ecosystem approach creates network effects where certification benefits extend beyond direct Kochava relationships into broader advertising market opportunities.

The program launch timing coincides with broader industry adoption of partner certification frameworks. LinkedIn launched its Company Intelligence API through partnerships with certified attribution providers Channel99, Dreamdata, Factors.ai, Fibbler, and Octane11 on September 23, 2025. LinkedIn's partner certification process ensures data quality and measurement accuracy standards across different attribution platforms, similar to Kochava's approach.

Certification programs establish formal quality standards that reduce integration risk for advertisers selecting measurement technologies. Without certification frameworks, advertisers must independently evaluate integration reliability, traffic quality, and technical support capabilities across hundreds of potential partners. Formal certification consolidates these evaluations into standardized requirements administered by measurement platforms.

The six initial certified partners represent substantial portions of global digital advertising spend. Meta generated $39.9 billion in advertising revenue during Q3 2025. Google Ads revenue reached $65.9 billion in the same period. TikTok's advertising business continues rapid expansion across global markets. These platforms' certification provides Kochava with validation from industry leaders while establishing baseline expectations for future certification candidates.

Privacy-preserving measurement frameworks continue reshaping mobile advertising attribution. Apple's App Tracking Transparency framework, implemented in April 2021, required apps to obtain explicit user permission before tracking activity across other companies' apps and websites. SKAdNetwork provides aggregated attribution data without exposing individual user identifiers, fundamentally changing iOS measurement methodologies.

Android's Privacy Sandbox initiatives introduce similar privacy constraints through proposed advertising ID restrictions and attribution reporting mechanisms. Google announced plans to deprecate third-party cookies in Chrome browser, though implementation timelines have shifted multiple times throughout 2024 and 2025. These platform changes increase importance of mobile measurement partner certifications that verify proper implementation of privacy-preserving attribution frameworks.

Consent management integration represents another certification requirement dimension. European Union's General Data Protection Regulation and California Consumer Privacy Act impose specific requirements for user consent collection and data processing. Mobile measurement partners must properly handle consent signals across different regulatory jurisdictions while maintaining measurement accuracy and attribution coverage.

The certification program does not appear to involve third-party auditing organizations. Industry measurement certification programs sometimes utilize organizations like the Media Rating Council for independent validation. MRC accreditation verifies compliance with standardized measurement protocols across various advertising formats and platforms. Kochava's program operates as an internal certification framework administered by the company's technical and product operations teams.

Program expansion beyond the six initial partners remains uncertain. The announcement positioned these companies as "premier partners" leading the rollout, suggesting additional certifications may follow. Kochava did not specify whether certification requires annual renewal, ongoing compliance monitoring, or periodic recertification processes.

Traffic health monitoring involves continuous analysis of ad traffic patterns, conversion signal quality, and attribution accuracy. Mobile advertising fraud represents persistent challenges including install fraud, click injection, click flooding, and SDK spoofing. Certified partners must demonstrate effective fraud detection and prevention capabilities that protect advertisers from invalid traffic.

Integration optimization extends beyond initial implementation to ongoing maintenance as platforms update APIs, modify tracking mechanisms, or introduce new advertising products. Certified partners commit to maintaining integration quality through these technical changes, ensuring measurement consistency for shared customers.

The program's emphasis on technical precision reflects mobile measurement's operational complexity. Attribution windows, conversion tracking protocols, deep linking implementation, and cross-device identification require sophisticated technical infrastructure. Certification validates that partners maintain this infrastructure to standards supporting reliable campaign measurement and optimization.

Kochava's positioning as "the leading real-time data solutions company for omnichannel outcomes" emphasizes measurement capabilities across mobile apps, web properties, connected television, and offline channels. Multi-touch attribution, modern marketing mix modeling, end-to-end campaign management, and AI-driven workflows comprise the company's product offerings.

The company maintains global operations with headquarters in the United States and international offices. Kochava serves performance-focused brands and platforms across industries including e-commerce, gaming, entertainment, financial services, and retail. Client relationships span advertisers, agencies, and advertising technology vendors requiring independent measurement verification.

Mobile measurement partnerships have become increasingly strategic as app advertising represents growing portions of digital marketing budgets. Mobile app install campaigns, in-app purchase optimization, and user retention programs depend on accurate attribution connecting advertising exposures to user actions. Measurement discrepancies between platforms create challenges for budget allocation and performance evaluation.

The certification program establishes formal recognition for integration quality that previously existed informally through partnership relationships. Marketing professionals selecting measurement technologies can reference certification status as verification of technical capabilities and platform support quality. This reduces evaluation complexity when comparing mobile measurement partner options.

Timeline

• February 18, 2024: Amazon DSP Events Manager expands with mobile measurement partner integrations including Kochava, Adjust, and Singular
• August 14, 2025: Google launches enhanced measurement tools for iOS app campaigns featuring certified App Attribution Partners including Kochava
• September 23, 2025: Kochava study shows TikTok impact 35% higher with marketing mix modeling compared to last-touch attribution
• September 23, 2025: LinkedIn launches Company Intelligence API through certified attribution partners demonstrating industry certification trend
• October 21, 2025: TikTok enables real-time iOS conversion tracking through Kochava partnership addressing SKAN delays
• November 3, 2025: Meta enhances AI optimization for app and gaming campaigns with improved mobile measurement partner alignment including Kochava
• November 25, 2025: Kochava launches StationOne to address AI tool consolidation
• December 15, 2025: Kochava announces Partner Certification Program recognizing Meta, Google Ads, Snapchat, TikTok, Liftoff, and YouAppi

Summary

Who: Kochava, the measurement and attribution platform company, announced the Partner Certification Program through Patrick Hurley, Director of Technical and Product Operations. The program recognizes six certified partners: Meta, Google Ads, Snapchat, TikTok, Liftoff, and YouAppi. These platforms serve advertisers, agencies, and marketing professionals requiring verified measurement integration quality.

What: A formal certification program designating highest-performing organizations across Kochava's integrations marketplace. Certification requires demonstrating adherence to Integration Best Practices, Traffic Health & Quality standards, and Certification Training completion. Certified partners receive priority support, co-marketing programs, early product visibility, and growth opportunities across shared customer accounts.

When: Kochava announced the program on December 15, 2025, with the six initial certified partners leading the rollout. The timing coincides with industry-wide adoption of privacy-preserving measurement frameworks and increased scrutiny of attribution accuracy across mobile advertising platforms.

Where: The program operates globally across Kochava's integrations marketplace, affecting advertisers and platforms operating in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and other international markets. Certified partners deliver measurement capabilities across mobile apps, web properties, and connected television environments worldwide.

Why: The certification addresses marketers' need for confidence that integrations supporting campaigns operate with integrity, technical precision, and reliability. The program raises standards for integration quality, transparency, and traffic health across the global advertising ecosystem while differentiating premier partners within Kochava's broader marketplace. Certification provides advertisers with verified measurement options as privacy regulations and platform changes increase attribution complexity.