Mini-game IAA users versus app IAP users: do not add the series
WeChat documents IAA versus hybrid games with an IAP-share test. A illustrative lab shows why mini-game IAA user counts must not be added to app IAP payer counts.
Mini-game ad users and app store payers are different economic objects. WeChat’s 2026年微信小游戏广告变现激励政策 (effective 20 August 2026 on that page) classifies IAA-primary mini games as those with 内购流水 / (内购+广告流水) below 30% on a trailing seven-day view, and applies ad-revenue incentives to that class. Hybrid games at or above 30% IAP share follow a different activity test. That taxonomy alone is enough to forbid treating “IAA users” as interchangeable with “IAP payers,” and it still says nothing about an App Store China SKU.
Define the series before summing
Keep at least four columns:
- Mini-game IAA-qualified users (per platform definition / incentive eligibility)
- Mini-game IAP payers (virtual-payment surface)
- App Store China IAP payers (StoreKit)
- Explicit overlap only if the same person is known in both products via a documented identity join
Do not report (1)+(3) as “China converting users” without a join key and a written overlap rule.
Illustrative example
| Input | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Mini-game IAA-qualified users | 50,000 | illustrative |
| App Store China IAP payers | 8,000 | illustrative |
| Documented cross-surface overlap | 1,200 | illustrative |
| Mini-game IAP payers (same mini-game) | 3,500 | illustrative |
| Output | Result |
|---|---|
| Naive “China users” if IAA+app IAP added | 58,000 |
| Distinct once with stated overlap | 56,800 |
| Error if overlap ignored | +1,200 double-counts |
| Wrong object if IAA users treated as payers | 50,000 ad users ≠ payers |
Substitute your MMP or platform exports in the CSV. The WeChat page defines incentive classes on ad revenue (广告流水) for IAA games; it does not define an industry ROAS formula and does not mention Apple IAP.
Facts versus limits
| Fact | Limit |
|---|---|
| WeChat splits IAA vs hybrid at 30% IAP share of combined flow | Threshold is platform-specific; Douyin/Kuaishou may differ |
| IAA incentives attach to ad revenue for eligible users | Not a payer definition |
| Synthetic overlap is a teaching input | Not measured campaign data |
