Short answer: A Google Play app link has one required part: your app's package name in id=, on the address https://play.google.com/store/apps/details. If id= is missing, misspelled or points at another package, the link opens the wrong page. Campaign tags go inside referrer=, not alongside it.
What does a correct Google Play link look like?
Google Play app link: a link of the form https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=<package name> that opens your app's store listing.
Package name: your app's unique ID on Google Play, written like a reversed web address, such as com.example.app. Google's own example is com.google.android.apps.maps.
The package name is not the app's display name. "Example Shopping" might have the package name com.example.shop, and only the package name works in the link.
Why does my Play Store link open the wrong page?
Usually because the package name is missing or wrong. Google Play can't guess which app you meant, so it shows an error, a search or a different app.
- Missing id=: the link is just
play.google.com/store/appsor/detailswith nothing after it. - Typo in the package: one wrong letter points at a different app, or none.
- Display name instead of package:
id=Example Shoppingdoesn't work. - Extra parameters with ?: a second
?breaks the link. See two question marks. - Tags in the wrong place: UTM tags placed next to
id=instead of insidereferrer=. See Play Store referrer encoding.
Example
A link with no package name and loose UTM tags:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?utm_source=influencer&utm_medium=creatorA working link with the package name and the tags inside the referrer:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.example.app&referrer=utm_source%3Dinfluencer%26utm_medium%3Dcreator%26utm_campaign%3DdiwaliHow to find your package name
- In your app's public Play Store listing, the package name is the value after
id=in the browser's address bar. - Your developers will also have it, as the application ID in the app's build settings.
- Copy it exactly. A single changed character points at a different app, or at nothing.
How to fix it
- Paste the link into the link checker. It shows whether a package name was found and what it is.
- Compare the package name with the one in your live store listing.
- Rebuild the link in the app store link builder. Enter the package name and your campaign tags, and it writes the referrer for you.
- Test the final link on an Android phone. It should open your listing in the Play Store app.
- If you also need an iPhone link, build an App Store link separately. A Play link can't serve iPhone users. See one link for both stores.