Apple recently took actions to dissuade developers from participating in incentivized install programs, meaning programs that encouraged consumers to download new apps in return for virtual goods and other bonuses which could be used in mobile gaming and other apps. But while those changes may have negatively affected some companies’ programs, for example, Tapjoy, it has led to opportunities for others.
Today, one of those hoping to benefit from the increasingly important marketing needs of app developers is Appia. It’s launching a pay-per-install ad network that it says offers guaranteed ROI to developers. The service launched today at the 2011 AppNation conference in San Francisco.
Appia Launches Pay Per Download
The new ad network supports Android, iOS, Java, Symbian, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry and Palm, and developers will only have to pay for the actual downloads of their apps.
The company’s distribution network offered 22 million downloads in March, the company says, and now reaches over 200 million mobile users in over 200 countries worldwide. A recent partnership with Opera to power its Opera Mobile Store allows Appia to reach 100 million Opera users and a partnership with Mexico’s Telcel for its Ideas Appstore reaches another 64 million mobile subscribers. In total, Appia now has a network of 40 different app stores.
On Appia’s network, consumers know that the ads they see are sponsored, similar to how Google Ad Words works. When you search Google, you see Sponsored Results clearly marked; the same will be true here, the company explains. This is more transparent for the end user, which is an obvious benefit, and those users will then only download the app because they think they might like it, not because they were somehow tricked or bribed into doing so.
Targeting Capabilities and More Details
Currently, developers can target ads by platform and country only, but Dov Cohn, VP, Product & Marketing told us that more criteria, including categories and sub-categories of apps, will be available in the future. So far, developers using the platform have seen average cost per user at anywhere from $.05 to $1.25 so far, but the actual price will depend highly on the platform and country being targeted.
To use the service, developers upload their app to Appia’s developer portal and set the bid price they way to pay, choose their target areas or devices, then select a payment method. A dashboard displays how the campaign progresses, showing details of activity by device, platform and geography.
Jo Ryall, a Marketing Manager at Flirtomatic and one of the program’s earliest users, has positive words, noting that, “for most developers, if youre not in the top 25 search results for your category, your app has little chance for success.” Ryall says Appias new program gives the company greater control over marketing and distribution, so it can reach new users and drive downloads more effectively.
Other interested developers can sign up here: www.appia.com/ppd
