6 ms·

Developer Earns Nearly $1,400 in One Day With iAds

54 points by illumin8 16y ago

larsberg 16y ago
That's madness! I was happy when my eCPM would get around $3 back with AdMob in my old iPhone apps.
illumin8 16y ago
Sorry, I just realized this was a duplicate of the original HN post. I believe it does add to the discussion, however, because I was unable to access the Dropbox hosted image from work, yet it is compiled clearly in this article with additional information.
rmoriz 16y ago
duplicate of http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1496742 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1496742
jrockway 16y ago
$1400/day for applying power to a LED. Well done.
- colinprince 16y ago
  From the macrumors comments: This developer earned $1,400 from serving adds to people who are standing in the dark holding their iPhone at arm's length so they can use it as a flashlight. Somehow I don't think the advertisers are getting their money's worth on that one. hehe
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
billybob 16y ago
Is this indicative of a trend, or of users going "hey, I've never seen an ad here before, what's that all about?"
- lftl 16y ago
  I don't think there's anyway that it can be a sustainable trend. You'd have to have one hell of a product to get a positive ROI on that CPM (plus you have to add in Apple's take). I imagine it's a lot of novelty of the platform, and the fact that iAd is a good bit more engaging than most of the other ad platforms. Eventually ad fatigue will set in though.
- holman 16y ago
  It's a huge rate, that's for sure. I'm sure it's due to the reasons you mentioned- these ads will remain viable for some time. The actual rate paid out is likely not sustainable, though. Same thing happened to AdSense when it launched- those who got into the private beta in April/May/June were doing gangbusters until the market settled down after that summer.
  - omarchowdhury 16y ago
    Yeah same thing happened with Yahoo's Publisher Network. People were getting paid $3-8 a click for finance ads on myspace layout websites.
gojomo 16y ago
Might this app be winning installs as the first iAd demo -- with its LED flashlight feature merely an afterthought? And, are the ads for physical flashlights? Carrots?
simplegeek 16y ago
Please pardon my ignorance, but what is iAds?
- dandelany 16y ago
  This is the Internet. Knowledge abounds. Your ignorance is not pardoned.
  - dandelany 16y ago
    Dear downvoters: HN threads are meant to be a place of discussion, not a replacement for Google.
    - DenisM 16y ago
      Not a place for snark either. Let's keep this place civilized.
- stingraycharles 16y ago
  iAds is the new mobile advertising platform from Apple. See: http://advertising.apple.com/ http://advertising.apple.com/
  - simplegeek 16y ago
    Thanks. Also, apologies I should have Googled that first ;)
- mkramlich 16y ago
  Here let me Google that for you...
dminor 16y ago
So does Apple charge a flat $2/click to all advertisers?
czhiddy 16y ago
I imagine this is happening: 1) New iPhone 4 owner downloads a free flashlight app. Plays around with the one-button interface, gets bored. 2) Notices iAd, clicks on it. 3) Navigates around the ad more than he/she does the app. I don't see the $1400/day revenue lasting much longer for this developer. If the user launches the flashlight app in the future, they'll just use the flashlight and quit. I doubt many people will actually touch the ads when they're searching for stuff in the dark.
- st3fan 16y ago
  It is all about volume and new iPhone sales. I'm sure it will last. Until there are 20 other LED Flashlight apps in the store. THAT will kill its revenues.
  - czhiddy 16y ago
    I think as the novelty of iAds wears off, the number of people who view them in otherwise empty apps will drop significantly. People who use the flashlight app could care less what was on the screen when all they want is the back to light up. Considering implementing an LED flashlight is literally like 20 lines of code and a few .png files, I'm amused at how many (incredibly shoddily written) paid versions exist. I wonder what goes through a customer's head as he/she scrolls through pages of free versions to buy a $0.99 flashlight.
    - Hexstream 16y ago
      "I wonder what goes through a customer's head as he/she scrolls through pages of free versions to buy a $0.99 flashlight." "It's infinitely more expensive! It must be infinitely better!!!"
- minouye 16y ago
  Spot on--an 11.8% CTR on a mobile device is not sustainable.
- Oompa 16y ago
  Not to mention iAds are new. I'd likely click any one I see, since I haven't seen one yet.
GVRV 16y ago
Is CTR actually clicking the ad and going to the advertiser's webpage or just interacting with the ad? If it's just like normal CTR, I don't see how iAds could result in a better performance. Maybe people like to play the mini-games, but no one would click through just because they liked the interactive aspect. The only reason to click through would either be curiosity or actual interest. Sure there's one developer who earned a jackpot, but what's the average payout for developers using iAds?
aresant 16y ago
In case anybody wants to download the app itself: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=379753015&mt=8 http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftwa...

54 points by illumin8 16y ago

That's madness! I was happy when my eCPM would get around $3 back with AdMob in my old iPhone apps.

Sorry, I just realized this was a duplicate of the original HN post. I believe it does add to the discussion, however, because I was unable to access the Dropbox hosted image from work, yet it is compiled clearly in this article with additional information.

rmoriz 16y ago

duplicate of http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1496742 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1496742

jrockway 16y ago

$1400/day for applying power to a LED. Well done.

colinprince 16y ago
From the macrumors comments: This developer earned $1,400 from serving adds to people who are standing in the dark holding their iPhone at arm's length so they can use it as a flashlight. Somehow I don't think the advertisers are getting their money's worth on that one. hehe
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]

billybob 16y ago

Is this indicative of a trend, or of users going "hey, I've never seen an ad here before, what's that all about?"

lftl 16y ago
I don't think there's anyway that it can be a sustainable trend. You'd have to have one hell of a product to get a positive ROI on that CPM (plus you have to add in Apple's take). I imagine it's a lot of novelty of the platform, and the fact that iAd is a good bit more engaging than most of the other ad platforms. Eventually ad fatigue will set in though.
holman 16y ago
It's a huge rate, that's for sure. I'm sure it's due to the reasons you mentioned- these ads will remain viable for some time. The actual rate paid out is likely not sustainable, though. Same thing happened to AdSense when it launched- those who got into the private beta in April/May/June were doing gangbusters until the market settled down after that summer.
- omarchowdhury 16y ago
  Yeah same thing happened with Yahoo's Publisher Network. People were getting paid $3-8 a click for finance ads on myspace layout websites.

gojomo 16y ago

Might this app be winning installs as the first iAd demo -- with its LED flashlight feature merely an afterthought? And, are the ads for physical flashlights? Carrots?

simplegeek 16y ago

Please pardon my ignorance, but what is iAds?

dandelany 16y ago
This is the Internet. Knowledge abounds. Your ignorance is not pardoned.
- dandelany 16y ago
  Dear downvoters: HN threads are meant to be a place of discussion, not a replacement for Google.
  - DenisM 16y ago
    Not a place for snark either. Let's keep this place civilized.
stingraycharles 16y ago
iAds is the new mobile advertising platform from Apple. See: http://advertising.apple.com/ http://advertising.apple.com/
- simplegeek 16y ago
  Thanks. Also, apologies I should have Googled that first ;)
mkramlich 16y ago
Here let me Google that for you...

dminor 16y ago

So does Apple charge a flat $2/click to all advertisers?

czhiddy 16y ago

I imagine this is happening: 1) New iPhone 4 owner downloads a free flashlight app. Plays around with the one-button interface, gets bored. 2) Notices iAd, clicks on it. 3) Navigates around the ad more than he/she does the app. I don't see the $1400/day revenue lasting much longer for this developer. If the user launches the flashlight app in the future, they'll just use the flashlight and quit. I doubt many people will actually touch the ads when they're searching for stuff in the dark.

st3fan 16y ago
It is all about volume and new iPhone sales. I'm sure it will last. Until there are 20 other LED Flashlight apps in the store. THAT will kill its revenues.
- czhiddy 16y ago
  I think as the novelty of iAds wears off, the number of people who view them in otherwise empty apps will drop significantly. People who use the flashlight app could care less what was on the screen when all they want is the back to light up. Considering implementing an LED flashlight is literally like 20 lines of code and a few .png files, I'm amused at how many (incredibly shoddily written) paid versions exist. I wonder what goes through a customer's head as he/she scrolls through pages of free versions to buy a $0.99 flashlight.
  - Hexstream 16y ago
    "I wonder what goes through a customer's head as he/she scrolls through pages of free versions to buy a $0.99 flashlight." "It's infinitely more expensive! It must be infinitely better!!!"
minouye 16y ago
Spot on--an 11.8% CTR on a mobile device is not sustainable.
Oompa 16y ago
Not to mention iAds are new. I'd likely click any one I see, since I haven't seen one yet.

GVRV 16y ago

Is CTR actually clicking the ad and going to the advertiser's webpage or just interacting with the ad? If it's just like normal CTR, I don't see how iAds could result in a better performance. Maybe people like to play the mini-games, but no one would click through just because they liked the interactive aspect. The only reason to click through would either be curiosity or actual interest. Sure there's one developer who earned a jackpot, but what's the average payout for developers using iAds?

aresant 16y ago

In case anybody wants to download the app itself: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=379753015&mt=8 http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftwa...