10 ms·

So how does this work for paid apps? If you sell your app for 2.99 and you're paying 1.20 an install, aren't you making money? I know I'm missing something here

So how does this work for paid apps? If you sell your app for 2.99 and you're paying 1.20 an install, aren't you making money? I know I'm missing something here because otherwise anyone could pay for infinite installs and make infinite money.

cclogg 13y ago
I think it's not 1.20 for a paid install. Buying users can cost quite a bit more for paid apps (for instance I know from googling that Flurry's 'buy user' service doesn't work very well for paid apps). But in the end, it's just a mad rush to be on the charts to get organics. Without that, it's kind of difficult with apps to make your money back from ad spending. It's not like you are advertising a hotel room where one purchase through your adwords can net you a 100+ dollars (plus all the room service that person will consume!). In apps, typically, you lose money buying users (if you were only counting ad-spend vs revenue from those users that installed).
- SurfScore 13y ago
  It's a shame that the App Store is becoming this commercialized. One of the best things about it in the early days was the fact that indie games could get noticed internationally. Sure we get games like Infinity Blade but indie developers gave us Tiny Wings. Maybe Apple will implement something similar to Steam, where this is still possible.
  - cclogg 13y ago
    Yes, and I think it's true of many platforms. It's best to be there in the beginning, before the flood haha. Look at Youtube, it was much easier to become a Youtube celebrity (or just garner MANY views) if you were on there since/near the beginning.
  - krichman 13y ago
    We definitely need a better app discovery method than Apple's.
idunno246 13y ago
The CPI is usually extracted out from CPM, and you are actually charged cpm(theres a couple that charge cpi/cpc). So since a free app has a much higher install rate from the view, it lowers the cpi. The idea is for 100k they'll put youre add in front of 800k users, and 80k will install if its free. but only 1k will install if it costs money. numbers totally made up. The ones that do charge cpi, if your conversion rate isn't high enough that theyre profiting[since they're paying per impression or could show an ad more likely to convert], theyll just kill your app and not advertise it.

cclogg 13y ago

I think it's not 1.20 for a paid install. Buying users can cost quite a bit more for paid apps (for instance I know from googling that Flurry's 'buy user' service doesn't work very well for paid apps). But in the end, it's just a mad rush to be on the charts to get organics. Without that, it's kind of difficult with apps to make your money back from ad spending. It's not like you are advertising a hotel room where one purchase through your adwords can net you a 100+ dollars (plus all the room service that person will consume!). In apps, typically, you lose money buying users (if you were only counting ad-spend vs revenue from those users that installed).

SurfScore 13y ago
It's a shame that the App Store is becoming this commercialized. One of the best things about it in the early days was the fact that indie games could get noticed internationally. Sure we get games like Infinity Blade but indie developers gave us Tiny Wings. Maybe Apple will implement something similar to Steam, where this is still possible.
- cclogg 13y ago
  Yes, and I think it's true of many platforms. It's best to be there in the beginning, before the flood haha. Look at Youtube, it was much easier to become a Youtube celebrity (or just garner MANY views) if you were on there since/near the beginning.
- krichman 13y ago
  We definitely need a better app discovery method than Apple's.

idunno246 13y ago

The CPI is usually extracted out from CPM, and you are actually charged cpm(theres a couple that charge cpi/cpc). So since a free app has a much higher install rate from the view, it lowers the cpi. The idea is for 100k they'll put youre add in front of 800k users, and 80k will install if its free. but only 1k will install if it costs money. numbers totally made up. The ones that do charge cpi, if your conversion rate isn't high enough that theyre profiting[since they're paying per impression or could show an ad more likely to convert], theyll just kill your app and not advertise it.