Database Users

How to Promote Android Apps?

Hi, I'm a new app developer and I recently published my first app on the android market. Unfortunently I'm not getting any downloads besides those from friends. I've tried posted in app development forums like this one but that did not create an downloads. I also tried running an admob campaign and that did not create any downloads. I've been reading through the forums here and at other sites and it seems people won't download unless you have reviews and other people downloading. If others won't download because no downloads then nobody will download. I would really appreciate any advice. I'm not expecting or hoping for 10000 + downloads but I was hoping for at least 5 downloads since it's been almost 3 weeks now. Thanks for the suggestions.

go to smaller android blogs and ask them to review it. create youtube video and show how it works

This blog post documents my experience in App Marketing
This blog post documents my experience in App Marketing
http://karim-ouda.blogspot.com/2012/05/android-app-marketing-dumping-my.html

Submit your app to http://50bestandroidapps.com/
Submit your app to 50bestandroidapps.com
It's a good web site to get your apps promoted. :fingers-crossed:

the_main_app said:
Hi, I'm a new app developer and I recently published my first app on the android market. Unfortunently I'm not getting any downloads besides those from friends. I've tried posted in app development forums like this one but that did not create an downloads. I also tried running an admob campaign and that did not create any downloads. I've been reading through the forums here and at other sites and it seems people won't download unless you have reviews and other people downloading. If others won't download because no downloads then nobody will download. I would really appreciate any advice. I'm not expecting or hoping for 10000 + downloads but I was hoping for at least 5 downloads since it's been almost 3 weeks now. Thanks for the suggestions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Increase SEO of app..
In app details, enter large no. of keywords related with the app. Also, enter name of other similar popular apps as keyword.
It'll not just increase visibility in built-in search results, but also on external search engines and curators!

I might be able to help?
If you are looking to get your app promoted, I actually own and operate a website called Droid App of the Day, so if you would like a free app review visit my site (I cant post links as am a new member). A google search won't fail you!

the_main_app said:
Hi, I'm a new app developer and I recently published my first app on the android market. Unfortunently I'm not getting any downloads besides those from friends. I've tried posted in app development forums like this one but that did not create an downloads. I also tried running an admob campaign and that did not create any downloads. I've been reading through the forums here and at other sites and it seems people won't download unless you have reviews and other people downloading. If others won't download because no downloads then nobody will download. I would really appreciate any advice. I'm not expecting or hoping for 10000 + downloads but I was hoping for at least 5 downloads since it's been almost 3 weeks now. Thanks for the suggestions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello friend, I have the same problem as you! I also have a new android app, but cannot promote it properly. Could you please, share your experience on promoting your app. It would be interesting not only for me Good luck!

I have wrote this guide for people like me. I have wrote almost everything I tried when I was promoting my app.
http://obscurant1st.biz/blog/how-to-promote-android-app/

obscurant1st said:
I have wrote this guide for people like me. I have wrote almost everything I tried when I was promoting my app.
http://obscurant1st.biz/blog/how-to-promote-android-app/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great article! Thanks for sharing this

Few words about google play app pronotion
Empirically, I determined that a new application has to be seen through search Google play. Search is all that we have without money for a marketing campaign.
Therefore,application should be optimized in the following order:
Application name in google play. This name may be different from the name displayed on the desktop device. The application name contains 30 characters, they should contain the main application keywords.
Description of the application must be clear and also contain keywords.
Attractive icons are very important.
The application must be beautiful and functional. No need to buy a device for $ 300-500 and install an ugly app. People want a beautiful application.
Publication of forums mentioned above.

Well if you don't mind paying for installations try appbrain. It features an option to pay per installation, for a small number of installations you can go as low as 0,20 per installation. They only allow to promote free apps though, and if your income is from ads you will probably not get your money back.
Other options are going to forums and telling the users about your app. Or contact review blogs. Appeggs usally posts good apps, or try app of the day blogs. But make sure your app is ready for the big public or else you might just end up getting bad reviews,

I wrote a little guide on how to promote your apps http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2225125

I wanted to add that the guide that i've been using (a small one) and that lead our team to initially post a thread here on XDA is: http://karim-ouda.blogspot.kr/2012/05/android-app-marketing-dumping-my.html
Interestingly enough, the author of that guide has posted here as well!

So keywords actually do stuff then? I only tried it in one app, I didn't tell anyone I built or released the app. Not even one or two people and admittedly it has had 200 downloads.
I thought it didn't really do anything. Think I have to add keywords to all my apps descs now.

Be careful with keywords: http://droid-blog.net/2011/06/13/how-to-not-get-kicked-out-of-android-market/
This is also interesting: http://droid-blog.net/2011/07/11/four-reasons-why-your-app-wont-be-successful/
And for tips: http://droid-blog.net/category/aso-2/
Ok. It is all from the same blog but I found it very helpful.

Advertising is one option, the other is to advertise your app on various forums, facebook groups. Making youtube video is also a good practice. It avoids you negative reviews as user has already been aware of all app features.

First of all, I want to say that I have no experience in promoting Android apps. But I did some work in promoting websites for businesses, and I can suggest some things.
Key is a having a functional app. If users download an app which is half done and has disabled functions because they aren't done yet, they are going to uninstall it. Second suggestion, a great design is makes a difference for a lot of people whether they're going to install it or not.
When you have both those things, you can get on with actually promoting the app. I would search for an SEO copywriter to get the description for your app. SEO copywriters are specialized in optimizing texts for Google. And I would look into advertising on Facebook. I think you can actually promote your apps, and advertise only on phones. This way your advertisement will only be showed to people who are using Facebook on their phone. User will probably more tempted to install the app.

My app is now having more 1600+ downloads! I am planning to do a major update which might increase the app exposure!
EDIT: I would like everyone to know that I have started a free review service, so if anyone in the process of promoting thier android app, they could consider requesting a free review from me!

the_main_app said:
How to Promote Android Apps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello to all.
You can promote your apps at Appsorg.com :good:
Appsorg.com - Helps you share and organize your Android apps from around the web.
ps - This is my first post at xda, but this is not a spam )
I really think this site will be very helpfully to all of us

App promotion
Thanks for all the interesting links and posts on app marketing ideas. We're a new app developer & in the same boat.
It seems that App Store Optimisation along with submissions to as many review sites as possible are good starting points. We started looking at pre launch strategies as well focusing on building up some marketing steam.
Check out pre apps. It's a pretty interesting idea. We also submitted to any app dev competitions and as many journalists as we could. Paid reviews are worth a look at as well if you can scrape a few 100 bucks together but make sure the site has traffic
dinamotxt dot com

How do you advertise in your apps?

Hi! I'm Dylan, the xda intern :victory:
I'm doing some research on how devs monetize their apps. We're currently exploring ways to help you make more money from your apps and we'd like to find out about what you currently do. If you could please, please take this short survey, it would be much appreciated! We promise to keep everything confidential; in fact, the survey is anonymous.
Thanks again! :laugh:
~dylan

Gave the survey.
Where can i see the results?

ablawle which
Make an account in Admob by google. And read this monetization in developer.android

Forums
Posting on forums or other websites that allow it.

Today in this competitive world whether you have an iPad app...., Android app or any Mobile app you need to advertise to make people know about your app. very important factor for advertising your app is effectively determining where and how to advertise your app.effective app advertising requires mainly 4 key areas....
Brand
Buzz
Balanced opportunity
Social Media support

I have the same problem.
2 weeks ago I published an Android app but very few people tried it.
The market is full of apps so it's hard to acquire visibility.
So I'm looking for websites to advertise it.

admob sucks
I have like 40,000 plus downloads on admob. got like 9 dollars. U don't need to advertise. Just pick a name. They will find it. The market is large

Posting on forums, when allowed
Contacting websites and suggesting the app for review
Using admob for monetization

We tried admob too, no luck there. Posting on forums (where allowed), trying to make a good icon and description and looots of luck
we tried getting some reviews done too, but didn't see any rise in downloads. Also we got into a printed medium too, which didn't seem to have much impact either.

posting it on social network like google+,fb+twitter+forum is way better than admob

Yes idlike to know this
Sent from my GT-I9070 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

One major problem, (for example with google play) is that they dont actually give a chance
for new developers to promote their applications
Our apps hide under a pile of dozen of others.
One sulution
A random application could be featured on the main entry page every hour.
This will balance the major companies promoting their stuff. And if the app is good, it wil get
the hype to climb up
Unfortunately we dont see that comming soon.

carbonpeople said:
One sulution
A random application could be featured on the main entry page every hour.
This will balance the major companies promoting their stuff. And if the app is good, it wil get
the hype to climb up
Unfortunately we dont see that comming soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And why? Because there are lots of crappy apps out there. I'm glad (even from a developer standpoint) that this won't happen.

nikwen said:
And why? Because there are lots of crappy apps out there. I'm glad (even from a developer standpoint) that this won't happen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
a) Half of the apps in google play are NOT crap. Have you seen them promoted ?
I can point to some excelent apps (better than the well known competition) with
so little downloads that looks suspicius
b) Even imdb has a heuristics system to remove biased/suspicius rankings, so surely
google can do that. A crap-free promoting system can be created
But it seems that
1. Either major companies want to clear out small competition on google play
or
2. Or... some developers created a good highly-downloaded app and had their
idea stollen from somebody else who created a better one, and want
to push new competition out of the way
Either way...

carbonpeople said:
a) Half of the apps in google play are NOT crap. Have you seen them promoted ?
I can point to some excelent apps (better than the well known competition) with
so little downloads that looks suspicius
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course, there are many good apps. I even think that this is the majority.
And I've seen those great small apps, too. (But most of them got lots of downloads within a few months. It took some time but if the app is good and unique, you will get your downloads. )
b) Even imdb has a heuristics system to remove biased/suspicius rankings, so surely
google can do that. A crap-free promoting system can be created
But it seems that
1. Either major companies want to clear out small competition on google play
or
2. Or... some developers created a good highly-downloaded app and had their
idea stollen from somebody else who created a better one, and want
to push new competition out of the way
Either way...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that it is Google that doesn't want to promote the small apps.
If they did it randomly, most apps (not all!!!) would get less downloads than the bigger ones.
If they selected the small apps by hand, it would be very expensive and they wouldn't know where to start.
If they choose the big ones with many downloads (like now), they can be sure that they will get many downloads. And with downloads comes money.
I don't think it's fair, but I can't think of a better and still efficient method to select the small apps which generates as much income as the system does now.

~dylan said:
Hi! I'm Dylan, the xda intern :victory:
I'm doing some research on how devs monetize their apps. We're currently exploring ways to help you make more money from your apps and we'd like to find out about what you currently do. If you could please, please take this short survey, it would be much appreciated! We promise to keep everything confidential; in fact, the survey is anonymous.
Thanks again! :laugh:
~dylan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, i dont think ist good to use ads in an app anyway. better use "donations" or "Pro" Versions since ads will make your Reviews and Ratings worst.

mynote said:
well, i dont think ist good to use ads in an app anyway. better use "donations" or "Pro" Versions since ads will make your Reviews and Ratings worst.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A combination of approaches work best. Having a facebook presence helps. Some of the very successful apps integrate with facebook very well. Some games tend to grant more time/lives if you share or like on facebook (Candy Crush, for example).
Depending on the app, limited-time trial versions are quite effective.
Agree that plain ads can be problematic as they can lead to poor reviews.. that in turn can hit your G. Play ranking and lead to fewer downloads.

Hi guys! Interesting discussion. Actually there are number of general ways to monetize an app:
Paid applications. You create an app that will charge a certain amount from the beginning.
Freemium. A software product can be downloaded free (so-called 'lite' version), while its extended, 'premium' features and services are offered for a payment.
Subscription (paid access). This monetization model originates from real magazines and newspapers, and is also very widespread.
In-app purchases.
Ad banners, texts, videos - this monetization model is constantly growing, encompassing the market of free applications.
User base. When the free software you own finally becomes popular, wins an audience, it can also be used for further monetization.

MobiDevCorp said:
Hi guys! Interesting discussion. Actually there are number of general ways to monetize an app:
Paid applications. You create an app that will charge a certain amount from the beginning.
Freemium. A software product can be downloaded free (so-called 'lite' version), while its extended, 'premium' features and services are offered for a payment.
Subscription (paid access). This monetization model originates from real magazines and newspapers, and is also very widespread.
In-app purchases.
Ad banners, texts, videos - this monetization model is constantly growing, encompassing the market of free applications.
User base. When the free software you own finally becomes popular, wins an audience, it can also be used for further monetization.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And which one do you prefer?

nikwen said:
And which one do you prefer?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually we develop mobile apps for our clients, so it's monetization is their decision.
One of the most widespread one is freemium, but like other models it has its limitations.

How do you make money from your apps?

Hi! I'm Dylan, the xda intern :victory:
I'm doing some research on how devs monetize their apps. We're currently exploring ways to help you make more money from your apps and we'd like to find out about what you currently do. If you could please, please take this short survey, it would be much appreciated! We promise to keep everything confidential; in fact, the survey is anonymous.
Thanks again! :laugh:
~dylan

Advertising. In-App purchases.

~dylan said:
Hi! I'm Dylan, the xda intern :victory:
I'm doing some research on how devs monetize their apps....
~dylan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I filled it in. You should add option: I use monetizing, but I fail in it

Hi,
The most popular way to monetize in mobile is by using Ads and put a price in your apps, though, the app has to be really good to get success.
Regards

How To Make Money With Mobile Apps
Here is a post dedicated to making money from mobile apps:
http://www.techibiz.com/2/post/2013/05/making-money-from-mobile-apps.html
Akshat Goel

In-app purchase is one of the best ways to make money, but it is important to first figure out if the app is actually worthy of a buy.

I was able to learn a lot about how to make money off my application by attending the Funding, Discovery, and Monetization conference hosted by The AppShow and CONNECT in San Diego, Ca. They taught me a lot of important ways to help make sure my application generates profit. I found the most difficult part of creating and monetizing an app was finding investors; this is why I'm attending The AppShow in San Diego, CA in early January to meet face-to-face with well-known investors and help get my application monetized, i'm so excited! I'm sure this show can help any app developer!

We use free apps with In-App purchases. We dont use mobile ads anymore.

I just started with admob banner ads, in near future I will consider some different advertisement companies, though I keep in mind that making ad intrusive app will not help in promotion, which leads to less downloads, and as a obvious result, small or even lack of income (...)

it depends...
~dylan said:
Hi! I'm Dylan, the xda intern :victory:
I'm doing some research on how devs monetize their apps. We're currently exploring ways to help you make more money from your apps and we'd like to find out about what you currently do. If you could please, please take this , it would be much appreciated! We promise to keep everything confidential; in fact, the survey is anonymous.
Thanks again! :laugh:
~dylan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends on the nature of your app, if you app is used only one or twice then ads make no sense, if the app is used a couple of times each day, then ads makes perfect sense. Another parameter would be session duration, if your app has a very short session duration (say it shows the temprature and no more), then again ads makes less sense.
I wonder what is a good rule on when to use in-app payments Vs publishing a Pro version as a separate app.

I only tried paid apps, generate fine income.
Have thought about ads, but found it too annoying, just can't bare it.
I'm thinking about some new paying mechanism for my new app.
Sent from my HTC One using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Monetization of apps depend a lot on the user experience and the UI design of a mobile app. A lot of times, developers ignore these aspects and produce design elements on a hunch.
A good way to get around this problem is to use A/B testing on your mobile app. You can do it yourself or you can use a third-party platform. One of the better platforms I know of is appiterate.com

Done Young Man(?) :good:
Hope you get some insights into the current state of play for us!

App8ite said:
Done Young Man(?) :good:
Hope you get some insights into the current state of play for us!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't get you.

Daenerys Targaryen said:
It depends on the nature of your app, if you app is used only one or twice then ads make no sense, if the app is used a couple of times each day, then ads makes perfect sense. Another parameter would be session duration, if your app has a very short session duration (say it shows the temprature and no more), then again ads makes less sense.
I wonder what is a good rule on when to use in-app payments Vs publishing a Pro version as a separate app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This.
Depending on the nature of the app you might have a conflict of interest. Last month I published an app that helps people manage their repetitive tasks. The whole app is based on a simple interface - I want my users to spend the least possible time entering and managing their tasks to make the experience more enjoyable, but at the same time I want people to see ads and click on them; hence the conflict.
I'm currently thinking what kind of 'premium' features I can add to get rid of the ads.

Here's an example of how monetization is improved:
http://appiterate.com/how-appiterates-mobile-app-ab-testing-helped-reviews42-improve-monetization/

How, what and why of A/B testing and optimization of Android and iOS mobile games
Good resource for game developers. A funny read as well!:laugh:
http://appiterate.com/how-what-and-...optimization-of-android-and-ios-mobile-games/

pick the right market size
I am a new android developer but the thing is I used to live in China for 2 years. One of the cool thing I learned about the Chinese is that they click on ads a lot. So I decided to translated my app and distribute them in various app stores in China. It has worked well for me. It seems for China you need to get ad from local ad aggregators. They pay better than Admob.
The service I am familiar with that does that are.
Appigniter.com
Papaya SDK
Inmobi.com
onepf.org
Good luck :good:

obicho said:
I am a new android developer but the thing is I used to live in China for 2 years. One of the cool thing I learned about the Chinese is that they click on ads a lot. So I decided to translated my app and distribute them in various app stores in China. It has worked well for me. It seems for China you need to get ad from local ad aggregators. They pay better than Admob.
The service I am familiar with that does that are.
Appigniter.com
Papaya SDK
Inmobi.com
onepf.org
Good luck :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, thank you for that insight! I am planning on using papaya, so that's good for me.
Can you also make a list of the major Chinese app stores? It will be very appreciated.

PopNationOnline said:
Oh, thank you for that insight! I am planning on using papaya, so that's good for me.
Can you also make a list of the major Chinese app stores? It will be very appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure. Here are some I can remember on top of my head
Baidu
HIAPK
Mumayi
There is more. Just go to
appigniter.com
and scroll to the bottom

StartApp

Hi,
first of all, if I can convince you to try out StartApp, Mod Edit: Link Removed
» StartApp FAQ
Well then, let's start. As I already announced here, I am currently trying out a new ad network for one of my apps. The network is called "StartApp". And although it is a little bit more intrusive than AdMob and not every user is going to like it, I am, however, already yet pretty satisfied with its results. In just two days I earned now more than $13 - which might not sound like a lot for some of you, but for me it actually it is quite much. Because in comparison to AdMob it's around 20 times more!
But simply look yourself:
» With AdMob banner ads I earned around $10 in the last 30 days.
» And now my StartApp earnings from just the last two days: $13.34.
(Well, of course, that were just two days, we will see, if this will hold on in the future.)
So how does StartApp actually work? Basically, there are two ways to earn money with StartApp.
1st Way: SDK Integration
Regarding of which option you choose (full integration / partial integration), with this way you will earn money for each installation of your app. I will simply quote the FAQ:
Our payment is based on number of app downloads; you get paid for each download generated with our SDK inside. There are 2 integration levels available: Full and Partial. The amount of payment depends on the integration level you choose. For full integration, we pay $0.055 for each new U.S install , $0.01 for each new install from any other country. For partial integration, we pay $0.04 for new U.S installs and $0.008 for new installs from any other country. A new user would be a user who's device does not have the StartApp SDK present. A returning user (with the StartApp SDK on his device) will grant you $0.01 each from the US and $0.005 for all other countries for both full and partial integration.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2nd Way: Popup (Exit) Ads
I will simply quote the blog:
The Exit Ad introduces StartApp developers to the rev share model, providing continuous income and great eCPM, all while keeping the seamless user experience that users expect and value.
The exit ad will display a full screen banner ad when the user exits the application, intruding minimally on the user experience of your app. When the user clicks the back button or the home button on their device to exit the application, they are presented with an ad that leads to a mobile website or a free app download when clicked. If they click “Not Now” the app will exit as normal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please note that you can also add those popup ads to other points of your app, e.g. "natural breaking points" (like a user saves a file or loads a game level and while the file is being saved or the game level is loaded, he cannot do anything anyway - so why not showing him a popup add now?).
(3rd Way: Referral Program)
You'll get $10, for the first 100 downloads a developer who was referred by you makes. The referred developer himself gets a bonus of $25 if he crosses this 100 downloads (that bonus is only for those being referred!). And afterwards, it even goes on: For every other of the following download-levels being crossed by the referred developer, you’ll get an extra payment:
- At 1,000 downloads + $25
- At 10,000 downloads +150
- At 100,000 downloads +$500
- At 1,000,000 downloads +$1,500
So summing it all up, you can make up to $2,185 for each referred developer. Therefore here again my appeal to you: Mod Edit: Link Removed Give it a try. It's a win-win-situation.
» StartApp FAQ
» Register now
(ATTACHEMENTS: SCREENSHOTS)

It sounds good, but the way they seem to work it is super intrusive.
http://www.startapp.com/faq/
How does it actually work?
We will supply you a SDK (including a step by step implementation guide). Integrating our product takes about 3 minutes! Once implemented, update your app on the market and add our disclaimer text to your app description. We are very focused on maintaining transparency, so it's highly important you let your users know about us. Your user will then get a search icon on his home screen, a bookmark link and a browser home page, all directing to our web search URL.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'd rather see ads, than have an app change my browser start page and add search icons.
Plus the permissions are kind of rough. System tools and read messages are hard for most people to accept.

Well, yes and no. You can decide to offer the user a clean app without any ads, but instead you include this shortcuts and bookmarks installation procedure. The user can easily decline this dialog (I think he has to do it 3 or 4 times until it stops appearing anymore):
In my opinion, this dialog is quite transparent and clear to the user. If he (accidently or deliberately) chose to accept this dialog, he can afterwards easily delete the bookmarks and shortcuts (drag to the trash or delete the link for the browser). After all, your users are going to have a completely ad-free app. In my opinion it is not that intrusive, since StartApp does not "settle into the system" or something.
You can also choose to only use those exit-popup-ads. I cannot say how much you can earn with them yet and if it is really more than with AdMob. But you can give it a try, especially they could be useful while loading a game level or saving a file or something (as explained above). The user might be more willing to look at those ads if he cannot do anything else at the moment anyway. That might be a cleaner solution than those AdMob ads, on which the user clicks accidently while playing a game, because the controls are next to the banner or something.
Concerning the permissions, here you can find an explanation. What do you mean by "read messages"? There is no permission needed to read SMS or something.
Personally, I decided to give StartApp a try, because AdMob's eCPM was somehow unexpectedly low (much lower than for other apps from me). Also, many, many stupid people installed my app (which is for ROOTED PHONES ONLY) and rated it negatively because "it does not work ('****', 'crap', '**** you', ...)". I certainly do not have pity on those who cannot even read...
Mod Edit: Link Removed

for the message thing I was going by their "can I see this live" link from the FAQs which goes to
start app quick search https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.startapp.quicksearchbox on the play store.
Is the one they install different from that one? also, system tools does show up in the play store descriptions, so they need to update where they say it doesnt.
Other than that it sounds interesting. The money you are currently getting from them includes the search combo, or is it just the interstitial(Exit) ads?
I like interstitials for some situations. and it seems so far for you they are paying out better than admob.

out of ideas said:
for the message thing I was going by their "can I see this live" link from the FAQs which goes to
start app quick search on the play store.
Is the one they install different from that one? also, system tools does show up in the play store descriptions, so they need to update where they say it doesnt.
Other than that it sounds interesting. The money you are currently getting from them includes the search combo, or is it just the interstitial(Exit) ads?
I like interstitials for some situations. and it seems so far for you they are paying out better than admob.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Out of ideas- Startapp truly has a very non obtrusive solution to monetize your apps and users accept this concept as it is much more friendlier than push notifications or even banners which appear from nowhere anf interrupt the usage of the app. Regarding the quick search you saw from their website it is identical to the one that will appear via the installation of your app. Bear in mind. that as Null0R has mentioned above, Startapp is 100% compliant with Google's policy, meaning the user can choose whether to accept or decline this addition, and it wont affect the installation of your app.
If you need and examples of apps using Startapp's SDK let me know.

Hey,
sorry for the late answer, I was waiting for an answer from StartApp myself.
Other than that it sounds interesting. The money you are currently getting from them includes the search combo, or is it just the interstitial(Exit) ads?
I like interstitials for some situations. and it seems so far for you they are paying out better than admob.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The very main part of the money I currently earn (still always around $8 - $10 per day) from StartApp definitely results from the SDK integration itself (bookmarks, search icon, ...). Currently, I earn only around $0.1 - $0.2 per day from interstitial ads. Thats not really impressive, but it still can concete with AdMob I guess (since my AdMob revenue never was really a lot higher on the same app I think). On the StartApp dashboard it says, my eCPM is $0.16. In AdMob, I always had around $0.07 eCPM. Paradoxically, my AdMob-eCPM raised since I integrated StartApp (I now have those two ad networks in one app). Now it is $0.10.
Like you, I also wanted know how many they actually pay for interstitial ads. The answer, however, was not really that concrete.
The advertisements that are shown on the exit ads earn various amounts due to the different agreements that we have with the advertiser. Depending on what advertisements are shown we help you out by calculating a eCPM for you. You are able to use this to compare the payment amounts between other ad networks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here they also say:
RevShare- StartApp will share a percentage earned from these advertisements with you. Payments are sent every month in a NET30 terms (30 days after the end of the payment period). Your Ecpm is easily visible in portal. The eCPM may change depending on various parameters.
[...]
hitman: do you pay per impression or per click ?
Matthew: We pay eCPM, which allows us to calculate a payment from both pay per impression and pay per click.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What might be interesting for you as well is that StartApp introduced a new type of interstitial ads last thursday: http://blog.startapp.com/3d-ad-latest-ad-type/
for the message thing I was going by their "can I see this live" link from the FAQs which goes to
start app quick search https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...quicksearchbox on the play store.
Is the one they install different from that one? also, system tools does show up in the play store descriptions, so they need to update where they say it doesnt.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think, this permission is not part of the requirements of the StartApp SDK. Rather the app itself needs to read messages, since it is a search app and you can search through your contacts, your messages, your apps and so on with it. At least, this would be my guess. You can check out my app's permission requirements: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.felixheller.sharedprefseditor (writing to sd card, however, is not part of the StartApp requirements).
For those who are being interested, I am willing to share my StartApp stats after one week of usage.
(click to enlarge)
So basically, I earned $56 in a week with StartApp. This really is a lot in my opinion. When I started with AdMob, I needed around 9 months until I reached my first $100 (until my first payout). How it seems like I need around two weeks with StartApp. So this is a quite dramatic improvement, I think, everybody noticed that on his own, huh?
Mod Edit: Link Removed

For me StartApp generates many fake-virus reviews.

ufomstr said:
For me StartApp generates many fake-virus reviews.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Fake-virus reviews"? I don't understand you. How do you mean this?

null0R said:
"Fake-virus reviews"? I don't understand you. How do you mean this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That means that antivirus software (not all, few of them) report StartApp as virus (or adware, depends on app). Then wanna-be-good users that don't understand what's going on posts 1-star reviews that there is virus in your app.

ufomstr said:
That means that antivirus software (not all, few of them) report StartApp as virus (or adware, depends on app). Then wanna-be-good users that don't understand what's going on posts 1-star reviews that there is virus in your app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh yeah, I get stupid comments as well. Few of them stated, that they actually do like the app, but that they do not like the new permissions and thus they won't update. They like the app. They rate it with one star. Logic.
Today I got the first time a "virus-comment" as well. Well, I try to deal with it. I always try to give friendly answers to stupid comments. I try to explain the permissions and why I chose to use something different than AdMob. You should also add StartApp's disclaimer to your app description (you actually have to):
We love creating apps, and want to keep them free forever. In order to keep our development running we are using a search service to generate some revenue from this free app. This app will add a couple search links on your device in the form of an icon, bookmark link and browser homepage. You may delete them easily (drag to the trash or delete the link for the browser), if you choose to use them, thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest, my average rating went a bit down since I included StartApp. But I still get lots of high ratings. Still, many users seem to be satisfied. So am I since I included StartApp. In my opinion, the earnings were definitely worth it until now.

For me it didn't help. I've added description about antivirus, but there are too many idiots that don't read description or are just dumb. Almost all of may 1stars are for virus... I will have to remove startapp.

when startapp release money on august 2013?
Hi,
Paydate of June is 1st August 2013, but today is 2/8/2013 and i still get nothing from Startapp. What's wrong? I'm at GMT+7, Hanoi, Vietnam.
the second question is : my friends, android developer were play startapp, said that their paypal account is loocked when withdraw money from startapp. Any one can confirm about it?
Look forward your answers, thanks!

startapp
9android.net said:
Hi,
Paydate of June is 1st August 2013, but today is 2/8/2013 and i still get nothing from Startapp. What's wrong? I'm at GMT+7, Hanoi, Vietnam.
the second question is : my friends, android developer were play startapp, said that their paypal account is loocked when withdraw money from startapp. Any one can confirm about it?
Look forward your answers, thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey i got an email and said they will paid in 8 aug, so i am waiting for 8 aug to come. i don't have clue about paypal account get locked

I use startapp in my app and yesterday XDA wrote article about my app:
http://www.xda-developers.com/android/easily-backup-your-apps-data-contacts-and-messages/
After few users reoprted my app as virus or malware, article about my app was updated and now it says that my app contains a malware.
If anyone going to be promoted by XDA portal don't use startapp

mane55 said:
I use startapp in my app and yesterday XDA wrote article about my app:
http://www.xda-developers.com/android/easily-backup-your-apps-data-contacts-and-messages/
After few users reoprted my app as virus or malware, article about my app was updated and now it says that my app contains a malware.
If anyone going to be promoted by XDA portal don't use startapp
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or don't use startapp at all...And I guess it wasn't exactly a "few" users...
http://www.xda-developers.com/announcements/xda-and-adware-apps/

mane55 said:
I use startapp in my app and yesterday XDA wrote article about my app:
http://www.xda-developers.com/android/easily-backup-your-apps-data-contacts-and-messages/
After few users reoprted my app as virus or malware, article about my app was updated and now it says that my app contains a malware.
If anyone going to be promoted by XDA portal don't use startapp
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ouch. thats a rough way to lose the "portal bump" and definetly makes it rough to recover from.
I've seen quite a few different apps using startapp being reported as viruses(even if they are not) and nothing kills a good rating faster than that.
Everyone ends up having to makes a bunch of apology follow ups and ends up dumping startapp.
So, not to seem rude or anything, but I don't think this is a good monetization solution for developers.

Well, I have removed startapp from my app. At least now we know that XDA don't allow apps with this kind of ad networks .
It is not a good monetization solution for developers - your app is marked as virus.
I will never use aggressive ads network in the future that mark your app as virus.

Fake virus
null0R said:
"Fake-virus reviews"? I don't understand you. How do you mean this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my case Leadbolt was generating fake-virus reviews. I got tons of bad reviews complaining that my app was infected. However, this happened only to one of my apps.

9android.net said:
Hi,
Paydate of June is 1st August 2013, but today is 2/8/2013 and i still get nothing from Startapp. What's wrong? I'm at GMT+7, Hanoi, Vietnam.
the second question is : my friends, android developer were play startapp, said that their paypal account is loocked when withdraw money from startapp. Any one can confirm about it?
Look forward your answers, thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
I cannot tell you a lot about that yet. International transfers take some time for sure. Today is the 13th August and I still did not receive any earnings, too - neither from StartApp nor from AdMob. But at the moment, that does not seem to be a thing to be worried about in my opinion. Because my first AdMob payout also took about 19 days (19th February). I will simply wait another week and wach out.
Although my referral links were removed (sorry 'bout that, didn't notice that rule and others posted referral links as well on other topics...), I still wanted to share my most recent experiences with you anyways. So here it is.
My earnings are still quite high. I earn about $12-$13 every day with only one app using StartApp. That's cool. I didn't change anything on my apps since I introduced StartApp.
On the other hand, my ratings of this one app are still going down slowly (including some false virus reports as well). That's stupid. But at the moment that's not a big enough reason to cancel this "StartApp experiment" in my opinion. I'll just wait a bit further, I guess. Maybe I could also write the StartApp support and ask them what to do about those virus reports and negative ratings and if they have some tips or something.

null0R said:
My earnings are still quite high. I earn about $12-$13 every day with only one app using StartApp. That's cool. I didn't change anything on my apps since I introduced StartApp.
On the other hand, my ratings of this one app are still going down slowly (including some false virus reports as well). That's stupid. But at the moment that's not a big enough reason to cancel this "StartApp experiment" in my opinion. I'll just wait a bit further, I guess. Maybe I could also write the StartApp support and ask them what to do about those virus reports and negative ratings and if they have some tips or something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey,
I am happy to hear your earnings are still high, there shouldn't be a reason they wont be
Here is what Startapp support answered: " Thank you for letting us know about this feedback from your users about messages from their anti-virus software.
We encountered several AV apps that have mis-flagged our SDK as Adware.
After working with with most of these companies, we now have only Dr. Web, AVG and Norton and a few others that are still flagging us as ad ware.
Our latest SDK offers an opt-in EULA for the end user, giving them the choice to add our search app. This user-friendly approach is a step forward to keeping your users aware and creating a long term business that will keep us and you, the developer, earning for the long run. We take the privacy of you and your users very seriously.
Some developers have also posted a message in their description letting users know that it may be flagged as a virus, but that it is not a virus
I hope this answers your question. If you have any more concerns, please let me know."
In addition, Google chose to present its "Disclosure of Ads to Users" using Startapp's EULA as an example of how to be transparent towards the end user.
Of course this doesn't change all anti viruses diagnostics but it does show that Google finds Startapp solution as very user friendly
Hope this helps

Low budget for marking

Hi all,
I have low budget for the marking of my new game that i will publish soon
I have only $200 , is that amount will effect or i will just spend for nothing ?
and how i can use them ?
Thanks

It would be very easy to throw that money away. It won't do a lot, all told. Focus instead on the app, encouraging people to review it positively, managing bad reviews, building up a good relationship with an initially small number of users so that they'll tell their mates and build your numbers up. Talk to people for whom your app solves a problem. They don't exist? Well, there's your problem and $200 of marketing won't help

Ryan.T.Student said:
It would be very easy to throw that money away. It won't do a lot, all told. Focus instead on the app, encouraging people to review it positively, managing bad reviews, building up a good relationship with an initially small number of users so that they'll tell their mates and build your numbers up. Talk to people for whom your app solves a problem. They don't exist? Well, there's your problem and $200 of marketing won't help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ryan has an important point: actually, adwords, facebook ads, *can* bring some result but at a too much heavy cost. I have tried them and my cost per install was like $5 to $10, for free apps...
Prompting users to review your app in your app works, but do it at moments when they achieve something positive with your app, like attaining a certain level in a game. Building a relationship is a key, i can't agree more to that

$200 is a low budget.
Try first the all free methods we all know are aware off (mailing, asking parents and friends to download and promote the app, posts on forums and so on).
Also try to exchange reviews with other developers (I'm always willing to do it, for instance).
And if your really want to boost the number of downloads of your games in order to look more attractive for users visiting your Google Play page, you can buy incentive installs from tapjoy (0.10 / install will give you up to 2,000 downloads (but I don't think it worth the effort, as vast majority will remove your app right after they get their rewards).

Here are some useful methods to increase downloads for consumer mobile apps:
• Application name-is unique
• Keywords-including related keywords, but be careful - don’t stuff every keyword into your app
• Make Facebook or Twitter page for your app and write story of your game there to attract every users
• Description. Your description is clearly the value of your App
Best of luck in your app business.