Application profit model: built-in ads or direct charges

The rise of app stores has given developers many opportunities. How should we dig in the App Store?

Those who develop free programs in their spare time are worthy of respect, but in reality, excellent applications often require professional developers, just as excellent performances often come from professional actors. How to make profits through applications should be considered by every developer, especially independent developers.

Two basic models of APP profit are built-in advertising and direct charging. Of course, "In-APP purchase" is also available, but "in-APP purchase" is not suitable for all applications, but for content consumption and games.

One of the major advantages of the built-in advertising model is that it can attract a large user group. After all, everyone is willing to try something free of charge. There may be two types of such applications, one is only free advertisement) version. Its profit is at the cost of damaging the user experience, and there is more uncertainty in advertising charges than direct charges. A high download volume is not equal to profit. Many users do not click ads. The Next Web site mentioned in an article

For users, there seems to be no price for advertising, but when you look at the App Store, apps that support advertising will understand that the price is aesthetic and availability. It is difficult to maintain the integrity and consistency of the application by ensuring that users can see and click advertisements in a certain part of the application.

Maybe you still remember the trend caused by Twitter's Dickbar.

The other is free ads) version and paid version. Some applications use free versions to attract consumers to buy "ad-removed versions", but many may endure the advertisement instead of upgrading.

Which applications are suitable for the advertising model? How can we use this model to maximize profitability? This is a complicated question. Different applications should have different answers.

So, how can I make a profit by charging applications? It is said that there is an "I AM RICH" application that really makes money. However, for more developers, this kind of boring things should not be overly expected.

To achieve long-term growth for paid applications,First, develop common applications, and second, do well enough.. Such applications are often evaluated by professionals and become popular soon.

Take Tweetbot as an example. People always use Twitter, so developers still have a chance even if there are many clients. This article on The Next Web site also mentions why Tweetbot developers are charged directly. It is worth noting that there are only two programmers developing Tweetbot.

Paul directly talked about the fact that their applications are not designed for ad-supported models. "None of our previous applications are suitable for advertising ." Paul told me, "I think that could damage the brand ".

In addition, it is good enough and won the praise of professionals and users, bringing a good income to the two developers. They have a clear understanding of their vision.

"We have been profitable since the first day," Haddad said. "We intentionally do not expand to ensure that we can maintain the best quality possible. This may not be the answer you often hear, but I do not think we are an ordinary company. We expect people to drive the progress of the platform, get fun, pay for the money, rather than become the next Microsoft or apple ."

In the final analysis, the mode to be adopted depends on the developer's vision, whether the application is suitable, and many other factors. One fact is that,Games often have strong gold-absorbing capabilities.The Top Paid of App Store is firmly occupied by angry birds. But this does not mean that everyone should develop games, and not all games can reach the popularity of Angry Birds.

For users, it is more meaningful to have more Tweetbot applications.Apple/Google adjusted App Store rankingsTo encourage the development of more daily related applications.