Product orientation for the App Store: Thinking about the Android App Store model

Article Description: thinking of the Android App store.

Melee, messy, and uneven, this is a idiomatic expression of the status of the domestic Android Third-party App Store. Behind the impetuous disputes, there is a lack of thinking about the App store itself. The application store itself should return to rationality, thinking about the value of the user, the value of the industry, the value of the company. Here's a 4-part thought: The product direction, profit model, entry form, and possible new opportunities for the App Store.

Products, standing at the root

A , Application Discovery

Why do users use the App Store? For now, the main requirement: Find what you want. That is, the discovery of fun, fun, practical and other applications to meet their own needs (with clear goals, no clear goals). All normal users must be using the App Store for this purpose.

These requirements can be refined as: mobile Internet industry to find creative, inspirational, valuable application products, e-book enthusiasts to find the latest hottest novel, students to find to help him learn all kinds of knowledge, entertainment applications, migrant workers to find ways to resolve the loneliness of the application ...

The application store at the content level should provide users with 120,000 points of convenience, through the operation, product, technology, all-round means to help users from hundreds of thousands of or even millions of content faster to filter the application of his needs, that is, application discovery.

How to help users find applications? The path has three:

1, the media mode of editorial behavior, the emergence of popular content. This is the editor of the--> people;
2, based on data analysis of accurate matching, search, produce personalized content. This is the machine--> person;
3, the relationship (socialization, community, etc.) content sharing and consumption, resulting in a higher degree of reliability and coupling content, and supplemented by media-oriented operations. This is man <--> man.

Path 1: Media mode is the main path of most of the domestic application stores, you can simply regard it as a traditional media (including the portal) operating mode, which is the application store such as the nature of the product with media attributes, is the content of the company to do the advantages of the application store.

Path 2: Data analysis is mainly determined by the personalization properties of the application content itself (we may be able to consume arbitrary content, but will never consume any application), which requires strong cloud and data analysis capabilities.

Path 3: Relational content can be seen as a shift from traditional media to social media, where the user's consumption is based on the people he trusts. Of course, this model is more advantageous if Sina Weibo is to do it.

Three paths will coexist, the focus of different stores is bound to be different, there is a solid approach, there is a clever way. But the ultimate goal is only one--produce better and more reasonable application discovery mechanism.

At present, some of the top stores in China have already worked on these three paths: In addition to each will do the media model recommended, Tencent Application Center in personalized recommendations, UGC content also has exerting force; application of the ball search in the use of personalized recommendations to explore; Jifeng focus on application sharing and talent community operations.

What are the foreign Android third party stores doing?

Appbrain, App Market, appolicious, appreciate, Appsfire, best Apps, Market suggest (produced by Androlib) ... Even Amazon, the App Store, are running on the path of application discovery based on their genes and strengths.

Whenever I see a certain foreign application search engine, So-and-so application Discovery tool by a song CEO Angel, was a huge purchase of the news is extremely "sad."

Then look at the domestic application store product form, stereotyped, messy, too elementary.

B , a cloud N End

When it comes to app stores, we still can't exception the "cloud".

The application store will certainly become one of the typical business forms of mobile cloud computing, and the value of cloud for the application store is to provide cross-platform, cross-platform information Interoperability, synchronization, management, analysis and other services, that is, a cloud of N-terminal.

Mobile app (Native, web), PC management tools, Web pages, WAP (PU, color, touch), these 4 categories are the most typical of the Android App Store Portal configuration, and the current mobile app and PC tools are the most users of the "end." Meanwhile, the popularization and development of intelligent TV and intelligent vehicle system will also play an important role in the future.

The value of a cloud is that no matter what scenario the user is in, it is convenient to use the content and service provided by the application store through different terminals, and any place with content consumption may become the end of the service provided by the application store. We can't see the clouds, but we're all going to be in the clouds.

No cloud, no store.

C , contradictory status quo

At present, the domestic application store most of the media recommended behavior is still scattered in all corners of the editorial recommendations, topics. There is a glimpse of the same structure from each store and limited means of operation. At the same time, the phenomenon of homogenization of stores is serious.

The reason for this problem is that, in addition to the cost-promotion and unprofessional operating capabilities, most of the 80/20 rules (that is, 80% users only consume 20% content). Even though several app stores with strong media genetics are trying to break this rule by using excellent "Media behavior recommendations", it does not provide a good mechanism to help users make decisions about whether to install or use them.

The recommended "Good content" users do not buy, the store will return to the recommendation of a serious but very high download content, and the path 1 media model is currently the most common and the most reliable operation of the store. This is a dead loop.

This has prompted us to think more deeply about a contradictory question: domestic consumer spending habits are mostly still within the 80/20 rule, and it does not seem to have much fun finding new apps.

Is the 80/20 rule in mobile applications really a magic spell that can't be broken? Even if it involves a variety of objective factors, for conservatives, the limited knowledge of users and the fact that they do not require too much application seem to be the only answer to this question. However, the traditional Wap/web download station Limited media recommended operations and the very poor application of the discovery mechanism of the user habits cultivated by the 80/20 rules can not be ignored, and more personalized mobile applications should pay more attention to the long tail effect.

Not the user does not want to, but not under, can not find, the application store did not provide a good application discovery mechanism, and to help users better decision (whether to download) the system. The difficulty of discovering interesting applications in domestic stores is too great.

It is undeniable that the Apple App Store is still at the forefront of the application discovery mechanism. Although he also faces many problems, such as brush list, cheating and so on, many good applications rely on the complex list rules of the App Store to be known by the world. At the same time, the IOS 6 beta update of the App store in the application discovery mechanism has been greatly improved.

Well, come back to reality.

In the short term, most top app stores in China will constantly adjust their own products and operations to better help users find applications, but it still takes a long time to get into the "application discovery" phase of the real meaning, and it is also a long-term process to cultivate user habits.

Reason: Busy grab the entrance.

Entrance, brutal reality

What do the Giants have to do for the App Store? This is a river, who has the entrance, who has everything (not applicable to the already occupying the platform of the portal transformation of vested interests).

How important is the entrance to the App Store? If the browser strings the world of URLs, the App Store will be strung around the world of apps. Although today's app stores are just a single channel platform, when he grows into a product of billion-tier users, they think about how to keep users on my platform for longer. The application store and the mobile browser intersect more and more, there must be a war.

Therefore, You Yongfu will be in GMIC2012 interview on the release of independent application shop is difficult to big rhetoric (I disagree), and the other side, Wang Xiaoquan not care mobile phone browser, but to do the Sogou mobile phone assistant, Tencent Application Center is an independent domain name operation.

At the same time, mobile browsers are the first step to attract web apps to their own platform, such as UC, dolphins, QQ. But in any case, before the mobile internet entrance pattern is undecided, mobile Internet native app distribution is still an important demand in a few years, the internet is the big guy, traditional vendors, operators are eager to seize the app distribution portal.

Let's look at some of the forces in the domestic struggle at the App Store:

1, from the Internet airborne Strong entrance. Tencent, Sogou, Thunderbolt and other tools-type entrance, Baidu, Sohu, Sina (Weibo) and other strong content entrance. In addition to Sina's focus on micro-blogging "not to Die" dream, the other several are exerting force to do the application store.

2, Mobile Internet of the original lake. UC Browser, security butler, 3G Portal, Sky and other large users of the platform and products, each of their own products into the store tag. Despite all the huaiguitai, they are trying to expand their territory.

3, along with Android has been the application store of the home, 91, Android, Android, Jifeng is a typical representative. As long as these large shops do not make a mistake in principle, the basic will not die. However, the space will be severely squeezed by the top bosses.

4, terminals, agents, stores, operators. 250 words omitted here. Even Ali, Baidu, NetEase, such as a ticket companies are also ready to do their own-brand mobile phones, in addition to the strange fun netease, the rest are playing "cloud" wishful thinking, here can be written separately.

5, there is a very big ticket application will also carry a variety of distribution, channel capacity. This is a gang of fights after the noisy long tail. Who will integrate them? Advertising alliances, various alliances.

......

For any app store, the number of users is the key to life and death. A large number of users to obtain, the new people only rely on large resources to input and embrace the product of the thigh, the day of the Bureau is actually more sad.

In addition, these do store big guys, such as Tencent, Baidu, even already formed in the mobile internet around the user's vertical entrance layout trend. APP, Market (Mobile\web\cloud), Shell, ROM (brush machine, ROM), Phone ... The vertical entrance of the mobile internet alone can be sprayed with a single text. This is like a seesaw, who has the entrance, who can become a platform, can pry the whole industry.

Of course, most do not have the ability to seize the entrance of the store, live also have a live solution: to avoid the confrontation, early hug thigh.

This is the most brutal reality, Lengnuanzizhi.

Profit, the people divided meat

After the entrance, talk about the happy things about money.

To the user, the application store is a one-stop tool and service which has the media attribute application discovery, downloading, sharing, comment, management and so on. For developers, through the application store, you can send their products and services to users, this is a channel platform.

In what ways can the App Store finally make money?

1, based on media properties of the hard wide, brand advertising and other traditional advertising. Who will their advertisers be? Consumer electronics? Fast elimination class? ... Seemingly iffy. Have to say, generally do the internet-born companies, mostly unwilling to put such ads, too pit dad, Tencent such a rich and rich, except the Lord. However, as long as the media properties of the product, such ads will always exist.

2, based on the developer's service capabilities, channels, channel capabilities and derivative of the CPA ads, payment channels, mobile advertising alliance. It all seems to look good.

3, based on channel capacity and operational capabilities of the game, application agents, combined transport. is also a good way, 91, and many other shops are already doing.

4, based on a large number of users of the forward content charges, paid downloads, IAP, etc., in the three low user market and the scarcity of content is also worth a try.

And based on the service capacity of the application store, all kinds of channels to extend the capacity of the model, is the most reliable, including advertising alliances, payment channels, combined transport and so on. These are based on the ability of the developer to service up.

However, app stores are also not optimistic about the developer services. Domestic start-ups and internet giants are also rushing to get their own nuts. The App Store is also a platform (channel), but everyone is now focused on grabbing the portal and having no time to look at the deeper developer service level. Simply list some of the companies in the country that focus on developer services:

Data platform: Friends, talking data, AppAnnie, etc.
Adaptation platform: Testin, Baidu MTC, China Mobile, etc.
Advertising platform: Friends of the league, Madhouse, posture, there are meters, and so on, Baidu
Promotion platform: Cat catching, net, multi-League, etc.
Transport platform: micro-cloud, fun, Kunlun worldwide, etc.
Payment platform: Alipay, 19pay, Shenzhou payment, etc.
Development platform: Appcelerator, Appcon, etc.

These services are more vertical and professional, in the field of advertising platform has even begun to differentiate into a proxy service advertising customers, to do channel service media more subdivision of the positioning.

Of course, for Tencent such a kind of dash-type enterprises, although now have no time to take into account, but the follow-up if necessary will accompany some heavy acquisitions to supplement its platform capacity. At the same time for the Giants, the store in addition to revenue, the channel's strategic value can not be ignored.

The rest of the store will also need to weigh carefully, find the right positioning, otherwise, the early to earn some CPA's quick money transformation, while still have the opportunity to turn.

A new opportunity under a disorderly war

In the eyes of the outside world, app stores seem to have cooled down (Via business value: Android application Channel axiology). But there are still plenty of opportunities to look behind the "cooling".

As mentioned earlier, the families are busy seizing the distribution portal, there are too many areas to take into account, such as application discovery, developer services. Here are just a few of the most likely to generate new opportunities and the time lag with the Giants in the direction, for your reference:

1. Application Discovery Engine

A mature application discovery mechanism is not a matter of day, involving a large number of user data accumulation, analysis, the classification of each application, matching, a mature relationship between the operation of the community .... But remember what you have to do is the engine, not the store.

2, Web App Store

Since all the big mobile browsers are getting all kinds of H5 Web apps, why not start with a head-on confrontation? If you do not have a custom-built browser kernel engine to block the page standards of the big Web Apps, a web app navigation app might also be a couple of days away.

3. Aggregate Content Store

When a field emerges in the same category of products more and more, it is correct to do polymerization. Of course, the aggregation here is not referring to the aggregation of the major application stores, but the distribution channel to carry all kinds of content of the trend to do across the domain aggregation, including applications, video, music, pictures, novels and other types of content stores, remember not to do content. The one who is not afraid of death can try.

As @ Zhou Hongyi said on Weibo:

Many successful big companies seem to not read ≪ positioning ≫ , like to use a successful brand Pauta. But the more successful the brand, the more clearly the perception of consumers, a brand-take-all different areas will dilute damage to the brand. When I was at Yahoo, I suggested using an independent search brand to differentiate portal positioning, and people mentioned that Yahoo would think of portal news mail rather than search experts, what you are not important, what people think you are.

A mature brand cannot do everything. This also borrow Zhou Hongyi classmate to give You Yongfu.

4, Developer Segmentation Services

The developer service is too big, there are a lot of things to do, interested students can pay more attention to the field.

At the end of the last, leave a irresponsible boast: mobile Internet "cloud + END" in China will be the birth of an android Apple.

I'll see about that.

Extended reading:

"Business value": Big Data blue Sea
"Mobile 2.0": The Media revolution and the future
"Orzdream": Exploring the product design of the Android application market