(Android) Developer Income Report #6(kreci.net)
kreci.net
(Android) Developer Income Report #6
http://www.kreci.net/reports/developer-income-report-6/
39 comments
One commenter makes a comment that the developer "has no passion", to which kreci responds it is "just business". I have to agree with the commenter, that it is sad the apps are made for the sole purpose of ad impressions and the niche blog content is outsourced (and not very good content on top of that). All of it seems a bit shallow, but that is my opinion. In my own app development, I want my apps to empower people and enrich their lives. If I succeed in that endeavor, I will be rewarded.
I haven't really been following Android dev income trends (other than Angry Birds' incredible ad revenue), anybody care to comment on the general state of Android revenue as compared to a year ago? (I suspect it's greatly increased, but even with similar numbers of phones out, I also suspect iOS devs pull in more money).
I suspect it's greatly increased, but even with similar numbers of phones out, I also suspect iOS devs pull in more money
The majority of iOS devs make little to nothing, documented countless times. Of course when you hear the rare success story it is presented as a norm, which paradoxically leads to a gold rush that really ensures that no one gets rich (and quick!).
And the same is entirely true for Android. While the user base has grown dramatically, the number of applications have exploded as well so there's significantly more competition.
The majority of iOS devs make little to nothing, documented countless times. Of course when you hear the rare success story it is presented as a norm, which paradoxically leads to a gold rush that really ensures that no one gets rich (and quick!).
And the same is entirely true for Android. While the user base has grown dramatically, the number of applications have exploded as well so there's significantly more competition.
The overwhelming majority of iOS devs make little to
nothing, documented countless times
Except for a few edge cases this is the best way to make money on the App Store that I'm aware of (contracting to other companies).
Are these typically free apps the consultants are developing? (Like say, Yelp's app).
In almost every case, the apps are funded by the marketing budget and are always free apps to promote the organization or company's brand. It is in essence another marketing channel. There are also cases where a non-profit gets corporate sponsorship.
Sorry I should have been clearer. I'm talking about people selling their own products here.
Yes, there is lots of money to be made in, essentially, consulting. That is true pretty much universally.
Yes, there is lots of money to be made in, essentially, consulting. That is true pretty much universally.
Thanks for the clarification. Damn context always gets me - in real life too!
The majority of iOS devs make little to nothing, documented countless times.
That's not really what he said though. Even if 0.1% of the iPhone developers and 0.1% of the Android developers are making money, the iPhone devs could still be making more.
That's not really what he said though. Even if 0.1% of the iPhone developers and 0.1% of the Android developers are making money, the iPhone devs could still be making more.
Okay, so lets toss around some numbers:
Apple said 1 billion in payouts to developers
Apple said 300,000 apps in app store
Average $ per app = $3,333.33
Now if this were a bell curve half the developers would be getting less than that. But this is not a bell curve (it's one of them thar hockey stick things) so the large majority of apps will be earning less than that.
For the purposes of handwaving, lets say 90% of apps make less than the average.
Now lets say that the average app is pulling its income in mainly over the last twelve months... that equates to ~$250 per month.
So... if 90% of the apps on the app store are making less than $250 per month ... this means kreci is actually doing pretty good on Android compared to iPhone.
I think from looking at kreci's article that he is more than comfortable with 'showing a little leg' in order to get some ad impressions (4 of 5 sources of revenue are ads or referrals). Now my impression (from a great distance) of the Android market compared to the iPhone market is that the Android one is much more dominated by ads. Also, this aligns better with Google's corporate goals (to plaster advertising over everything in sight).
So, in conclusion, I would say that kreci is doing pretty good, and that he has a good match of business models to the environment he is in.
@kreci - thanks for sharing your data
Apple said 1 billion in payouts to developers
Apple said 300,000 apps in app store
Average $ per app = $3,333.33
Now if this were a bell curve half the developers would be getting less than that. But this is not a bell curve (it's one of them thar hockey stick things) so the large majority of apps will be earning less than that.
For the purposes of handwaving, lets say 90% of apps make less than the average.
Now lets say that the average app is pulling its income in mainly over the last twelve months... that equates to ~$250 per month.
So... if 90% of the apps on the app store are making less than $250 per month ... this means kreci is actually doing pretty good on Android compared to iPhone.
I think from looking at kreci's article that he is more than comfortable with 'showing a little leg' in order to get some ad impressions (4 of 5 sources of revenue are ads or referrals). Now my impression (from a great distance) of the Android market compared to the iPhone market is that the Android one is much more dominated by ads. Also, this aligns better with Google's corporate goals (to plaster advertising over everything in sight).
So, in conclusion, I would say that kreci is doing pretty good, and that he has a good match of business models to the environment he is in.
@kreci - thanks for sharing your data
Moreover I have hired a talented writer via Freelancer.com to keep my niche blog updated to gain more search engine traffic (he takes $1 per article!).
You can't know if the guy is a talent or not, if you are not more talented than him. That being said, and with ridiculously low rate, I highly doubt if he is talented.
You can't know if the guy is a talent or not, if you are not more talented than him. That being said, and with ridiculously low rate, I highly doubt if he is talented.
As usual comments are welcome and very desired!
How many ad impressions does the $1,700 Android revenue correspond to?
Thank you again for posting these numbers every month.
Thank you again for posting these numbers every month.
I would REALLY like to know this too. I have a game getting 1.6 Million impressions every 6-8 hours and I only want to put ads on the game if it makes financial sense.
$400 - $1600 - $3200 per 6-8 hours?
No one can say without knowing about the specific app, the advert implementation, and the amount of users you loose because of the implementation. I'd guess something around that much though.
No one can say without knowing about the specific app, the advert implementation, and the amount of users you loose because of the implementation. I'd guess something around that much though.
Thanks for an interesting read. I'd like to repeat the question from "tani" on your blog: "Which ads network do you use, and could you share some experience about getting good earning from free apps with ads."
I will consider making a separate post about it. Thanks for the suggestion.
> Moreover I have hired a talented writer via Freelancer.com to keep my niche blog updated to gain more search engine traffic (he takes $1 per article!).
$1 per acticle? I know the articles on the site (http://www.minimotherboard.com/, via a comment) are short and not really original content, but assuming he's spending even 10 minutes per post, he could be earning more working the drive-thru at McDonald's. I suppose he's agreed to it, and it's not your fault he's undervaluing his work, but that strikes me as insultingly low. I really feel for the guy if he's been forced into writing for what is essentially table scraps.
$1 per acticle? I know the articles on the site (http://www.minimotherboard.com/, via a comment) are short and not really original content, but assuming he's spending even 10 minutes per post, he could be earning more working the drive-thru at McDonald's. I suppose he's agreed to it, and it's not your fault he's undervaluing his work, but that strikes me as insultingly low. I really feel for the guy if he's been forced into writing for what is essentially table scraps.
Just taking the latest artcile on the jetway mini-itx mobo, it's only 200 words. Your comment on the writer (quote not included) is 81. How long did it take you to write?
If she can bust out one article in 5 minutes, even with breaks of a few minutes in between to stretch or just clear her head, the writer can do 15 of them in an hour. And that's assuming kreci is her only client. I can see her making over US$100/day quite easily, and depending on where the writer is situated (and it seems that she is not a native English speaker/writer based just from her word usage alone), making between 25-30k year could possibly be no small potatoes.
FYI, I just wrote the preceding in 5 minutes and it's 118 words.
If she can bust out one article in 5 minutes, even with breaks of a few minutes in between to stretch or just clear her head, the writer can do 15 of them in an hour. And that's assuming kreci is her only client. I can see her making over US$100/day quite easily, and depending on where the writer is situated (and it seems that she is not a native English speaker/writer based just from her word usage alone), making between 25-30k year could possibly be no small potatoes.
FYI, I just wrote the preceding in 5 minutes and it's 118 words.
Maybe I'm just a slower writer, but 15 articles an hour seems impossibly fast, especially considering that the articles require some degree of research. Do you honestly believe someone could write 100 of those articles every day? Even if it were possible (and I'm not really sold on that), that sounds absolutely soul-crushing.
And yes, you (and other commenters) do bring up a good point in that $1 has a lot more value in many parts of the world. And while it still strikes me as a bit exploitative, I fully understand how untenable my complaining about this is considering basically every piece of electronic equipment on my desk was probably made by someone earning the around the same, if not less. The same is probably true of the clothes I'm wearing.
And yes, you (and other commenters) do bring up a good point in that $1 has a lot more value in many parts of the world. And while it still strikes me as a bit exploitative, I fully understand how untenable my complaining about this is considering basically every piece of electronic equipment on my desk was probably made by someone earning the around the same, if not less. The same is probably true of the clothes I'm wearing.
I know a reporter who can bust out 10 full-length newspaper-quality articles in an hour. 15 shorter pieces is certainly doable. You just have to be habituated to the sort of writing you're doing (and be a fast typist).
"the articles require some degree of research"
Step 1: Read 4 paragraph press release or product description page
Step 2: Regurgitate with your rote spin ("The technology continues to get smaller and more powerful with the new xxx yyy from zzz. Featuring foobar processor and bazbot spiffo support, the yyy can meet the small form factor needs of today's HTPC and silent PC enthusiast.")
Step 3: Submit to kreci
Step 4: $1.00
Step 5: goto 1.
Step 1: Read 4 paragraph press release or product description page
Step 2: Regurgitate with your rote spin ("The technology continues to get smaller and more powerful with the new xxx yyy from zzz. Featuring foobar processor and bazbot spiffo support, the yyy can meet the small form factor needs of today's HTPC and silent PC enthusiast.")
Step 3: Submit to kreci
Step 4: $1.00
Step 5: goto 1.
Often the people articles like this are outsourced to live in places where $1 is a fairly large amount of money (for the amount of time they spent writing the article).
If he's from India, that's one nice meal at a decent place.
Keep in mind this freelancer is probably from overseas where the cost of living and wages are very different from the US. If this person is from India they would make a lot less working for McDonalds there.
Regarding Amazon affiliate earnings, what are the ToS requirements regarding promoting affiliate links directly? Presumably, every affiliate sale makes Amazon money, but if one were doing a lot of sales, would Amazon accuse you of stealing money from them?
As long as we are talking about legitimate sales originating from real people, the 24-hour duration of the affiliate cookie puts Amazon into a very favorable position. I cannot see why AMZN should accuse you of stealing money.
https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/agreement...
https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/agreement...
I'm thinking of this - http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2049808
The case you are referring to looks like a "cashback deal".
The purchasing party receives something (money,extension of subscription,...) in return for finalizing the transaction through your affiliate link.
As far as I know, this kind of deals is not possible through the Amazon Affiliate Program.
The purchasing party receives something (money,extension of subscription,...) in return for finalizing the transaction through your affiliate link.
As far as I know, this kind of deals is not possible through the Amazon Affiliate Program.
Can you share your experiences -- how you promoted your previous apps?
What is the conversion rate on Android ads?
I ask because I have trouble believing that people click on the ads out of intention. I think I clicked on one by mistake before (although, honestly can't remember for sure).
I just find it hard to believe that Angry Birds makes $1M in ad revenue per month. I don't get why you'd click an ad when you're about to play a game.
I ask because I have trouble believing that people click on the ads out of intention. I think I clicked on one by mistake before (although, honestly can't remember for sure).
I just find it hard to believe that Angry Birds makes $1M in ad revenue per month. I don't get why you'd click an ad when you're about to play a game.
I get anywhere from 1%-3% clickthrough, depending on the app, with AdMob. Whether your ads blend in with your app and where you place your ads affects this rate. AdMob recommends that you place your ads at the end of a user action, as in, once they've played a few rounds of a game, present them with their score and an ad. I think that's exactly what Angry Birds does.
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Regarding iOS development, keep in mind that even if you outsource, you still need an iPhone to verify the work. Maybe you can borrow a phone from a friend.
If you want to develop yourself, you don't need the latest hardware. A used Mac Mini is enough and should cost around 300€.
If you want to develop yourself, you don't need the latest hardware. A used Mac Mini is enough and should cost around 300€.
Is it safe to assume that those earnings are for December 2010? If yes, I would have assumed that earnings for Android software would have increased quite a lot more as this month is typically the strongest for many developers - See http://taptaptap.com/blog/million-million/ for a good example.
As for iPhone programming, feel free to check out http://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/developing-apps-for-ios-... if you haven't already - There is plenty of material available from Stanford for free that will allow you to create your first iOS applications easily.