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Friday, October 14, 2011

App developers can still make money from mobile advertising

Mark Bridge writes:

When I was a youngster, evangelists preached the gospel. Not the gospel according to Steve Jobs, Bart Simpson or Oprah Winfrey. The gospel of Jesus the Christ. That was all. That’s what the word meant.

In recent years, the word ‘evangelist’ has evolved to gain a wider meaning. We have Product evangelists. Customer evangelists. Developer evangelists. Technology evangelists. Even Word of Mouth evangelists (which sounds rather like being an ‘evangelism evangelist’, I reckon). Anyway, I’m sure you get the picture.

Terence Eden of mobile ad network InMobi isn’t called an evangelist. He’s Developer Community Manager... but his enthusiasm for the mobile internet and his employer would put many so-called evangelists to shame.

A couple of weeks ago he was at Over The Air, leading a session about mobile advertising entitled ‘I may not make you a millionaire - but I will pay for your beer’ - and last week he was introducing a similar topic at Droidcon UK.

I caught up with Terence after he’d discussed the ‘Reality of Mobile Advertising’ and started our conversation by talking about InMobi, which describes itself as the world’s largest independent mobile advertising network.

“We’re currently serving something like 43 billion adverts every single month”, he said, “and that number is growing and growing. We’re active in over 165 countries and we’re helping make developers an awful lot of money”.

I asked about the reality of news stories that suggested developers could make a small fortune from a single idea. The reality, Terence explained, was rather different.

“The market place is incredibly crowded now. To have your app stand out from anything else and to get so many downloads… you have to be really lucky for that to happen. A much better strategy is to make your own luck, which means make sure that your app is continuing to earn you money. In-app advertising means that you are paid every time someone clicks on an ad rather than just one 59p payment every time they download it.”

As well as encouraging developers to put advertisements within applications, Terence also explained the benefits of creating ads.

“Advertising on mobile is absolutely perfect for mobile apps because you know the advert is being shown to someone who has the phone that it works on. You start advertising, people download your app. You put advertising in there, start earning money from your app. Which means the more downloads you get, the more money you start earning. It’s win-win for developers.”

When it comes to predicting potential income, InMobi has an Economic Toolkit that helps developers calculate costs and income. Some countries, Terence told me, don’t always have the infrastructure to pay for apps - making advertising a more practical solution for generating money.

“What we always say is: go global. Make sure that your app is translated and then InMobi can serve adverts all around the world and start earning you money in places that you’ve never even heard of.”

Yes, definitely an evangelist. And a realistic one, too.

“I tell people to try us out, compare us with the competition and if we don’t meet up to expectations, call me or email me and tell us what your experiences are - because that’s how we find out how we can be better”.

You can listen to my full report from Droidcon UK on our website, via iTunes or by downloading the MP3 file. You’ll also hear from event organiser Thibaut Rouffineau, HTC’s Michael Ludden, Marcus Hansson from Sony Ericsson and Marcus O’Sullivan of Cisco.
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Opinion Articles

Last week at The Fonecast: 21st January 2013

Slip slidin' away

Mark Bridge writes:

There’s plenty of snow disrupting the UK – but, thanks to the mobile telecoms industry, thousands upon thousands of people are able to work from home. We’re all feeling pretty pleased with ourselves right now, aren’t we?

Pedestrians may have been skating down pavements but a different kind of trouble on the high street dominated much of last week as music, DVD and occasional mobile phone retailer HMV went into administration.

Author: The Fonecast
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That application on your smartphone could kill you

New study looks at the accuracy of apps that provide feedback on medical conditions

Mark Bridge writes:

Smartphones and health are linked in many positive ways, from remote patient monitoring via a mobile network to applications that enhance medical education.

However, patients are being warned not to assume their smartphones are as smart as they might appear.

Author: The Fonecast
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"I am late middle-aged, not an idiot!"

Iain Graham writes:

“I am late middle-aged (ok I’m 62), not an idiot!”

This is a phrase I seem to be using more and more frequently, either out loud to bright young things or silently to myself in utter frustration of modern ‘must have’ gadgets.

Author: The Fonecast
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Last week at The Fonecast: 14th January 2012

Harder, better, faster, stronger...

Mark Bridge writes:

Oh, how the mobile industry loves a superlative. Much like the work ethic celebrated by Daft Punk (or Kanye West, if you prefer), it’s always looking for a new angle.

Author: The Fonecast
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TheFonecast.com newsletter: 7th January 2013

Time to catch up with everything mobile

Mark Bridge writes:

Happy New Year!  It’s been three weeks since our last newsletter and a fortnight since our podcast of mobile predictions for 2013, so there’s plenty to catch up with.

Author: The Fonecast
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