Airpush

AndroidAuthority.com Interview: Developers & Users Both Win with Airpush

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 20:19:00 -0500

Editor’s Note: “This interview was reprinted from AndroidAuthority.com. The original version can be found here- http://www.androidauthority.com/follow-up-interview-with-airpush-developers-and-android-users-both-win-32072/

By Darcy Lacouvee

Most recently, we had the chance to chat with CEO of Airpush, Asher Delug, to follow up with the previous interview we had back in April. Below you will find the transcript of our interview, and what they are doing to help the community of hardworking Android developers better monetize their apps. Read on!

You released Airpush into the wild in January. Can you discuss some of the challenges and successes you’ve had since then? How has Airpush changed?

It’s been a very wild ride since our launch! Android developers are swarming us — over 10,000 apps use the Airpush SDK, which are collectively adding 800,000 new unique devices per day to the platform. We’re growing over 20% per week and hiring 5 – 10 new people per month.

Our primary challenge thus far has been managing growth in East Asia. Android is growing at spectacular rates in Asia, but each of the major markets there are unique and somewhat insular. We originally assumed the markets were highly globalized and could be managed remotely from the U.S, but quickly learned that isn’t the case! We’re now voraciously hiring local sales and operations teams in Asia, and will be opening offices in Singapore and Tokyo in 2012. We’ve also been partnering with major ad networks in the region.

There was some negativity around the launch of Airpush ads – what have you done to address it?

Yes, we had some end-user outcry about the new ad format when we first launched. This is fairly common for new ad formats — for example when Angry Birds added rich media ads, or Youtube added in-video ads. This has largely died down, as we started tagging each ad with a universal and permanent opt-out in response to the criticism. While there will always be a vocal minority, it’s clear that the vast majority of end-users have no issues with this form of advertising. Overall it significantly enhances the ecosystem by giving indie developers the ability — for the first time — to earn a living from free Android apps.

Talk to us about the success that Developers have had with Airpush.

Developers are literally shocked when they first see the earnings from Airpush. The CPM’s averaged over $12 in October — which is 10x – 30x higher than Admob and other traditional in-app ad networks. As a result, Airpush isn’t just an incremental gain for Android developers — it’s been a total game changer.

We’re currently getting over 500 new developer registrations per day, and have been aggressively sponsoring and attending developer trade shows to further build the Airpush brand with Android developers. Below is a chart of our registered and live android apps on the platform, which reflects developer excitement over the platform:

When can an app be considered successful? What is usually the magic number of downloads?

With traditional mobile ad networks you need a truly massive # of installs to make money with a free app. Traditional mobile ad networks will generate a LTV (life-time value) of around $.005 – $.01 per install due to the low active user% and extremely low CTR’s (sub 1%). So, for 10,000 installs the developer will only make $50 – $100 — enough to buy dinner.

With Airpush, however, developers typically earn around $.07 – $.12 LTV on the installs, and as a result can make $700 – $1,200 from the same 10,000 downloads — enough to pay rent.

Airpush has created an environment where developers can earn a living from their apps, without having millions and millions of downloads.

So how do you get the 10,000 installs or more in the first place? The key is building an app which generates a high level of user engagement, as measured by the ratio of your DAU (daily active users) to total installs. When you launch an app in the Android Market, you will automatically get 500 – 4,000 free installs from the “Just In” section. If your user engagement is high, Android Market’s ranking algorithm will continue to distribute your app and generate consistently large numbers of new daily installs for you for free!

You mentioned that you have a new type of ad unit in the works – can you expand on this?

We recently launched our new Icon Ads product, which has also been a tremendous success with developers. Icon Ads enable developers to bundle a value-added service with an app, such as mobile search and daily deals. The bundled service is added as a shortcut on the Android phone’s desktop, where it can be easily accessed or deleted by the end-user. After only two weeks of launch, our developers are distributing Icon Ads to around 350,000 new devices per day and generating additional revenue in the $12 – $36 CPM range. Developers who add Icon Ads to their apps have been seeing an additional 50 – 100% increase in earnings, on top of the 10x – 30x increase which the Airpush SDK already provides.

And so there you go – Developers now can finally be compensated in a way that is commensurate with the good work they are doing. 2011 has proven to be a very significant year for Android, and the quality of apps released over the past few months especially reflects this. With greater incentive for developers to make incredible apps, and greater amounts of developers able to make a decent living off of producing quality apps for you and I, competition further intensifies, resulting in even more high quality innovative apps being released in the near future! Good for Android , good for Developers – and good for you and I!

Join Us at Mobile Asia Congress and WIP Developer Party in Hong Kong !

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 13:13:00 -0500

We are happy to announce our sponsorship and attendance of the Mobile Asia Congress in Hong Kong this week. Our Booth location is MR4 AZ3, and we are sponsoring the WIP Developer Party on Tuesday evening at Infusion. We strongly encourage you to attend and meet the entire Airpush team!

For those of you who haven’t been to the MAC, it is a fantastic show — the premiere smartphone and apps event in Asia. The even has particular importance this year for the Android developer community, as 2011 has been a breakout year for Android in Asia. At Airpush, 3 of our top 5 countries are in Asia — China, Japan, and Korea.

We look forward to meeting many of our Asian developers and advertisers at the event!

Inman Breaux
VP of Publisher Relations
inman@airpush.com

Airpush Ad Network Surpasses 10,000 Android Applications, Debuts Innovative New Ad Format

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 15:40:45 -0500

LOS ANGELES, CA, Nov 07, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — Airpush, the leading app monetization solution for Android developers, today announced that it now has more than 10,000 Android applications in its network. The announcement comes as Airpush launches Icon Ads, an innovative new ad format to complement its successful push-notification ads.

Last month Airpush served more than 100 million push notification ads in 150 countries, and the Airpush SDK has been distributed to more than 45 million devices, nearly a quarter of all Android devices.

The Company is seeing extremely high demand from Android app developers, with more than 500 signing up every day. Airpush push-notification ads offer developers between $5 and $20 CPMs, primarily due to the high CTRs that they provide to advertisers.

Airpush’s new Icon Ads format allows developers to bundle value-added services with their apps, including mobile search and daily deals. The bundled services appear as shortcuts on the phone’s desktop, where they can be easily accessed or deleted by the user. This additional ad format offers developers another powerful revenue stream, with CPM’s ranging between $12 and $35.

“Our vision is to deliver the next generation of mobile ad formats to Android developers, who are frustrated with the status quo,” said Asher Delug, CEO and founder of Airpush. “Surpassing 10,000 apps demonstrates that developers are hungry for better CPMs and for ads that do not interrupt their apps while in use. Our new Icon Ads format offers developers even more choice in how they seek to generate revenue from their apps, helping them to build successful business models in a market that is hungry for free or low-cost content.”

About Airpush

Airpush is the leading application monetization solution for Android developers. Over 40,000 Android developers in over 150 countries are using Airpush’s next-generation ad formats to generate 10x - 30x higher returns compared to traditional in-app ad networks. Airpush allows mobile developers to significantly increase their advertising revenue and offers advertisers more effective campaigns.

For more information visit, http://www.airpush.com/ or follow us on Twitter @AirpushAds.

Partnership with RadiumOne

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 04:00:00 -0400

Partnership with RadiumOne

At the beginning of October we announced our partnership with the UK’s RadiumOne, the first online ad network to leverage social data on the Web. Through its “social retargeting” feature, RadiumOne enables brands to find consumers who most resemble their current user base and identify users who are most likely to engage with their ads.

So how will this partnership affect our developers and advertisers?

This partnership will provide advertisers and developers with the tools necessary to get the best performance from the Android platform.

Want to know more?

RadiumOne expects Airpush ads to prove popular with its clients; in particular charities looking for donations through the click of a button as well as companies utilizing ‘click to call’ services, such as those encouraging bookings through a call center, will be able to use this element very effectively. RadiumOne will act as a primary sales agent for Airpush in the UK marketplace. It’s a natural choice for us as we look to expand in the UK and the rest of Europe.

We know there is massive growth potential in the UK mobile advertising market, so we’re delighted to work with such an innovative business to help us achieve our goals, and help our developers and advertisers reach an even broader market.

David Kawamoto

VP of Sales

All About Android Growth

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:57:00 -0400

One of the themes that emerged during Advertising Week earlier this month was the range of opportunities within the mobile industry. Mobile advertising as a whole is an exciting area given that 305 million smartphones having shipped in 2010 and 472 million are expected to ship by the end of 2011. This is a 55 percent increase over the last year alone.

But it’s the Android ad market that is really primed to explode. Android ad impressions have grown 48 percent from July through August according to Millennial Media and by the end of this year Android is expected to have 8.1 billion downloads compared to 6.1 billion for Apple’s smartphone.

It’s no secret that Android is increasingly the platform of choice for consumers, with a recent study showing that one out of every two people choses an Android smartphone. In the last 90 days alone, users have chosen Android 56 percent of the time, twice as often as iOS. On top of that, Android holds 39 percent of the market according to IDC.

Some people in the industry are viewing the success of Android with a degree of trepidation with the surge in Android uptake worrying some developers about their revenue model.

For starters, more than half of the 200,000 different apps and games in the Android marketplace are free. As such, Android developers and publishers aren’t making as much on downloads as they could on other platforms. With the majority of app installs becoming inactive, developers also run into the obstacle of not being able to monetize their user base with in-app ads. These ads can provide a revenue stream only as long as the user continues to use the app. For many developers it is challenging to create a rewarding business model that their ingenuity deserves.

Airpush has created a real way for Android developers to monetize their apps and experience sustainable business models. Our push-notification ads enable advertisements to appear “off app” and reach active and inactive users alike. Since recipients can view ads at their convenience, an increased level of engagement is created and higher click-through rates are achieved. This increased performance is appealing to brands and agencies who are seeking more efficient campaigns and a higher ROI.

Airpush is creating greater wealth within Android which will attract more talent, innovation and better content for users.

Asher Delug

Founder & CEO

The Big Push

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 02:27:00 -0400

There is an app for almost anything in the Android market. AppGenome recently reported that there are one million mobile apps available and almost half are for Android. The app development industry has certainly seen a boom in the past few years. The open infrastructure of the Android Market means that anyone from the novice developer to the serial entrepreneur can develop an app. For those developers trying to make a living from their mobile applications, the biggest decision is around price point – do you join the masses that are offering freemium content or do you generate revenue from consumers?

There have been difficulties for developers whose business model has revolved around in-app advertisements. Fill rate is notoriously low (and decreasing) thanks in part to concerns from Madison Avenue that impressions disappear as apps go inactive. Airpush offers an alternative way for developers to monetize their apps-

Reach inactive users. Unfortunately, about 26 percent of apps go dormant after being downloaded and only 5-15 percent of installs become active users. With traditional ad networks, those are the only users that can be monetized. With push notification ads (ads that appear in the notification tray of an Android device) developers are also able to serve ads to inactive users. This means developers can reach 100 percent of users rather than just active users. It also gives widget developers the option to monetize apps that cannot utilize in-app ads.

Paid on a CPM basis. Developers are paid on a CPM basis (cost per thousand impressions) rather than cost-per-click (CPC). In this case, an “impression” includes any time an ad is pushed to a device, whether or not the user actually views the ad.

Higher CTRs, Higher CPMs. With Airpush advertisers can generate much higher CTRs with the push-notification ad unit. Since the ads are served outside of the apps the ‘Accidental Click’ disappears. This high engagement level allows developers to earn higher CPMs, ranging from $4-$20 and possibly more.

Unprecedented fill rates. Developers can experience over 90% global fill rates on average- much higher than the sub 30% industry average.

Control. Developers have the ability to control which users get ads, when and how often. They can select a specific time on a specific day to match advertising demand and best serve the end user.

Obviously we’re a bit biased, but push ads provide a unique, effective way for developers to create a sustainable business model and continue developing great apps.

Airpush Team

Airpush Annouces Strategic Partnership with Japan's Nobot Inc.

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 17:26:00 -0400

LOS ANGELES, CA - Airpush, the first mobile ad network based on push-notification ads has formed a strategic partnership with media company Nobot Inc. Nobot Inc., a public company based in Tokyo, Japan, owns the second largest ad network in Japan - AdMaker. The two companies will integrate their platforms to better monetize Japanese app inventory and increase reach.

Through this partnership advertisers on AdMaker’s network will seamlessly reach Airpush’s global network of over 12,000 Android application developers. The partnership will significantly expand Nobot’s network footprint on Android, while providing Airpush with access to hundreds of premium advertisers in Japan.

As Airpush’s global network continues its rapid growth, this partnership will be integral in keeping pace and maintaining above average metrics for its developers.

Airpush Keeping Pace With International Growth

Wed, 18 May 2011 17:17:00 -0400

It is no secret that the Android OS has supplanted Symbian (Nokia) as the top selling mobile OS in the world in a relatively short period of time. A key component to this rapid rise has been Android’s international growth. While other companies have concentrated on maintaining margins rather than pursuing market share, Google has successfully focused on international and more specifically ‘emerging markets’ where its greatest volume opportunities reside. This rapid growth has drastically altered the mobile ecosystem, specifically in the mobile ad space.

Airpush, which is exclusively Android, has mirrored this growth to a degree growing over 250% in the last month alone. Much of this growth has been international as Airpush’s reach extends to over 150 countries. Some of the network’s top international countries include Japan, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, United Kingdom, India, South Korea and Sweden - all of which are producing over 35% CTR’s for publishers.

While this increasing ‘reach’ has been extremely beneficial and one of Airpush’s top priorities, it has also presented challenges as Airpush must monetize its global publishers with global advertisers- matching supply with demand. Fortunately to date, Airpush has successfully kept pace with its own growth, achieving an average global fill rate of over 85%. This has been achieved through successful partnerships with international advertisers such as Japan’s Nobot (AdMaker).

These partnerships have assured Airpush keeps up with its own international growth and continues to strive to become the #1 monetization solution for Android applications.

Inman Breaux
VP of Publisher Relations, Airpush Inc.
www.Airpush.com