iAds - initial findings and don't forget this detail

JamesZeppelin · July 2010

So the doodle monster with iAds went live today.
I saw there were no ads. Luckily I checked the guides and realized there are new contracts to download and sign (digitally).

After that a new option in ITC popped up.

After I completed everything within about 15 minutes I got
some results. Pretty quick tracking.

I have nearly a half million downloads so between the daily downloads and potential upgrades I should be able to report some descent numbers for anyone interested and wondering if it's worth while.

I'll give an update tomorrow

ChirpinGames · July 2010

Would love to hear the results mate!

beefy_clyro · July 2010

Yeh definitely interested in some figures

Photics · July 2010

I didn't forget that detail, still no ads. HA HA!

scorelessmusic · July 2010

Wow! half a million downloads! Sweet numbers...

BarkBarkCo · July 2010

@james, the half million d/l's, was that since it's original release or since this update?

Also, did you mention iAds support in the release notes or new description? I see this going 1 of 2 ways.

1.) Mention and people refuse to update...unless there is other features added that are worth it!

2.) Don't mention it and people download the update but bash you in the reviews.

guru-at-zidware · July 2010

do you have a direct link to the app?

Rob2 · July 2010

JamesZeppelin · July 2010

My release went live at a bout 5pm yesterday so the info is base don about half a day

Downloads 1,390 (some before 5pm some after)
Updates 3,917

Now lets look at the Ad info. This really tells me how many of these 4,400 actually opened the app. Probably safe to assume most that open it are fresh downloads (i myself just hit download all and dont open half the stuff i update):

Revenue $2.90
eCPM $34.57
Requests 1,502
Impressions 84 (very sad fill rate)
Fill Rate 2.3%

So this tells me that only 1500 of the 4400 actually opened the app.
If the fill rate was 100% I would have made closer to $80 based on the eCPM

BOTTOM LINE!!!
a free app with 1500 /day downloads will make you a couple bucks /day
When fill rate is higher you could see $50+

I'll re update in a few days and see if the weekend has a little better fill rate.

I've noticed better adds showing up
I say a nissan add the was pretty nice. Very interactive.

Rob2 · July 2010

some people report thousands of requests with no impressions so i'd say you did well.

butterbean · July 2010

Very nice James! Thanks for sharing with us!

A3MG · July 2010

I just downloaded for the first time. There might be a bug - I turned my device to landscape (from portrait) and the app rotated and got stuck that way. Is this just me?

BarkBarkCo · July 2010

I've seen this in the viewer when the non-supported auto rotate options are selected in the scene properties, and the ones that should be supported are not selected. GS doesn't seem to switch them when a projects overall orientation is changed...

Photics · July 2010

JamesZeppelin said:
BOTTOM LINE!!!
a free app with 1500 /day downloads will make you a couple bucks /day
When fill rate is higher you could see $50+

1500 requests is far from a high number, not for a free app, so this is encouraging news.

Pro = $1999
$50 per day

You'd pay it off in about 40 days.

Seems like you'd get $5-$10 per day in reality though, at the current fill rate.
That's 200-400 days.

The problem is the fill rate. The other problem is diminishing returns. Will Apple still be offering a $1.20 per click? Will your app maintain 1500 per day? It seems that if you had like 10-20 decent apps, you could use iAds and make a decent living. I'll have to seriously consider upgrading to pro once I finish with my book.

JamesZeppelin · July 2010

Photics said:
1500 requests is far from a high number, not for a free app, so this is encouraging news.

I would argue that for sure. Free apps dont just get magic downloads (at least not past the first week) I have a few free apps that get less than 50 per day.

What 1500 means is staying in the rankings within the top 50 of a category and staying there.
I think getting app to maintain these numners isn't any easier than getting an app to STAY in the paid ranks.

The free ranks are as competitive as the paid ranks.

Not to sound discouraging. I mean overall it is one more option out there that wasnt so intriguing before.

butterbean · July 2010

@ James

Yes, Free Ranks tend to be less "sticky" than paid ranks meaning, if you do make it to the top 50 or top 100 free, your chances of staying are less likely than a paid app. It's all related to the buying habits of free app users versus paid ones.

butterbean · July 2010

I have a question, what determines the fill rate? Apple? The Apps popularity? Sorry complete NooB to this

firemaplegames · July 2010

Here's a nice blog post on the subject:

BarkBarkCo · July 2010

Seems like it is mostly popularity based from what I've read. I don't know if that is specifically detailed anywhere by Apple though.

butterbean · July 2010

Thanks Joe, couldn't really find anything in that article explaining fill rate, and what determines it.

Thanks BarkBark, that's what I figured, it's more than likely popularity based.

firemaplegames · July 2010

As a test, I put iAds at the bottom of the main menus for both Danger Cats! LITE and Stunt Squirrels LITE.

They both just switched to "In Review" this morning.

Now, I don't expect anywhere near as good results as James is getting...

First, I am only putting the iAd on the Main Menu, not while people are actually playing the game.
That is going to greatly limit the amount of accidental clicks on the iAd (apparently a popular tactic)

Also, the iAd is only in the LITE version of the game. Which only has 5 levels. So the amount of replay value isn't really there. The LITE version acts mostly as a link to the paid version.

And finally, I am only getting 75 downloads of each LITE game every day. James' 1500 is an incredibly difficult achievement to accomplish.

For me to make this actually work, I probably would need to make a full, free version of Danger Cats!

But then I would have 3 versions of the game:

Danger Cats!
Danger Cats! LITE
Danger Cats! FREE

The free version would be supported by the iAds. But currently there is only a 10% fill rate, so the chance of the player even seeing an ad is minimal. And then they are basically just getting the game for free.

I could give the LITE version more levels, but then I run the risk of the player being satisfied with the LITE version and not have a need to upgrade.

----

And then you start strategizing what one thing will do vs. some other thing, but the truth is, if you aren't
getting thousands of downloads a day, it doesn't matter.

Free or not, your game has to be popular.

I'll report on my findings when my LITE versions go live, but I can only assume that I will do 1/100th of what james is getting.

firemaplegames · July 2010

The last paragraph of the article talks about the fill rate:

A few possible explanations for low fill rate: a) the ad campaigns are tightly targeted, so 90% of the audience just isn’t eligible, b) the ad units are tightly frequency-capped, and Kenneth’s app is used much more often per-user than the flashlight, or c) the $60MM in sales includes a lot of campaigns slated to start later, and the complicated ad creative just isn’t ready yet. I’d place my money on the last option – iAds might look great, but they don’t look easy to make. If that’s the case, look for fill rate to increase slightly over time as more ad campaigns come online, but for Apple to ultimately have a lot of trouble keeping up with demand as agencies struggle with creative creation.

@butterbean: You mentioned you designed an app perfectly targeted for iAds. I'm curious to see how it does. Are you still planning on submitting it?

butterbean · July 2010

Yes! I just submitted 3, and all went into review yesterday, and are in the store today, and were accepted late afternoon.

I just checked, and 2 of the apps have very low fill rates, "Creature Match FREE" and "Toy Match FREE". Toy match has about a 4% fill rate while creature match only has 3.7%.

Adult Naughty Sounds Lite has 0% and that could be because of the app itself, although the lite version doesn't have any adult material in it.

So I think I'll know better tomorrow how these did, but I'm telling you, iAds is not looking very good in terms of any income, even a meager amount. Not a great thing to rely on.

If you want to download and take a look at my free apps, I put 8 levels in each of the Matching games for free

And the Soundboard one has 18 sounds in total, but 0% fill rate.

BarkBarkCo · July 2010

@FMG, Devs with ad supported apps generally do not maintain a lite version as well. Anyone interested in trying that app for free would likely just download the ad supported version anyway. The conflict arises when you think the game/app has a higher perceived value than the revenue generated by ads, and people would be willing to pay full price for it.

@butterbean, Here's a more definitive Apple answer to your questions... ;-)

iAd Network Welcome Message:
..Your actual volume of served ads will vary, based on factors that include your exclusions, available advertising inventory, advertiser targeting and user interaction with ads in your application...

BarkBarkCo · July 2010

@butterbean, When did you submit the updates? Is Apple's turn-around time getting better?

butterbean · July 2010

These are first time submissions for FREE versions of these games, it took about 9 days, their turnaround time is still about the same.... takes forever!

quantumsheep · July 2010

butterbean said:
These are first time submissions for FREE versions of these games, it took about 9 days, their turnaround time is still about the same.... takes forever!

Did you buy the pro licence for iAds?

butterbean · July 2010

I was upgraded like you when we originally paid the $499 for Gamesalad

quantumsheep · July 2010

Bloody hell!

Why does no-one tell me these things???!!!

QS

firemaplegames · July 2010

So Stunt Squirrels! LITE was just approved and is in the App Store...

The iAds do appear. For me it was a Nissan car ad.

There is an issue though. When I come back from the ad, the timers on the main menu are broken. (the squirrel no longer jumps) and when I click on the 'play' button, the game freezes.

I cannot properly quit the game either. Pressing the Home button just pauses the game. Pressing the icon again resumes it.

The only thing I added to the game was the iAd behavior (and updating it to 0.8.8)

If anybody gets a chance, can you download it and confirm that it happens to you too?

Thanks,
Joe

quantumsheep · July 2010

Joe,

I assume you did, but I'll ask anyway!

Did you test the game worked ok after putting in the iAds. The timer thing sounds like the issues people are having with timers when entering a scene.

Will download to check SS in a mo'.

Cheers,

QS

iAds - initial findings and don&#039;t forget this detail

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iAds - initial findings and don't forget this detail