by andy@andybeaulieu.com via Andy's Blog on 2/10/2011 4:31:00 PM
Last night at the CNY .NET Developers Group, I presented a talk titled "Windows Phone 7: Monetize your Apps" where I detailed my WP7 revenue numbers and tips on monetization. Many of my fellow WP7 developers such as Farseer Games, Occasional Gamer, and many others have shared their sales as well.
In this blog post, I'll repeat my sales and ad revenue for my apps that I have on the marketplace. You can also download the slide deck for my presentation.
TALKING RAGDOLL
"Talking Ragdoll" has been in the Top 100 paid apps for awhile, it now hovers around #82. This is a little physics toy that allows you to import your enemy's face onto a ragdoll and then throw various objects at it, dress it up, and place it in different scenes. The ragdoll will also repeat what you say in a funny voice. This app was selected for LG's hAppiness campaign, and while I'm sorry I can't share the numbers for that particular opportunity, I will share the numbers for Marketplace sales below.
TALKING RAGDOLL STATS11/8/2010 thru 1/24/2011 Type Paid with Trial Category Entertainment Trial Downloads 4274 Number Purchased 1280 Conversion Rate 30% Developer Take $896
TALKING RAGDOLL STATS11/8/2010 thru 1/24/2011
Type
Paid with Trial
Category
Entertainment
Trial Downloads
4274
Number Purchased
1280
Conversion Rate
30%
Developer Take
$896
PAINT TO LIFE
Paint to Life is another little physics toy that lets you draw things out with your finger which are then translated into physics objects. There are various tools for changing color and erasing, and you can tilt your phone to change gravity.
This app is ad-driven and there was something very peculiar about the ad revenue for December. It was initially reported as $305 for 25,780 impressions. But later on, I received an email saying there was a "miscalculation in the revenue share owed to you" which made my final Ad Revenue shape up like below. This is quite hard to believe and I emailed pubcenter support to verify this error, which they said was indeed correct. UPDATE 2/10/2011: I had a few folks ask about what Ad Categories I selected, and what eCPM I am getting now. My categories are Technology & Computing, Hobbies & Interest, and Education. My eCPM for Paint to Life is now around $10 - a far cry from the eCPM for December.
PAINT TO LIFE STATS11/8/2010 thru 1/24/2011 Type Free with Ads Category Entertainment # Downloads 3,733 # of Ad Impressions 25,782 eCPM $115.62 Developer Take $2,981
PAINT TO LIFE STATS11/8/2010 thru 1/24/2011
Free with Ads
# Downloads
3,733
# of Ad Impressions
25,782
eCPM
$115.62
$2,981
FREE DROP
I initally created a Paid app named "DroppyPop" but it absolutely tanked horribly. I had only 12 sales over the first 2 months on the Marketplace.
Out of frustration, I changed the app to free and added in Ads. Immediately, I saw the number of downloads increase by 100 times. But after 6,318 downloads and 66,169 impressions, I had only made $12 with an eCPM of 18 cents.
What?! Was this game cursed or something? After an email exchange with PubCenter support, I found that the Ad Control I placed inside Free Drop wasn't clickable! That's right, if a user clicked the ad, then no ad details popped up! And it turns out that each click-thru on your Ad control increases the potential eCPM! This is where your revenue goes up - from clicks, NOT from impressions. This was a frustrating exercise in learning how eCPM and click-thru's are related. It would be great if PubCenter showed us the # of click-thru's on our ad units, wouldn't it?
So note that the below stats are for just the 9 days so far with the fixed ad control that is now clickable:
FREE DROP STATS 2/1/2011 thru 2/9/2011 Type Free with Ads Category Games # Downloads 6,318 # of Ad Impressions 6,353 eCPM $5.88 Developer Take $37.36
FREE DROP STATS
2/1/2011 thru 2/9/2011
Games
6,318
6,353
$5.88
$37.36
SUMMARY
I am quite pleased about the initial opportunities for monetization on Windows Phone 7. I've been a hobbyist game developer for quite some time, and while I won't quit my day job anytime soon, I do see a bright future ahead for creating and sharing fun little apps!
Original Post: My WP7 Monetization Numbers
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