(Android) Developer Income Report #6

http://www.kreci.net/reports/developer-income-report-6/

by kreci • 16 years ago

87 38 16 years ago

kreci.net

kreci4• 16 years ago

As usual comments are welcome and very desired!

othello• 16 years ago

How many ad impressions does the $1,700 Android revenue correspond to?

Thank you again for posting these numbers every month.

dpcan• 16 years ago

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.

asmosoinio• 16 years ago

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."

kreci4• 16 years ago

I will consider making a separate post about it. Thanks for the suggestion.

prs3• 16 years ago

I enjoy reading about your struggles and experiences in earning a online income.

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.

kreci4• 16 years ago

Yes - that is for December 2010. I know the link - but still considering cost of starting developing for iPhone (hardware) and time to learn new language vs outsourcing opportunity...

bane2• 16 years ago

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).

ergo982• 16 years ago

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.

wallflower3• 16 years ago

  The overwhelming majority of iOS devs make little to
  nothing, documented countless times

Not true. The majority of iOS devs I know make a decent revenue stream that involves making apps for the like of Fortune 500 companies and startups. Since they walk the company through the whole process of becoming a registered Apple iOS developer, you would never know the app was ghost-coded.

Locke1689• 16 years ago

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.

Tichy• 16 years ago

What is the niche blog?

kreci4• 16 years ago

My Mini-ITX blog - http://www.minimotherboard.com

revorad2• 16 years ago

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?

prs3• 16 years ago

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...

revorad2• 16 years ago

I'm thinking of this - http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2049808

danielh• 16 years ago

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€.

grantheaslip2• 16 years ago

> 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.

zacharycohn• 16 years ago

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).

muhfuhkuh2• 16 years ago

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.

grantheaslip2• 16 years ago

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.

shrikant• 16 years ago

If he's from India, that's one nice meal at a decent place.

pedanticfreak• 16 years ago

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.

mrlebowski• 16 years ago

Can you share your experiences -- how you promoted your previous apps?

brianobush• 16 years ago

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.

kenjackson• 16 years ago

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.

aaw• 16 years ago

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.

csomar• 16 years ago

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.

(Android) Developer Income Report #6

Related Stories