Comments on: It’s Time To Stop Using Downloads As The Key Metric For Apps Success http://paidcontent.org/2011/09/12/419-its-time-to-stop-using-downloads-as-the-key-metric-for-apps-success/ The economics of digital content Mon, 20 May 2013 23:21:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Chris http://paidcontent.org/2011/09/12/419-its-time-to-stop-using-downloads-as-the-key-metric-for-apps-success/#comment-85230 Wed, 14 Sep 2011 12:26:26 +0000 http://paidcontent.wp.gostage.it/2011/09/12/419-its-time-to-stop-using-downloads-as-the-key-metric-for-apps-success/#comment-85230 Downloads are a small part of understanding your users, where, how, when and what are your users doing with the app you spent hours building.

Check out http://app47.com for all the analytics you need.

]]> By: Rk http://paidcontent.org/2011/09/12/419-its-time-to-stop-using-downloads-as-the-key-metric-for-apps-success/#comment-85229 Tue, 13 Sep 2011 18:08:51 +0000 http://paidcontent.wp.gostage.it/2011/09/12/419-its-time-to-stop-using-downloads-as-the-key-metric-for-apps-success/#comment-85229 And ‘active users’ is proportional to download figures.

]]> By: Rk http://paidcontent.org/2011/09/12/419-its-time-to-stop-using-downloads-as-the-key-metric-for-apps-success/#comment-85228 Tue, 13 Sep 2011 18:08:00 +0000 http://paidcontent.wp.gostage.it/2011/09/12/419-its-time-to-stop-using-downloads-as-the-key-metric-for-apps-success/#comment-85228 Downloads obviously translate to potential advertising revenues, just like how higher page hits on internet translate to higher rates on advertisements. Just like my finance Prof who just made fun of “hits” on internet, this article tries to make fun of downloads. Agreed, downloads by themselves do not mean anything, but those in business understand these metrics translate to $.

]]> By: RedMercury http://paidcontent.org/2011/09/12/419-its-time-to-stop-using-downloads-as-the-key-metric-for-apps-success/#comment-85227 Mon, 12 Sep 2011 18:33:27 +0000 http://paidcontent.wp.gostage.it/2011/09/12/419-its-time-to-stop-using-downloads-as-the-key-metric-for-apps-success/#comment-85227 Wait.  These metrics were perfectly reasonable when Apple was ahead.  Now that other stores are catching up or surpassing Apple, these metrics aren’t useful?

One of the things to also keep in mind is that the “paid download” argument isn’t quite fair as there are lots of apps–probably more on Android than on iOS–which are free yet receive revenue from in-app advertising.

Quick!  We have to find a new model where Apple excels!  I know!  How about how much users get charged for the Apps?  That seems like a good one–since most Android apps are free/ad-supported, there’s no way to track that info for Android!  So we can compare revenue from sales against revenue from sales and Apple will still come out ahead!  Brilliant!

]]> By: fring http://paidcontent.org/2011/09/12/419-its-time-to-stop-using-downloads-as-the-key-metric-for-apps-success/#comment-85226 Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:47:29 +0000 http://paidcontent.wp.gostage.it/2011/09/12/419-its-time-to-stop-using-downloads-as-the-key-metric-for-apps-success/#comment-85226 Agreed, absolute download numbers are one dimensional, ignore other more relevant factors and lead to much useless cheerleading. Other factors, arguably more important, would include numbers of free/paid apps, app class ie. utility v time waster, revenue model, market penetration etc. etc.
I do think it’s worth pointing out that, contrary to Ovums projections, Apple has already passed the 15B download figure(July ’11) after the 10B download countdown in Jan ’11(won by a British woman) and could easily achieve 20B by years end given a doubling rate year on year. So how do these figures square with Ovums figure of 6B for this year or that Apple has(probably) already exceeded the 2016 projected figure, half a year and 4 years ahead of their schedule?
It certainly leads to accusations of misleading fudging and platform bias.

]]> By: xan_user http://paidcontent.org/2011/09/12/419-its-time-to-stop-using-downloads-as-the-key-metric-for-apps-success/#comment-85225 Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:05:29 +0000 http://paidcontent.wp.gostage.it/2011/09/12/419-its-time-to-stop-using-downloads-as-the-key-metric-for-apps-success/#comment-85225 I rather see the total downloads continue to be used as a measuring stick for apps rather than using profits made from their sale. One of the main advantages of android over iOS is how many great apps are free. Plus many great droid apps only ask for donations rather than making you buy an unknown app without trying it first. I bought a few apps for my itouch that really sucked, and had no way to return them for a refund.

]]> By: Finn Kirkland http://paidcontent.org/2011/09/12/419-its-time-to-stop-using-downloads-as-the-key-metric-for-apps-success/#comment-85224 Mon, 12 Sep 2011 12:37:32 +0000 http://paidcontent.wp.gostage.it/2011/09/12/419-its-time-to-stop-using-downloads-as-the-key-metric-for-apps-success/#comment-85224 A more useful stat to shout about would be the Google Analytics stats for apps.., although I haven’t seen this anywhere yet.

]]> By: Magnus Jern http://paidcontent.org/2011/09/12/419-its-time-to-stop-using-downloads-as-the-key-metric-for-apps-success/#comment-85223 Mon, 12 Sep 2011 10:28:56 +0000 http://paidcontent.wp.gostage.it/2011/09/12/419-its-time-to-stop-using-downloads-as-the-key-metric-for-apps-success/#comment-85223 In some cases number of downloads (or at least one-off use of the app) is perfectly fine as we pointed out in a recent article (http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/2011/08/22/mobile-apps-as-part-of-a-short-term-campaign). The real question should always be what are your objectives as a developer or app publisher and then the metrics follow from that. 

]]> By: Alessandro Galetto http://paidcontent.org/2011/09/12/419-its-time-to-stop-using-downloads-as-the-key-metric-for-apps-success/#comment-85222 Mon, 12 Sep 2011 09:20:49 +0000 http://paidcontent.wp.gostage.it/2011/09/12/419-its-time-to-stop-using-downloads-as-the-key-metric-for-apps-success/#comment-85222 Well, I think we are missing a couple of key metric in this evaluation. 

We know very well how many times an application has been downloaded, but we do not have any clue of the application life after that event. Life of the application on the phone, and usage are key metrics that are needed to evaluate your application success.

True said you can get some of those informations from back end connectivity, if your application has some but it would be great to have those date coming from the App Store.

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