AppBucks Push and Icon Ads - Alternative to Airpush, Leadbolt, SendDroid and StartApp
We developers are always on the lookout for better monetisation options for our mobile apps. With the recent slow down on the mobile advertising scene after the December spending spree, people are starting to question the ad networks.
The thing is, there IS a slow down across all networks. It is weird in that in 2012, my revenues kept growing in January and February. Well, it looks like advertisers are also getting savvier and better using their funds on ads.
Let me introduce you to AppBucks (referral link).
Push and Icon Ads
AppBucks is a push and icon ads network that is really fresh out of the oven. Just like Airpush, Leadbolt and Senddroid, they serve the standard hell going ad formats.
Here is the WARNING from me right at the start! I have only used them for a day! I don't know if they will pay on time, I don't know if they have good coverage, I don't even know if they are sipping pina colada in the Bahamas right now!
I'm sharing about AppBucks because, well, I've made the wrapper library for Basic4Android (read below) and because someone from AppBucks sent in an honest request to get developers to try them out.
eCPM Expectation
Well, the honesty is going to go a long way. One good way for testing whether ad network folks are being honest, is by asking them a realistic eCPM of their ads. Back then, AppLovin was the first network that gave and delivered (almost) what they said they would. (Although they been dropping in banner ecpms lately.)
So I asked AppBucks about their eCPMs, and was told push ads get $3 - $4 range on average and icon ads get $7 - $10 per 1000 icon drops. Another WARNING, your mileage will most likely differ!
$3 - $4 for push ads is possible, as airpush does have it's good days where I get about $2. Will AppBucks be able to live up to it? We'll see.
Icon ads vs Startapp
The icon ads ecpm might appear to be be lower than what Startapp gives, but notice that you get paid per icon drop. What this means is that, after a set interval of time, a new icon is sent out to the device. In the bigger picture, you could get better returns from this ad type compared to Startapp.
The icons delivered also are interesting. They are links to particular apps on the market, showing those app's own icon image as the ad icon. So it really looks like a shortcut to an app, when in actual fact it launches Google Play and goes straight to the app's page to download. Nice!
Payment terms
They have 2 payment options, Net 30 and Net 7. Net 30 is kind of the standard, as what Airpush is doing. I am not sure what the requirement is for Net 7, you've got to send an email to someone to get it, and as I am just testing them out, I'm not too worried about this just yet.
Performance so far
I've had my one app out with this ads in (it has an opt-in dialog too) for less than 24 hours, and I've gotten some numbers. These are first days numbers. Will they stand the test of time? I've seen many networks that start off great, and slowly go low and low. Like doing a limbo rock! Only time will tell how AppBucks perform.
Here are my numbers so far:
Icon: $4.67 eCPM
Push: $1.89 eCPM
Remember, the numbers above are very new and from very small number of installs. They might go higher or lower, I will get a review out if I am still using them long enough.
The cons so far
What I don't really fancy about them is the interval before the first ad is pushed out. Push ads are sent out after 8 hours and icon ads after 1 day. This way we miss out monetising on the users who have downloaded the apps and uninstalled within a short time period.
Basic4Android Library
Basic4Android developers, get your library from here.
The instructions from AppBucks is clear enough when you download their SDK, integration should be easy. Set the boolean parameter on initialise to true to be in test mode, you will get test icons and push ads sent out within minutes, and every 1 or 2 minutes after that.
Add both the line of codes as initialise sets the library up, the opt-out displays the dialog for user to opt-out. This is in line with Google Play's policy on ads.
Also remember the manifest changes required. Please note the B4A wrapper library only works in an activity, might not be suitable for no activity apps. I'll see if I can work out a wrapper that does not depend on an activity.
Conclusion
This year we will see a healthier competition in the ad front, particularly in icon and push ads. I hope this competition makes it better for us developers to better monetise and become multimillionaires!
Do sign up with them and give them a try. They are new, and are open to suggestions and feedback. They are interested in what developers have to say, so lets tell them (request for net 15 payment!), and see if they will be more responsive to us developers than the other ad networks.
Cheers!
-Bill
Guess who just registered an account by your referral link? :D
ReplyDeleteSigned up :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Bill!
So, I am a bit scared of icon ads. How users generally reacts on icon ads?
ReplyDeleteI used Icon Ads from AirPush and generally the users are not hate it as much as push ads.
ReplyDeletesusu and Vas,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the support. But let me repeat the warning about them, they are NEW... so working with them does have it's risks. With that I expect a better return from the risk too.
Bojan,
What susu said is right. I don't get complains about icon ads. It is most likely because the users don't know how the shortcut got there in the first place. Push ads show the source of the ad.
Just an update on eCPM so far:
Icon : $4.78
Push: $1.55
Interesting but isn´t it too much using icon add´s when you already using startapp? Imagine the user´s going back to his default launcher and seeing at least 5 icons :O.
ReplyDeletePick a response:
DeleteEvil Bill : Muahahahahhaha!
Normal Bill: Well, just choose one, you don't need to use all the icon networks.
Smart Bill: Use ALL the networks, but set them to show alternate days the icons. Say startapp on day 1, airpush icon on day 2, appbucks on day 3, leadbolt on day 4.... :D
I like Smart Bill´s answer very clever :D
DeleteHi Bill, I was following this blog for a long time, I am also developer who developer Mtx framework over LibGDX Engine. Its great for games and live wallpapers, I also give free giveaways projects codes, graphics, 2D art etc...
ReplyDeleteCheck out my blog
http://moribitotechx.blogspot.co.uk/
Best wishes.
Hi Mtx,
DeleteI thought you used to comment on this blog under the nick "Moribito"? I'm guessing you're the same fella :D
Yes, I've visited your site on and off, really useful stuff you got going there.
Good luck with it! Maybe one day we'll see a port of it for Basic4Android? :D
Yep thats me "Moribito", I have too many google accounts, I am tired of switching between them :D.
DeleteEarn money on android by just installing apps-
ReplyDeletehttp://earn-online-extra.blogspot.in/
Hi Bill,
ReplyDeleteI just tried AppBucks but without luck. There's no ads in test mode. Can you share your demo app? Thank you so much.
Sorry for the delay susu.
DeleteThis is a sample app I just made, and I do get test push and icon ads. Just wait for a few minutes for the ads to show up.
If they still don't show, maybe you should email their support and see if your current location should be able to receive test ads.
Link: B4A Appbucks sample
Oh, in the code, you will need to change the app id and api key to your own app's.
DeleteHi Bill,
ReplyDeleteI tried your code but still no luck :(
Anyway, thank you so much.
Just signed up, with your link.
ReplyDeleteAre their push ads recurring (also when app is not running) or are they on demand?
Kind regards
Jakob
Cannot get it to work.
DeleteYour example works fine, but when I copy it to a real app, no ads are showing.
Kind regards
Jakob
Hi Jakob,
DeleteThanks for the sign-up.
For your first question, the ads are recurring. You'll need to do the bootreceiver code if you want the ads to run on device boot up too.
As for you not getting any real ads, the push ads are first sent out at least 8 hours later. The icon 12 hours. Gotta wait that long :)
Cheers!
Hi Bill
DeleteI am not getting test ads, in my real app.
I have added the Dim, Initialize and userOptOutDialog. I have also added the 5 lines ( to the Manifest file. I have added the needed permissions, but nothing happens.
In the log it keeps saying Received with less than a minute in between.
Any ideas?
Kind regards
Jakob
Hi Again
DeleteOne more thing is, if I decline the EULA, the app continues to s work.
Is there a way, that the app can receive the answer, to the EULA?
Kind regards
Jakob
Ohh. I figured it out.
DeleteA few thing missing in Manifest.xml
Now it works fine, and soon millions will roll into my account :)
Kind regards
Jakob
Hi Jakob,
DeleteI've got to check if that option to get EULA response is available from AppBucks.
Btw, I think the B4A wrapper library might not work with a BootReceiver class, I havent tried it yet, but it is an activity object, so might fail in services.
And when you get the millions, don't forget your dear friend here! LOL!
Cheers! and Lotsa Good Luck with them!
Hi Bill,
ReplyDeleteAd network AppFlood claim that they do not take any cut from developer so it can be good candidate for future network tests. Because if we know that most networks take between 40 - 60% cut from developer and average eCPM for full-page ads are between 2 - 4 dollars then they can (at least in theory) pay something like 5 dollars per mile.
Hi Bojan,
DeleteThanks for the info. Looks good. I'll dig them more.
Wonder if anyone else have used them before.
For any Basic4Android developers who wanna try out AppFlood ads.. please give it a go here:
DeleteAppFlood Library
I just submitted one app for their approval. So no news on performance just yet. But their ads look impressive so far, and it is nice that they have different units like full screen, walls, and panel ad type.
Anybody managed to get appflood to work? My app was approved, yet no impressions or installs are being registered. Crap! Time to remove them..
DeleteIt works for me. My apps is not approved yet, but impressions are counted and I have earned a little points.
DeleteKind regards
Jakob
Hi Jakob,
DeleteProbably I was looking at the wrong stuff (and ah! they give points instead of revenue directly, and you need to convert the points to $$$).
My dashboard says 160 points. I am wondering if that is the same points for every developer starting off. How many is yours?
It started at 60 earlier today, and now it is 360
DeleteDo you know how many installs you've got? And how many apps did you add to the dashboard?
Delete2 apps (one of them only 2 hours ago).
Delete1st app has been downloaded 210-220 times + upgrades, within the last 17 hours.
I am always testing with smaller apps, before the better apps. :)
Thanks for the details Jakob.
DeleteStill wondering how it really works with them :P
Will let the ads run a while then, and see how it goes.
I like their ad design.
DeleteBut Heyzap, who also has nice design have not been a success for me. The app I tested with made $4-6 per day with AppLovin and has only made $2.71 in a week with Heyzap.
I hope they are good.
DeleteAt the moment only Leadbolt and AppLovin are working well for me.
Hope so too.
DeleteLeadbolt is not working for me unfortunately. Airpush is performing wwwaaaayyyyyyy better. Heck, leadbolt for me is competing with admob revenue right now! Sigh!
Maybe I should give Airpush a try. I am a little unhappy about Leadbolt serving ads, that are illegal in Denmark (ads that are cheating people to pay money for nothing - Congratulation you won an Ipad, just click here...)
DeleteIs it you, who are selling the modified wrapper for Airpush?
Last month and this month, AirPush performance is better than any ad network. The question is: How long does it last?
DeleteHi Jakob,
DeleteYep, it was me.. though I just announced my retirement from making the wrapper library unfortunately. But, if you thought leadbolt ads were cheating... wait till you see airpush ads :D
Good question susu... i wonder too...
Any chance of getting you to make one last wrapper? pleeeeease please please - pretty please.
DeleteLOL! Since you're a regular here, I'll make an exception. Drop me an email at my email address at the top right of this blog :D
DeleteHi Bill,
ReplyDeleteSo on the end, are you satisfied with Appflood? What eCPM you have with them?
Hi Bojan,
DeleteI'm actually confused. I'm provided by points instead of $$ value. And I don't see any place where they mention what the conversion is.
It looks like $100 gets you 10000 points. And so far, each install I generate is making between 10 - 30 points. That's a horrible rate to go at.
I could be getting this wrong. If anyone have any idea how they function, do enlighten me!
I think I'll remove them back till I get a better understanding of them.
On the positive side, they do have rather good looking ad units.
I am getting an average of 70 point per install.
DeleteAnd I am getting 2 installs per 100 impressions.
Ok, if 100$ == 10 000 points then 1 cent == 1 point so it means that they pay from 10 - 30 cents per install it is not some "OMG" revenue. If my math is correct then for 5$ eCPM you need 5% installs per mile in the worse case.
ReplyDeleteI am not impressed but on the other hand they serve nice ads. Eagerly waiting for more info about them if you choose to test them forward.
According their FAQs: $1 = 100 points.
ReplyDeletehttp://appflood.com/support#question7
Bojan and susu,
ReplyDeleteYou're both right. So $0.01 = 1 point. Whether it is worth or not, we'll need more time to check it out.
Jakob,
You've got a good rate going there. I just noticed my dashboard, and the points have gone up, but my clicks remain the same.
Maybe there was a delay in updating the points? Or maybe the points are updated in real-time but the stats are not. Tough to tell, although it looks more like the latter.
But by looking at the daily eCPM, it looks like there was an install that made about 100 points, and then there were those that made 30 per install.
Overall though, for my test app, this is already performing better than appbrain.
What's your opinion Jakob? Used appbrain before?
It is way better than AppBrain.
DeleteAppBrain is worse than Admob. I used to get some real good numbers, but lately, it has been a sad joke.
I am looking for a replacement or a supplement. I am thinking of using Airpush, Leadbolt, Tap for Tap and Appflood for exit ad, in turns (1st time you close the app, Airpush wall, 2nd time, Leadball wall....).
Good idea there in alternating walls.
DeleteAnd I agree, appbrain been a joke past couple of months.
Hi all,
DeleteHow many ad banners/icons did you see in AppFlood ad? I only see 3-4 games only. It's very few choices for the users.
The same here, which worries me.
DeleteIf that continues, we start up with some real nice numbers, then after a short while flattens.
Kind regards
Jakob
It might be different by countries. So as you get users from different countries, different ads will be shown.
DeleteIt might be a good idea to rotate the walls then with other providers.
I think that rotation is a good idea. It seems like no matter who you choose, one is not enough.
DeleteHi all,
ReplyDeleteHow about AppFlood performance for your apps? I earned 760 points after 5 days from my highest download app. I think the problem is the lack of ads, it's only 4 ads for my country.
Hi susu,
DeleteHow does that measure against appbrain for the same app?
My only app on appflood has 1070 points after 8 days. It still is better than appbrain for me.
For me, Appflood is better than Appbrain, Admob, Heyzap and StartAp combined.
DeleteAt the moment, I am a big fan of AppFlood :)
Hi guys,
ReplyDeleteOf course, AppFlood is better than Appbrain but they're new and minimum payout is higher so... :(
Ok, we need to wait to see who is really better.
Only time will tell.
DeleteThey all start out good and end up less than good.
AppFlood is still doing good. I am thinking about adding them to more and bigger apps.
DeleteA funny thing is happening today. Admob is beating both Leadbolt and Airpush.
Good idea.. appflood is averaging 52 points per installation for me, which is really on the better side of the fence.
DeleteMy average is 51 points and users are showing a great interest. I am getting far more click with AppFlood than with AppLovin or AppBrain.
DeleteWOW Bill,
ReplyDeleteFor which countries you have so high payout per install? :)
Hi Bojan,
DeleteHmm, I can't quite see by which countries the installs generated in. Is there a way to check this from appflood?
The app does have both interstitials and panel ad types in. Panel ad type is generating 2 - 3x more installs than interstitials.
I do not use them yet so I do not know, actually do not use any ad network because I have only one very small test app with no ads.
DeleteHi Bill
ReplyDeleteAre there any event listeners in your wrapper/library for
AppFlood and if so, what is the syntax?
I would like to use them for app-exit ads, but when I call an ad and end the application, the ad is not shown. So I would like to wait with the "ExitApplication" until ad-dismissed or ad-clicked.
Hey Jakob,
DeleteThe current wrapper does not have events. How are you exiting your app?
In mine, I usually check for keypress = back key, and if yes, I just trigger the showing of the ads. The app exits after that, and the wall is shown.
ahhh. of course. I just need to remove "Return True" and "ExitApplication".
DeleteWhat was I thinking??? Pure logic
Thanks.
:D Good luck! May you make much $$$
DeleteHi there
ReplyDeleteWhen using appflood how do you guys see how much points you generated on specific day? I can´t seem to find out on their statistics, they only have total points? Well if that´s the case then if the platform starts paying less it will be a bit hard to notice
Cheers
Hey Steve,
DeleteWhen you go to the statistic page, at the top there is a link for "See detailed statistics from each advertiser (NEW!)"
That at least gives an overview of ecpms, what ads were served, what was clicked, and how many installs it generated.
Hi Bill,
ReplyDeleteSo after some time we often see a huge drops in eCPM on networks, how AppFlood perform? Do you see some drops in eCPM?
Hi Bojan,
DeleteCurrent average is 41 pts per install... slight drop from earlier, but then again, earlier results was from a smaller sample.
I guess it is still maintaining its good rate.
Wauw. I made more, with Appflood, in 2 weeks, than I made with Airpush for a month.
DeleteAwesome stuff Jakob! We can finally say goodbye to Airpush?
DeleteI've just posted a new post on AppFlood... lets leave this comments section for AppBucks... We continue appflood discussion in the new blog entry!
Cheers!
So how are you all doing with Appbucks?
ReplyDeleteI am only getting 1 cent when a user clicks their ads.
$0.01 does not make it worth annoying my users.
Kind regards
Jakob
MaxApps
Push ads were not performing for me... and icon ads were being pushed out too late, although they had good eCPM.
DeleteI wonder too if anyone else has better performance from them.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteAppBucks Push and Icon Ads - Alternative to Airpush, Leadbolt, SendDroid and StartApp All App Walls?
ReplyDeleteTime for a new kind of monetizing model? Maybe apponsor is of interest for you. apponsor is partially also affected by the new google policy, but there is a possibility how you can use the apponsor SDK in very attractive and profitable way and this is in my opinion compliant to the Google content policy.
ReplyDeleteYou can offer your app users to use your app without any in-app advertising for an unlimited or limited (1 year) period. If they want to use the app this way (free of in-app ads) they have to subscribe for the newsletter of the sponsor. If they disagree they get in-app ads and in this case the process of the request for subscription can be repeated as often as you want. Hereby apponsor is offered as an alternative to in-app advertising, whereby the user does not suffer from any restriction in the usage of the app. A documentation for an example implementation can be found at the apponsor dev portal (getting startet).
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete