App Annie & IDC: Mobile Advertising and Monetization Spotlight 2012-2017: The Economics of Free

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. and SAN FRANCISCO, March 26, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- IDC and App Annie today released a joint report entitled: Mobile App Advertising and Monetization Spotlight 2012-2017: The Economics of Free, which explores mobile app monetization models, monetization by country, and projections for mobile advertising through 2017.

As the app market matures, app publishers continue to look for the monetization models that will work best for them. As it turns out there is no "one size fits all", and it's critical for developers to think about which markets they plan to enter before deciding on how to generate revenues. We are already aware that freemium is the best way to monetize an app today, but the report shows in-app advertising outpacing both mobile and PC browser-based ads in revenue growth, making it the next important growth model, but not in every market.

"Unsurprisingly, the United States and Japan lead the way in mobile app monetization, with revenue growth occurring across several countries," said Karsten Weide, program vice president of digital media and entertainment at IDC. "However, most device growth will come from emerging markets moving forward, which significantly influences the app monetization profile in aggregate. India is a prime example with 8.7x revenue growth from 2013 to 2017, which appears to be largely driven by rapid smartphone adoption."

The Mobile Advertising and Monetization Spotlight 2012-2017: The Economics of Free explores a variety of trends and helps publishers and others in the app ecosystem understand the consequences they may have on tomorrow's business decisions. Some key takeaways from the report include:

• Freemium and in-app advertising outpace paid or paidmium: Freemium and in-app ad models grew by 2.1x and 1.6x, respectively, from 2012-2013, dramatically outpacing paid app business models
• The US is still a revenue leader: Mobile app-related revenue is projected to accelerate through 2017, and the United States will remain the leading source of mobile app related revenues with 3.5x growth from 2013-2017
• Ad networks are alive and well: They are still the primary channel for selling in-app ads with over 80 percent of publishers selling over them, however RTB exchanges were the least common channel, used by only five percent of surveyed publishers

"It's common knowledge that the freemium model, and its multiple variations, are the best way to monetize an app, which we show in this report," said Bertrand Schmitt, CEO of App Annie. "What isn't known is that in-app advertising is a rapidly-growing source of revenue, with over 40 percent of publishers we surveyed, many of whom are users of our Analytics platform, using it to monetize. Add to that a 1.6x growth in in-app advertising revenues from 2012 to 2013, and it's clear that it is beginning to rival freemium as a way to generate revenues."

For more information and to download the Mobile Advertising and Monetization Spotlight 2012-2017 please visit: http://blog.appannie.com/app-annie-idc-mobile-app-advertising-and-monetization-trends-2012-2017/

About IDC

International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 1,000 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. Now celebrating its 50th anniversary, IDC delivers strategic insights to help our clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company. You can learn more about IDC by visiting www.idc.com.

About App Annie

App Annie is reinventing business intelligence products for the apps and digital goods economy. App Annie data and products are the industry standard, used by over 90 percent of the Top 100 publishers. More than 375,000 apps rely daily on App Annie Analytics to track their downloads, revenues, rankings and reviews. The company is tracking the most downloads and revenues of any app or eBook store market data company to date, at over 36 billion downloads and more than US $9 billion in app store revenues. App Annie is a privately held global company of more than 160 employees with offices in San Francisco, Beijing, Hong Kong, London, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Moscow. www.appannie.com

SOURCE App Annie

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