Google held a session today at I/O 2013 about how to make money on Android, and in the initial few minutes it shared some updated stats around Google Play revenues and how those are progressing. Not surprisingly, the big growth is coming with in-app purchases, though Google’s recently launched subscription model is also making headway. Google said that its in-app revenues through Play are up 700 percent since the same time last year, which is reflected in the top apps as listed by highest grossing titles in the Play rankings. Subscriptions, which just launched around 12 months ago, is also making headway, doubling inbound revenue each quarter according to Google. Some apps which use subscription as their exclusive revenue model are now cracking the top grossing list, like Pandora. The momentum is still clearly behind in-app purchase, and as a result Google suggested that there’s good reason to consider that as a revenue model when building apps Read more »
Facebook Brings Down The Hammer Again: Cuts Off MessageMe’s Access To Its Social Graph
MessageMe , an app that launched last week and raced up the charts to the #2 spot in social networking in the U.S. , is confronting Facebook’s touchiness around access to its social graph. The app’s integration with Facebook stopped functioning earlier today (see left), the result of the company’s decision to cut MessageMe off from its “Find Friends” functionality, according to sources familiar with decision. MessageMe CEO Arjun Sethi declined to comment in this story and Facebook didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. The move resembles Facebook’s decision last month to shut off Voxer’s access to the graph, even though Voxer connected to Facebook for well over a year. Voxer is another communications app that supports calling and voice chat. Facebook cut the app off around the same time that it launched competing functionality with free voice calling to other users. Read more »
What’s Next For Social Mobile Games?
Editor’s note: Julien Codorniou is the head of EMEA Game Partnerships at Facebook where he works with the growing social games industry in Europe. Follow Julien on Twitter @codorniou . New social gaming companies are emerging around the world (hot spots right now are Moscow, Tel Aviv and Helsinki), and in my role I get to speak with developers every day. Regardless of the size of the company, their locale, or the platform on which they’re building, I typically hear the same questions: Do social games translate to mobile? Are game developers leaving Facebook for mobile? How do I get my game discovered and installed? Read more »
It’s A Facebook And Google World On Apple’s App Store, Poke Hits #1 A Day After Its Release
Remember all of this excitement hoopla over Facebook’s latest standalone app, Poke , yesterday? You aren’t the only one that is interested, apparently. As The Next Web reports , Poke by Facebook has hit the No. 1 free app spot on Apple’s App Store, just a day after being released. Make no mistake about it, the big companies like Facebook and Google are going to have the best holiday season ever thanks to Apple and iOS. It’s very rare to see utility or social apps hold the top free app spot like Google Maps has over the past week , and like Facebook Poke probably will. It’s usually a game, or a boogers app that holds that down. Read more »
App Store Optimization Heats Up: Appnique Debuts New Service To Help Developers Get Their Apps Found
Seattle-based Appnique , a new startup from mobile industry veteran Jai Jaisimha, is focused on helping app developers achieve higher rankings and make their mobile applications more discoverable in both the iOS and Android app stores. It’s the latest company to target the ASO (App Store Optimization) space specifically, a new breed of optimization which looks at things like app keywords, titles and descriptions in order to make an app appear higher in app searches than its competitors, which in turn helps an app climb the charts in a given app store. ASO is the new SEO , as you already know. But the recent surge of interest in tweaking keywords comes about thanks to the changes Apple introduced with the new iOS 6 App Store this fall. Because Apple’s new app search uses card-style results pages instead of lists, as it did before, it’s even harder for the longer tail of app developers to get their apps seen by potential customers. For developers in especially crowded spaces like games, the challenge is even tougher. The only real solution is hone in on what keyword combinations will work to surface the app higher for very specific app store searches Read more »
Fiksu Raises $10M From Qualcomm Ventures, Charles River To Help Mobile App Makers Get Users
Fiksu , a Boston-based company that helps mobile developers efficiently find new users, just picked up $10 million in a new round led by Qualcomm Ventures. Previous investors including Charles River Ventures also participated Read more »
How Much Do Tech Companies Make Per Employee? [CHARTS]
As the U.S. limps back from recession, the tech industry has been hailed as a boon for growth and job creation. Read more »