Did Google Make Changes to Android Market Ranking Algorithm Once Again?

Google has always been more sophisticated than Apple when it comes to app store ranking algorithms and they did a major change towards the end of March when a lot of apps lost their rankings and some apps jumped on to the top spots overnight. A quick analysis of those movements showed that the Android Market ranking algorithm was rewarding apps with higher user engagement compared to the ones that had huge volume of downloads but poor user retention and engagement. In fact a “sticky factor” was generating a lot of buzz among Android developers which was calculated as a ratio of daily active users to monthly active users.

While developers were just settling to that it seem Google might be rolling out another major updated to the ranking algorithm, especially for keyword searches in Android market.

Two of our client’s apps for which we offer app marketing seem to have gone through extraordinary ranking changes for their targeted keyword searches in the Android Market. For some of the keywords where these apps were ranked in top 5 has now slipped to positions between 11 to 21. The biggest move however, has been one of the keywords that was in position 12 and now slipped to 120. We also saw some positive movement where another keyword moved from position 78 to position 17.

At this point we have just observed the changes and the nature of the changes tell us that this is not one of those regular ups and downs but probably a new Android Market ranking algorithm that we will now have to figure. We would need a lot more data to substantiate the assumption and have a better understanding of what these changes might be.

While this updates are targeted towards improving the overall experience in the Android Market and rewarding truly good apps it will make life difficult for app marketers and also developers who have utility apps that are not required so often or cater to a very small niche.

[x]cube LABS Wins Notable Award at Core 77 Design Awards.

Awards and appreciations keep us going. We not only take it as a ‘pat on the back’ for our work but also take great inspiration from it in the future. Our design team, over the years, has been doing some great work – coming up with highly creative and ingenious designs, which are not only well-appreciated by our clients but has also been recognized in various platforms, across the globe. Recently we won the Bronze Award at Dallas Show for one of our apps and the story continues.

This time, the [x]cube LABS design team has brought home the “Notable” award in INTERACTIVE / WEB / MOBILE category at the Core 77 Design Awards. Core77 Design Awards celebrates outstanding design and designers across a wide array of disciplines and provides a global platform that honors the best and most impactful work on an annual basis. Our entry to the contest was bodybuggSP, an iPhone and iPod application developed for our client 24 Hour Fitness.

Developed for 24 Hour Fitness, the bodybuggSP keeps an accurate daily count of calories burned and provides the ability to keep track of what you eat. So, as to keep you informed, make decisions, and more effectively manage your weight.

[X]cited for Core77 Design Awards

We always make concentrated efforts to deliver the best and of global standards to our clients. Apart from rich appreciation from our clients, we also love to showcase our work and being recognized in various global platforms- just like our work was appreciated at Dallas Show. This time, we are happy to participate in the inaugural Core77 Design Awards- an event that celebrates outstanding design and designers across a wide array of disciplines and provides a global platform that honors the best and most impactful work on an annual basis. We are proud to be selected as finalists in such a major platform and keenly awaiting for the results!

[x]cube LABS sponsors DFW SEM- A Panel Discussion on Mobile Marketing Techniques.

At [x]cube LABS, it has always been our endeavor to keep ourselves updated with changing landscape in the mobile computing industry so that we can think ahead of the curve and be well-prepared for the future. Meeting various stakeholders in the mobile computing ecosystem, engaging with them in meaningful contemplations and deriving mutual benefits out of it is a part of our ‘Think Ahead’ strategy. As part of our endeavor, [x]cube LABS is sponsoring “DFW SEM- A Panel Discussion on Mobile Marketing Techniques and Technologies” this Wednesday, July 13^th, 2011.

The DFW SEM will focus on understanding more about mobile marketing with a panel discussion of the industry, how businesses can make the most of mobile marketing to reach and connect with their target audience and even some lessons learned from experienced mobile professionals.  The panel will feature moderator and experienced mobile strategist Dan Sturdivant from WrightIMC, Brian Teague, President & Co-Founder at Pocketstop, Chris Hershberger, Manager of Marketing Technology at Michael’s Stores, and Michael Griffith, Creative Director at Bottle Rocket Apps. Combined, these panelists have worked with the best in the industry including FINA, BET, Discovery Channel, National Geographic, AARP, Choctaw Casinos, and many others.

*The event will take place Wednesday, July 13 from 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m at the Renaissance Hotel in Richardson.

Do join us there!

[x]cube LABS to sponsor Big(D)ESIGN 2011.

We will be participating in Big(D)ESIGN 2011, July 14-16, where we have a keynote address in the conference on Saturday, July 16^th, 2011. Mobile is a newly charted territory for game developers and to be competitive and further extend their consumer base, intuitive UX/UI will be one of the key differentiators.  Our company will focus on Gaming and how developers must slightly re-calibrate their thinking about traditional UI and UX experiences. Why designers must leave room to expand features that stem forward (updates, App purchasing, etc.) and designers approach to UX must focus on user intuition, not purely aesthetics.

Meet us there!

Asia – The new game changer in iPhone app development.

In the first quarter of 2011, the Asia Pacific region, led by China, contributed staggeringly to iPhone sales volumes. In the second quarter of 2011, iPhone sales in Greater China skyrocketed by nearly 250 percent when compared to Q2, 2010.  In revenues, the region accounted for a little under $5 billion (increase of four times from that of 2010) in the first fiscal half. The trends, at that time, were suggesting that the smartphone battle was heating up in Asia Pacific markets.  And, Apple’s iPhone was significantly increasing its reach in the region.

iPhone app distribution, majorly influenced by the reach of devices, till now was mostly concentrated on North America and Europe owing to iPhone’s popularity in the region. But that is set to change as market trends suggest a gradual shift in power centre of app business to Asia as iPhones penetrate wide and deep into the emerging markets of the region. The shift of power to Asia will impact iPhone developers who now have to gaze the app market dynamics of Asia and accordingly sync their app development efforts.

Recently we came across a paper published by Distimo on app distribution and on a little analysis there were some very critical business information found, that would be of interest to any app developer. Here are some of the key findings…

Time for iPhone Developers to Reconsider Asia-

(The download volume in the top 300 apps is illustrated in the world map on a logarithmic scale from dark blue to pink with pink representing the highest number of downloads. The largest country is the United States while the smallest country is Uganda.)

• Most iPhone developers’ currently concentrate on North America and Europe, but it may be time for them to revisit Asia. The United States was and is the prime market for iPhone applications; however China pips ahead of other countries in download volumes to become the second largest market. In addition, a surge in download volumes has been witnessed in Asia alongside a dip in volumes in France and Germany since December.
• South Korea tells a remarkable story. The app download volume in South Korea is higher than Germany and France. In comparison to countries with larger populations like Japan and China, the download volumes in South Korea stands out even more. Moreover, Games which are the most popular apps in many countries are not available in South Korea, implying South Korea can be a profitable ground for non-Games iPhone developers.

Asia Shows Strong Preference for Free Apps-

• The proportion of paid downloads versus the total number of free and paid downloads is markedly lower in Asia than U.S. or European countries. Asia appears to be more price-sensitive, with strong preference for free apps than paid ones.
• App revenue in Asia is about two-thirds of the revenue in U.S. and Japan accounts for greater part in Asia.

Monetizing App, Tad Difficult in Asia -

Proportional revenue from in-app purchases from 200 top selling iPhone applications for Singapore, and Malaysia is higher than in the United States. In China only 34% of the revenue from the 200 top applications is generated from apps with in-app purchase feature.  This indicates that iPhone developers will find monetizing their apps a tad difficult in Asia. However, there is hope for developers, as evidenced in the United States where revenue from in-app purchases rose from 39% to 68% over the last year.

SAME CATEGORIES OF APPS ARE POPULAR IN US & ASIA-

The category breakdown of 300 popular applications reveal that there is no major difference between the United States and Asia market in the popularity of categories of applications.

LOCALIZE CONTENT TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN ASIA-

The regional concentration of applications in Asian countries, with an average of 34% of the top applications are only popular within the region whereas in the US and Europe, only 20% of the applications are regionally popular. The differences become even larger in Asia when observed at the individual country level. Users in China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan particularly have strong preference local apps. So, iPhone developers must localize content in order to be successful in Asia.

[Via] Distimo

[x]cube LABS Wins Bronze Award at The Dallas Show.

Dallas, TX., June 14, 2011- Leading mobile technology company, [x]cube LABS, has won the prestigious Bronze award at The Dallas Show 2011 organized by DSVC ( The Dallas Society of Visual Communications). The company won the award for Interactive category for “Mobile + Experience” for its mobile application LoyalTree Rewards. The Bronze award was presented to Mr. Justin Pocta, design team member, [x]cube LABS in a well-attended award ceremony at Dallas Contemporary Museum.

Commenting on this accolade Brock Bergman CEO of LoyalTree said, “When we were looking for a partner to help us bring the LoyalTree vision to life we literally scoured the country. What we ended up finding in [x]cube LABS was an organization that not only understood our goals immediately, but they also made it very clear that every single detail was important to them.” He also added, “After long, tedious efforts, we found a design that truly spoke to us, and [x]cube helped make this possible. I would recommend their design team to anyone and look forward to working with them well into the future of our company.”

The Dallas Show—an annual professional awards show for regional studios is organized by DSVC (The Dallas Society of Visual Communications). The DSVC Professional Show is one of the preeminent creative competitions in the country, showcasing the very best of the past year’s accomplishments in design, advertising, photography, and illustration.

Two of [x]cube’s designs, LoyalTree and Zephyr were nominated for the final round of the competition, where the Jury adjudged LoyalTree Rewards as one of the medal winners.

“The DSVC award recognizes the significant efforts made by [x]cube LABS in mobile app design and development, and is a tribute to the creative artistes of our organization, who think out of the box and come with innovative and ingenious designs to provide the best mobile experience to a user.” said Mr. Ravi Korukonda, COO of [x]cube LABS.

The award winning ‘LoyalTree Rewards’ is an application for iPhone, iPad and iPod that offers users a brand new way to save money and earn rewards at favorite local destinations in their city.

Insights and Analysis on Mobile App Development.

A latest research report-The Developer Economics 2011- by VisionMobile, conducted between January and April 2011, among the 900+ developers, reveals key insights and analysis on mobile app development.

Some of the key takeaways from the report are-

Developer mindshare

iOS and Android continue to maintain their dominance with 67% of developers presently using Android and 59% using iOS. Windows is not yet emerged as a commercially viable platform whereas Symbian and Java ME are the platforms with the highest developer abandonment rates.

App-o-nomics

Large market penetration is the key reason in platform selection followed by the ability to make money, low cost development tools and the ability to quickly code and prototype.

Not every developer is making money. About a third of mobile app developers make less than $1,000 USD per app. Moreover 50% of the developers make money through a salary or commission highlighting the importance of corporate monetization.

Pay-per-download is the top revenue model for developers who aim to make money directly from apps followed by advertising and freemium model where users download an app free and then pay to upgrade.

In terms of platform revenue potential, there are huge discrepancies across platforms. iOS topped the chart, followed by Java ME and BlackBerry. Android and mobile web were the weakest performing platforms in terms of revenue potential.

App stores

For 45% of app developers, app stores are the major go-to-market channel with once dominating operator portals losing significance. The ability to reach users is the most important reason behind developers’ inclination for 50% of developers.

Developers see app store fragmentations as a major challenge with each of the app stores having its own procedures and regulations for app submission, revenue model and payment terms.

App Development

Mobile web due to complex stack of languages and technology frameworks aren’t an easy platform to learn.

Contrary to popular belief, Google is managing Android fragmentation relatively well whereas BlackBerry and Java ME developers suffer more from platform fragmentation needing to produce almost twice the number of app versions when compared to Android developers.

As distributing apps globally and developing apps regionally becomes easier, Localisation will become a primary issue for developers in the near future.

iOS, Android and mobile web developers were found to be the most active users of cloud APIs, while BlackBerry and Java developers were late adopters.

Smartphone App Developers are also gearing up for a multi-screen future with close to 50% of them also developing apps for mid-range feature phones. Close to 25% of developers are thinking of developing apps for TV and set-top boxes in the future.

Global brands are playing an active role in the app economy. While mobile app developers and platform vendors have kick-started the apps phenomenon, it’s the global brands and local businesses that are fuelling the mobile app economy.

Mobile App Industry Trends [INFOGRAPHIC]

The first mobile application store-Apple App Store- was launched on 10th July, 2008. Nearly 3 years after the launch of the first app store, and with app market or store for every major platform and several third party stores, the app ecosystem has steadily grown to become a world in its own. ‘The smartphone App-o-graphic’ intends to showcase the current state of the app ecosystem and also attempts to look into the future to measure the smartphone app store growth trajectory.

For complete infographic and high resolution image click here.

Research shows iOS App Development more profitable than Android

At [x]cube LABS, we endeavor to keep a close eye on insights and trends so that we can keep pace with the constantly evolving smartphone app market. While researching, we came across some newly released market reports from leading companies like Gartner, Inc., Millennial Media,Inc and many others revealing the current trends in the market. We thought of using the reports to present before you a snapshot of the existing mobile device and app ecosystem. Here’s our presentation on ‘Mobile Devices and Application Trends’-