StartApp, a newly launched monetization and distribution platform for Android applications, has now been installed in over 450 mobile applications, the company is announcing today.
You may remember StartAp from its September launch – it’s the one that bundles a “search” icon with the Android app download which is installed directly to a user’s homescreen. When the user taps the icon to perform a web search, it takes them to StartApp’s portal, instead of Google.com (or whatever their preferred search service may be). StartApp then shares the revenue generated from the searches with app’s developer.
Icky, but apparently successful. The company’s search option has now been downloaded 10 million times and has paid out $200,000 to developers in the four months since its launch.
During that time, StartApp says it has been seeing ever-increasing downloads, and is now reaching 300,000 downloads per day.
Developers using StartApp receive an upfront payment for their free apps, where they’ll receive $10-$50 per 1,000 downloads, depending on location. Alternately, they can choose to share the revenue generated by the search option on an ongoing basis.
Says Gil Dudkiewicz, StartApp’s CEO, “we have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from our partners, many of whom have seen dramatic increases in the revenue they are receiving from their apps.”
One has to wonder what the apps’ users would have to say.
With the $200,000 payout, some developers are claiming their revenue has increased by a factor of 10, notes Dudkiewicz.
StartApp is working, it seems, but if this is what it takes for a mobile platform to help developers get paid, it’s no wonder why developers are still flocking to iOS.
StartApp is a Cedar Fund-backed company based in Israel founded by Gil Dudkiewicz and Ran Avidan.