What you recommend for advertising platform not in the USA.
iAd is ot seding ads outside the USA.
I'v tried AdMob, ad it also seems not to work. Most of the time it fails to show up an and, ad when showing it shows only one ad again and again (some hotel booking)
Any Idea?
Have you tried Google Mobile Ads?
I would recommend not sticking to one platform as such. You have a particular service fill in ads but if that doesn't have ads for you then, query some other platform, if that doesn't the next one.
# Pseudo-code
if GoogleMobileAds:
# Code to use Google Mobile Ads
else if iAd:
# Code to use iAd
else if AdMob:
# Code to use AdMob
else:
# Your own promotion or whatever is your last option
Edit: You may have to handle transitions and animations on your own. You may also have to create a new AdMobView for every ad request you make. Following is a quote from this Google Groups discussion.
If you require feedback from the SDK for every ad request, we suggest
that you create a new AdMobView for every ad request you make. If
using this particular method, you will have to handle view transitions
(and animations) between the two ads yourself, as well as cleaning up
each AdMobView object when you no longer need it. If you require feedback from the SDK for every ad request, we suggest
that you create a new AdMobView for every ad request you make. If
using this particular method, you will have to handle view transitions
(and animations) between the two ads yourself, as well as cleaning up
each AdMobView object when you no longer need it.
I would recommend Smart AdServer, because in my opinion, this is the best all-in-one mobile adserving tool.
It's both an adserver (where you can program your own ads on inventory you have sell by your own) and a mobile advertising platform ( it's connected to main global adnetworks through backfills. And most of the are compliant with backfills, this is not the case for every ad server, I'd recommend that you check.
It is just an SDK (compatible i0S 5 and less), also compatible with iPad.
Programming is really easy, and formats are really cool, innovative, so you can get high CPM from them (you can check by your own downloading the iPhone app, or on this gallery.
You can monitor campaigns in real time, directly in an iPhone app.
Related
So I just released my app to the app store last friday. Realized it's going to be extremely difficult to get paid sales (but a good amount were downloading my app for free), so I decided to go with the model of releasing a full free version of my app with ads, and a paid version without ads.
My app has to do with adding captions to photos, so in two of my main screens, the app takes up the full screen of the phone. So I'm going to use full screen ads that pop up each time a user makes a view controller navigation transition.
I'm pretty clueless about how to go about choosing the right ad network. Right now I've installed Greystripe SDK and am playing around with it and it seems fine, but my one concern is that (I believe) they only serve Europe and North America. As an experiment, I made my app free and only half of the 150 or so downloads were from Europe and North America.
Was wondering if anyone could share some knowledge or link me to any beginner tutorials on how to choose an ad network. I've done google searches and haven't had much come up (maybe I'm using the wrong terms).
What I've found in doing research on this, is that I'm shocked about how little information there is on this subject as compared to anything else in iPhone development. Not sure why this is, maybe because there aren't many developers using ads in their apps or maybe because the ones that do don't want to give away their secrets.
I think a good strategy for a newcomer for implementing ads is to start by using a mediation network. A mediation network is software that allows you to use multiple ad networks to serve ads to your app. So for instance, the mediation network will check to see if there is an ad to serve from Admob, and if there isn't it'll move onto the next network on your list. Doing this will give you high fill rates (i.e. making sure an ad is served the majority of the time when you call for an ad) and will also allow you to compare and contrast different networks. You can make adjustments in the mediation control panel without having to upload a new version of your app.
I also recommend starting out with some of the larger networks like Admob, iAds, Millennial, InMobi, etc. and then from there maybe branching out to other networks that do a good job in targeting specific things like video ads / interstitials, or certain countries.
So what I've done is gone with Admob Mediation for now, and am serving ads from Admob, Millennial, InMobi, and Adfonic.
Hope this helps.
Try iAds
how-to-add-iad-banner-in-iphoneipad-app
After release my first iPhone application I had a fairly decent turnover in turns of sales considering it was a pretty niche application in the health and fitness category. However, I decided to make the application free until the next update and in the first 3 days downloads of my app have increased by 1433% - which is quite staggering.
So it got me thinking maybe the option of a free application, with ads would be a better option. With that said, what are the available options for integrating ads into an iPhone app and which is the most profitable?
iAD is the most profitable as it pays lot per impression, but they don't always fill the slot. The best thing you can do is to implement some service like AdWhirl which will fill the empty slot with another service such as JumpTap or Admob when the iAd slot does not come through. You can adjust the frequency of each ad network to your liking as well, so if later, you decide that JumpTap should be shown always, you can adjust it from the web interface instead of pushing a new version of your app.
The best solution is to use iAds now that Apple has prevented other ad networks from device-tracking.
http://developer.apple.com/iphone/news/archives/2010/february/#corelocation
Can anyone tell me what is the exact description of an ad and just a hint for a user?
We are developing a library that shows small banners depending on user's location. E.g. we are passing a cafe - we have a banner about this cafe, we are passing a church - we have a banner about this church. The library is to be re-used in other apps.
So from one point of view we are advertising a cafe, but from another point of view we are giving the user an advice about places to eat around him. So what is the border between an ad and advice to a user?
I think the problem is that such an app tracks the location of the user and location specific ads will constantly remind the user that their physical location is being tracked.
This is an obvious privacy and security issue but I also think Apple wants to prevent users from experiencing that creepy feeling that comes from knowing somebody is tracking you against your will.
In order to feed the iPhone location based adds, you have to upload the location of the iPhone to a server, process the appropriate adds for the location and push them back. That means that an external 3rd party, that neither Apple nor the user can control, is constantly tracking the location of the phone while the app is active. Since an app can capture info identifying individual phones, that turns the app into spy program.
Even if you actually did all the processing inside the app on a single phone e.g. looking up an internal local database, the user would still most likely assume they were being tracked remotely.
There is no way Apple will risk the damage to the iPhone's brand that would come from news stories screaming, "iPhone App Secretly Tracks User's Locations Anywhere in the World!"
The library you have in mind is clearly verboten. You could might get way with it if had a mechanism for constantly asking the user if they wanted to load location specific ads.
(BEGIN RANT: As an aside, I would say this sounds like something the explicative-deleteds in marketing came up with. They think "Hey, we can push location targeted ads at users and force them see those ads when they use any of the apps with the library! Think how great that will be for advertisers!"
Marketing driven design is almost always a disaster. If they started the design with the idea, "Hey, I think I as a user would like to have the option of seeing ads relevant to my location with a mechanism I control and which protects my privacy and security," then they would come up with a much better library.
In the long run, you make money by giving end users more power and control over their work and lives. You don't make it by strapping them down and force feeding them what you want.
If you personally wouldn't want the functionality and no users have asked you for the functionality, then its probably a bad idea. END RANT)
Edit01:
Let me address this:
So from one point of view we are
advertising a cafe, but from another
point of view we are giving the user
an advice about places to eat around
him. So what is the border between an
ad and advice to a user?
I used to work at Apple in several capacities so I understand a bit how they think.
An ad is something pushed onto the user with any prior action of the user's part. The user doesn't request the ads, doesn't select the ads may not even want the ad but they just appear anyway.
Advice is something the user ask for explicitly. An app with a button that says "Show adds for businesses in your immediate vicinity" would fall under the heading of advice. Even an app whose stated function was to show adds for businesses in the vicinity would be fine. In both cases, the user request specific information. It is not pushed onto them. More importantly, the user can control if they send their location or not.
I got caught in the nutcracker back when Apple thought it was a good idea to have dialogs popping up telling people how to upgrade to Quicktime pro. It caused no ends of problems for end users especially those in institutions because it took control out of the hands of end users and administrators. I got to stand between irate customers and the genius that thought of the idea, which turned out to the actual genius Steve Jobs. Eventually, he saw the light and the desktop ad experiment was terminated.
Jobs and Apple learned their lesson. Don't force ads on end users. Especially don't tie ads to the functioning of the software (in this case, the location manager.)
The big thing in Apple's announcement is the part that says: "If your app uses location-based information primarily to enable mobile advertisers to deliver targeted ads based on a user's location, your app will be returned to you by the App Store Review Team for modification before it can be posted to the App Store."
Is the major function of your app to advertise to users -- regardless of the fact that they may ask for the ads or not? If the major function is to advertise to users based on their location or the greater portion of Location Services usage is for the purpose of advertising to the user then Apple will reject the app. Period.
I finished building an app that allows beaming of photos, contacts and text clips over Wi-Fi
IPhone to IPhone and IPhone to desktop.
I want to decide on the feature set of the lite version of my IPhone app. I also want to come up with a pricing model. So the question is, which of these components should be free, and for which I should be charging for ?
For example, the lite version could have all features except the ability to interact with the desktop version - that is, it would work IPhone to IPhone, but not IPhone to desktop. The paid version would be able to beam to the desktop. In addition, the desktop version would be free, so you could share it with family and friends.
Alternatively, there would be a single free IPhone version and I would charge for the desktop app. The only thing here is that I would have to setup server side code for managing registration codes.
One reason to make your desktop app free and the iPhone app a paid product would be to take advantage of Apple's app store and their payment processing, hosting, etc. While I know 30% seems steep for what Apple provides, it is nice to have that part of the business be handled by someone else. For example, you will never have to deal with credit card processing or have to issue refunds - Apple does all that for you.
I like the mechanism that is more suited to viral distribution and giving people a good taste of all the features, before they are sort of convinced to go for the paid version. The marketing value of an app that can be freely tried out once one user recommends it to another, is invaluable. If someone recommends a product to me and I have to pay for it, then I probably would put off trying it till alter when I have learned more about it. However, if it is free, I can download and try it without feeling like I need to do more research prior. Once I like, and am hooked on it, then I will want locked functionality that I would have to pay to unlock.
I'd stay away from selling, payment processing, and reg code management, if your expertise is in coding - you'd make yourself more money writing more code than writing reg code management utilities...
Good luck.
I'm not sure charging for either is the best idea. If you keep both tools free, you get people trying (and liking) both apps. Viral distribution will ensure a decent user base. Once people use both tools, they're more likely to pay for the next part, which is the connector software.
I like your idea of three parts: a free iPhone app (Let people share photos on their iPhone), free PC app (There are hundreds of photo viewing apps, free... Don't try to charge for them, that way lies pain) and paid connection between 'em.
That way:
You get people using your iPhone app virally (To share with each other's phones & try out the application)
You get people using your PC app virally (Because the cost to try is nearly null)
The connection can be sold through Apple's iStore, so you don't need to do the money handling side
You could even make the connection component a subscription, but as an end user I hate that idea unless I get some additional functionality from it being a subscription (Like free hosting).
I've been doing mobile app development for a long time (2001?), but the systems we worked with back then were dedicated mobile development environments (Symbian, J2ME, BREW). iPhone SDK is a curious hybrid of Mac OS X and Apple's take on mobile (Cocoa Touch).
But it is missing some stuff that other mobile systems have, IMO. Specifically:
Application background processing
SMS/MMS application routing (send an SMS to my application in the background)
API for accessing phone functions/call history/call interception
I realize that Apple has perfectly valid reasons for releasing the SDK the way they did. I am curious what people on SO think the SDK is missing and how would they go about fixing/adding it, were they an Engineering Product Manager at Apple.
The biggest shortcoming in my opinion is support for separating licensing from distribution.
What I mean by this is that it should be possible to download a trial version of an application and later purchase a license for that application (from an API call inside the application or from the app store). This would make it much easier to try-before-you-buy and get rid of the current duplicates of many applications with 'lite' versions.
I think lack of push notifications for apps is the big thing we're missing right now. With push, you can register your application to perform a task (like getting the most recent data from a web service) even when it's not running, at a time and frequency the OS decides is best. In an ideal world, along with the existing concept of iPhone apps loading quickly and resuming where you last left off, this solves the problem of not running in the background. I know some tasks will be more difficult or maybe impossible with this strategy, but it's still a pretty good compromise between third party applications and the iPhone's limited hardware.
Originally push was scheduled for last September, but it was removed from the beta SDK and not spoken of since then.
API's I'm personally looking for:
Apple80211 as a public API (private, current API is fine if documented)
Access to Volume buttons (semi-accessible via Celestial, private, needs new API)
Access to Calendar (private, API status unknown)
Access to Bluetooth + SPP profile (status unknown)
Access to Camera (directly, API status unknown)
Access to JavaScript runtime (directly, not through UIWebView, API status unknown)
WebKit access that's lower-level than UIWebView (private, current API is fine)
Access to Music Library (private, current API is fine)
Garbage Collection.
CoreData is missing.
You've mentioned some of the big ones - copy & paste (or in fact any way for apps to collaborate) is another huge omission.
It also seems to lack a desktop synch framework (at least if it exists I can't find it).
Language independence and especially lack of scripting is another pet peeve - objective-c is all very well but more languages to choose from would be good.
Inability to dynamically extend apps, via scripts or otherwise, is another big omission. This is partly an SDK/OS issue, partly licensing.
My list ordered by priority:
Mapping abstraction (the MapKit looks awesome), but that would require a new Google Maps TOS
Music library
Camera (photo + video) Access to more
UIViews, Apple designed some pretty nice custom ones for their apps
Better UIWebKit abstraction
The features I see missing that it should have is
Access to SMS
Direct Access to Google Maps App. You should be able have access to this so you could extend your application to use the built in features provided by Google Maps.
Access to the Bluetooth functionality of the phone.
Access to the Calendar. Why not allow access to simply post a calendar event for the user.
Access to Active Sync. It would great if we could directly access this and communicate back to the Exchange Server.
Core Image. They provide Core Animation but Core Image is missing. I hope that this is added to the API soon.
These are some of the features that my clients have access for in the past and are supprised when they are not available.
We definitely miss a Calendar API and SMS access. So many applications could leverage such APIs. The iPhone allows users to have everything in their pocket, but it's almost useless as long as developers cannot leverage this integration in their apps.
A language with proper namespaces.
A limitation that bugs me is lack of access to system features that require root or setuid. For example: opening privileged IP ports.
I'm not sure there is a good solution to this, as long as Apple's policy is to keep the device locked-down.
Allow program to set some kind of local timed event for your application to bring up an alert and launch your app if the user agrees (like any calendar app). You could do that with push notifications but there are many cases I'd hate to have to rely on a whole server infrastructure and network connectivity just to basically do some timed thing.
Some idea of what direction the user is facing. I cannot believe the GPS chip the newer iPhones use are not capable of reporting direction.
I would personally love to see
Access to the CoreTelephony Framework (Currently private). Which allows access to all the phone functions (Especially sending MMS / SMS).
Some sort of ability to run stuff in the background. While push notifications is ok for most things, but it is a bit hard to leverage CoreLocation (i.e. have the app show a notification at a certain location). Of course this would probably need an on/off button or app specific like push is.
animation view which will be reduce developer to make a cool app , of course the core business local still need consider more , but the view layer could more easy to use ....