Johannes is the co-founder of Edit: I totally forgot to mention this: Marc Galeazzi put together a list of income reports, maybe that’s some interesting data for you.
April is over, time to sum things up. I’m quite late this time, I apologize for that.
If you are new to this series, let me explain it to you: Since Android is an open platform, I decided to be open about the income I’m making with my private Android apps too. In the last report I aimed to reach $4,000 for the last month. You will see if it worked out.
For all income reports, please click here.
Which Apps?
3D Invaders – about 245,000 installs (+13k), 15% active
AL Voice Recorder – about 740,000 installs (+40k), 20% active
AL Voice Recorder Ad Free – 1046 installs (+49), 35% active
Droid-Blog.net Android App – 477 installs (+24), 13% active
SmsToSpeech full – 759 installs (+15), 30% active
Only 53K new downloads. As you will see, there was a reason for that.
What did I do?
I tried a new ad network, SellAring, in the AL Voice Recorder. SellAring is an ad network specialized in audio ads. These ads are played in the timeframe the user is waiting for a called person to pick up a call. It needs at least four permissions, five other permissions can be added to increase efficiency.
The overall performance of the network was not satisfying. The fillrate started high but dropped fast. In addition, the new permissions stopped a lot of users from downloading the app which again resulted in a worse position on the result page for “Voice Recorder” in the Play Store. The users that updated or downloaded the app also didn’t like it, the comments were clear about that. On the pro side is the fast payment. It happened a couple of days after the month’s end.
By today, I’m not using SellAring anymore.
Advertising Stats
Here are some statistics from the two advertising networks I’m using, AdMob and Madvertise. Please read the second income report for an explanation of the following numbers.
AdMob:
Requests: 591,169 (-95k)
Impressions: 581,342 (-92k)
Fill Rate: 98.34% (0.26%)
Clicks: 24,579 (-5.8k)
CTR: 4.23% (-0.3%)
eCPM: $1.56 (-$0.52)
House Ads: 741 (554)
Adjusted Requests: 591,910 (-95k)
Adjusted Fill Rate: 98.21% (+0.16%)
Madvertise
Requests: 1,357,737 (-193k)
Impressions: 106,949 (12k)
Fill Rate: 7.88% (1.76%)
Clicks: 3,603 (598)
CTR: 3.37% (0.2%)
eCPM: $5.76 ($2.75)
madvertise’s fillrate and eCPM got up a little again which is somewhat good news. The overall requests declined, I think this can be attributed to the SellAring integration.
How much?
Here are the numbers:
AdMob:
3D Invaders: $348.46
AL Voice Recorder: $557.95
AdMob Total: $906.41 (-$497.45)
madvertise:
3D Invaders: ~$477.57
AL Voice Recorder: ~$138.11
madvertise Total: ~$615.68 ($330.10)
Market sales: ~$84.32 (-$42.27)
In-App purchases: ~$9.59 ($1.65)
SellAring: $174.35
Total: ~$1,790.35 (-$33.61)
What’s next?
I’m still as far from the goal of $4,000 as I was in the last months. To be a bit more realistic, I will set my goal for this month at $2,000.
Please feel free to share your own experiences and hints in the comments. Ask questions, share, do whatever you like.
2012/05/13 at 15:13
Do not lower your goal!!!!
2012/05/13 at 21:41
Hi James,
you might be right. I’m considering to change it again.
Best regards
Johannes
2012/05/13 at 15:27
Very interesting. Didn’t Google move Admob to Adsense?
2012/05/13 at 20:53
Hi John,
AdMob Smartphone web was integrated to AdSense, the platform for native apps is still self-contained.
Best regards
Johannes
2012/05/13 at 15:30
You still have a very good CTR with Space Invaders.
I wonder why madvertise gets 1.3mio request, serving 100k while admob gets 600k request – are there 600k requests missing?
2012/05/13 at 20:45
Hey reiti,
that’s because I still use the default refresh rates, which are 30 seconds for madvertise and 60 seconds for AdMob.
Best regards
Johannes
2012/05/13 at 16:46
Thank you for sharing your stats, really informative and motivational!
2012/05/13 at 20:44
Thank you, I’m glad you like it.
2012/05/13 at 19:12
The title is wrong, it has to be April!
2012/05/13 at 20:36
Totally, thank you for the hint :)
2012/05/13 at 19:19
Thanks a lot for the report. That’s really helpful.
Could you share more details about those in-app purchases? Which apps and items were bought? :)
2012/05/13 at 20:39
Hi Vandré,
sure. It’s in the game 3D Invaders, €0.89 for 150k in-game points.
Best regards
Johannes
2012/05/14 at 04:03
Hi Johannes,
Thanks for the details. I too had some bad experiences implementing sellAring, they are out of my apps now. I thought the reduction of some permissions would have been good, but I guess it is still not acceptable by users.
Useful info. And don’t reduce your goal. It really doesn’t do good to aim lower.
But I’d say stick to how you’re taking it. Don’t pressure yourself into a “must” to meet the goal, as that’s what has driven many developers away from this passion.
All the best for May!
Cheers!
-Bill
2012/05/14 at 04:45
I am a big fan of your blog. Thank you for sharing.
I am wondering your admob CTR (over 4%). It’s really amazing high.
Did admob find you any trouble? Since I know admob will ban our account.
Here is data of my app:
admob
6000 user/day
10k impression/day
clicks 1000
ctr about 1.0%
Even my ctr is not high, but I am still a little worry, since I only have 1000 click with 6000 users in one day.
2012/05/14 at 08:34
Thank you Ting.
I didn’t have any issues with AdMob so far and I hope their algorithms are smart enough to separate good apps of fraud clicks. A friend of mine had problems with madvertise but saved the data of the clicks separately and by this was able to proof the correctness of his clicks.
Best regards
Johannes
2012/05/14 at 10:58
Hello,
thank you for your blog. It is very inspirative to see anyone who´s share this information.
And I would like to tell you, that you have mistake in link http://droid-blog.net/2012/05/13/android-income-report-12-may-12/ – there has to be also April. :)
Good luck in your work!
2012/05/14 at 14:37
Hi Jaroslav,
yeah, I know. Unfortunately the link is generated by the title and since the link was already spread when Sebi informed me about the title, I have to keep it the way it is. Or find some redirect plugin for wordpress :-)
Thank you for the hint though.
Best regards
Johannes
2012/05/14 at 12:41
I’m also wondering about the CTR rate of 4% at 60 seconds in Admob. Mine is at 0.40% at 30 seconds. And I have another problem with admob, since I started my app the eCPM is decreasing and decreasing. First it was at 0.12$ and yesterday (SUNDAY) I reached the bottom with 0.04$.
I’m don’t understandt that and I implemented another network MoPub. there I get about 0.35$ at 60 seconds, not good but much better than Admob.
2012/05/15 at 01:17
Hi Johannes,
After alot of procrastination I finally finished my Android Income Report for April 2012
2012/05/15 at 18:22
Hi Johannes,
I’m writing to ask you about march payment from madvertise. Did you get this payment this month? It will be my first payment but I still didn’t get it to my bank account. I received only e-mail from them with “credit note” for march and nothing more. I was writing to them to get some info but no response.
2012/05/16 at 11:40
Hi ByQ,
yes, I did. It arrived on May 11th. Provided you earned more than €100 it can be possible the transaction takes more time in non-German countries.
Best regards
Johannes
2012/05/16 at 21:06
Hi Johannes,
First I need to say that you’re making a great job with your apps and this blog. Reading this blog I started to programm in Android 2 month ago. My first no was so bad (23$ in 10 days). My revenue was more and less very stable all these days, But yesterday my impressiones went to zero, this was suddenly from one day to another. I didn’t made any update of my app. I have no idea why this happens.
Leadbolt and Madvertise still have same impressions and revenue.
Do you have any idea
Admob Screenshot http://tinypic.com/r/2vwi8v9/6
2012/05/17 at 19:46
Hi Ben,
no idea what might have happened there. It almost looks like you have been baned or something since even your requests are almost at zero. Did it change by now?
Best regards
Johannes
2012/05/17 at 12:15
My earnings in April 2012:
– Admob: $18,610.42
– Madvertise: 988,21€
– Airpush: $6,933.64
I have quit my job! ;-)
2012/05/17 at 19:42
That are some awesome results Marcel!
But I’d like to append to Jaroslav’s question: You probably didn’t achieve this results with your Sudoku, didn’t you?
Self employedness FTW! :-)
2012/05/17 at 12:53
Hi Marcel,
congratulation to your great results.
Can you write more information about your project?
Leave job and make what I want is also my dream. :)
One more time congratulation!
2012/05/20 at 15:19
Found this through the Android Weekly newsletter and think this is an ace idea! I’m only just gettiong into Android dev and think it’s pretty cool that every month your posting these results because the figures give me something to read and work out the links between the different data sets. Understanding my adsense results when I began internet marketing without having another data set prooved jute a challenge. Now I have your results to start off with I have a comparison to make with my own. Makes understanding the figures much easier for me :) Most people (including me) tend to keep their earning reports to themselves, good on you for sharing!
2012/05/20 at 17:21
Hi William,
I’m glad you like it. Feel free to share your first results here as soon as your apps are out ;-)
Best regards
Johannes
2012/05/20 at 19:09
First i would never ever ever use an adnetwork that want to play audioads in a call, if i install an app and notice that i would uninstall it right away no matter how good the app was. And that type of adverts will never be in our games.
Also for your game, i would check out W3i. We are working with them right now for our next game MEGATROID. Really nice company and easy to work with. http://www.w3i.com
2012/05/21 at 12:04
Hi Magnus,
thank you for sharing. It would be great if you could share some of your numbers once your game is published.
Best regards
Johannes
2012/05/21 at 11:26
I’ve just forgot to mention, that I’ve also published my april android report – Robo Miner was calming down very fast that month and settled with ~120k imps per day (seems to be steady)
2012/05/21 at 13:31
Hi reiti,
thank you for publishing, I already read it last week :)
Best regards
Johannes
2012/05/22 at 20:20
Hello
Thanks for sharing the information.
You have a very hight eCPM with admob. I have a eCPM of only 0.50$. Do you know why? How can I increase my eCPM?
Sorry for my English.
Thanks
2012/05/24 at 10:58
Hi brausoft,
there can be several reasons for a lower eCPM, the most obvious would be the refresh rate which is ad 60 seconds in my case. How high is yours?
Best regards
Johannes
2012/05/23 at 17:42
I am fairly new to the App game and even newer to your blog so first off, thank you for your openness. It is very valuable to someone like me. Second, I am not sure that I understand the data that you are compiling so forgive me if my questions are misplaced.
Do you know what percentage of the click throughs actually download your app, or is that what you mean by the CTR?
Also, when you calculate your eCPM does that include the costs of your advertising? if so what other data is used to compile that number? It seems interesting to me that the fill rate is so low on the Madvertise but the eCPM is so much higher than the AdMob.
Thanks so much for your help, Great Blog!!
2012/05/24 at 11:12
Hi Brian,
nevermind, there are no bad questions, only bad answers ;-)
The numbers I’m posting here are describing my generated income, hence they are not related to ad campaigns initiated by me. Please take a look at the section Advertising stats of this report for an explanation of the abbreviations.
The higher eCPM/lower fillrate is due to madvertise’s focus on premium campaigns in the western and middle european region, where prices for ads are high compared to most of the rest of the world.
If you want to track the success of your ad campaigns, I recommend a quick google for the com.android.vending.INSTALL_REFERRER action.
Best regards
Johannes
2012/05/25 at 15:36
My refresh rate is 60 seconds for AdMob too.
2012/06/02 at 10:46
Hi Johannes,
do you have an idea how and when stats are updated on madvertise and Admob? I am getting a lot of Ad Impressions and Clicks very early on the day (0:00 – 2:00) from Madvertise and quite some Revenue from AdMob. It slows down over the day and madvertise gets slower and slower. Contrary, even before I integrated Madvertise, Admob gets more and more traffic and Clicks. It seems that 2/3 of Impressions and Clicks are recognized after 6 p.m.
I could imagine that madvertise has something like a daily Cap, so they cannot display so much ads in the evening? Or are the AdMob-Statistics just lagging behind while madvertise is more on time?
Still it is very strange, that I get much Clicks from Madvertise from 0:00 to 2:00 in the night, but very little between 18:00 and 24:00.
Also I am confused about how Madvertise counts Ad Impressions and Requests. In my App, Views change very fast and on every View, the ad is loaded again. When I test my app, I get every time the same Ad. I would suspect, that every View counts as an Ad Request, but if the same Ad is loaded again, it does not count as an Ad Impression, which then leads to a very low Fill Rate (which I have, even so my App is only in German Language and most users are from Germany).
Can you change the refresh rate in madvertise Backend? Or do I have to upload a new APK? I just thought I should try to set this to a minimuim to improve my fillrate. Also my CTR looks way too high as it actually is, because 90% of the Ad Impressions (when the ad is reloaded) are not recorded.
2012/06/03 at 12:26
Hi Martin,
I think madvertise once had a realtime approach but I don’t know if that’s still the case. I can imagine that most of the budget is spent in the first two hours of the day because their fillrate is really low these days.
Madvertise’s counts is an interesting thing. It works like that: Once an ad is received, it is cached. If you then start for example a new activity that also holds an MadvertiseView, this cached ad is shown until the network returns with a new ad. If the cached ad is shown, this neither counts as a request nor as an impression.
AFAIK its not possible to set the refresh rate in the madvertise backend. You could use the MadvertiseCallbackListener to keep track of actual impressions and clicks if you don’t trust the madvertise statistics if you want.
Best regards
Johannes
2012/06/03 at 16:33
Do you also have such low fill rates, even for Germany? It starts in the night with 40-50% (2 a.m.) and drops to 1-3% at the end of the day. My App is only running since two weeks – are the current fill rates normal or do you expect them to get better in the next weeks or months?
85% of my customers are from Germany, 8% from Austria and 4% from Switzerland.
Another strange thing is that almost every time I load my App myself, I get an ad impression from Madvertise.
2012/06/03 at 19:21
According to a report I receive from madvertise every month, in April my fillrate for Germany is 100%. From that reports I can see that the main reason for the decrease of my earnings is a CPC that is about half and that there are almost no ads in Spain anymore. However, the last month was so bad, it’s very likely that the fillrate in Germany suffered a lot last month. I’LL let you know when I know more.
Why shouldn’t you get an impression? In case you are using the isTestMode-flag: The last time I used it, I also received valid ads, seems to be a server-side bug.
2012/06/05 at 12:06
Hi,
I have experienced a drop of more than 50% for click/revenue etc. since 27th of may.
Before 27 may i made around 120$ a day, now i make more like 60$ a day.
I really can’t explain this drop because i didn’t change much.
I updated my app on 27th of may but the update added only 1 sound and 1 picture to my app, it didn’t change anything about the placing of code of the ad.
I use admob.
Am i the only one experiencing this drop?
2012/06/08 at 08:20
Hi Mayer,
I had an exactly opposite experience. But since you published an update on the same day, it seems like there is a causality between the two events.
Did you experience any changes yet?
Best regards
Johannes
2012/06/06 at 21:30
Hey Johannes,
Great blog, just started reading it recently and very interested in results. Why sellaring dont work? Also, have you try Leadbolt or Airpush? They have made me lot of money, maybe you should check out to reach goal faster than AdMob.
For study: I make $200 a month with AdMob, about $1,000 with Airpush and $3,000 leadbolt.
2012/06/08 at 08:57
Hey Ricazzo,
It didn’t fill well.
For me it was an experiment on acceptance. I expected it to be between the acceptance of push ads and banner ads but it was more on the push-ad-level which I didn’t like, so I removed it.
Best regards
Johannes
2012/06/08 at 17:48
Hey Johannes,
I see. I feel same way about ring ads. Push ads sometime make me feel uneasy, I mostly use App Icons and Capture Forms with Leadbolt. You may have said above but what is CPM with Sellaring?
2012/06/11 at 08:51
I really agree with your blog.Appreciate all your efforts, was wondering if you knew of a way to programmatically determine which app store an app.Thanks!!
2012/06/19 at 08:05
Do you mean how to determine from which app store an app was installed? The better app stores use the referral link which you can listen to via a broadcast receiver.
Best regards
Johannes
2016/09/03 at 17:54
Do you have any insider advice on how to get my remaining revenues out of AdMob? There doesn’t seem to be any email support and there is no phone number or anything like that.
2016/09/05 at 02:17
Hi srp,
if your current account balance is under the payout threshold, there’s no way to do so I’m afraid.
Best regards,
Johannes