一款小眾iPhone應用如何月收入8萬美元
一則最新報道顯示,蘋果應用商店內有一些小眾應用,通過訂購和廣告可以獲得大量收入。 應用開發(fā)商約翰尼·林上周對應用商店進行分析后,列出了收入最高的應用。他的研究發(fā)現(xiàn),收入最高的應用依舊是Dropbox和Evernote等大牌服務,但由知名度較低的開發(fā)者Ngan Vo Thi Thuy開發(fā)的一款相對小眾的應用,在應用商店收入最高的10款應用中排在了第10位。據(jù)應用跟蹤服務Sensor Tower表示,這款應用名為“Mobile protection: Clean & Security VPN”,月收入8萬美元。 林對這款應用被廣泛應用的原因產生了好奇,因此對其進行了一些研究和試用,并把研究結果發(fā)表在了Medium上。他發(fā)現(xiàn),按他的話這款應用采用了一種“奸詐的做法”,要求用戶分享他們的聯(lián)系人。繼續(xù)使用后,他發(fā)現(xiàn)這款應用要求他支付99.99美元,訂購七天的病毒掃描服務。如果他同意訂購,每個月要支付400美元才能使用這款應用的病毒掃描功能,而有許多iSO用戶似乎支付了這筆費用。 目前,這款應用仍可在應用商店下載,在應用描述中稱其是一款安全程序。但林注意到作為一款VPN或虛擬私人網絡,它還可以匯聚網絡流量。換言之,用戶通過這款應用發(fā)送所有網絡流量。 這不見得是壞事,在應用商店里,有許多更知名開發(fā)商開發(fā)的類似應用,每周的價格低于100美元。另外值得注意的一點是,在撰寫本文時,這款應用的用戶評級為三星半。有一些用戶說這款應用讓iPhone手機“運行更流暢”和“速度更快”。也有人“高度”推薦這款應用。這些評價的真實性無從考證。 之后,對這款應用持懷疑態(tài)度的林研究了它和其他類似程序如何吸引用戶和產生如此高的收入。他表示,這款應用利用了蘋果的應用商店搜索廣告,當用戶搜索相關內容時,這款應用會出現(xiàn)在列表的前列。 林寫道:“事實證明,騙子們正在利用蘋果相對較新和不成熟的應用商店搜索廣告產品。”他補充道:“廣告與真實搜索結果幾乎無法區(qū)分,有些搜索結果的第一頁全都是廣告?!?/p> 蘋果在去年的全球開發(fā)者大會上推出了搜索廣告產品。雖然廣告上明確標注了藍色的“廣告”標簽,但其設計與搜索結果中列出的應用類似,可能導致用戶混淆。 蘋果并未對《財富》雜志的置評請求做出回應?!敦敻弧冯s志未能聯(lián)系到Mobile protection: Clean & Security VPN的開發(fā)者,無法獲知其對此事的意見。 一直以來,蘋果都在宣傳其應用商店中的應用經過了嚴格審查。提交到應用商店的所有應用都會經過蘋果的審查, 以確保它們是安全實用的,能夠保護用戶信息。顯然,Mobile protection: Clean & Security VPN和林擔心的其他應用,通過了審查程序,成功登陸了應用商店。 無論是那種情況,很明顯蘋果的應用商店能夠給開發(fā)者創(chuàng)造收入。在上周于加州圣何塞召開的年度全球開發(fā)者大會上,蘋果表示自應用商店在2008年推出以來,已經向開發(fā)者支付了700億美元收入,包括用戶購買應用的收入和通過應用商店產生的其他收入。(財富中文網) 譯者:劉進龍/汪皓 |
Apple's App Store features some little-known apps that generate significant revenue through a combination of subscriptions and ads, according to a new report. App developer Johnny Lin last week analyzed the App Store to reveal which apps generate the most revenue. While his search found that some big name services like Dropbox and Evernote were among the leaders, it also discovered that a relatively obscure app from a little-known developer named Ngan Vo Thi Thuy was ranked No. 10 among the top 10 highest-grossing apps in the App Store. According to app-tracking service Sensor Tower, that app, called "Mobile protection :Clean & Security VPN" (sic), generates $80,000 monthly in revenue. Intrigued about what made that app so widely used, Lin, who wrote about his findings on Medium, did some research about the app and also used it. He found that it engages in what he calls "duplicitous behavior" by asking users to share their contacts with it. As he continued to use the app, Lin discovered that it wanted to charge him $99.99 for a seven-day subscription to its virus scanner. If he had agreed—something many iOS users seem to be doing—he would have paid $400 a month for access to the app's virus scanner. The app, which is still available in the App Store, describes itself as a security program. However, Lin notes that as a VPN, or virtual private network, it can also serve to funnel Internet traffic. In other words, users are sending all of their Internet traffic through the app. While that isn't necessarily a bad thing, there are many similar apps in the App Store from better-known sources that cost less than $100 per week. Still, it's important to note that as of this writing, Mobile protection :Clean & Security VPN has a three-and-a-half star rating from users. Some of those users say the app makes the iPhone "work better" and "faster." Others "highly" recommended the app. The authenticity of those reviews could not be verified. Lin, who was suspicious of the app, then examined how it and similar programs attract users and generate so much revenue. He said that the apps use Apple's App Store search ads to move to the top of the search results when users input relevant queries. "Turns out, scammers are abusing Apple’s relatively new and immature App Store Search Ads product," Lin wrote. He added that the "ads look almost indistinguishable from real results, and some ads take up the entire search result’s first page." Apple (aapl, -1.04%) unveiled the search ads at last year's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). They are clearly marked with a blue "ad" tag, but have a similar design to the apps listed in the search results, which could confuse some users. Apple did not respond to a Fortune request for comment about the report. The developer of Mobile protection :Clean & Security VPN could not be found for comment. For its part, Apple has long marketed apps in its App Store as being well-vetted. All apps submitted to the store are checked by Apple to ensure they're safe, useful, and protect user information. Of course, Mobile protection :Clean & Security VPN and other apps Lin is concerned about, made it through that vetting process to get into the App Store. Whatever the case, it's clear Apple's App Store is a potential money-maker for developers. At its annual WWDC event last week in San Jose, Calif., Apple said that it had paid $70 billion to developers in earnings for people buying their apps and from other revenue generated through the store since its debut in 2008. |