Operator Bell Canada will not “direct, encourage or incentivise” employees or contractors to rate, rank or review its mobile apps, after a probe by the country’s Competition Bureau.
The watchdog said that in November 2014, “certain Bell employees” were encouraged to post positive reviews and ratings for the MyBell Mobile and Virgin My Account apps on the App Store and Google Play, without revealing they worked for the company.
Acknowledging that Bell acted quickly when made aware of the issue, the Competition Bureau said that “these reviews and ratings created the general impression that they were made by independent and impartial consumers and temporarily affected the overall star ratings for the apps”.
In addition to focusing on its corporate compliance programme and an “administrative monetary penalty” of CAD1.25 million, Bell will also sponsor and host a workshop to “promote, discuss and enhance Canadians’ trust in the digital economy, including the integrity of online reviews”.
It’s unclear if Apple is setting a precedent, or has only accidentally allowed the approval of a new app, known as Been Choice, into the iTunes App Store. The app claims to block advertisements not only in mobile applications, but also in native mobile apps, including Facebook and even Apple’s own News application. To make this work, Been Choice offers a combination of a content blocker for Safari and a VPN service, the latter which allows it to filter out ad traffic using deep packet inspection.
Obviously, blocking ads in native applications could be disruptive to the primary way a number of mobile application developers make money today. So while Apple may be catering to consumers’ growing disgust with invasive and disruptive online advertisements by supporting ad-blocking technology in its newly released mobile operating system, iOS 9, it seems that allowing an app like Been Choice to actually block ads in native apps – and in particular, Apple’s own News app – goes against Apple’s own best interests.
In other words, time will tell whether Apple meant to allow such a thing or whether Been Choice getting the boot from the Apple App Store is only moments away. (Apple has not yet commented.)
The app is also concerning because it hides a paid surveys operation under the hood of an app promoting data privacy, which seems like a bad fit.
The oddly named Been Choice application was created by co-founders Dave Yoon and Sang Shin, who met at McKinsey & Co. and have worked together for more than eight years. Yoon was involved with marketing and marketing insights at McKinsey, while Shin has worked in technology for two decades, mostly in finance.
Yoon explains that the motivation behind Been Choice has to do with offering users a choice between ad blocking and sharing data in order to earn rewards. That is, users are compensated when they agree to share their behavioral data with advertisers, publishers and app developers. Those rewards come in the form of cash (via PayPal) for now, but the app promises that Amazon gift cards and the option to donate earnings are planned.
The more extensive ad blocking is enabled by way of Been Choice’s VPN service. When it’s enabled for the first time, users will be prompted to install a profile on their device. If you’ve ever had to set up an iPhone to connect to your company’s network, you may be familiar with this process. When the VPN is enabled, traffic is then routed through Been Choice’s servers where it performs deep packet inspection on the content. It can then remove specific content – like ads – through pattern matching.
“While we inspect headers and the body, no user content is stored, and our filtering is done on the fly. This approach may be more familiar in its corporate form. For example, companies use deep packet inspection on their managed devices to ensure that sensitive information never leaves internal corporate networks,” explains Yoon.
This ability, the company claims, makes Been Choice the first to block ads in Facebook’s native iOS app. In addition, the app blocks ads in Pinterest, Pandora, Yahoo and the New York Times apps, among others. It also blocks sponsored posts, native ads, and pre-roll videos like those in news apps from CNN or CNBC, for example.
Surprisingly, Been Choice is also capable of blocking ads in Apple’s News app, as well:
Twitter, however, is not blocked because of its use of end-to-end encryption that makes it impossible to block ad traffic without blocking non-ad traffic.
Choice?
The team believes that users should take more control over their data-sharing behavior, in order to understand the value of that data rather than blindly offering it up in exchange for creepily targeted ads. That’s fair, but typically mainstream technology adopters are more passive when it comes to things like this.
Installing, then enabling, a Safari ad blocker is one thing, but using a VPN service to wipe out ads across apps and then toggling between “block” and “earn” modes from time to time may be asking for too much user participation. (That’s if Been Choice even gets to stick around in the App Store after Apple sees what it’s up to!)
Even for those who feel comfortable with the technology aspects to Been Choice, the app itself needs better mechanisms to turn off or on the VPN. (Currently, you have to go to Settings –> General –> VPN then click the “i” next to the Been profile and disable “Connect on Demand.”)
Meanwhile, earning rewards takes time. You need 30,000 “points” to earn $20 via PayPal. Earning is time-based, not based on ads avoided, so you can earn 1,000 points per day by leaving the VPN enabled.
“Earning” Means Giving Up Your Personal Data…Even More Than With Traditional Ads
Finally, the Earn mode also offers other ways to gain rewards that make Been Choice seem more like a paid surveys operation, or competitor to something like SwagBucks. These types of companies are focused on users exchanging information with marketers in return for rewards.
It’s also not clear how well users will understand what data Earn mode is collecting and reselling, as users tend not to read privacy policies. And according to the Been Choice Privacy Policy, the company is tapping into the data traffic to pull device info, carrier and network info, device IDs, information about apps and data usage, “content of your communications and transactions” excluding financial and e-commerce applications (!!!), and the vague “information about you.”
The company, however, says it takes “reasonable steps to remove all personally identifiable information.” HMMM.
Still, when asked if users are actually sharing more data through Earn mode than when viewing ads, Yoon admitted that’s indeed the case.
“It’s absolutely more data. And that’s what we set out to build,” he explains.
“We think if you have consent from the user, and share economics with the user, you can gather better data. But the key question is consent,” Yoon continues.
“Today, it’s muddled and compromised. It’s an implicit agreement, and neither side benefits and both sides are left wanting more. More privacy and control on one side. More data and better data on the other. By providing a simple switch we are creating choice,” he says.
The Earn option creates a confusing paradigm for Been Choice. On the one hand, the app means to cater to those who don’t want ads anywhere – even in their native apps. Then, on the flip side, it’s hoping to reach those who are more than willing to sell their souls data for cash.
These two demographics are wildly different, and it’s not likely the ad-blocking users will ever be willing to convert to “earners.” In fact, they’re probably going to be distrustful of any app that talks about user privacy, but then encourages you to give it up for some spare change.
[Update: Some readers are pointing out that VPN services have enabled this sort of ad blocking previously. That’s worth noting, but the difference is that these existed prior to iOS 9 and the release of Apple’s own iAd-infused News application. That the company would now allow an ad-blocking app/VPN service to actually cut into its own revenue stream is surprising.]
Posted by Sarah Perez(@sarahintampa) http://techcrunch.com/2015/10/06/apple-approves-an-app-that-blocks-ads-in-native-apps-including-apple-news/?ncid=tcdaily#.tokpmd:RNzv
SnapNtalk is a fun and easy mobile application that enables users to add voice and text to their photos for iOS and Android devices.
SnapNtalk Graphic2
SnapNtalk has so many fun and practical usages that you won’t ever be able to take a silent photo again!
San Francisco, Californa (PRWEB)September 21, 2015
SnapNtalk is a fun and easy way to add voice and text to photos. SnapNTalk makes every photo memorable and unique. Simply take a photo, record a voice or a sound and the image will come alive with the sound now connected to the photo. It is also easy to discover prerecorded sounds by browsing through the Soundboard categories, or you can find specific sounds by using the search function. parental locks Keep any voice recording or convert it to text; either way, the photo will speak for itself!
“SnapNtalk has so many fun and practical usages that it will be hard just to snap a silent photo,” said Brian Dolling, creator of SnapNtalk.
SnapNtalk will be available on iOS and Android devices and is a perfect addition to App Store libraries for the upcoming holiday season.
Examples for usage:
Share that special image with friends and family and now include a personal voice message (great for birthdays and holidays)
Never forget the day/time and reason for that special photo by having the image now tagged with voice or text
Extremely useful and practical for those home renovation projects. Simply take an image of a renovation, add either voice and text and send to family members or any contractor working on the job.
An excellent tool for sending images for insurance claims or any occasion when a photo requires an explanation.
For further information and the opportunity to share SnapNtalk images on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, please review the following links:
Apple is expected in coming days to release a mobile operating system that supports ad blocking in its web browser, and adland is having a meltdown about it. Executive after executive has told reporters about their concern for mobile advertising once Apple flips the switch. Ad blocking has gotten so much media attention that even Howard Stern recently talked about it on his show — declaring how “beautiful” it sounds.
Even if Apple’s new operating system did introduce much more powerful ad blocking to iPhones, the attention on its mobile web browser is largely misplaced. “The vast majority of activity is occurring in apps,” said Mr. Brian Wieser, an analyst at Pivotal Research Group. About 90% of mobile content consumption happens in apps, Mr. satellite map Wieser said in a report this summer.
Apps account for about seven out of every eight minutes of media consumption on mobile devices, according to ComScore’s U.S. Mobile App Report.
Apps are a major part of everyday life for a large portion of the population. There are billions available across multiple app stores. How do you get yours to stand out? First, let’s start with an understanding of the current App Store landscape.
Discovery Challenge
THE RICH GET RICHER
The biggest challenge to any app developer is visibility in the incredibly competitive space. There were 70 billion app downloads between 2008 and 2013, but over 50% of those downloads went to 0.1 percent of the available apps. The problem makes sense (show of hands: how many readers have Facebook, Yelp, and Twitter installed on their iPhones?), but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to overcome.
OPTIONS FOR DISCOVERY
App marketers have five main options for discovery:
1. Paid campaigns that enable e-commerce and push their products via organic and paid social media, AdWords, etc.
2. Distribution platforms that push apps with certain themes or mega portals (Android) to bypass app stores
3. Recommendation algorithms that tie app marketing to the information that consumers and their friends reveal online
4. Search engines (e.g. Google, Bing, YouTube) that scour the app store by topic and keywords
5. Search within App Stores
In this post, and in a follow-up post on App Store Optimization, we’ll focus on App Store search since 53 percent of app shoppers find apps by searching directly in the App Store for their device. You can increase the likelihood of yours being seen (and downloaded) using a process that’s very similar to SEO.
Note: it’s important to make the distinction between app store search and search engines; while you can absolutely benefit from organic discovery in search engines like Google and YouTube (pro tip: YouTube is hugely important, so make sure to create a video that enhances awareness and discovery), it’s a relatively small piece of the discovery pie.
SEARCH FUNCTIONALITY BY APP STORE
Just like other search engines, search functionality is different for each of the stores, and we’ve scored the different app stores based on how comprehensive their search is.
Google is the best at search (surprised?), and search is vitally important. The Google Play Store rankings are based on downloads and search criteria, implying that you can’t just rely on download volume to attain and keep top status.
Yet the search functionality in all app stores, including Google, leaves much to be desired. Furthermore, making changes to any of the ASO parameters (keywords, conversion optimization) is fairly difficult in the app stores, particularly with Apple’s. It’s best to try to nail it as well as you can the first time.
In a nutshell: the landscape of the different App Stores is… not great. You can definitely get by with effective App Store Optimization, but none of the stores are really built for you to have success right out of the box. Look for our next post, which will cover the basics of App Store Optimization!
App Promo and 3Q Digital are pleased to present a one hour webinar on Thursday September 17th from 2-3pm on the topic of #ASO is the new SEO -Tips and Tricks on Getting your Apps Discovered. Mark your calendars for this date and listen to Gary Yentin, CEO of App Promo and Craig Weinberg. Vice-President Mobile Strategy of 3Q Digital discuss the timely topic of #ASO.
@AppPromo had a great time speaking at the @AppsAlliance workshop in Toronto 7.14.15. Enjoy watching Gary Yentin, CEO of AppPromo speak on #AppStrategy commenting that
“If anyone tells you an app is free, they’re lying”
App Developer Association’s OpenX, Millennial Media and more walk through idea generation, feature selection and monetization.
Don’t try to fool Andy Smith. He’s heard the same line from successful app developers too many times before.
Smith
“You’ll hear these guys say, ‘We weren’t even thinkingabout monetizing. We were just making something we really liked. Now we’re billionaires!'” said Smith, CEO of mobile game developer XMG Studios. “If that were true it would have been free and it would have no way to make money.”
Smith, whose firm’s titles include Fashion Star Boutique and Drag Racer World, was speaking at an event recently hosted by the App Developers Alliance that took place in Toronto, one of several stops it has made in a tour across North America where it has been trying to teach app makers to act less like hobbyists and more like entrepreneurs. For Smith, thinking about apps as a business from the outset is a must.
“If you think you’re just going to build something from a great idea and ‘the money will come to me,’ it won’t,” he said.
Phase One: Choose (And Assess) The Right Idea
According to Greg Blackman, senior director of business development with Los Angeles-based ad tech company OpenX, the best way for developers to start is by “scratching their own itch.” In other words, think about an app or game that meets a need that hasn’t otherwise been met, and start from there. Don’t stop there, though. Blackman suggests doing a round of interviews with potential customers to ensure you’re on the right track.
Blackman
“Once you present it to enough people, you can see your target audience, and you see how much they light up,” he said. “When you put the idea in front of them, you should see a pattern where they light up every single time the value proposition is made clear to them.”
Of course, this doesn’t mean total originality has to be core to every single app. Smith said it’s more a case of picking a project with which you, as a developer, would engage as a consumer.
“If something already exists that you want to do, find that and ask yourself if you could do it better,” Smith suggested. “More than likely it’s out there. If it’s not on the app store already, it’s web-based.”
Phase Two: Choose The Features That Matter
An app has to do something, and in some cases it will do a lot. Developers may sometimes stumble over figuring out how much to pack into that first release, said Gary Yentin, co-founder and CEO of Toronto-based marketing firm App Promo. The easy answer is an economic one: If you create a business plan around the app, the numbers should provide some insight into what can reasonably be available at launch.
Yentin
“You can afford thousands of features if you have thousands of dollars,” he said.
Blackman recommends a “less is more” approach, particularly for developers who are new to apps or to a particular category.
“Boil it down to one thing, get it out as quickly as you can, then see if the code you put down can prove the value prop works,” he said. “All of the additional bells and whistles, the social hooks, they don’t matter if you can’t get the one thing down that makes a dollar from the app.”
Phase Three: Establish The Metrics Behind Your Monetization
James Hughes, associate director of publisher sales at Baltimore, Md.-based mobile ad firm Millennial Media, says developers and even publishers sometimes look at him as though he has two heads when he asks about their revenue strategy before an app is created. The problem is that too often monetization isn’t considered until after the fact, even though there are so many options to choose from. This includes push notifications, in-app purchases and display advertising.
Although some degree of experimentation might be necessary, Hughes said doing careful analysis of the first crop of users can help determine the best long-term approach. For example, those who are already looking at mobile ads may not want to be presented with in-app purchases, but that’s okay if they’re already generating revenue. Instead, target those who aren’t helping monetize the app at all.
“Experiment with your friends and family. Put it out to your beta users,” he said. “Segment and understand who’s spending time where.”
Yentin agreed, adding that developers should ensure they have the right SDKs built into their app to track things like downloads and retention, even if they haven’t gotten a lot of users yet. “If you don’t have the tools, you’re not going to be successful.”
Also think about how much friction you want to put in your app, added Blackman. In other words, how often do you want to interrupt the experience with ads or in-app purchase offers?
“There’s often a pattern that everybody follows. Learn, understand and exploit that pattern as much as you possibly can,” he said. “Watch the behavior rather than listen to what they say.”
This is probably the biggest business lesson for developers to remember. As Smith suggested, there isn’t an app user alive who will advocate for a particular monetization approach.
“They want free, with no ads, forever,” he said.
Published on July 20, 2015 | By Shane Schick, Fierce Developer
@Appromo was proud to participate on a standing room only panel in Toronto on July 14, 2015 presented by the @AppsAlliance on the The Art of App Entpreneurship and #AppStrategy. Notable quotes from Gary Yentin CEO of @Apppromo include “If anyone tells you an app is free, they’re lying” Gary yentin @AppPromo#appstrategy
App Promo and 3Q Digital are pleased to present a one hour webinar on Thursday September 17th from 2-3pm on the topic of #ASO is the new SEO -Tips and Tricks on Getting your Apps Discovered. Mark your calendars for this date and listen to Gary Yentin, CEO of App Promo and Craig Weinberg. Vice-President Mobile Strategy of 3Q Digital discuss the timely topic of #ASO.
