For many developers, the missing piece of the app store puzzle is discovery - that is the ability to get people interested in your app or game.
With 250,000 competing titles on the Apple App Store a click away, it's certainly a difficult situation. Yet, according to Joe Bayen, the founder of the FreeAppADay promotional system, discovery itself isn't enough.
"What we do is perfectly symbiotic with the way an app store works," he explains.
"With FreeAppADay, we are able to drive hundreds of thousands of downloads over a couple of days. These people then show their friends the app, and they then go and buy it, which has reverted back to a paid product."
Catching eyeballs
It's this simple trick of taking a paid product, temporarily giving it away to drive downloads and attention, and then reverting to the original price that has seen FreeAppADay become the prime mover in terms of daily promotions on the Apple App Store.
Bayen claims. "We're constantly pushing games and now also apps into the top 20. And lately, we have been able to go as far as pushing up to five titles on a daily basis."
Indeed, with over one million downloads of its free FreeAppADay iOS app, which drive downloads with a daily push notification, combined with 14,000 Twitter followers, 10,000 Facebook friends and its website, FAAD is now a standard option for everyone from small indie developers to large publishers such as Glu Mobile to drum up support for new games, or repromote legacy products.
The right apps
Bayen says that success isn't guaranteed for all games and apps however, which is why FAAD has a quality bar.
"The viral effect only works if you have games that people really want," he says. Indeed, with recent campaigns including the likes of Civilisation Revolution, Toy Story 3 and Backbreaker Football, it's clear developers and publishers are happy to push big brands through the FreeAppADay process.
Yet it's perhaps surprising how quickly the system has taken off.
Launched in January 2010, it took until March to really pick up momentum. As with all viral systems, it's gained speed quickly since and now, Bayen is thinking about other areas to extend the service into.
"When I launched FreeAppADay, I knew the potential of the idea, but the success has been unbelievable. I can't wait to do more with it," he says.
Interview
Contributing Editor
A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon is Contributing Editor at PG.biz which means he acts like a slightly confused uncle who's forgotten where he's left his glasses. As well as letters and cameras, he likes imaginary numbers and legumes.
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