Sharp drop in downloads and revenue after updating my app

Hi guys,

About a month ago I’ve published my first app (a memory training game). I’ve made a website for it and a YouTube video presentation.

The app progressed nicely and there were about 25 daily installs. Average daily revenue was about $0,25 (from AdMob).

On 9th of September (this Monday) I’ve asked my developer to update the app. He included a URL to my website in the apps description and the ads were now also included in the main menu (where you select which game to play).

I’ve also updated the Google Play and YouTube descriptions (I’ve put a URL to the website on top of the page - ‘Please visit us at …’).

Since then, the app has tanked! Revenue fell to about 0,03$ per day and daily installs fell to about 7 users.

Do you think I was penalized for adding the ads to the main menu and for including a link to my website on Google Play (in apps description) and YouTube? Is it also possible that my developer included his Publisher’s ID in my app so he gets some of the revenue too?

I would very much appreciate if someone could shed some light on this.

Thanks!

On Google Play it’s quite normal for the download count to drop after approximately 30 days. This could’ve been also caused by other reason.

  1. A bug in new version - check bug reports and comments - aren’t there any that indicate you have a problem? (one bad and visible comment could also hurt you greately - check in english version what comments are displaying on top).
  2. Ads not displaying - what is the number of impressions? Did it also drop?
  3. What is the number of uninstalls? If people play your app only for a short time and then uninstall, then it could’ve dropped because people no longer download it (and only a few play it from those who downloaded it earlier).
    Link to your app would help diagnose the problem.

If the problem is caused by normal 30 day period drop then it should raise again after a while.

Are you talking about installs or active installations?
Also admob revenues can change a lot on daily base. My revenues alter between 65 or 1 cent. Check the number of requests, if this did not drop it’s just normal. Also there is no need to put your url in the app description. If you have entered your company website there will be a link on the app page.

Hi Magnesus and Martin,

thank you for the replies!

@Magnesus

  1. I don’t have any comments yet. Error rate remains the same (about 1 per week and 5 different causes).
  2. Add impressions did drop somewhat. Yesterday I’ve changed the ‘Other Google Ads’ option to ‘Do not use keyword-targeted ads and Google…’. The ads were almost always the same - from Lumosity. :slight_smile: I thought more diversified ads could improve the clickthrough rate.
  3. I’ve attached a picture with daily uninstalls and some AdMob stats.

@Martin
I’ve talked about installs.

Do you happen to know if keyword targeted ads have a higher ‘value’ than other ads?

I’ve included the URL on top of the Google Play page because more people could see it right away (it’s deleted now). I did the same in YouTube’s video description. I hoped more people would then visit the page.

Thanks again, guys!
[hr]
Ups, I forgot the Google Play URL - its http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.project.memory.trainer

Looks like normal drop after 30 days. With so little impressions the revenue will be quite random anyway.

Funny, but I’m relieved to hear this. :slight_smile:

What about implementing two Publisher ID’s in one app? I got worried, what if the developer I hired (I could not afford an expensive/well known one) also included his ID in my app, so he would get a portion of my revenue too? Is this even possible or do I need to rely on developer’s morale?

I’ve searched the web about this topic, but did not find any specific answers.

If he has the source code he could make admob randomly use different ID - it would work, because adMob doesn’t check if the ad is displayed in good application. The question I think is - do you trust him. :wink:

Well, I guess I’ll never know. :slight_smile: I don’t have the source code to check it out, so I can only hope that all is well.

Thanks for your help, it really means a lot!

If its your app, why don’tyou have access to the source code?
[hr]
To awnser your question. I do not know if keyword ads pay more. However it is more likely to be clicked.

I thought about keyword ads, but the keywords are from data stored by the user its a bit hard on my privacy policy. So I did not implement them. Ofcourse I do not have anything against them if developers warn the users about what happens with their data. Sadly a lot of developers do not care to much about their users privacy and just go for the big bucks.

So in short, yeah use them, but please do the right thing and tell users if you use their data to serve keyword ads.

What is the cause of this 30 day drop? Thanks!

Hi, Martin.

The app was developed by a programmer I’ve hired. After it was finished, I received the APK file, but not the source. As I understand, if not specifically asked by the person placing the order, the source file is kept by the developer (and the final price of the app is also lower).

I’m not sure if this is true, but in the future, if I’ll decide to make another app, I’ll definitely ask for the source too.

About the privacy policy - I’ve bookmarked a few articles about this subject I’m planning to read them now. I currently do not have any privacy policy, but I’ve read somewhere, that if you have one, Google also takes you more seriously (at least their search engine).

So if I change the AdMob settings (Other Google Ads) from ‘Do not use keyword-targeted ads…’ to ‘Use keyword-targeted ads…’ do I also need to have a different privacy policy?

Thanks!
[hr]

It seems Google Play lists your app in the ‘Top New Free’ section (under your app’s category) for 30 days and then delists it. My app was in the ‘Games’ category on 127th place, but now, after 30 days, it’s gone.

Well im no expert in privacy policies. But I think its always a good thing to be clear to your users how their data is used and be as transparent as possible on this subject. If it’s legally needed I don’t know.

I use a EULA with sections explaining how data is used, i.e. contact third party servers to display advertisements.