Should I add advertising to my free application?

Digipom · Jun 20, 2012

Hi all,

I'm the developer behind "Easy Voice Recorder", a voice recorder for Android. I started this application because I needed a recorder for personal use, and I wasn't too happy with the existing recorders; one of my biggest issues was with the intrusive full-screen advertising and deceptive tricks, like placing the ad box right next to the buttons or Air Push or things like that.

I started out not having any ads in my application at all, one because I wasn't happy about my own experiences, and two because I didn't have bank accounts and stuff set up at the time.

Now fast-forward a few months later. The app has seen success, and I'm really happy with that. I love getting feedback from people, except maybe for the one-stars when it doesn't work on someone's phone.

What I'm concerned with is that even though the downloads have been increasing, the conversion rate has been declining. A promo helped but is already losing steam. Since I depend on this revenue, this is quite concerning to me.

I never want to be the type of developer that pisses users off because of ads, but I went and took a look at all of the other recorders again, and it was really only 2 or 3 apps that used AirPush or full-screen ads. The rest have a banner, which I personally think is acceptable.

At this point, given that I started without ads, paid conversion is declining, and many users seem to accept the regular banners, I have three choices:

1) Add a banner to the free version of the app.
2) Convert the free version to more of a trial-based (right now you can do pretty much everything in the free, and the pro just adds some extra features).
3) Do nothing (status quo).

I don't have that much experience with Android development, so I'd love to hear reasoned feedback from all of you guys. I would greatly appreciate any advice you have for me.

Thanks!

Kevin

GalaxyNexus · Jun 20, 2012

I can't imagine you losing many users because of banner ads. Besides, free apps have ads and paid apps don't. If you want more $ go with a trial version. There are a lot of factors that go into this. I do know that you don't get much $ for banner ads though.

Good Luck!

- GalaxyNexus

jefboyardee · Jun 20, 2012

AndRecorder - Free just has a non-obtrusive banner that you might want to check first. I presume AndRecorder - Premium has no banner.

korrupTed · Jun 21, 2012

I would definitely put a banner on the free app. Just make it as less intrusive as possible. Ads definitely provide revenue. Many people prefer free apps and just deal with the ads. If you turn it into a trial version, people have the tendency to move on to other things.

breadnatty08 · Jun 21, 2012

Some huge apps like Astro started out free without ads and they've since added them. There was a lot of angry users at first but they got over it quickly and it's not an issue anymore.

mikedt · Jun 21, 2012

korrupTed said:
I would definitely put a banner on the free app. Just make it as less intrusive as possible. Ads definitely provide revenue. Many people prefer free apps and just deal with the ads. If you turn it into a trial version, people have the tendency to move on to other things.

Agreed, trial software is really quite useless where I am because there's no option to upgrade to a paid full version after evaluating it, unless the paid app is available on a site like SlideMe rather than just been on Google Play. It's free and ad-supported apps only here from Google. Things like, expires after seven days, save disabled, camera apps that watermark pictures, etc. all useless here.

BigRedGonzo · Jun 21, 2012

I have purchased quite a few Android apps. As someone stated earlier, trial versions get used until the trial runs out then the users move on. IMHO, AirPush sucks. I have one app that does this and I uninstall it and reinstall when I need it. Banners that are well placed typically don't bother people. Another approach that you may want to consider is to have a "lite" version instead of a trial. Put banner ads in the lite offering and disable some of the features, but don't hobble it so badly that its unusable. Then offer, for $$ a full version without ads and with all features enabled and maybe some additional features. The trick is that you need the end user to feel as though you truly want them to have a good experience regardless of what version they are using.

BigRedGonzo

Unforgiven · Jun 21, 2012

I'd say go for the banner as, but like you said, keep it away from the buttons. I'm the type of person that rarely buys an app off the bat. I like to use it a bit, and if I like it and the price is reasonable, I buy it. If I have problems with a free app and email the dev, and get a positive response (not necessarily a fix, but just a response like "thanks for the feedback, here's the answer) I will usually buy it as well just to support the dev.

I would hesitate in taking functionality out of the free version as that may drive current users to a different free app. Maybe build out cool features in the premium, and shadow them in the free. For example, say your app had a transcribe option in the premium version, show the option in the free version, but when the user selects it, pop up a message that this is a premium only feature. That may help with your conversion rate if you have a killer feature in the premium that folks are willing to pay for.

Anyway, just my thought. Good luck with your decision.

korrupTed · Jun 21, 2012

That's a good point. Keep the banners away from the buttons as much as possible. I hate accidentally tapping on it when using an app.

Digipom · Jun 21, 2012

Thank you all for the responses so far. I feel the same way about taking features out of the free, and it's probably better to continue to add features to the pro while keeping the free functional. What do you guys think about a banner on the upper half of the screen, underneath the "Recorder" and "Player" tabs? Since you can also swipe between screens, I figure less of a chance of an accidental press if I put a banner under there as opposed to under the bottom set of buttons.

Some current users will undoubtedly be upset at the introduction of a banner, but I was thinking of making the older APK available to anyone who asked, in case they upgraded and were not happy about the ads.

zuben el genub · Jun 21, 2012

Vet it. I belong to a site that is dedicated to quilting. We don't mind ads, but some got some type of semi-porn that is stupid. "I'm Stephanie, I live 2.8 miles from you" etc. Our demographic would be the least likely to click on that ad.

I wouldn't want that on a younger kid's phone. I've seen ads like that on my phone when trying out an app and didn't appreciate it. Sex, politics and religion should be kept out. Insurance, cars, loans, etc., there's plenty of other stuff to market.

funpig · Jun 22, 2012

I would say that putting in banners will be the least objectionable. But IMO you will probably not make any money from the banners. I have never tapped on a banner except by accident. (There is a reason why people are suggesting that you do not put the banner near the buttons; they do not intend to tap it and you won't make any money). I really wonder about the future of clickable ads. I know my kids totally ignore ads on all their devices. And the stats for facebook users show that their click thu rate is very small and declining.

I tested a few voice recorder apps. I found one that had really good features but was a trial version with only a five minute recording limit and no dropbox support. I bought the full version to get the full features. I don't mind paying a few dollars for a good app. Unfortunately, if you go that route now and remove features from the trial version, you will piss off all your existing users and will probably get hammered with a lot of negative reviews. Most Android users expect free apps (they need to save their money for buying the next great phone every six months).

AngryHatter · Jun 22, 2012

I won't use an app with ads, so you would lose me.
I would bet I am not alone, either.
Allow me to try it to make sure it does what I want and then I will pay.

korrupTed · Jun 22, 2012

Aww. c'mon. People have the right to earn too. Besides, if placed right, ads can barely be felt. Then again, that's your preference. I don't see many free apps without ads though...

Pitamakan · Jun 22, 2012

I think that unless you have an extremely popular app, the amount of revenue you actually get from ads is far too small to be worthwhile. So the only reason to add ads would be to irritate people enough to get rid of them by purchasing the full version.

Personally, I very strongly support small developers, and am very happy to pay a reasonable price for an app, even if it's one that I'll only end up using a few times. But I can't stand ads being pushed to my devices, so an adware app just gets deleted, and I move on to the competition.

So the question is whether ads chase more people away, or convince more people to upgrade. I kind of think it's the former, but there may be no way to completely know. It might actually depend in part on the kind of app involved.

Digipom · Jun 23, 2012

Hello everyone,

So, here is what I have decided:

* I will add a banner near the top of the screen. This is far away from the recording / playback buttons, so should lead to less accidental clicks.

* My existing user base will not be shown the ads. Only new downloads will see them.

* Some users don't like ads, there will still be some friction, and I will just have to accept that. I think that banner ads have near universal acceptance, while air push and stuff like that is despised by most people. I agree that there should be no risky ads with half-naked women or stuff like that. I'll have to see if this is something that is done by default and how to turn it off.

* I won't be cutting back on features in the free. No limiting to 5 minutes recording or stuff like that.

* I will try to better highlight the difference between the pro and the free. One thing I will try is to stop hiding the pro-only settings, but instead leave them visible and shaded a different color. When they're selected, I'll have a dialog explaining what the setting does and if they would like to upgrade to enable it. I'll also continue to add more features to the pro and listen to user feedback.

Thanks again for all of the feedback, I appreciate it.

Should I add advertising to my free application?

What do you recommend?

Add a banner to the free version of the app.

Convert the free version to more of a trial-based.

Do nothing (status quo).

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