Can Free Apps Sell Games?

GetJar is trying a new gambit in an effort to generate more app sales. They've implemented the GetJar Gold store, where they've taken 50 top Android apps and offered them for free. It's "free app of the day" on steroids, and represents a serious effort to draw some attention away from Amazon's app store. The 50 titles available at launch include such hits as Fruit Ninja THD, Pocket Legends, and Age of Zombies.

The developers of these games will get paid by GetJar, so it's not a bad deal for them. GetJar plans to generate revenue from GetJar Gold by offering sponsored listings to other app developers. Developers can bid from 1 cent to $1 or more for each install they get by being listed. Sponsored apps are shown with a different color coding alongside the high-quality free apps.

It's a clever method to entice a horde of buyers in by offering high-quality free apps, and while they're busy downloading some of those, customers will be seeing other apps they might never have found. It will be interesting to see how well the model performs.

These days, though, small developers should be happy to have some new way to try out in order to find more customers.