The Brutal Battle To Get Your App Noticed

Tapjoy, one of the leaders in the incentivized app install market that's now been ruled out-of-bounds by Apple, recently raised $30 million to help fund further growth. They've switched to banner ads or a cost-per-action campaign.

Their real growth, though, is coming from the Android market. They're seeing growth in that area double from month to month, and they recently started a $5 million fund to encourage developers to bring titles to Android. They've also started working on Windows Phone 7; not much now, but it may grow into something.

Android, for now, doesn't ban incentivized app installs, so Tapjoy can still exploit that loophole on Android phones. They're pushing hard on the Android platform, which sure needs it. Even though the Android market share is bigger than Apple's, when it comes to selling apps Apple is the clear winner.

Recent info from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster shows Apple app downloads up 61% over last year, with users downloading an average of 83 apps (as opposed to 51 last year). Over 31 million apps are being downloaded every day. Average app prices for Apple are up 14%, which is a cheery sign for app developers. Munster expects the App Store to generate $4.2 billion this year, with developers getting $3 billion. (It's interesting to note the average iPad app price was $6.32, up 36 percent from last year, which no doubt helps these numbers.) Munster thinks App Store revenue could hit $7.7 billion next year, with users downloading an average of 94 apps.

Which is all why developers are sticking with Apple first; it's where the money is right now, despite Android's best efforts so far.