How are application installation rates impacted if multiple application ads are presented in the installer? This is a question that is frequently asked by application publishers when they consider the revenue- generating opportunity made possible by cross-selling additional applications during their installation process–the monetization model offered by the W3i Application Network. W3i conducted a test to attempt to answer this question.

First, some background information on W3i and the W3i Application Network. How does W3i add value? For advertisers W3i creates value by providing a new channel to purchase distribution. For publishers W3i creates value by sharing the revenue generated by the distribution of these advertisers’ applications. For users W3i creates value by helping them discover new applications from advertisers and providing revenue to fund more application development.

W3i conducted a test to understand the impact of cross-selling applications in the installer.

• Cross Section of Applications Tested – two media players, two game applications, a utility, and a social networking application.
• 175,000 applications were installed by users

The number of cross-sells (advertiser’s offers) tested included 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Our findings show that a drop in the applications’ installation rate from 1 to 5 offers was less than 1.5 percentage points, equating to an average decrease of 12% with a full 5 offers. At W3i, publishers can choose the number of cross-sells that are available with their applications.

W3i observed that the acceptance rate of each cross-sell varies greatly from advertiser to advertiser and publisher to publisher. Additionally, applications have varying installation rates from application to application. This leads to the conclusion that it is not the quantity of cross-sells that impact the installation rate as much as it is the relevancy. W3i enables clients to select which applications to advertise with their apps to increase the relevancy for their users.

How many and what cross-sells are included is ultimately decided through balancing user acceptance and revenue generated. As the number of cross-sells increase, the relevancy and revenue decreases per cross-sell and so the reality is that there is limited number of cross-sells that maximize the lifetime revenue for a publisher.

Kristin Oberhaus, Product Manager, W3i Holdings, LLC
Kristin has over 13 years of product management experience and is a certified usability analyst. She is an avid believer in pragmatic marketing.