What’s more important, the number of installs attained or the number of installs chosen by desire and retained? The answer will dictate what kind of comments you want to leave on this post.

The blogosphere has blown up over the past couple of weeks around a debate I thought died years ago: opt-in versus opt-out.

The catalyst for this post revisiting the debate comes from a company that formerly operated in an opt-in software marketing space  moving to the other side  of the user choice fence, while another, Facebook,  arguably continues to struggle with opt-out backlashes from its huge and growing huger (yes, huger) user base.

So what’s the deal?  When it comes to creating value in connecting people with applications, it’s a no-brainer. Let user consent, control and choice drive the install car and everyone wins.

When it comes to distribution, The Rolling Stones are wrong; you can always get what you want

Opt-in ensures that the average customer passing through an install process gets what they want, without surprises. When customers are opting in to an installation, the user isn’t the only one that’s winning and getting what they want. Advertisers have something to gain from users consciously choosing their offers: a lower attrition rate.

Installs vs. Qualified Installs

In the long run, what does gaining installs in an opt-out strategy get you? What’s the long term value of an install that wasn’t wanted? What good does the install do if it’s immediately uninstalled or never used? Worse yet, what happens when the process provides a bad user experience now associated with your brand? In the court of public opinion, qualified installs stand up strong for all: user, publishers and advertisers. Don’t get me wrong, not every install in an opt-out process is unwanted, but it follows that the attrition rate is much higher than with opt-in.

Street Cred: It matters in app distribution

Certify this, approval that. There are a plethora of industry “stamps of approval.” W3i is proud to be a member of the TRUSTe Trusted Download program. While that program contains some flexibility, opt-in truly respects the user’s privacy and adheres to user’s choice and consent principles, which are typically best practices in the internet space.

It’s not about the dollar, right?

When the question comes up, opt-in versus opt-out, one of those vehicles is clearly being driven by revenue, the other by user experience and value. You can massage the numbers however you want, all I’m saying is: if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck . . .

It is a never ending job understanding what goes on in the world and how it applies to improving business. At W3i, we are constantly reviewing data, analyzing information, and sharing performance data with our clients. Anytime we can provide more insight into how our clients can leverage the market to their advantage, and increase relevancy for our users, we step up to the proverbial plate.

Essential data is derived from our installation processes, research on personas that use specific products, and return visits of customers. Essentially as much information as we can gather without getting too specific.

Therein lies the challenge. At W3i, we are committed to not collecting personally identifiable information. So without PII, how does demographic targeting work on the internet?

We employ a large amount of secondary research to determine information on personas with regards to things like operating systems, installed applications, and conduct primary research on our returning customers. For example, users that have the latest operating system are more likely to have this system as their primary household computer. This is important because it equates to more application usage.

How can that tell us anything? Let’s take some obvious cues. Let’s say I have a game manager and I want to decide what game to offer up to a user, how would that decision making process happen?

First, we detect the operating system. It is Windows 2000. We know that most intensive games are not compatible with this environment, so a high definition game is probably not the best user experience for this user. Now, let’s detect for some basic software, such as Flash. The user does have Flash, so I know that flash-based casual games are compatible and will work. Now, consider the product that this user is downloading. They are downloading a patriotic screensaver so odds are a game that targets patriotism would be a good bet. But wait — there is another component to this. If that person downloads a patriotic screensaver on July 1, could it be that it is really what we call our Cement Goose Lady Persona? These are the women who make us smile by taking the time to make sure that even their cement goose is dressed appropriately for the occasion. If we take a look at their returning customer status, we determine that this is a common occurrence for this user to download a screensaver at holidays.

Given all this, our installer can choose an appropriate game for that persona during the installation process.

Why do we do this? First, and most importantly, this allows us to ensure each visitor to our sites receives software that works. Second, and only slightly less important, it provides the best value for our partners who are advertising with us. Of course, we benefit as well. A win/win/win situation. Maybe that is what W3i really stands for?

For more information on increasing revenue, distribution, and engagement for Windows Application contact W3i. With over nine years experience and 250 million installations W3i established an Application Network—app companies with user demand supported by app companies with a revenue-generating business model. Learn more about W3i’s Application Network today.

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.

Malware, badware, adware, spyware… These labels are used constructively at times but frequently as a stereotype given to software that does not live up to a user’s expectations.

The risk in using these as stereotypes is that by our very nature we all have different expectations of software.

A user can prefer:

Sophistication or simplicity

Casual use or heavy use

Ad-supported or fee-based

Pre-roll ad or embedded ad

W3i is committed to uncovering the facts about a software publisher’s ability to satisfy the user.  Our hope is that the facts will allow users to make better decisions on whether a software is worth downloading and give software developers ideas on how they can improve their software.  The facts will help software providers determine what the optimal business model is while maintaining a focus on user satisfaction.

To understand software marketing best practices, it took input from top Internet leaders like Yahoo!, Google, and AOL; trade groups like the IAB, and TRUSTe; and security players like McAfee SiteAdvisor and StopBadWare. Along the way, we became somewhat of an expert; for example, a member of the IAB committee, that was drafting their Lead Generation Best Practices, asked W3i’s General Counsel, Hayden Creque, to write the section on software marketing. Nearly all software marketers I talk to don’t even know that IAB has any such best practices on software marketing. With the knowledge of all of these competing best practices, we are able to ensure that our software marketing solutions comply with all of these standards to help our clients avoid any reputational pitfalls.  Read an overview of our policies here. 

In these difficult economic times, business models will require innovation for user’s to continue to get high quality service while supporting the software publisher’s funding needs.  I think this was well documented by one of my favorite authors, Chris Anderson (author of “The Long Tail”), in his article published in the Wall Street Journal called “The Economic’s Of Giving It Away” (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123335678420235003.html?mod=dist_smartbrief).  

Contact us if you would like to explore W3i’s services for improving your visibility of user’s satisfaction and their reception to advertising as a part of your software offering.  Get the facts so you can make your own decision as to whether this business model is right for you.

Ryan Weber, Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Co-Founder, W3i Holdings, LLC
Entrepreneur and pioneer of Internet marketing focusing on increasing revenue and distribution for digital downloads.

I have read countless privacy policies and terms of use. I have to in my role as General Counsel. They vary as they must, but generally terms and policies fall into one of three categories: 1) No consumer protection; 2) Business need driven; and 3) Consumer need driven. Regardless, most policies and terms are not meaningful documents for users. Consider whether anyone reads Amazon’s privacy policy when deciding which digital camera to buy.

To earn user trust then, e-businesses must design their website from a user’s viewpoint. Here are eight questions you should consider when designing your website:

1. Do you need personal information (name, address, telephone number)?
2. Can users navigate freely between web pages including disclosure screens or are navigation options limited?
3. Are there easily accessible links to more information and are the explanations in plain English?
4. Is the buttoning and navigation used intuitive and consistent throughout the site?
5. If there are several offers, does the site disclose this up front?
6. Are the sites landing and main pages designed for easy review including appropriate font sizes and color contrast for easy reading?
7. If downloading software, does the site utilize the typical browser protocols including confirmation that you want to receive a specific file?
8. Does the site limit the use of pre-checked boxes?

If you answered no to one or more of the foregoing questions, you may be causing users to navigate away from your site.

Hayden Creque, VP and General Counsel, W3i Holdings, LLC
Hayden counsels W3i on intellectual property, Internet law, privacy, and employment law issues. W3i strives to meet or exceed industry best practices.To learn more, click here.