AppNation 2011: Tapjoy defends incentivised downloads as being very efficient for quality apps

With Tapjoy CEO Mihir Shaw on the panel, the open floor part of the 'Best practices for cross-app, in-app advertising' talk was only going to start with one question.

"Are incentivised users they crap or good?" came the query, aimed at Shaw, as Tapjoy's incentivised download service has been effectively banned by Apple.

Surprisingly though, it was Michael Breslin, veep, marketing, from Glu Mobile, which has been a heavy user of Tapjoy and has had games rejected from the Apple App Store, who first answered.

"It all goes back to the game. If someone experiences a game through organic or incentivised means and it's crap, they will drop it," he said.

Shaw answered too; if laterally. "It's been a very efficient channel for high quality apps," he said.

"We run various different types of advertising, including incentivised pay installs. It's all about creating ongoing positive ROI marketing for developers."

Tapjoy has however voluntarily decided to cap its incentivised download scheme so that those downloads alone won't boost games and apps into the App Store top 25.

More generally, however, Shaw was very bullish about app development.

"I think the market is huge for app innovation at the moment," he said.

"There is insatiable demand from consumers and a huge amount of ad inventory coming into the market. 40 percent of our inventory now comes from brands, especially the west coast brands in the US.

"Engagement on mobile is much higher than PC, and demand is growing. This is a great time to be building and launching apps."

Breslin was also bullish about the situation - for games.

"We're seeing a paradigm shift at the moment in app stores from premium to freemium games, especially driven by in-app purchases," he said.

When it comes to how to successfully launch an app or game, Shaw reckoned there are three key aspects in terms of app discovery, at least.

"You need cross platform promotion, various media buys ranging from banners to offerwalls, and, if you can get it, direct recognition from the platform holders," he explained.

"You have to leverage all three channels, but ultimately you will be rated on the quality of your games or apps."

Breslin agreed. "It sounds simple but you have to start with quality, and then it's got to be social, and try to do something innovative, or you're going to get washed away in the sea of apps that are released every day."