Well 2012 was an interesting year for Mayhem Software. Between 1/1/2012 and 31/12/2012 our metrics were as follows:
Downloads
Advertising
It was a roller coaster year with some very promising moments but it was ultimately financially disappointing. $5000 split between the two of us covered our costs and resulted in a nice bit of spending money but it certainly won't pay the rent.
We had a promising 3 months period whereby revenue was between $700 and $1200 / month. Unfortunately pubcenter eCPM has dropped significantly since then and we are now only making about $250-300 / month even though the number of ad impressions we're getting is roughly the same.
The most important lesson we learnt is to beware of relying purely on advertising for revenue as the returns are very volatile. It still hurts to see us consitently reaching about 2 million impression / month and yet seeing an eCPM below 0.10, when 6 months earlier it was averaging 5-10 times that. It is for this reason that we are currently moving away from pubcenter and experimenting with other advertising networks. The nokia ad exchange is looking particulalry promising and we're currently awaiting approval for an account so we can test it out.
So based on the above 2013 will be about diversifying our business as much as possible by attacking multiple revenue models, advertising networks and platforms. We've got some great app ideas and are looking forward to getting them out over the coming months.
Downloads
- Total Downloads: 115,721.
- Total paid: 40 ($0.99/unit)
Advertising
- Total Ad Impressions: 18,181,985
- Total Revenue: 4,967.55
- eCPM: 0.27
It was a roller coaster year with some very promising moments but it was ultimately financially disappointing. $5000 split between the two of us covered our costs and resulted in a nice bit of spending money but it certainly won't pay the rent.
We had a promising 3 months period whereby revenue was between $700 and $1200 / month. Unfortunately pubcenter eCPM has dropped significantly since then and we are now only making about $250-300 / month even though the number of ad impressions we're getting is roughly the same.
The most important lesson we learnt is to beware of relying purely on advertising for revenue as the returns are very volatile. It still hurts to see us consitently reaching about 2 million impression / month and yet seeing an eCPM below 0.10, when 6 months earlier it was averaging 5-10 times that. It is for this reason that we are currently moving away from pubcenter and experimenting with other advertising networks. The nokia ad exchange is looking particulalry promising and we're currently awaiting approval for an account so we can test it out.
So based on the above 2013 will be about diversifying our business as much as possible by attacking multiple revenue models, advertising networks and platforms. We've got some great app ideas and are looking forward to getting them out over the coming months.
Don't get down, it could be a lot worse. I'd say you guys are doing really well for yourselves, especially since you are just starting.
ReplyDeleteI've seen about <$1000 in revenue for ads, and am experiencing the same drop in eCPM that you are. I think it just has to do with the time of the year. Things will pick up again.