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Free apps make millions of dollars – here’s how they do it

by Loknath Das April 5, 2024

written by Loknath Das

Free apps make millions of dollars – here’s how they do it

Instagram, Clash of Clans, Tinder, and Snapchat are all free. In fact, 90-percent of apps are free because people expect them to be free. So how do developers stay in business?

In-app advertising

In-app advertising is the most popular and profitable way to monetize an app. Because everyone spends massive amounts of time scrolling, watching, and engaging, in-app advertising is the fastest growing form of mobile advertising. App-install ad revenue is estimated to grow to more than $100 billion by 2020, according to BI Intelligence.

The concept is simple: advertisers pay for impressions and clicks, and the developer profits from it.

Remember Taco Bell’s sponsored Snapchat Lense? That campaign raked in 224 million views, and cost Taco Bell tens of millions of dollars. Fortunately, it paid off, because, in addition to a whopping 224 million views, Snapchat stated that the time users spent messing around with the filter was the equivalent of 12.5 years of play ー in one day.

In-app purchases

If you’ve ever impulsively bought a Candy Crush Bundle, you’re a victim of the in-app purchase. These are tempting offers developers strategically create to crack open your wallet. These in-app purchases take the disguise of add-ons, power ups, boosters, extras ー you name it.

A little over 5-percent of users spend money on in-app purchases, yet how much money these customers spend is 20x greater than what companies earn from all other users combined. In-app purchase revenue is projected to reach $37 billion by the end of this year ー which speaks to how desperate people are to reach that next level.

Freemium

This method of monetization is similar to in-app purchases but has a slight difference. To access the complete feature set, you need to cash out for the premium version.

According to Apple:

In the freemium business model, users pay nothing to download your app and are offered optional in-app purchases for premium features, additional content, or digital goods.

Spotify is a great example of a company utilizing the freemium model. If you refer to the comparison below, the average broke Spotify listener is very limited when it comes to using the app. On the other hand, Premium listeners have access to every feature available.

The music streaming app pushes its users to become Premium users pretty aggressively. Almost every ad is about upgrading to premium or trying the 30-day free trial ー and it works. Of Spotify’s 75 million Monthly Active Users, 20 million are paying customers. For context, the average freemium conversion rate is 2 to 4-percent, but Spotify’s is 27-percent.

Subscriptions

Productivity and content-based apps (newspapers) typically use subscriptions to create recurring revenue. Because this revenue model typically requires a lot more cash and data from users, it’s not as popular as other monetization methods. But the apps which do use this strategy pull it off well.

Apps that utilize subscriptions earn 2-3x more than apps that rely on advertising or paid downloads. They also earn 50% more compared to apps that offer in-app purchases.

Take the meditation app Headspace for example. To truly “unlock the full Headspace experience,” one must commit to an annual subscription of a mere $7.99/mo.
The company’s annual revenue is more than $50 million and is valued at $250 million. Not bad for a free app that helps you breathe.

[“Source-thenextweb”]

April 5, 2024 0 comment

Gadgets News

Gadgets: 5 of the best cocktail shakers for the home and parties

by Loknath Das April 5, 2024

written by Loknath Das

Barmans Barware Kit, www.drinkstuff.co.uk, 24.99

Barmans Barware Kit, www.drinkstuff.co.uk,

We look at the 5 best cocktail shakers

Tom Dixon Plum Cocktail Shaker, Copper, www.nest.co.uk, £76

This futuristic copper-plated cocktail shaker combines a thick centre and tapered ends to provide a sturdy hand grip, for pleasurable shaking. The slim lid cap can also be used as a spirit measure. A handsome and useful bar accessory, it makes a great gift for the discerning cocktail-lover.

Rainbow Cocktail Layering Tool, www.drinkstuff.co.uk, £12.99

Imagine being one of those cocktail masters. The kind of person you see behind the bar of a trendy London nightclub, dazzling everyone with some amazing layered cocktail creations.

John Lewis Stainless Steel Cocktail Muddler, www.johnlewis.co.uk, £7.00

Stylish yet durable, this stainless steel muddler has a non slip handle for a sure, comfortable grip and a textured silicone head for mashing fruit and herbs. A must have cocktail tool for fans of mojitos.

Barman’s Barware Kit, www.drinkstuff.co.uk, £24.99

You’ll soon be mixing and shaking cocktail like a pro with the Barman’s Barware Kit. A perfect kit for beginners and keen bartenders, this gift set is stylishly presented in a gift box tube. Containing a range of professional quality equipment, including a Professional Boston Cocktail Shaker, Twisted Mixing Spoon and selection of strainers, you’ll be able to accommodate any drinks request.

John Lewis Glass Recipe, Cocktail Shaker, www.johnlewis.co.uk

The clear glass body of this cocktail shaker recipe indicators that provide the correct measurements for six classic cocktails, ensuring that you mix up perfect cocktails, time after time. Features a stainless steel lid and collar.

[“Source-newsletter”]

April 5, 2024 0 comment

Online Marketing

Meet the fake news of the online marketing world (that Google loves!): Review sites

by Loknath Das April 5, 2024

written by Loknath Das

A recent visit to TopSEOs.com revealed some amazing “facts” about online marketing vendors. Did you know, for example, that:

One of iProspect’s biggest clients is Circuit City (which went bankrupt in 2008)?
iCrossing’s annual revenue is between $1 million and $3 million?
Geary LSF (which closed in early 2016) currently has 93 employees and revenue of more than $10M. Oh, and they are the #59 best SEO agency in the US as of July 2017.
My company, 3Q Digital, also has revenue between $1 million and $3 million (wrong), has three founders (all of which founded an agency we acquired and only one of which has ever been part of my agency), is located in an office we haven’t rented for four years and is apparently the #7 best mobile marketing company in Australia (if only we had an Australian client).
An agency in Lehi, Utah, is ranked #1 in the US for search engine optimization, local SEO, remarketing, Facebook advertising, LinkedIn advertising, YouTube advertising, web design, web development, site audits, App Store Optimization, inbound marketing, infographic design, medical SEO, multilingual SEO, online marketing, video marketing, voice search optimization, and web marketing? They also rank highly in Canada and the UK. (I’m not providing a link here because I don’t want to help the organic results.)

So, um, yeah, it seems like a lot of the in-depth research on TopSEOs is at least 3 to 4 years old. I give them some credit, however, for updating the data they had in 2012, when they listed Google as being based in Seattle with annual revenue of $5 million to $10 million.

When top SEO rankings go to fake reviews sites

Now, you might be thinking: Why does this matter? There are plenty of junky pay-to-play review sites that exist entirely to drive leads to their sponsors. Here’s the rub: Google’s SEO algorithm apparently can’t separate the fake review sites from real content. To wit, I did a few Google searches and found TopSEOs highly ranked on numerous terms including:

#1 – Top SEO Agency
#2 – Best SEO Company
#3 – Top PPC Agency
#4 – SEO Agency
#5 – Best SEM Agency
#5 – PPC Agency

And then there’s Clutch.co — which happens to rank their sponsoring service-providers in the top spot for most categories — that is also doing smashingly in the organic results:

#1 – Best SEO Agency
#1 – Best SEO Company (right in front of TopSEOs)
#1 – Top PPC Agency
#1 – SEO Agency
#1 – PPC Agency
#2 – Top SEO Agency (right behind TopSEOs)
#3 – Best SEM Agency

It’s one thing for an agency to tout a bunch of fake rankings on their own website, but when Google is giving top SEO rankings to fake ranking sites, it gives these sites an aura of legitimacy that could lead businesses to trust the rankings.

Indeed, the agency that appears to be paying a ton of money to TopSEOs, and has been awarded top-ranking in the majority of categories, has a 1.5 out of 5 stars on Yelp and has received 12 negative reviews (none positive) on the Better Business Bureau’s website. (Snippets from the reviews include “in the end probably created more harm than good,” “they very obviously didn’t care about their work,” and “this is the most dishonest company I’ve ever dealt with.”)

I have a pretty simple theory as to why these review sites continue to impress Google’s algorithms. Every company that “wins” a high ranking promotes the ranking on their website, which means that the fake review sites are getting dozens of links from agencies. So Google’s algorithm sees a bunch of SEM and SEO agencies linking back to a site about “top SEM agencies” and concludes that this must be the most relevant site!

This is the same “link bombing” that resulted in George Bush showing up #1 for the term “miserable failure.” Google has developed algorithms in the past to fix egregious link bombing, so it’s a bit surprising that this problem still exists.

And even if the algorithm isn’t up to snuff, Google allegedly has 10,000 human reviewers who are on the look-out for bad and irrelevant content. It’s hard to believe that none of these folks have ever come across these fake review sites and imposed a ranking penalty.

I do have to give TopSEOs credit for one thing: making me laugh. They have a page about their testing facility that is fantastic, and I recommend reading the whole thing here. To give you a taste of its awesomeness, however, just check out this paragraph about their office, which uses high-falutin’ words to describe what appears to be a thermostat, desk lamps, computers with built-in speakers, nearby restaurants, and a hospital!

Our testing facility is outfitted with temperature control systems, audio capabilities, and automated lighting solutions to provide each team member with the optimal work environment. Our infrastructure makes communication convenient while the location of the testing facility ensures ease of access to products and services which team members may require for sustenance or medical concerns.

All joking aside, I’d like to see Google take their organic results a little more seriously and clean up the “fake news” that is no doubt misleading many businesses.

Some opinions expressed in this article may be those of a guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

[“Source-searchengineland”]

April 5, 2024 0 comment

Education

State Board of Education: Budget cuts ‘will adversely impact our students’

by Loknath Das April 5, 2024

written by Loknath Das

Image result for State Board of Education: Budget cuts 'will adversely impact our students' By Kelly Hinchcliffe

RALEIGH, N.C. — The State Board of Education approved $2.5 million in cuts to the state Department of Public Instruction on Tuesday as a result of mandated budget reductions by the General Assembly. Most of the cuts are expected to impact low-performing schools and teacher training in the state. An additional $737,000 in cuts are expected in the coming weeks.

The board voted unanimously Tuesday to make $1.6 million in staff cuts to the state education department, which include:

Seven full-time employees
Three temporary employees
Eight vacant positions in the following divisions: district and school transformation (six positions), educator effectiveness (one position) and curriculum and instruction (one position)
19 instructional coaches will get pay cuts and be reduced from 12-month to 10-month employees.

Board Chairman Bill Cobey declined to say which positions are being cut, citing personnel laws, but said they will be revealed at a later date. He said the majority of the staff cuts will be in the District Transformation and Educator Effectiveness divisions. The board plans to merge the two divisions into a new one, called District Support.

“Hopefully the districts can pick up any slack that is produced by this reduction,” Cobey said. “We’re further reducing the service to the districts. Hopefully you won’t see any huge impact any place, but there’s going to be marginal impact in certain places across the state. And we’re going to try our best to mitigate that.”

The board also approved $865,168 in operating reductions, which include:

$306,705 – Contractual services
$143,666 – Employee education/professional development
$131,412 – Temporary employees
$87,493 – Travel
$69,365 – Supplies, materials, program delivery
$62,853 – Equipment/maintenance of equipment
$26,164 – Postage
$22,510 – Phone
$15,000 – Dues & subscriptions

Board member Eric Davis said the budget cuts “will adversely impact our students, especially those in districts and schools which rely most heavily on the Department of Public Instruction.”

“And, so, my hope is that in future years our superintendent, in partnership with the General Assembly, will prevent future adverse impacts to our students through budget reductions to the Department of Public Instruction,” Davis added.

State Superintendent Mark Johnson attended Tuesday’s meeting by conference call and released the following statement after the board’s vote:

“While these funding cuts will be challenging, I did not run for Superintendent of Public Instruction to shirk away from the challenges of leadership. The General Assembly is clearly frustrated with the lack of accountability of the State Board of Education, and I am too. The culture of a non-accountability created by the State Board is one of the reasons I sought funding for a top-to-bottom, third-party review of DPI. By studying the results from this upcoming operational review and working together with the professional staff at DPI, I believe the department will come out stronger, more efficient, and more effective at supporting public schools in NC. The Board seems to prefer to complain and instead focuses only on more of the same. I embrace the positive changes that can result from addressing this substantive challenge head-on. We can and will be a better DPI at the end of this process.”

The General Assembly voted to reduce the state education department’s operating funds by 6.2 percent – $3.2 million – for 2017-18 and 13.9 percent – $7.3 million – for 2018-19.

[“Source-wral”]

April 5, 2024 0 comment

Online Marketing

UVM expanding suite of online digital marketing certificates

by Loknath Das April 5, 2024

written by Loknath Das

The University of Vermont announces the launch of four new online digital marketing certificates designed for business professionals through a collaboration with the Digital Marketing Institute, the certification standard in digital marketing education. Adding to UVM’s nationally recognized Digital Marketing Fundamentals Professional Certificate, students will now also be able to enroll in 10-week, online, advanced-level digital marketing certificates—Social Media Marketing Certificate and Search Marketing Certificate— beginning on September 27, 2017. In Spring 2018, UVM will be offering two additional certificates—Digital Marketing Strategy & Planning, and Social Selling.

Students talk about the new digital marketing programs that the University of Vermont has announced.

For most organizations, Digital Marketing is the most important part of their marketing mix today, and typically where the largest portion of a marketing budget is allocated. Demand for expertise in Digital Marketing is high and there is a gap in qualified professionals. UVM recognized the growing need to provide the knowledge and skills to give Marketers the competitive advantage for their career. By collaborating with the Digital Marketing Institute,
UVM will be able to deliver high-quality, up-to- date, and timely curriculum in a space that is constantly evolving. The curriculum will be taught by UVM faculty, building upon the personalized and highly interactive student-faculty relationships that students have come to expect at the University of Vermont.

“There is an urgent need for digital skills education for professionals,” said Ian Dodson, Co- Founder and Director of the Digital Marketing Institute. “Even though digital marketing has become increasingly essential for businesses, there is a persistent and growing global skills gap that threatens to undermine future organizational growth. In the U.S. alone, 45% of marketers cite a lack of in-house expertise as one of their greatest challenges.”

According to Gregory Dunkling, Developer of UVM’s Digital Marketing Certificates, “UVM’s partnership with the Digital Marketing Institute offers a larger portfolio of online courses for individuals to address the digital marketing knowledge gap.” He adds, “Through use of the Digital Marketing Institute's curriculum taught by University of Vermont instructors, we are able to offer high-quality, timely, and accessible digital marketing programs.” With Digital Marketing spending increasing to an unprecedented $120 billion per year by 2021, the opportunities for Marketers in this dynamic field are endless.

About the Digital Marketing Institute

Founded in Dublin, Ireland in 2008, the Digital Marketing Institute is the certification standard in digital marketing and selling education, training more graduates to a single standard than any other certification body. Working with the world’s largest and most influential brands (Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Microsoft, and IBM, to name a few) the Digital Marketing Institute defines the skills and qualifications required to excel in this rapidly growing industry through its education programs. Industry- validated, the Digital Marketing Institute’s training is taught full-time, part-time, and online in more than 100 countries by the Digital Marketing Institute and its network of licensed education partners.

About UVM Continuing and Distance Education

The University of Vermont Continuing and Distance Education unit offers over 40 educational programs for students and professionals at all stages of life. From fully online programs to professional certificate programs, to on-campus programs, UVM’s Continuing and Distance Education is committed to serving the new-traditional student population through flexible and relevant educational options.

[Source:- .vermontbiz]

April 5, 2024 0 comment

Education

‘Panjab University’s dept of education has maximum registered scholars’

by Loknath Das April 5, 2024

written by Loknath Das

The Panjab University’s department of education has the highest number of registered scholars, 374, followed by the department of laws, 261, said quality assurance cell (IQAC) report. According to the report, 2,911 research scholars are reported to have been registered at the various departments of the university.

The department of education was also awarded UGC special assistance programme in the thrust areas of education technology, education administration and management and education psychology and guidance.

However, talking about the supervisors available, the question of quality arises as the department of laws has a most number of researchers, 93, who have two supervisors while in the department of physics, 69 researchers have at least two supervisors, followed by the departments of botany and chemistry.

Only seven departments are those in which at least one student is supervised by two supervisors. There are eight departments in which only one student is assigned three supervisors. These include the department of biophysics, centre for systems biology and bioinformatics (UIEAST), the department of anthropology, department of chemistry, department of computer science and applications, department of environment studies, department of microbial biotechnology and the department of statistics.

According to the analysis, there are82 supervisors on the campus, who have been handling a minimum of 8 research scholars and a maximum of 17.

Sources said PU has been rated high on the number of research papers and citations and handful of departments can be credited for the same.

“However, other departments have also been contributing considerably to the research performance of the PU. This becomes evident when we dig into various aspects of research performance of the university. The first stage of research at a university involves a single research student, who works under the supervision of a senior practitioner in that field of knowledge,” said Rajiv Lochan, director, Internal Quality Assurance Cell.

Lochan added, “Recently we inquired into statistical information about research supervision in the university according to the information made public by the various departments of PU. A total of 66 PU departments reported that they had registered research scholars.”

After the department of education and laws, departments of Chinese and Tibetan studies, and of nano-sciences have one research student each. The departments of botany, chemistry, physics, and physical education have more than 100 registered research scholars.

Why department of education has high number of scholars?

Professor Rajiv Lochan explained that through this analysis, it has been observed that the departments, which are not even considered for the PU grading are doing well, including the department of education. The figures indicate that a large number of students are taking interest in doing a research in the field of education in the new course of time. “There is a strong captive research in this field. Research on schools, students and teachers seems to be a big hit as these research subjects are always and easily available,” said Lochan.

5 DEPARTMENTS WITH MOST SCHOLARS
Education: 374
Law: 261
Chemistry: 134
Physical Education: 121
Physics: 118

[“source-hindustantimes”]

April 5, 2024 0 comment

Internet

SoftBank Investment in Paytm Parent Gets Approval From Competition Commission of India

by Loknath Das April 5, 2024

written by Loknath Das

SoftBank Investment in Paytm Parent Gets Approval From Competition Commission of India

HIGHLIGHTS

CCI has approved SoftBank’s 20% stake purchase in Paytm’s parent company
Paytm operates under its parent company One97 Communications
In May, SoftBank had invested $1.4 billion in Paytm

Japanese conglomerate SoftBank’s 20 percent stake purchase in One97 Communications, which operates digital payments platform Paytm, has been approved by the Competition Commission.

In a tweet, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) said that it has approved “acquisition of 20 percent stake in One97 Communications Ltd by SoftBank Group Corp”.

As per a notice submitted by SoftBank to the fair-trade regulator, the combination involves the acquisition of equity shares of One97 Communications Ltd (OCL) by SoftBank Group Corp through SoftBank Group Capital.

In May, SoftBank said it has pumped in $1.4 billion (over Rs. 9,079 crores) in Paytm, marking the largest fund infusion by a single investor in an Indian startup.

SoftBank Group Capital is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp.

OCL is a mobile Internet company and also provides telecommunications value added services. The firm’s product segments include mobile payment services and network component services, among others.

[“Source-gadgets.ndtv”]

April 5, 2024 0 comment

Blogging

Cerebral palsy blogger nominated at Women of Influence Awards

by Loknath Das April 5, 2024

written by Loknath Das

Grace Stratton has been nominated in the Young Leader category of this year's Women of Influence awards

Grace Stratton has been nominated in the Young Leader category of this year’s Women of Influence awards

With an IV line sticking out of one arm, Grace Stratton used the other to type her first blog post from a hospital bed.

It was November 2015, and she was about to undergo her sixteenth surgery in as many years.

Now 17, the Warkworth resident’s writing has taken off, and has seen her nominated for the Young Leader category of this year’s Women of Influence Awards.

MATTHEW CATTIN/STUFF

Grace Stratton, 17, from Warkworth.

Born with spastic diplegia cerebral palsy, Grace noticed at a young age that she stood out.

“My entire life – because I’m disabled – everything I did, people paid more attention to it,” she said.

“Even just simple things like making my own cups of tea or being independent, people took more notice. As I got older and became an adult, I realise that gave me power.”

Grace used the power of her platform to her advantage, and took up blogging.

Utilising her website, Facebook page and Instagram, Grace produces regular content for her followers, and for herself.

“I haven’t just been hooked on it because I enjoy it – I’ve been hooked on it because of necessity as well. It’s something that I need to do for my own sanity,” she said.

“The real world is quite difficult for me to navigate around. I find it hard to get from place to place.

“There’s very little that I can do without difficulty, but the internet and computer is one thing that I am able to do without problems.”

Grace says she gets her mindset from her family, and finds inspiration in disability advocates Robbie Francis and Jess Quinn.

She also admires the work of social media influencers Logan Dodds and Jesse James Cassrels whom Grace accompanied on a jetski adventure in April.

“I admire the way they chased dreams and hustled without apology, and they’re always there to help,” she said.

Grace says the best influence empowers people to have the confidence to make a change.

“It’s not just about influencing a community – it’s about influencing people to know that the responsibility is on them. They have the power to make changes in their situation.”

Search graciegeorgiastratton on Instagram for more.

[“Source-stuff.”]

April 5, 2024 0 comment

Internet

Symantec Said to Be Considering Sale of Its Web Certificates Business

by Loknath Das April 5, 2024

written by Loknath Das

Symantec Said to Be Considering Sale of Its Web Certificates Business

Cyber-security firm Symantec is considering selling its website certification business, in a deal that could fetch more than $1 billion (roughly Rs. 6,457 crores) and extricate it from a feud with Alphabet Inc’s Google, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Google said in March that it was investigating Symantec’s failure to properly validate its certificates, which confirm that websites can be trusted. Symantec has called Google’s claims “exaggerated and misleading.”

Symantec is in talks with a small number of companies and private equity firms about the potential sale, three sources said, asking not to be identified because the matter is confidential. There is no certainty that a deal will occur, the sources added.

Symantec declined to comment. A representative for Google did not respond to a request for comment.

Symantec acquired most of its Web certification business in 2010, when it paid $1.28 billion to buy Verisign’s security business. The unit has about $400 million in revenue, according to one of the sources.

Symantec said in June it was reviewing a proposal by Google and other Internet companies to help fix issues with its security certificates. It said it is speaking to its partners about how to minimise disruptions to customers while also “reassuring trust in Symantec certificates.”

Chief Executive Officer Greg Clark has been transforming Mountain View, California-based Symantec by jettisoning slow-growth units and spending billions of dollars on acquisitions. It has been moving away from services that are more commoditised, selling its data storage business Veritas in January 2016 to private equity firm Carlyle Group for $7.4 billion.

Symantec completed its $2.3 billion acquisition of LifeLock in February, a move that will bolster its consumer security business. That followed the purchase of Blue Coat for $4.65 billion in August 2016, which expanded its product line for large corporations.

[“source-gadgets.ndtv”]

April 5, 2024 0 comment

Internet

40 percent of Italians don’t use the internet

by Loknath Das April 5, 2024

written by Loknath Das

40 percent of Italians don't use the internet

Just one in three over-65’s used the internet. File photo: budabar/Depositphotos

Only 60 percent of Italians use the internet, according to a report from communications regulator Agcom which was presented to the government on Tuesday.

That figure was an increase of three points compared to last year, but still meant that Italy is the EU country with the second lowest rate of internet use.

Italy was also penultimate in the EU in terms of ultra-broadband coverage, with just 12 percent of households subscribed – an increase from five percent in 2015, but far below the EU average of 37 percent.

Italians’ use of social media was in line with that of other EU countries, and the use of the internet for online content such as music and games was above the EU average.

READ ALSO: The pope says internet is a ‘gift from God’

However, when it came to e-commerce, online banking, and on-demand videos, Italians were much less likely than their counterparts in other EU countries to log on.

There was a significant difference between the generations, with just one in three 65-74-year-olds using the internet at all, while among the 14-34 age group, that percentage was 92 percent.

In its annual report, Agcom also urged the Italian parliament to introduce a law against so-called fake news in order to temper “the excessive power of online platforms”.

Angelo Marcello Cardani, president of the watchdog, warned against leaving regulation to web giants “which promise to develop algorithms to remove viral false information”.

Facebook and Google have both recently announced efforts to crack down on the spread of fake news, but Cardani noted that in the absence of an external regulator, search engines and social networks may be swayed by the prospect of advertising revenue generated by viral articles.

[“Source-thelocal”]

April 5, 2024 0 comment