Mobile ad network StartApp has helped monetize over 100M Android downloads

We told you about an interesting startup called StartApp a few months ago, as it had just raised $4.3M to help Android developers make some money from their apps.

Advertising embedded in apps don’t tend to do well, plus it can hurt the experience for end users. StartApp came up with a solution that allows Android developers to bundle a search app with their own and make some money each time a user performs a search using it.

In addition to its funding, the company tells me that it hit a major milestone today, by serving up its 100 millionth download. That means 100M apps using its advertising SDK has been downloaded by consumers. That’s super impressive.

At first it sounded a little spammy to me, but I had a chance to sit down with the company founder while I was visiting Israel and it seems like everyone involved has been happy with the service’s performance thus far.

One of the questions I had for the team was how users were responding to another app being installed on their device in addition to the one that they chose to download in the first place, and it seemed like there had been little, if any, pushback. While StartApp can’t track how many users delete the embedded monetizable search app, it says that the traffic it generates is astounding and is making a fair amount of money for the company as well as Android Developers.

In response to some of my concerns regarding the “spammy” aspects of the program, the company said that it would introduce a new EULA which alerted users to the fact that they would also be getting the search app through StartApp. That has been introduced today:

If you’re an Android developer and haven’t found the write solution to make some money from your app, other than charging for it of course, then StartApp is definitely worth taking a look at and perhaps giving a trial run. You can always remove it later and resubmit your app, since Android’s review process, or lack thereof, allows for quick updates.

➤ StartApp