Update: We originally posted that users discovered 11 apps on average, however this was based off of the number of clicktrhoughs to the App Store, not off the number of recommendation impressions – we have adjusted the title according to the 1.5 Billion impressions seen on the app. In the world of Mobile Apps promotion and recommendation, there are few stronger than Appsfire, and their recent growth figures suggest just that. The Paris/Israel-based startup released its 4.0 version just two months ago, overhauling the entire experience by which its now 9 Million users can discover new apps. They added the ability to track price changes, and you can favorite apps and see which apps your friends are favoriting. I have been fortunate to be connected with Appsfire Community Manager Maxence Taieb as well as cofounder Yann Lechelle, and his activity on the app has kept me coming back, especially since it is through him that I discovered Google Maps, Facebook Poke, and others, all before the respective media frenzies began.
First notification I get this morning: " @ylechelle starred #GoogleMaps on @appsfire" – immediately downloaded Google Maps. Thanks @appsfire
— liam (@LiamBoogar) December 13, 2012
While I was initially skeptical of how much information Appsfire wanted me to process – who’s tracking what, what apps are new, etc. – I think they dialed down their push notifications since the initial 4.0 release, and I’ve begun to go to it regularly, whether inspired by their email notifications about deals, or the recommendations from my friends on the app. I’m not sure if the same goes for the 300K Monthly Active Users (Update: 300K MAUs connecting to Facebook, 1M+ MAUs overall), but I haven’t yet found much return on investment of favoriting apps, though perhaps my friends are discovering new apps from my favoriting.
Apps Promotion – it works, when done right
Appsfire pulled out an interesting figure, which is that they are capable of getting an app downloaded 200,000 times during a 1-2 day period (if the price is right), and that’s something that’s definitely powerful. The Appsfire blog has been quite useful to me on figuring out the world of Mobile Apps, and how some companies ‘boost’ their app’s positioning well, and others don’t. Appsfire claims to do it the best way, and they’ve got a powerful AppGenome algorithm tracking 1.5 Million apps to date, so they likely know what they’re talking about. 2012 certainly treated Appsfire well, and I’m sure we’ll only see them grow more in 2013. As the mobile ecosystem matures, players like Appsfire who thrive themselves on doing something as simple as “understanding it” are positioned quite well to rise up as it does. Zuckerberg understood social, Dorsey understood payments, Musk understands, well, a bunch of stuff – Appsfire, Appsfire understands Mobile.