AdMob’s Download Tracking service shows games and free apps are biggest hits

Starting last December, a limited number of iPhone apps began testing AdMob’s new tracking service for downloads. The full service has been launched today, so that advertisers can accurately monitor App Store conversion rates. The service measures clicks on ads that lead to completed downloads of the advertised app. AdMob has revealed some of the trends already seen since the test began in December.

- Free applications have an average conversion rate of 10 percent, significantly higher than the average 1 percent conversion rate for paid applications.

- Games generally have higher conversion rates than other categories of applications, up to a 100 percent improvement over non-game applications at similar price points.

- The App Store is an effective distribution platform for free applications. The average acquisition cost for free applications is under $1.00, significantly less than average application download costs on the PC Web.

From the release:

“Advertisers have been clamoring to get more detailed information from the iPhone App Store and want to use it to maximize the value of their mobile ad campaigns,” said Jason Spero, Vice President and General Manager of North America for AdMob. “AdMob’s new iPhone Download Tracking gives advertisers the information they need to accurately assess marketing effectiveness, including the return from advertising spent.”

What we think?

Games and free apps get downloaded more than pay apps? The results here are interesting, but hardly surprising. Also, it’s worth bearing in mind that world-wide iPhone ownership is still pretty tiny compared to mobile phone ownership. The numbers here only apply to a very small number of advertisers and content producers. Hopefully once the Download Tracking service has had time to collect more data, we’ll see more interesting results.