Mobile app advertiser Apprupt bags it’s first international publisher

Apprupt is a German app store that falls into the “mobile application warehouse” category – it sells applications through storefronts place in the websites of publishing partners. Today it has announced it’s first international publishing partner: news portal 20 minutes Online.

What’s the story?

Apprupt is a Mobile Application Warehouse (see our industry report). It stores all of the applications in a central warehouse, and sells them through branded storefronts that it’s publishing partners place in their on-line or mobile websites. It works like a mobile advertising network that delivers applications rather than banner ads. The publishing partners get a tailored selection of apps from Apprupt, depending on what kind of site it is and what kind of audience it will attract – and it serves apps for pretty much any device, including Android and iPhone.

In effect, it allows a digital publisher to attract readers by offering them useful and relevant applications straight from their own website.

What’s the news?

Apprupt has been rolling out throughout this year – it was announced in January, revealed major backing from Deutsche Telekom in May, launched a DIY platform for appvertisers in June and expanded to the UK in July.

So far, in the UK and Germany, it has been dealing with national publishers. Now it has signed 20 minutes Online as an app publishing partner. 20 minutes is a free daily newspaper for commuters, like Metro. It has French, Spanish, Swiss and German editions.

What we think?

The “international” aspect of this story is being stretched a bit by Apprupt if you ask me. Yes, 20 minutes is an international entity, but it seems from the release (which, admittedly, was in German – so my translation may be a bit off) that the apps will only be published through the Swiss website. So while 20 minutes is international, and a publication in Switzerland is international for a German-based company like Apprupt, it doesn’t look the apps are being published right across the European properties of 20 minutes. But perhaps that’s the next phase.