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It is a common problem for app developers, they have the ideas, the skills and the drive, but they do not have a large user-base. This problem scales to more successful developers too, where they have one successful app but fail to gain traction with the rest of their suite given that they lack strong brand recognition. Only a select few have been able to overcome this problem, most notably Rudy Huyn, who has created something of a niche with his ‘6’ series.
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Aware of this, Microsoft have announced a new capability for developers using their advertising SDK, the ability to create ‘House Ads’. The idea behind this is very simple. As shown above, gaining traction with new apps can be difficult, even if you have a successful offering currently making the rounds. Using House Ads allows users with multiple apps to create ads specifically to be shown only within their own apps, ie: if one has a successful app ‘A’ and creates a new app ‘B’, then they can advertise app ‘B’ within app ‘A’ for free.
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This service has a number of limitations, most notably that the free House Ads will always take a back seat to premium paid-for advertisements, moreover the number of impressions per user is limited to 5 a day, ostensibly to limit user ad fatigue.
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To take advantage of the offer, users must have two or more apps in the store using the Microsoft Ad SFK, running standalone or as part of Windows Ad Mediation. To use house ads, go to pubCenter, create an ad campaign, select ‘House’ under campaign type and enter the name of the app that you wish to promote. Users are advised to remember that using house ads requires them to maintain focus on promotion vs revenue, as using house ads will take up space otherwise reserved for revenue-producing advertisements.
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This is a compelling offering from Microsoft and will hopefully allow the Windows and Windows Phone stores to develop a little more traction with the development community.
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Will you be using House Ads in your app ad campaigns? Let us know in the comments below.
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