Nearly 90 Percent Of Google Apps Revenue Coming From “Freemium” Games

Mobile developers have long complained that Google Play doesn’t generate as much revenue for them as the iOS app store. However, a new report from App Annie argues that revenue growth is increasing rapidly. The firm said that Google Play “quarterly app revenue more than doubled from Q1 2013 to Q1 2014.” The top market for Google Play […]

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Mobile developers have long complained that Google Play doesn’t generate as much revenue for them as the iOS app store. However, a new report from App Annie argues that revenue growth is increasing rapidly.

App Annie Google Play

The firm said that Google Play “quarterly app revenue more than doubled from Q1 2013 to Q1 2014.” The top market for Google Play revenue is Japan, followed by the US, South Korea, Germany and the UK.

App Annie Google Play

By comparison the top markets for download volume are the US, Brazil, Russia, South Korea and India.

App Annie Google Play

There are now roughly 1.5 million apps on Google Play according to the report. Disproportionately games are driving revenue growth. They accounted for almost 90 percent of Google Play app revenue in Q1 2014. However drove only about 60 percent of downloads.

Google Play data

Nearly all revenue (98 percent) from Google Play apps/games is coming from so-called “freemium” apps. Currently Italian authorities and the EU are investigating freemium apps (in particular games) as potentially deceptive to consumers.

Google Play data


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About the author

Greg Sterling
Contributor
Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land, a member of the programming team for SMX events and the VP, Market Insights at Uberall.