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I have a free iOS app with about 2000 daily active users. I just submitted an app update that includes Apple's iAds. Now I'm curious about how much revenue I can generate with this user count.

I came across this article in which the author mentions decent download counts but disappointing ad revenue. The author doesn't mention any daily active user metrics. I'm guessing his app's retention rate was low hence the low ad revenue.

I think my situation is different from the author's because my app's retention rate is decent. Hence I'm curious about the potential ad revenue. Anyone have iOS apps that generated decent ad revenue from Apple's iAds?

Download counts, daily active user counts and any other relevant metrics are appreciated! I'll include my ad revenue numbers in a week or two when my app update goes live.

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You will only make "decent" ad revenue if people are using your app often, and for long periods of time. It's based on the number of "impressions" (times an add is shown) and then of course actual clicks on the ad. – EkoostikMartin Jun 29 '12 at 22:11
Yup think I understand that. I'm curious about actual numbers from apps w/ decent ad revenue. Also I'm not sure if the app needs to be both used often and for long periods of time. "Used often" could be sufficient for good ad revenue if tons of people are using the app for a few minutes at a time and seeing only a few ads. – SundayMonday Jun 30 '12 at 0:36
I'm not sure why someone would share their own specific revenue information on a Q&A site. That sounds like a bad idea for a few different reasons. – EkoostikMartin Jul 1 '12 at 18:33
@EkoostikMartin I'm not asking for financial statements. Just some round numbers for guidance. For example "$100/month ad income when daily impressions are at least X". – SundayMonday Jul 2 '12 at 1:16
Hi @SundayMonday! Please note our rules on what is considered a valid answer. A post that does not answer your question needs to be removed. – Zuly Gonzalez♦ Nov 5 '12 at 16:22
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up vote 2 down vote accepted

I read somewhere that the average CTR for iAds is between 0.5% - 1% (depending on your market) with an average EPC of $0.20 being banded about. So basing it on a best case scenario for you would be:

Revenue per day

2000 * 1% * 0.2 = $4

Revenue per month

2000 * 1% * 0.2 * 30 = $120

Only way to tell is to try it and give it time. If you hit a freakish CTR of 10% (which happens) it's a completely different story!

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up vote 1 down vote

could it be the a "password generation" application is used for seconds, occasionally only to generate something and then quit? it's a utility, not an application you spend a lot of time in, such as games or content apps. I guess this could explain the reason for the disappointing ad results reported in the link.

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FWIW I can see activity streams for my app's users in Mixpanel. I'd guess the average use duration is around seven minutes. – SundayMonday Aug 18 '12 at 16:36

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