Mobile Growth Debate: Where are we in 2024?

Where is the growth for app publishers? It’s a fundamental question and the hardest to answer. How exciting to get straight answers from my guerilla interview with Dow Jones’ Andrew Rauner and lively debate with Digital Turbine’s Shalom Mikaeli and Product Madness’ Piyush Mishra that drive home the key points that you need to make part of your marketing modus operandi.

Thought-provoking. This is what you get when you match two brilliant minds (Piyush and Shalom) in a no-holds-barred debate. Four questions and four rounds with two experts who know the drill.

Round 1: Power and profits

The latest episode of Mobile Explorers, powered by Digital Turbine, cuts them loose to discuss how disruptive alternative distribution channels will really be in a volatile environment where app publishers are hungry for wins that will seize power from gatekeepers and give them back control of their destiny (and their data).

Publishers are running out of options and eyeing the 30% commission they pay the app store duopoly of Apple and Google, a drain on profits that the European Digital Market Act (effective March 2024) will help plug.

DMA represents a significant step toward increased price competition and a new world with new rules, Shalom says. Consumers and developers can also use competing payment providers for in-app purchases. It’s a catalyst—and examples from across APAC show how this can play out and benefit the entire business ecosystem.

Round 2: Bring it on

Alternative channels offer developers reduced fees and more flexibility to engage and advertise on their terms. And you don’t want to miss Shalom’s strong case for both.

• Being liberated from the revenue-sharing model currently strangling profitable growth, developers will have more freedom to experiment.
• Make way for new ad formats that allow publishers to monetize in new ways and new approaches to categorization that better match an app or game with the audience.
• And expect the OEMs and carriers to get back in the picture with approaches that remove friction, allowing one click to download and other tech fixes that put developers on track to generate more revenues.

Piyush is bullish—but cautious—about the outlook for alternative distribution channels. But he reminds us that they are not new in India, China and LATAM and have so far come short of setting off a tidal wave of change.

So, who wins?

Expansion in the U.S. and Europe is coming, and you can bet it will follow a different dynamic. The most unpredictable variable of all: what will Apple do?

Lively debate zeroes in on the uncomfortable scenarios. Will Apple want to maintain control? What will drive the big-picture benefits of allowing publishers to shape the app retail experience to treat users like individuals?

Piyush lays it on the line. Imagine a game downloaded via the duopoly where the player pays $10 for 10 coins. Now imagine the same game where the publisher doesn’t have to pay a 30% commission and can pass that saving to the players.

“It’s a win for us,” Piyush says. “I can give more coins to the consumer to play. Right? And at the same cost, I don’t need to make more money as a developer in the process. I can just ensure that there are more options and more coins for the players to play with.”

And you can bet users, by their behavior and buying habits, will decide the winning destinations. That demands publishers take a new role in shaping the user experience (the app retail experience) and the advertising experience.

Round 3: So where is the (sustainable) growth?

An obvious hack is saving any amount of money. Piyush points to alternative app stores as “one of the growth hacks for the next few years.” The appetite for detours around the 30% commission that devs give to Google and Apple will push more devs and more users toward other app stores.

The foundation for growth, Shalom says, is a “friendly revenue share model that improves developers’ economics.” Layered on top is “thoughtfully combined with in-app advertising.” The emphasis is on alignment, not aggressive campaigns. “Because again, different publishers have different needs, then you can lead to additional sources of income for both app developers and stores.”

Round 4: The fun stuff

This podcast wasn’t just a battle of the minds mixed with smart arguments and straight talk. It was also a new snackable format that allowed us to get to the point and be real. Round 4 was my personal favorite, so I won’t give it away here. You have to watch it to enjoy it!

Drop the mic!

And speaking of fun—I had a blast getting to know Andrew Rauner, Director of Mobile Products at Dow Jones, at App Promotion Summit in New York. The impression was deep and lasting—and we chatted about smart ways to ensure product joins the marketing party.

And he sums them up in 2 minutes!

Andrew combines attitude and insight—and this short video is just the beginning. I’ve asked him back for an encore on The Groove soon to share exactly HOW he makes the magic happen to elevate product and results. (Hint: Look outside your company for inspiration and look inward to engage your audience.)

Be loud and proud

I’m talking to you.

UA managers, app publishers, brand owners, CRM professionals, AI Wizards and full-funnel marketers.

From professional accomplishments to personal growth triumphs, you have a worthwhile story to share. Just do it!

Reach out to me on social media or meet up with me to chat over coffee. (Or, if you’re attending the parties and mixers pre- and post-event, let’s grab a beer together.)

You never know if your experience (lessons, learnings, etc.) is a fit with the regular podcasts or amazing projects in my pipeline—and there’s only one way to find out. ASK!

Here’s where you can bump and connect with me over the coming months – and more to come.

• PGC London – Jan 22-23 (live podcasts and more)
• Gamesforum Barcelona – Feb 7-8  (and don’t miss my opening Unfiltered UA panel to open the event)
• E-commerce Berlin Expo – Feb 22 (tracks, talks and a panel on conversational commerce)
• Mobile World Congress – Feb 26-29 (video interviews in partnership with marketing pundit John Owen and Mobile Marketing Magazine)
• Game Developer Conference GDC – March 18-22
• MAU Vegas – APRIL 2-4