Episode 11: Most Popular Mobile App Publishers and Monetization Methods for Mobile Apps in Turkey

Episode 11 Podcast Topic

Turkcell İletişim Hizmetleri A.Ş. is the undisputed leader in application publishing in Turkey, boasting an impressive portfolio of 32 applications and over 117.28 million discounts on the Google Play Store. Its unparalleled success in the market is a testament to its unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional value to its customers.

The application sharing rate of Turkish publishers on Google Play is only 1% compared to the global rate. This is a very low figure, and we hope to increase application production and sharing in Turkey to reach higher figures as soon as possible.

The publishers who share the most applications in Turkey are Good Job Games, Soner Kara, Fast Free Games, Zuuks Games, Serkan Özyılmaz, Ruby Game Studio, Peak, Silevel Games, Tiramisu, and Sir Studios.

As of 2020, Turkish publishers have shared approximately 17,258 applications on the Google Play Store. The total number of applications in the Google Play Store is 2,861,759.

As of 2020, the most downloaded applications in Turkey are Hayat Eve Sığar, Hepsiburada, GittiGidiyor, e-Devlet Kapısı, Ziraat Mobile, n11.com, FLO, EBA, Türk Telekom Online Transactions, and Digital Operator.

List of most popular application publishers by application download in Google Play Store in Turkey.

Here is a list of the top 10 most downloaded and popular application publishers in Turkey. Turkcell ranks first on this list with 117.28m+ downloads and 32 applications.

1. Turkcell İletişim Hizmetleri A.Ş
2. Waplog Social Network
3. Renkmobil Bilisim
4. Visover Ltd
5. Ratech
6. Vodafone Türkiye
7. Bulent Akpinar
8. Trendyol
9. sahibinden.com
10. MobilDev

How Can We Make Money From Our Mobile Applications?

Publishing our mobile applications on both iOS and Android can generate substantial income. However, we should avoid using certain revenue models right after releasing our app. Instead, we should increase the number of users and app engagement rate before implementing these models.

Monetization with in-app advertising.

One way to generate income from our application is through direct advertisements. Mobile ads typically earn more revenue than website ads. However, it is important to avoid overwhelming users with ads. It is also crucial to optimize the placement and number of ad impressions to maximize revenue while maintaining a positive user experience.

According to a Business Insider report, publishers earned a staggering $200 billion from ads for mobile apps in 2017. This is an incredibly high number.

Earning income with Affiliate Marketing

You can create an agreement with multiple companies to include their products in your application. Your earnings can be commission-based or fixed-price (impressions or clicks).

The most common type of affiliate marketing is commission-based. This involves receiving an agreed percentage of commissions for mediating clicks that result in sales, with cookies lasting for a certain number of days. It’s worth noting that some publishers earn significant income in the cashback or coupon affiliate market.

Earning income through data sales.

You can sell user demographic information and behavior data for your application. However, the issuance of GDPR may present legal challenges and hurdles that you should be careful about.

As an example of generating income with this method, consider opening a new branch of Starbucks. By analyzing data such as user check-ins from Foursquare or Swarm and concentration of coffee-drinking and coffee-loving users, you can identify the ideal location for the new branch. Once the location is determined, a purchase agreement can be made to secure the spot.

Earn money by charging a fee per transaction in the app

A transaction fee is a necessary charge for transactions made within an application. Examples of applications that implement transaction fees include popular services like Biletix and Uber. Additionally, in Turkey, transaction fees received from mobile applications that sites use for subscription payments, such as the SitePlus mobile app, can also be included. Overall, transaction fees serve as a fair compensation for the services provided by these applications and are an integral part of their business model.

Earning Income with Freemium

One effective way to generate income is by offering your application for free and then providing users with the option to upgrade to a premium version. This method has been proven successful for many websites and applications like the Dropbox app. Dropbox provides users with up to 2 GB of free storage space. If you require additional storage space, you can easily make in-app purchases and upgrade to the premium package, thereby enjoying more benefits.

Earning income through e-commerce

You have the ability to directly sell products through your application and generate income. This category usually consists of e-commerce company applications. It is comparable to making sales and earning revenue through Hepsiburada’s mobile application.

Earning income by selling virtual goods

Bundan 10 yıl önce sanal olan malların satışı olacak ve gelir elde edilecek deseydik sanırım inanmazdık. Ama günümüzde çok popüler olan özellikle oyun alanında çok popüler olan bir gelir yöntemi. Örneğin, Pokémon Go oyunu için satılan ekstra can ya da yeni avatar, karakter gibi.

Subscription Revenue Model, yani abonelik yöntemi ile gelir elde etme

One effective approach involves utilizing mobile applications that require a monthly or annual payment from users. Take, for instance, Spotify, which provides a free version with ads and limited song selection. However, for a certain fee, users can easily remove all restrictions and enjoy unlimited use of the app without any limitations.

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