Certainly seems cool and I admire the way these guys have been pushing their company from when it was appfolio.
But a couple things worry me about these ads.
- If the user isn't in a mindset to look at another app, then could it be a bigger barrier to have something 'interactive' if they need to spend time waiting for menus , loading etc. At least a standard popup can show a screenshot and get straight
to the point.
- Not being able to control the experience. If all networks were equal would be great, but how many users might come away thinking your app is slow , unresponsive etc because it can't stream the app in time ?
Seems like it could be great for expensive pay to install apps, but if the app is free anyway maybe it's just better to put the effort into getting them to download that, rather than play the ad.
Thanks so much for your thoughts. Co-founder here.
- We give the user the opportunity to download the app at any time. It isn't in the video, but along the bottom, a download button is available at all times so the user can get to the App Store as quickly as possible. On loading: We actively encourage all apps using the platform to bypass menus and get straight to the content. That converts much better.
- We do a few things to ensure every user has a great experience and apps are not presented in a negative light. As quickly as we can (generally 200ms), we run a speed test to ensure latency and bandwidth are sufficient for a good experience. We also allow advertisers to specify a fallback video or static image, so if we can't deliver a great interactive experience, we are able to offer an ad which is at least as good as the existing types.
I'll also mention that the video on the homepage is actually a live filmed demo of a trial campaign.
But a couple things worry me about these ads.
- If the user isn't in a mindset to look at another app, then could it be a bigger barrier to have something 'interactive' if they need to spend time waiting for menus , loading etc. At least a standard popup can show a screenshot and get straight to the point.
- Not being able to control the experience. If all networks were equal would be great, but how many users might come away thinking your app is slow , unresponsive etc because it can't stream the app in time ?
Seems like it could be great for expensive pay to install apps, but if the app is free anyway maybe it's just better to put the effort into getting them to download that, rather than play the ad.