Tapjoy is a third party app marketplace that is looking to make itself look a little different than the Apple App Store and Android Marketplace. Tapjoy says that right now there are plenty of smartphone users and more than enough apps, so the company is looking at ways of getting the apps that people want, to them faster. One problem that Tapjoy sees with other app marketplaces is that there is too much choice. More choices make it harder for users to find the right app when they have to search or browse through 1,000’s of apps they don’t want.
Tapjoy executive, Mihir Shah, said that “Apps and content are major drivers of smartphone adoption.” What Tapjoy is planning to do is get users a personalized recommendation engine to help find apps and also they are not planning to charge for mini-programs. With these two goals in mind, Tapjoy is hoping to separate itself from Apple, Android and GetJar marketplaces. By offering up the best free apps available with a personalized touch for each user, Tapjoy just might end up being a nice place to hang out and look for new mobile apps.
The company has been in a super secret testing mode in hopes of getting all the bugs worked out of their recommendation engine. Since the recommendation engine is going to be the bread and butter it is a good thing to make sure that is working properly before full launch time. The recommendation engine is tuned to show users apps that are based on other apps they have on their mobile devices. Sometimes finding apps that complement each other is tough enough and the Tapjoy engine is hoping to make it easier for users. Developers will get some good exposure as well when their apps are placed near others they work well with.
Once the recommendation shows apps to the user the apps are available for free to use, but ads are served up and the revenue is split between the developer and Tapjoy. The new service from Tapjoy will be supported by Apple and Android powered devices and the Tapjoy.com website can be accessed from any mobile browser. Shah said that, “if somebody wants to pay for an app, there are wonderful places for that”, but he said that he wanted to create the best ad-supported app business possible. Tapjoy has about 10,000 ad supported apps.
