Samsung is offering a cash prize for app developers on Tizen

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Samsung announced that it will give away cash prizes of $10,000 if their apps become one of the top 100 most downloaded apps on its Tizen mobile platform.

Altogether, Samsung will be handing out a total of $1 million in cash prizes from February through September of next year through the Tizen Mobile App Incentive Program, according to VentureBeat. This gives developers a significant incentive to port their Android or iOS apps over to the Tizen platform if they have not already done so.

Samsung is targeting emerging markets to increase adoption of the Tizen platform. Tizen is an open-source operating system based on Linux that Samsung includes in many of its connected devices like TVs and wearables. However, it’s seen very little adoption in the smartphone market outside of India. Samsung said in a statement that the Tizen platform will play an increasingly large role in the cheaper handsets that it builds for emerging markets. Samsung launched the Z2 phone back in August, a $68 handset that became the first 4G smartphone model running the Tizen platform. The company’s high-end flagship handsets continue to run the Android platform.

Samsung needs to get more developers building apps for the platform to make the Tizen platform more enticing for consumers. The new cash prizes program comes just a month after Samsung launched the Tizen App Challenge, a reward program offering cash prizes to game developers that port their Android and iOS apps over to Tizen. Now that Google has launched its own Pixel phone, it's competing directly with Samsung in the high-end handset market, which may spur Samsung to eventually move away from Google’s Android platform to an alternative, such as Tizen.

Cutting through the noise of an overcrowded app market is critical for any app developer looking to build a viable user base. There are now well over 3 million apps available across the world’s five largest app stores. Delivering the right product to the right audience at the right time in this environment is imperative to the success of any app.

The challenge of marketing an app effectively has made app-install ads — an ad unit that directs users to download a mobile app — an essential tool for developers seeking to stand out in the Google Play and Apple app stores. This is why it's not surprising that more marketers are using paid channels to drive downloads than ever before. In fact, over 80% of respondents in a survey of the top 100 grossing mobile app developers noted they plan on increasing their spend on app-install ads in 2015.

BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on mobile app-install ads that looks at the revenues from app-install ads and how they're expected to grow over the next five years. It also looks at the performance of app-install ads and how these metrics are expected to change over time.

Furthermore, the report examines the top app-install ad products and pricing models offered by the leading advertising platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, and Google, as well as newer app-install formats from Instagram and Snapchat. Looking to the future, the report examines how companies are shifting their app-install ad spend to new formats, as well as the new tools they're using to improve optimization and ad effectiveness.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• Mobile app-install ads — ad units that direct users to download a mobile app — are an essential tool for developers, and they account for a major share of mobile ad spend. We estimate 25% of total US mobile ad revenue was generated by app-install ads in 2015.
• A combination of new developers entering the space and rising ad budgets will drive increased spending in years to come. US app-install ad revenue will grow to over $7 billion by year-end 2020, according to BI Intelligence estimates.
• Mobile app install advertisers have traditionally invested heavily in display and interstitial ads, but are moving to mobile video and native install formats. 86% of developers currently use in-feed video app-install ads, and video ads are seen as the most effective app-install format.
• As formats like video rise in popularity, older formats are losing their appeal for install campaigns. Static nonnative ads are widely used but are not seen as effective. Free app networks and offer walls have also fallen out of favor.
• Ad platforms are now developing innovative new install formats to earn even more revenue from these lucrative ad units. New approaches, including deep linking and app streaming, are more contextualized and interactive than older ad formats.

In full, the report:

• Forecasts app-install ad spending in the US through 2020.
• Explores which app-install ad formats developers believe are most effective.
• Discusses what the most popular platforms and ad networks are doing to attract ad spending.
• Investigates new tools for marketing apps, including deep linking and app streaming.

To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of these options:

1. Subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND over 100 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >> START A MEMBERSHIP
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The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of the fast-moving world of mobile app-install ads.