What is Motivated Traffic? Which types are suitable for maximum effective impact?
Motivated traffic is any means of attracting users that are used to increase the popularity of applications in the App Store. This type of traffic is used to raise the app in the app store ranking, speed up its indexing or promotion for new key queries.
The main factor influencing the ranking of an app in the app store is the number of installs that occur after an app is searched for a specific keyword. When a user searches for an app and installs it after finding it, the app store registers this as a positive signal. This action indicates a match between the key query and your application, which leads to an increase in its ranking in search results. It is important to note that the way the application was installed - directly from the search or after going to the application page - does not matter.
Thus, motivated traffic is used to increase organic installs by improving the app's position in the app store rankings.
Types of motivated traffic
- Real users
Real users install applications in exchange for a small monetary reward or bonuses. This process is carried out through specialized exchanges that offer users to install an application in response to certain keywords or perform other specified actions. In exchange, users receive money or other bonuses, and app owners improve their positions in search results and increase their visibility.
Installation prices depend on the specific service and the geographical location of the user. On average, the cost of one installation is about $ 0.3, and for reuse or retention - about $ 0.1. Some services actively promote Retention, but in practice it may not bring the expected result. On the contrary, it can reduce the number of users who are willing to perform repeat installations and lead to unnecessary financial costs. Thus, the effectiveness of working with Retention can be challenged, and in some cases such a strategy may be meaningless.
- Bots with installation
Applications are installed automatically through bots that act on specified key queries. To do this, special farms are created from a large number of real devices on which special software is installed. This software allows bots to simulate the actions of real users without physically interacting with the device. They automatically log into the App Store, download and launch the app, completely imitating human behavior.
The cost of installation in such cases varies from 0.1 to 0.2 dollars on average. This method can be used to artificially increase the number of app installs and increase its popularity in the app store. However, it should be noted that such practices may violate the rules and policies of app stores, and the use of bots to install applications may lead to blocking or other sanctions from the platform.
- Simplified bots
In this case, the installation of the application does not actually take place, but for Apple it is enough to click on the "Get" button to fix the installation in the system. Thus, even if the installation does not complete, it is still registered as actual. This method is similar to using bots for automatic installation, but here the action takes place in a virtual space, and not on real devices.
The cost of such "installations" usually ranges from 0.1 to 0.2 dollars, as in the case of bots. This method is also used to artificially increase the number of app installs and increase its rating in the app store. However, it is worth remembering that such practices can violate the rules of the platform and lead to serious consequences, including blocking the developer's account or application.
Which type of traffic is better to choose
Most ASO market participants claim that motivated traffic with real users is better. However, there is another side that does not see a significant difference in the dynamics of the promotion of key queries and the rate of pessimization of their positions in search results between such traffic and bot traffic. But the difference in cost between them is quite noticeable, since bot traffic is cheaper. Even considering that simplified bots do not actually install applications, Apple's system still counts their actions as installations when you click the "Download" button.
If we talk about the quality of traffic between different types of bots, there are no visible significant differences. This happens even though the simplified bots don't actually install the app. It is also important to note that when using motivated traffic with real users, limiting the number of people in the user base can be a problem. For example, when working with medium volumes, a minimum of 5,000 installations per day is required, and the user base can burn out within 4 days, which forces you to look for new users or switch to other contractors. The situation is different with bot traffic, since there are no restrictions on the volume of traffic, since there is no binding to real users.
How to validate traffic quality
If you install an app to determine the user's location, Apple does not use the IP address, but the country of the App Store to track the location. In this case, you need to set the desired location in the Apple ID settings on each device, and all installations in the App Store will be tracked from that country. However, analytics systems embedded in the application or trackers will use the IP address to determine the location during the initial initialization of the embedded SDK. This will lead to the fact that the real location of users will be displayed in the analytics system, despite the fact that another country will be indicated in the App Store Connect.
It is also important to check the traffic for bots when buying live motivated traffic, as sometimes it can be sold at the price of live traffic. This can be done through third-party analytics systems. If you receive bot traffic instead of live users, then you will not see installations in third-party analytics systems, although they will be displayed in the App Store Connect. This is especially true for "simplified" bots.
Conclusion
Given that the results of promotion through a live motive and through bot traffic often turn out to be the same, overpaying for live traffic seems impractical. Although using bot traffic may be cheaper and possibly achieve the same results as live traffic, it is important to keep in mind the possible risks and violations of the app store policy. Buying bot traffic can lead to account blocking or other negative consequences. Therefore, when deciding on the type of traffic, it is always important to weigh the pros and cons, as well as take into account the risks associated with using bots.
