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Mobclix beefs up metrics, iPhone devs make money
Mobclix has been providing an impressive amount of usage information to iPhone developers for only about six months now, but have already made it into the 2008 TechCrunch 50, won SeedCamp 2008, and been recognized as a leading provider of metrics and analytics reporting. According to Mobclix, 75% of the applications in which the analytics are implemented have made the Top 100 Free App list. When TechCrunch reported on Mobclix shortly after they launched in September of 2008, it was noted that "more aggregate data would be welcome." Well, that wish has been granted. Mobclix announced a major upgrade to their analytics and yield optimization advertising system for iPhone (and other mobile) app developers today. For the end user, it may come across as a little scary. Beyond just standard usage statistics, developers can create unlimited metrics, gathering information on everything from favorite colors to what level you last conquered in their game. The data is all gathered anonymously, and your consent is required, so don't worry about Big Brother yet. The benefit to the average user of ad-supported iPhone applications is that highly targeted advertising may actually yield a connection between the user and a vendor in whom they'd actually be interested. Mobclix also provides an in-app comment system to directly connect users with developers, providing feedback which is exponentially more useful than App Store comments.
Xfire's Age of Conan statistics eschew easy classification
It's an interesting time for Age of Conan. On the surface, their monumental first month and record sales numbers give the appearance of a solid new contender in the MMO sphere. At the same time, the bug problems and vacuous end-game has reportedly left many players heading for greener pastures. Fanboys and detractors alike have been looking for some sort of indication of how the game is faring as it moves into its second month of operation. One metric that's been tossed about recently is the Age of Conan usage data for Xfire users over the past month.On the surface, the numbers look less than optimistic. From a peak of about 80,000 player hours around the time of launch, the game is hovering around in the mid-30's this weekend. This data may be less than helpful for a number of reasons, however. For one, we don't have reliable trend data about how similar games like Lord of the Rings Online (which pulled in a quarter of the minutes played per day over the same period) have fared immediately post-launch, and we don't know how reliable a sample Xfire users actually are. Still, expect these numbers to continue to be bandied about as proof of one thing or another.
