The swift and widespread adoption of smartphones and tablets over the last several years has resulted in a meteoric rise in the app economy and an abundance of apps offered by Google Play and the Apple App Store. Given this growing selection, mobile users are often faced with many download options, and are frequently defaulting to downloading apps via Top Lists. This has given rise to an app underworld, a place where a growing number of apps live, but few smartphone users go.
According to app analytics company Adjust, Zombie apps (apps that do not hold a ranking in any top list worldwide) as a percentage of total apps grew from 74% to 83% over 2014 in the Apple App Store.
More smartphones and downloads are therefore producing more users for top apps, but not for all apps. The growing number of Zombie apps will likely be a key customer group for app store marketing services as the marketing will be important in providing the initial steps for an app to get recognition from app users. As momentum builds, marketed apps will be seen on Top Lists, allowing them to gain even more users. We expect app marketing to be a popular tool for app developers in the near future, while also having the potential to be a notable revenue opportunity for Google.
