1）据pocketgamer报道，苹果iAd平台最近开始限制投放锁定少儿用户的广告，原因是这类用户的消费能力不足，投放这种广告只会浪费广告商的预算。有些开发商已经发现自己的iAd广告填充率已经从原来的5%降为零。 Pokémon浏览器Dex的开发商Michael Zornek反映，苹果对其答复是“我们的广告商不希望自己的广告出现在锁定少儿用户的应用中，因为他们的潜在用户并非这类群体。”不少开发商认为，苹果这种毫无预警的突发性措施，让他们无可奈何。但苹果至今仍未发布官方声明，而iAd政策也未出现任何变化。

apple-iad-mobile-advertising

2）位于英国敦提的游戏工作室Tag Games最近在博客上公布了过去18个月的营收情况，其iOS业务的收益占29%，Dsi业务占26%，PSN业务占18%，Java或BREW业务占16%，该公司称正是这种“四条腿走路”的均衡发展策略保证了他们免受某一领域运营不济的打击。尽管该公司涉足多个平台，但其主要销售额却集中于英美和欧洲地区，而来自世界其他地区的收益却仅占25%。

big-fish-games

3）休闲游戏公司Big Fish最近宣布其在母亲节期间的美国App Store促销活动大获成功，该公司所推出的99美分或0.79欧元的游戏中，有15款跻身iPad美国付费游戏榜单前25名，其内部开发的《Drawn》更是以第一名的优异成绩雄踞榜首。除此之外，还有11款Big Fish Games游戏进入前100名iPhone付费游戏行列，另外还有一款游戏排进入前200名（游戏邦注：该公司共有18款iPhone游戏）。

4）位于印度班加罗尔的手机应用及游戏开发工作室Sourcebits首轮融资筹得1000万美元，其支持者包括红杉资本和IDG Ventures India。访公司室的业务涉及iOS、Android、Mac和网页等多个平台，主要与外部开发和发行客户进行外包合作。其开发项目包括手机及Facebook版本的益智游戏《The Plateau》、iOS和Mac动作游戏《Robokill》等。Sourcebits将使用这笔资金扩充其在美国的工程师和销售团队，在印度和欧洲的设计工程团队。

Jumptap

5）据移动广告公司Jumptap的最新报告显示，58%的美国移动互联网用户主要通过浏览器获取手机内容，而通过手机应用获取内容的用户比例则是42%。该公司还分析了由8300万独立用户产生的100亿次广告请求，发现广告黏性的发展趋势与用户年龄和收入呈正比。

据该公司所称，40岁以上的用户更容易被广告所吸引，其广告黏性几乎是更年轻手机用户的五倍。与此同时，年收入在5万美元以上的用户广告黏性，也比收入低于这个标准的群体多两倍。Jumptap报告还指出，Android手机平台在Jumptap网站的广告请求所占比例最大，达到39.1%；而iOS和RIM分别是29.8%和24.8%，但苹果iOS在移动广告的用户黏性上仍然最具优势。

6）谷歌在Google I/O大会上宣布Chrome网页浏览器在41个国家中的用户达到1.6亿（游戏邦注：去年大会上谷歌宣布Chrome用户数量为7000万）。该大会上的另一亮点是《愤怒的小鸟》，这款热门手机游戏日前终于登陆网页浏览器（用户甚至可通过IE访问该游戏），该公司还专为Chrome用户创建了这款游戏的特殊关卡“Chrome realm”。《愤怒的小鸟》网页版本还支持用户通过缓存，离线体验游戏，所以用户手机掉线或者坐飞机时，仍然可以继续玩《愤怒的小鸟》。

connect2media

7）英国手机内容发行商Connect2Media在其实物奖励平台PrizePlay推出了第二款游戏《Pachinko》（第一款游戏是《Battleships》，其第三款游戏《Chain Letters》也即将登陆该平台），支持玩家体验这些技巧类游戏赢取真实奖励——玩家可通过玩游戏赢取虚拟货币Bling，然后用其交换包括亚马逊购物券在内的真实奖品。

玩家在体验《Pachinko》这款游戏时如果积满170个分值，就可以将分值转化成Bling。PrizePlay平台目前支持美国最大的移动运营商Verizon用户访问并体验游戏，而且还将推出一个Android版本。

8）Metaflow的内容管理平台支持开发商高效发布游戏，通过其发行服务MetaConnect获得多个销售渠道。该公司最近与Mobile Steams旗下的应用商店Appitalism.com合作，将后者列入了服务覆盖范围。作为合作内容的一部分，Mobile Stream的游戏也将植入MetaConnect平台。

9）英国手机市场营销代理机构Somo最近宣布推出应用追踪工具Apptimiser，支持开发商通过多种参数（例如用户访问应用的时间、用户注册详情等信息）来评估产品的市场表现。开发商可在产品开发阶段就植入Apptimiser的SDK（Apptimiser可独立于移动广告网站，但却能测量每个推广活动的成效），该工具可运行于包括iOS和Android在内的多个手机平台，Somo的客户可根据追踪工具的市场监测情况不断调整营销计划。

browser-based Android Market

10.谷歌宣布更新网页版Android Market，用户每下载安装一款应用，Android Market都将根据其他用户下载行为（即也安装了相同产品的用户所选择的其他应用），向用户推荐相关应用。虽然Android Market的这项新功能目前仅限其网页版应用商店，但有观察者认为该功能不久后也会推向Android智能手机和平板电脑平台。

11.据Touch Arcade论坛的一名用户透露，苹果App Store或与Steam平台的《永远的毁灭公爵》达成授权协议，在不久的将来（也可能是很久以后）这款经典的第一人射击游戏有可能在iPhone手机现身。

Siege Hero

12.《Siege Hero》是一款玩法设置与《愤怒的小鸟》极为相似的游戏，采用了实时物理玩法，并结合了《Implode》的拆毁元素，共有63个关卡，并绑定了Game Center的功能。有人认为这款游戏无法像《愤怒的小鸟》一样大获成功的原因在于，后者的角色设计基本为原创，它拥有真正的灵魂，而《Siege Hero》虽然产品质量不俗，但其设计的三种反派角色（武士、维京海盗、骑兵）却并不出彩，这些静止不动的角色看上去比较呆滞，在游戏中仅是一个任玩家攻击的靶子而已；而《愤怒的小鸟》中的绿猪虽然也并不移动，但它们看上去傻里傻气，总让人想把它们压扁。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

1）Apple no longer serving iAd in apps aimed at kids

As is usually the case with Apple, news that the firm has embarked on what is a change to its rules has come not via an official statement, but instead a series of reports and rumours.

The latest suggestion is that Apple’s iAd platform is now no longer serving ads to apps aimed at children, owing to concerns by advertisers that their campaign dollars are being wasted.

Leave those kids alone

Suspicions were first raised when one developer realised their iAd fill rate had dropped from an admittedly low 5 percent to a non-existent 0 percent.

After querying the drop, Michael Zornek – the man behind Pokémon browser Dex – was then informed via email that Apple: “periodically review the apps in the iAd network to ensure that all apps receiving are aligned with the needs of our advertisers”.

Dex, in Apple’s view, is far too kiddie orientated.

“Currently, our advertisers prefer that their advertising not appear in applications that are targeted for users that are young children, since their products are not targeted at that audience,” Zornek was told.

Sharp shift

In short, reacting to concerns that click throughs from children are essentially meaningless, Apple looks to be restricting the delivery of ads through iAd to apps aimed at a younger audience.

It’s a significant change in approach, given the overwhelming number of titles pitched at a younger audience on the App Store.

However, what will likely aggravate most studios is that those concerned have been given no warning, instead only discovering that their titles are out of favour if they query a drop off in fill rates.

It’s a move that could impact on scores of businesses making a living off iOS, yet there’s been no official statement or declaration of a change in iAd policy.

Apple’s apparent re-evaluation of its iAd business follows similarly unannounced changes to its App Store raking algorithm, and a block on incentivisation schemes.（source:pocketgamer）

2）Tag Games details revenue split: 29% iOS, 26% DSi and 18% PSN

In a detailed breakdown of what’s described as the studio’s ‘four legged stool’ strategy, Dundee-based Tag Games has cast light on its revenues, citing its multiplatform approach as the main reason behind success.

According to co-founder Paul Farley, developers who don’t have an Angry Birds-sized hit to fall back on are better off hedging their bets by working on all viable platforms.

That way, if one project fails to deliver, there remain others to keep the developer afloat.

Platform power

“We look to spread risk across the studio because we simply can’t predict where the next highly improbable product, platform, technology, business model or client is going to come from,” Farley says in an entry on the studio’s blog.

“Four legged stools are simple, elegant and functional. Unlike their three legged rivals, if something unfortunate happens to a leg they remain standing. If a three legged stool loses a leg it no longer has any use and falls over. I hope Tag is a four legged stool.”

Tag’s breakdown of its revenues over the course of the past 18 months would tend to suggest it is. While games on iOS make up 29 percent, Tag’s library on DSi isn’t far behind on 26 percent.

PSN edges out mobile releases – standard Java or BREW titles – on 18 percent to 16 percent, suggesting Tag’s roots in mobile gaming hasn’t restricted its growth to new markets.

Going global?

“If we look at the breakdown of revenue coming from self-publishing then it’s pleasing to know that we are more than just the iPhone studio many assume we are,” adds Farley.

“PSN and DSiWare both made significant contributions to our income during the year, as did income from older plaftorms such as J2ME and BREW mobile. Next year’s chart will have even more slices as we ramp up Android, Windows Phone 7 and NGP output among others.”

However, while Tag is spread across multiple platforms, most of its sales seem to come in the west – specifically the UK, US and Europe.

“Only around 25 percent of sales come from outwidth these territories so we have work to do in making our games appeal beyond just the UK and the US where it’s easier for us to understand customer trends and behaviours,” concludes Farley.（source:pocketgamer）

3）Big Fish basks in the success of its 99c App Store Mother’s Day promotion

A measure of its power as a casual gaming brand, combined with a surprising lack of rival App Store sales, Big Fish Games’ US Mother’s Day weekend sale has proven to be a big success.

All of its releases were available for 59p, 99c, €0.79, with the publisher gaining 15 of the top 25 paid US iPad game slots, including the #1 paid all apps spot for the internally developed Drawn.

In addition, 11 of Big Fish Games’ iPhone games ranked in the top 100 paid iPhone games and all but one of the company’s 18 iPhone games ranked among the top 200 paid iPhone games.（source:pocketgamer）

4）Sourcebits Attracts $10M Investment For App, Game Development

Bangalore, India-based app and game development house Sourcebits has secured its first round of funding, a $10 million investment from Sequoia Capital and IDG Ventures India.

The company, which also has offices in Atlanta, GA, has developed hundreds of apps for for iOS, Android, Mac and the web, primarily as contract deals with outside development and publishing clients.

Those projects include The Plateau, a mobile and Facebook puzzle game based on untangling connected orbs; Robokill, an iOS and Mac action game; and Beast Farmer, an animal breeding adventure that has attracted over a million iOS downloads.

Sourcebits will use the new investment capital to expand engineering and sales teams in the U.S. and design engineering teams in India and Europe, as well as to establish a contest to solicit ideas for new mobile apps.（source：gamasutra）

5）58% Of Mobile Web Users Get Their Content Fix Through Browsers: Jumptap

Yes, smartphone apps are still in vogue, and most mobile app stores continue to grow by leaps and bounds. Yet consumers spend more time engaging with the mobile Web on their smartphones than through ad-supported apps, mobile advertising startup Jumptap says in its STAT (Simple Targeting & Audience Trends) report. The company claims more than 58 percent of mobile internet users in the U.S. are getting content through their browser(s), compared to 42 percent via mobile apps.

An explanation for the discrepancy was not given, but I suspect this has something to do with there simply existing more websites than there are apps, and that jumping from one app to the next to consume content isn’t as good a user experience as simply opening a new page or tab within your mobile browser of choice.

Additionally, a lot of major Internet services (Gmail, Bing, Google search etc.) tend to function as good or even better through the mobile browser than via native apps.

To put together the report, freshly funded Jumptap analyzed 10 billion ad requests on its mobile advertising network, made by 83 million unique users. The company not only looked at content consumption from mobile handsets, but also at how well users respond to mobile advertising, finding that ad engagement trends upwards with age and income.

The company claims consumers aged 40 and over were almost five times more likely to engage with an ad when compared to younger mobile consumers. Similarly, users with annual income above $50K were found twice as likely to engage with ads as those earning less.

As for the favored mobile platform, the report found that Android drives the largest share of ad requests on the Jumptap network (39.1 percent), with iOS and RIM not far behind with 29.8 percent and 24.8 percent, respectively.

However, Apple’s iOS maintains the lead for user engagement for mobile ads.（source:techcrunch）

6）Chrome Now Has 160 Million Users — and Angry Birds

Google’s Chrome web browser now counts 160 million users in 41 nations, the company announced during day two of Google I/O conference at San Francisco’s Moscone Center. That’s more than double the 70 million users of the web browser Google reported at last year’s conference.

Then a little birdy flew in to the conference center and stole the spotlight. The biggest news of the day went to Angry Birds, which announced it was finally coming to the web. And while users can access Angry Birds on any browser (even Internet Explorer), the company has created special levels — otherwise known as “Chrome realm” — for Chrome browser users.

Angry Birds for the Web will also be cached for offline use. So when your mobile goes dead and you’re on an airplane, you can still be launching birds at green pigs.（source:gigaom）

7）Connect2Media rolls out second game on PrizePlay real reward mobile platform

Continuing to build out its promised US activity, UK mobile publisher Connect2Media has released a second game on its real reward platform PrizePlay.

Pachinko joins Battleships, with third title Chain Letters due soon on the platform, which offers players the chance to play skill-based titles, and win real rewards.

Originally launched by US outfit Sennari, which was purchased by Connect2Media in March 2010, players buy in-game tokens to play titles and win Bling, the in-game currency that can be exchanged for rewards including Amazon gift cards.

Pinging around

In the case of Pachinko, this works as players fire the balls into cups, then correctly answer a trivia question to win the points on the cup. If you gain 170 points, these then convert into Bling.

“Pachinko is the second in what we hope to be a long line of titles under our PrizePlay brand,” said product marketing manager Jennifer Lyons.

“Our ability to use PrizePlay’s eCRM platform enables us to target users to increase loyalty. It is a fantastic concept, which we can take across multiple platforms.”

PrizePlay is currently available on America’s largest mobile carrier, Verizon, and an Android version will be made available in future.（source:pocketgamer）

8）Metaflow and Mobile Streams team on games distribution

Gives Metaflow users direct access to Mobile Streams’ 49 sale channels.

Metaflow’s content management platform allows developers to upload titles efficiently and simply to the multiple channels in its distribution service, MetaConnect.

Now it’s added the Mobile Streams network to its coverage base, which includes operator decks, dedicated mobile internet retail stores and Mobile Streams’ own storefront Appitalism.com.

The deal works the other way too: Mobile Streams’ own games will be included in MetaConnect.（source:mobile-ent）

9）Somo unveils Apptimiser performance tracking tool

One SDK to monitor performance across multiple ad networks.

UK-based mobile marketing agency Somo argues that measure apps by downloads is not good enough, since so many are deleted after a single use or are never used at all.

It says Apptimiser allows marketers to manage campaigns using multiple parameters such as when an app is opened or when it results in a separate call to action or registration of user details.

Currently, this can be done using multiple tracking tags or multiple SDKs, which can compromise an app’s performance.

Apptimiser’s single SDK is implemented at the development stage, and works across all mobile platforms including iOS and Android.

It is independent of advertising networks, but can gauge the success of each campaign. Using the info, Somo can re-allocate budget between the most effective networks.（source:mobile-ent）

10）Google Adds App Suggestions To The Browser-Based Android Market

Google has updated the web portal for Android Market with app suggestions, which are generated based on others’ downloads. Basically, every time you install an app, the Android Market will offer up a few applications that other people (who’ve downloaded the application you just installed) have also chosen.

This update came in just this week, but was almost entirely overshadowed by all the other news coming out of Google’s I/O conference.

While the App Market has always listed “Related” apps, those lists are loosely generated based on categories and keywords. This new system should make app suggestions a bit more relevant, as the suggestions come from the download habits of real people as opposed to random guesswork by a computer. For now, the suggested apps feature is only available in the web-based version of the Android Market, but I’d bet Google will roll it into Android tablets and smartphones before too long.（source:mobilecrunch）

11）A Touch Arcade forum goer has donned his detective hat and spied a reference to Apple’s App Store in the licensing agreement for Duke Nukem Forever on Steam. Somebody give that sleuth a biscuit.

Put two and two together and Dukey may be taking names on iPhone in the near future. Or maybe in 2025.（source:appspy）

12）Siege Hero gives players a chance to Crush the Castle all over again

In spite of the hundreds of apps that keep coming out, Angry Birds just keeps on truckin’. But did you know that the phenomenon was, in fact, a clone of another game called Crush the Castle? The publisher of that oft-overlooked title is back with Siege Hero, and in spite of how good it is, it’s now clear why Angry Birds succeeded where Crush the Castle didn’t; Angry Birds has a soul.

Then there’s the inevitable comparison to Angry Birds, and the story of what’s really missing in Siege Hero. Angry Birds has characters that are original designs, not really derivative (even if the gameplay might be) along with some seriously funny use of sound. In short, as mentioned previously, it has a real soul. Siege Hero, despite the quality of the production, doesn’t have anything that really makes it or its characters stand out. The enemies in the three areas (samurai, vikings and knights) don’t do anything. They’re just moribund, standing there. Sure, the pigs were stationary too, but at least they had a goofiness that made you want to crush them for taking the eggs. The bad guys here are mere targets.（source:gamezebo）