Enhancing business APPification using SMS text messages: Metrics, strategies and alternatives

Abstract

Mobile App stores and marketplaces allow sellers and developers to monetize their Apps mainly through the desktop-based download point, or by using the mobile owner's credit card. We would like to turn monetization focus on the fact that there is already another payment channel that should not be overseen, which is fruitfully used through the premium SMSs. In this work, we propose new metrics and strategies to enhance business APPification using SMSs efficiently and effectively, in two ways: a) SMS as a premium text service can be the mean to monetize Apps more easily than using HTTP protocol and credit cards - premium SMSs cost more than regular SMSs and return usage earnings. b) SMSs can be widely used as an additional "web" data transport protocol that may reduce user data access costs in some cases and therefore, allow new margin for monetization of apps. We also show prototype results that the proposed strategies and metrics assist. © 2012 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing.