Evidently X’s experiment with charging all users $1 to create an account hasn’t had a serious influence on app downloads within the two take a look at areas.
Effectively, in relative phrases a minimum of.
As you may see on this chart, through app evaluation supplier Sensor Tower, whereas X has declined within the total app rankings during the last three months, because it started its $1 “Not a Bot” sign-up take a look at in New Zealand, it’s nonetheless been comparatively steady within the total obtain figures for the area.
X initially introduced its scheme to cost $1 for all new customers in the event that they need to interact within the app back on October 17th, with new account sign-ups in each New Zealand and the Philippines required to pay a small, annual charge to have interaction within the app.
Based mostly on this chart, X was ranked 77th in total downloads on October seventeenth, when the take a look at begun, then it dropped to 89th the day after. Which can have been in response to the change, however since then, X has fluctuated within the NZ app charts. It’s presently the 91st most downloaded app within the area, which is notable drop from 77th, however nonetheless, X downloads haven’t tanked utterly because of the shift.
It’s truly been the alternative within the Philippines, with X downloads on iOS rising for the reason that take a look at started, going from seventieth on the iOS obtain charts on October seventeenth, to thirty second at present.
Related tendencies are mirrored within the Google Play Retailer charts for each areas, with NZ Android downloads remaining comparatively steady, and Philippines downloads rising. Android is the dominant OS within the Philippines, so these stats are probably extra indicative. X has moved up 50 spots within the free app rankings on Android in PH, from 190 initially of November, to 140 this week.
The numbers are seemingly a very good signal for X’s push to make extra individuals pay for the app, however then once more, customers can nonetheless obtain and use the app free of charge in each areas, with the $1 cost solely coming into play if customers need to submit, or work together with different posts within the app.
And while you additionally contemplate that 80% of all X users never post anything at all, it might not truly be that massive of a hurdle for utilization, with most individuals prone to simply choose out of participating as a substitute of paying up.
Nonetheless, the numbers don’t replicate a big swing away from the app because of this, and it’d be attention-grabbing to additionally get perception from X as to how many individuals are literally paying the brand new $1 annual charge (word: the $1 charge just isn’t listed as a high 10 buy in both area in Sensor Tower’s app overviews).
The precept right here does make some sense, in that charging for an lively profile may make it extra cost-prohibitive for bot peddlers to function within the app. However extra subtle bot operations will probably simply construct the charge into their prices, whereas the choice motivation is probably going for X to get extra customers connecting their financial institution particulars to the app, with a view to its future push into funds, commerce, and so on.
I don’t assume that charging all customers is the optimum solution to capitalize on the app’s alternatives, neither is it a broad-scale resolution to fight bots, however I do perceive X’s motivation, and its makes an attempt to attempt new issues to battle bots.
And perhaps, based mostly on these figures a minimum of, there might be some advantage to the initiative.
