Amazon Launches Appstore Developer Select - A New Program for Developers

Amazon Launches Appstore Developer Select - A New Program for Developers

Developers investing in the best possible Amazon Appstore experience earn premium placement for their apps, 500k mobile ad impressions, AWS credits, and the ability for customers to earn Amazon Coins for purchasing their qualifying apps and in-app items

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 8, 2013-- (NASDAQ:AMZN) - Amazon today launched Appstore Developer Select, a program for developers who optimize their apps and games for Amazon's Appstore and Fire OS. Developers in the Appstore Developer Select program will receive a broad range of marketing and economic benefits that will help improve app discovery and increase sales even further. Appstore Developer Select apps receive premium placement in the Amazon Appstore, 500,000 ad impressions on the Amazon Mobile Ad Network, and automatic inclusion in the Amazon Appstore Coins Reward category. Customers will receive Amazon Coins when they purchase Appstore Developer Select apps, games, and in-app items. Developers in the program also receive credits equaling 25% off their first $2,000 in AWS services annually.

To qualify for Appstore Developer Select, apps simply need to be optimized for the Amazon Appstore and Fire OS and include relevant Amazon APIs, such as GameCircle, In-App Purchasing, and Mobile Ads. Optimized apps are those that render natively in high definition (HD) and use the entire screen without distortion, pixilation or stretching. Existing Amazon Appstore developers, including HTML5 developers, with qualifying apps will be automatically enrolled in the Appstore Developer Select program. Other developers should optimize their apps now to prepare for the start of the holiday season when customers can earn Coins with the purchase of qualified Appstore Developer Select apps, games and in-app items. The Appstore Developer Select program is available for developers worldwide, and developers can learn more about the benefits and how to optimize their apps at https://developer.amazon.com/select.

Mobile app developers have told us that getting their apps discovered across the numerous devices customers are using is one of their biggest challenges, said Mike George, Vice President of Amazon Appstore, Games and Cloud Drive. With the Appstore Developer Select program, we're addressing these discoverability concerns by providing developers with enhanced merchandising opportunities. In addition, we're helping drive sales by offering Coins rewards on high quality, engaging apps for customers.

Amazon Appstore customers automatically receive 250 bonus Coins for their first purchase of any qualified app or in-app item, and receive up to 30% back in Coins on future purchases. Customers can redeem their Coins for any item available in the Amazon Appstore.

Developers should review the Appstore Developer Select program summary and submit their optimized apps at https://developer.amazon.com/select. Existing developers, Alt 12 and Fluik Entertainment believe that this program will address one of their greatest needs, improving discoverability of their apps and games.

We already strive to create high quality apps for the Amazon Appstore and have found it very easy to integrate Amazon APIs such as Mobile Associates and mobile ads, said Jennifer Wong with Alt12 Apps. With this program, Amazon is rewarding us with one of the most critical needs we have as developers - to get our apps in front of more customers.

As a self-publishing developer working hard to build engaging, high quality apps, a program like Appstore Developer Select helps us get noticed by showcasing the highest quality apps for consumers, said Victor Rubba, CEO of Fluik Entertainment. Discoverability is a challenge we often face and with Amazon providing featured merchandising and 500,000 mobile ad impressions we will be seen by more customers which leads to more purchases and a stronger ROI with Amazon.

Today's launch of the Appstore Developer Select program is the latest offering in an array of services that make Amazon the most complete end-to-end ecosystem for developers building, monetizing and marketing their apps and games. These capabilities include:

The ability for app developers to use Amazon Web Services' (AWS) technology platform for their infrastructure needs. Building blocks such as Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), and Amazon DynamoDB allow developers to focus on what differentiates their app rather than the undifferentiated heavy lifting of infrastructure.

Login with Amazon, which allows developers to easily reduce sign-in friction for their customers, leading to higher engagement and order conversion.

In-App Purchasing on Kindle Fire, Android, Mac, PC and web-based games. This enables developers to offer their digital items in apps and games while allowing end users to simply use their Amazon accounts to make the purchase.

Mobile Associates API for Kindle Fire and other Android devices. This enables developers to merchandise millions of physical and digital items from Amazon.com within their apps and games.

Mobile Ads, which helps developers monetize their apps by displaying high quality, relevant display ads from brand advertisers, including Amazon.

A/B Testing, which helps developers improve app functionality with the ability to simultaneously test two different in-app experiences to determine which is more successful prior to launching to a broad audience.

GameCircle, which includes capabilities like Achievements, Leaderboards, Friends and Whispersync for syncing games across iOS and Android, including Kindle Fire, and leads to better engagement with games.

Amazon Appstore, which allows developers to distribute their apps and games to millions of Amazon customers in nearly 200 countries.

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