Desktop App Analytics Platform, MarkedUp, Launches Giving Premium Developers Actionable User Insights

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Dec. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --MarkedUp, the first analytics platform for both desktop and premium mobile applications, launched out of MuckerLab today giving Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 app developers access to actionable user insights and behavioral data to help improve user experiences and maximize free-to-paid conversion and monetization.

The desktop application ecosystem is 10x larger than any other native development platform, yet there are no analytic solutions available.  On mobile devices, all the available native analytics services target "free" app developers by providing them with data optimize in-app advertising, and ultimately hoping to persuade developers to adopt their in-house advertising solution. MarkedUp gives premium native app developers across desktop and mobile the data they need to drive in-app purchases, trial conversions, subscriptions and more fulfilling a huge vacuum in the marketplace for premium apps that monetize directly through sales.

"When I worked at Microsoft, I had a chance to work closely with dozens of app developers who were porting popular iOS and Android titles to Windows Phone and Windows Desktop – absolutely none of them had found a viable analytics solution much less a solution that provided them the analytics and information they need to sustainably monetize their apps on ANY platform," said MarkedUp CEO Aaron Stannard, a former Microsoft Developer Evangelist. "Most analytics services for native apps today are really geared towards free or advertising-supported apps; MarkedUp is built to help premium developers who are selling goods directly to their end-users maximize profit and value."

MarkedUp's analytics platform launches with full support for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, making it the first analytics provider to make its Windows 8 offerings publicly available to developers; MarkedUp has plans to support OS X and other desktop platforms in the future.

By supporting Windows 8 first MarkedUp seeks to provide the $100b+ desktop software market with an analytics platform that helps them convert more trial users into paying customers.

"Windows 8 will change the way we design and build apps," said Matt Thompson, Microsoft General Manager of Developer Platform Evangelism, "we're moving to a world where app developers can target every device with a single development platform - from desktop to tablet to phone and they expect the same real-time user experience feedback and monetization analytics found on web platforms. This presents radical opportunities for companies that help developers to monetize and build sustainable businesses from their applications."

"Tim Cook announced in October that Apple had paid out over $6.5b to developers[i] over all four years of the App Store. Symantec, the makers of Norton Antivirus, did just over $6b in FY11[ii] alone last year. The top Windows downloads on Download.com have close to half a billion total installs – there are very few mobile apps with that kind of reach. The desktop ecosystem is not just several orders of magnitude larger than mobile, but also has real money flowing through it;" continued Stannard. "We see Windows 8 as the future of the desktop: a convergence between mobile, tablet, and traditional desktop computing; by starting there and MarkedUp can give developers the tools they need to be successful in the Windows Store."

MarkedUp's Analytics SDK installs easily into any Windows 8 or Windows Phone 8 application, whether it's built using C# and .NET, C/C++ or HTML5 and JavaScript – MarkedUp is the only analytics services that supports all three Windows 8 development platforms. Once installed, the SDK captures and transmits user data unobtrusively, with zero impact on app performance, and can even cache activity data when the device has poor service quality or is disconnected from the Internet for future transmission when connectivity allows.

In addition to reporting on user's in-app activity, MarkedUp can be customized to track developer-specified events to help show developers which features and screens of their apps actually get used, and by whom. MarkedUp makes the collected data easy to understand and digest with interactive charts, tables and reports in time-series format. The system captures and displays granular detail, down to the user's click-thru path that sparked a purchase, or the user behavior leading up to an error or exception to aid in troubleshooting.

"When it comes to premium apps, both desktop and mobile, developers need to be able to see how all of the different touchpoints affect whether or not a user eventually converts into a paying customer; because if you can't measure it, then you can't control it," said Stannard. "This is why we provide a holistic view to our customers when it comes to analytics – logging errors, screen views, the user's country or currency, and conversion events are all equals when it comes to understand what drove a completed sale or an abandoned one. If you aren't invested in a system that helps you measure these things, then you're leaving a lot of money on the table."

MarkedUp is currently in beta and is free for all users; when the beta period ends the first 1,000,000 data points each app accrues per month will be free and then $99 a month for each additional data point.

The first 500 developers to sign up for MarkedUp will receive a free 2-year license to use MarkedUp regardless of data volume if they go to https://markedup.com/launch and register an account today.

Created by veteran Microsoft desktop and mobile ecosystem developer Stannard and multiple Windows Phone, AT&T and Nokia hackathon champion Erik Medina, MarkedUp is a MuckerLab startup.

About MarkedUp
MarkedUp delivers actionable analytics and user insights to desktop and mobile application developers to help them make better, data-driven decisions for managing their applications. MarkedUp is the only analytics platform available for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 developers and is fully compatible with both WinRT and WinJS. MarkedUp was founded in 2012 by a former Microsoft Developer Evangelist and a team of Windows ecosystem experts in Santa Monica, Calif. To learn more, visit https://markedup.com.

About MuckerLab:
MuckerLab is a privately funded startup accelerator focused on incubation-stage Internet software, services and media ventures in the Los Angeles market. Based on a mentorship-driven model, MuckerLab provides entrepreneurs with funding, puts them through a structured, three-month-long program and gives them access to a deep network of top-tier mentors and advisors. MuckerLab works side-by-side with Southern California's best technology entrepreneurs to enable them to build, launch, and finance their exceptional businesses, while helping to cultivate a more vibrant technology ecosystem in Los Angeles. For more information, go to http://www.muckerlab.com, twitter.com/muckerlab.

[i] "Apple announces 35 billion App Store downloads, $6.5 billion paid to developers;" The Next Web; 10/23/2012; http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/10/23/apple-announces-35-billion-app-store-downloads-6-5-billion-paid-to-developers/

[ii] "Symantec Reports Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2011 Results;" Symantec.com; May 11, 2011; http://www.symantec.com/about/news/release/article.jsp?prid=20110511_01

SOURCE MarkedUp