SimilarWeb, a startup taking on web measurement services like Alexa and comScore, is now expanding its intelligence platform to include the world of native mobile apps and mobile web, in addition to desktop web. The move brings some much-need competition to the space where industry leader App Annie now dominates, having already bought out its closest rival through the acquisition of Distimo this May.
With SimilarWeb PRO’s App Analytics service, the company aims to differentiate itself from others by offering a few data points that aren’t always available through other analytics products, including top keywords driving users to apps, popular keywords, and breakdowns of the channels and paths taken inside the app stores that help users discover apps.
These are the kinds of insights a number of “ASO” (App Store Optimization) outfits are tracking today, in addition to App Annie, which introduced an ASO feature of its own earlier this year.
Asked to explain exactly how SimilarWeb’s product compared with the competition, especially in the ASO space, the company told TechCrunch that its data comes from several sources, but the most important is its user panel. Traffic analysis and keywords are based off real user behavior that both leads up to and occurs within the app stores.
This includes which keywords are directing users to apps when searching. For example, in August, 40% of the traffic on the Google Play store for the keyword “Candy” directed users to Candy Crush Saga’s app page. The remaining searches were sending users to other apps that were riding on the “Candy Crush” brand to get discovered.
SimilarWeb has long-touted the wider reach of its user panel for web analytics, which clocks in at “tens of millions.” (For comparison’s sake, Compete or comScore have around 2 million users each.)
However, for the app analytics product, SimilarWeb says it reaches “dozens” of countries at launch, and its mobile website analytics today only supports visitors from the U.S. and U.K. These sources will likely improve over time.
What is unique, versus the current offerings on the market, is that SimilarWeb plans to sell its analytics service for desktop, mobile web and apps as a single product, SimilarWeb PRO – an all-in-one solution.
“We are aiming to become the new industry standard for digital measurement,” a company rep told us. “Mobile and apps analysis is still a pretty nascent market, we think that there is room for us to enter and set the tone.”
SimilarWeb today has 1,500 customers, free and paid, but declined to provide the breakdown of how many of each, or the average paying price. Some of its customers include Travelocity, Google, PlayBuzz, KPMG, eBay and UBS, but not all are paying.