Tag: google play

Mobile games could help Google beat Apple

| April 24, 2013

Google Mobile GamesGoogle Play posts strong gains with the help of mobile games

Google has been seeing strong growth in its applications store. Google Play is home to a vast assortment of mobile applications covering a variety of needs and interests. Google has announced that Google Play’s revenue has shown impressive growth, outpacing that of Apple’s own App Store. Mobile games play a contributing factor in this growth, especially as more consumers become interested in mobile games for the sake of entertainment. Indeed, mobile games may soon help Google Play acquire the momentum necessary to overcome Apple.

Research shows that Google is catching up with Apple

According to Canalys, a leading market research firm, both the App Store and Google Play accounted for $2.2 billion in revenue collectively during the first three months of 2013. Apple’s App Store represents 74% of this revenue, with Google picking up the remainder. Similar data from App Annie, an analytics firm, suggests that Google Play revenue were 38.5% of the App Store’s, representing a significant gain for Google.

Asian markets show strong support for mobile games

Growth is strongly felt in a wide range of categories, but mobile games are helping add significant momentum to Google’s growing revenues. A craze has begun to form around mobile games in several countries. In South Korea, for instance, mobile games represent some of the most used applications on Google Play. This is partly backed by the growing availability of smartphone and tablets. As these mobile devices become more common, more consumers have opportunities to play mobile games or make use of the other applications available on Google Play. Currently, mobile games account for 90% of the revenues generated in South Korea and Japan as far as Google Play is concerned.

Google Play may overcome the App Store by 2016

The applications market has become inundated with mobile games over the past two years. These games have proven quite popular with a wide range of consumers, leading the game industry to throw its considerable strength behind the development of these games. If mobile games continue to show impressive growth, Google Play is likely to surpass the App Store in terms of revenue by 2016.

Mobile security suffers a blow from new hacking trend

| March 8, 2013

Hackers Mobile SecurityMobile security becoming a serious issue as hackers find way to exploit Google Play

A new trend is emerging in the world of malware, and it is targeting the Android platform. Hackers are beginning to work their way into Google Play by disguising their malware as legitimate applications. Typically, Google can remove these applications from the Play store with relative ease, but many hackers are hijacking Play accounts from legitimate developers to avoid Google’s own protection methods. This trend could be a major blow against the Android and the platforms ongoing fight in the realm of mobile security.

Google may be unable to keep up with emerging trends in the mobile security space

Mobile security is quickly becoming more important than physical security. The information consumers share through their mobile devices is very valuable, especially to those that know how to exploit such information. Given that mobile technology is relatively new, the security of mobile devices and mobile applications has yet to mature. While Google has taken steps to ensure the security of the Play marketplace, many hackers have found a way to completely circumvent the company’s endeavors in mobile security.

Hackers target developers and not just consumers

Many hackers are beginning to target legitimate developers rather than just consumers. Developer Play accounts are being hijacked and used to distribute applications disguised as safe pieces of software. In many cases, this malware is actually being marketed as mobile security software for smartphones and tablets. Hacking a developer Play account is not the only method that malicious parties are using to gain access to consumers. Some are simply buying these accounts from developers outright.

Developers offered funds for each malicious application they publish to Google Play

Some hacking groups are offering $100 to developers with verified Play accounts for each malicious application they publish. Google charges developers $25 to put an application on the Play marketplace, which can be a hefty sum for small scale developers that do not have a strong presence in the mobile market. Hackers are preying on these developers by offering them a financial incentive to distribute malicious applications and circumvent the mobile security protections that Google has put in place.