Apps: subscription, paid content, paywalls, business models

One unusual feature is InterRed's ability to set up metered paywalls for its apps. While this business model is particularly well known for desktop websites, as supported by the InterRed Online web content management system, this is an innovation for mobile apps. For example, customers can purchase content on a pay-per-article basis after loading a credit to the app kiosk, access to certain can be restricted to subscribers or buyers of an edition (premium content), or a certain number of articles can be provided free-of-charge before the paywall kicks in. At the same time, a free preview of a particular article can be configured. Similarly, a complete app edition may be unlocked after the user has purchased a pre-set number of articles within a single edition. A comprehensive search of all editions, including those not previously purchased or downloaded, can turn individual articles from the archive into additional revenue.

When combined with the InterRed Online web content management system, this can even be linked to an existing paywall on the publisher's website. Access would then be centrally controlled by the InterRed multi-channel publishing system.

This can likewise lead to a successful monetisation through subscriptions or advertising revenues. Studies show that advertisements in apps are particularly effective at gaining users' attention with a concomitant long-term advertising impact. InterRed AppPublishing allows affiliate systems or even the support of various ad servers to be integrated. In addition, a special configuration can be set up within the created apps or editions to play advertisements across editions. This can, for example, be configured to display an advertisement after a certain amount of time or number of touch events, regardless of whether the user is located within a specific edition, in the app's live area or in the app kiosk. Additional features such as interchangeable ad buttons in the kiosk-view, customizable downloading graphics with or without advertising when starting the app, and the ability to disable advertising content through in-app purchases give app providers a wide range of flexible options.