EarnApp Developers FAQ

Overview

Welcome to EarnApp FAQ. We tried to answer the most common questions here, in simple English. 

If you have any questions that are not covered in this document, please contact us. We usually answer the same or next day.

EarnApp for Developers: Overview

It’s a new way for you to monetize your apps, that does not disturb the user but works in the background.

EarnApp helps companies collect information that is publicly available on the web. It uses the user’s IP address to download a few web pages in the background from well known Internet sites. This is done in a way that never interrupts the user, and is totally GDPR/CCPA compliant. The webpages are then sent to the companies, who use them to improve their databases, offering better products, services and pricing.  

It does not matter if you offer a free, paid or ad-supported app, you can decide when to integrate the EarnApp offer in your user flows to maximize your revenue. Here are just 3 examples of how you can use EarnApp to optimize your revenue:

  • Paid app: At the end of a paid app’s trial period, offer EarnApp to the user in exchange for a trial extension, or a limited version of the paid version. This gives you more time to convert the user to payment – and generates additional revenue until they convert.
  • Free, ad-supported app: Offer EarnApp to the user as an alternative to the ad-supported version. Not only will user experience be better and retention higher, you  will generate higher revenue than with the ad supported version.
  • Free app: Ask your user to support you by accepting the EarnApp offer.

Both. EarnApp for developers can run as an SDK (for software) or as an embedded library (for hardware).

Most of the information presented in this FAQ mentions software provides, but is totally applicable for hardware providers as well. The only difference is in how the code is implemented on the software or device.

If you are a hardware manufacturer (router, IoT etc) please contact us to discuss your platform. Note that we pay NRE fees for implementation in addition to per-device license.

– It is an additional revenue channel that can be implemented in parallel to your existing monetization in order to maximize revenue. In some cases, EarnApp is more profitable than standard premium (license/subscription) or free (ad-supported) revenue models.

It improves the user experience for your app. Offering a few premium features for free or removing ads means happier users, more organic downloads and better reviews.

Help major companies fight Internet fraud, consumers to get best prices online, and universities and researchers to have high quality data.

Your earnings are based on the number of monthly active users that opted-in to EarnApp.

IMPORTANT! EarnApp counts a user as active if they are online even once during a 24h period.
This means that the number of active users EarnApp counts is closer to your install base. Users do NOT need to be using your app to be considered active for EarnApp.

  • We pay per device. Meaning for example if a household has a PC, a laptop and a smart TV with your apps installed it’s 3 devices.
  • If a device has our SDK installed and is online even for 30 seconds, we count it as ‘active’ (doesn’t matter if we actually sent traffic through it or not).
  • At the end of that day, we have the total number of online devices.
  • At the end of the month, we do an average of the 30 days.
  • We multiply the number by the rate.

So for example (using just 5 days for simplicity):

Day 1 – 10 devices (for example, 6 households with 1 PC, 2 household with PC and Laptop)
Day 2 – 12 devices
Day 3 – 14 devices
Day 4 – 16 devices
Day 5 – 8 devices

Average: 60/5=12 devices
Payment: $Rate * 12

You can see your earnings at any time on the EarnApp control panel. For any questions, you can also contact your account manager.

This really depends on your app. Remember, you can use EarnApp selectively and decide when exactly in the user flow it makes sense to show the offer screen.

For example, you can use EarnApp to unlock a few premium features in your app, but require a paid license for the full capabilities. This means you can provide the user with some functionality while enjoying some revenue, and have the opportunity to upsell other features.

Contact an EarnApp expert to hear about our experience with app developers similar to you.

We hate that answer too, but: it depends. On what? Mostly on your user base of active users, the quality of their internet connection, and their geographic location.

We have a lot of experience in this – so we can give you an estimate of how much you can earn with EarnApp. Contact an EarnApp expert to get an estimate.

We believe in full transparency. The user needs to understand what they are agreeing to. That is why the user is presented with a simple 1-screen offer, and not just a long text EULA that is hard to read or understand.

Note: The offer screen is provided by EarnApp. You may not change any of the layout or contents.

Bright Data gets the same web content that any normal user will see when visiting a webpage in anonymous mode (i.e. not logged in), from his phone. For example:

  • Average review score of a product on an ecommerce website
  • The price of a London to New York flight ticket on an airline site
  • The text of an ad on a social network
  • Search results of a specific query (e.g. “best pizza in town”)

Yes! The user can opt-out anytime. You need to add a menu entry to where the user can disable EarnApp.

No problem! The user can decline when the EarnApp screen appears, and then we suggest you offer them the ad-supported or premium version of your app. Keep in mind that the user may also opt-out at any point from the settings menu.

No. We don’t want your user’s data. Bright Data uses only the Internet connection. We don’t see, collect or send any personal data, ever. Bright Data is compliant with the GDPR and CCPA.

No! When data is downloaded from a website, it does not contain any information about the user. To the website it looks like a totally new, anonymous user that is not logged in coming from the user’s IP address.

No! Bright Data customers send requests to Bright Data’s Secure Cloud. The request is then sent via your user’s device to the public website, and goes back to the customer via the Secure Cloud. The customer does not know where the response came from – not even your user’s IP address. They just know it came from country XYZ.

Yes! Bright Data is fully committed to complying with all relevant data protection legal requirements, including the new EU data protection regulatory framework – the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”).

As an enthusiastic advocate of internet security and privacy, Bright Data understands the importance of providing data subjects with greater control on their privacy and data. Therefore, we have taken considerable efforts to ensure that our privacy practices comply with data protection laws, including the GDPR and CCPA, and the industry’s best practices regarding, among other things, respecting data subjects’ requests to exercise their rights.

We are constantly examining applicable legal developments as well as the relevant provisions of the GDPR and CCPA in order to develop tools for our customers’ privacy-compliant use of our services.

Yes. Bright SDK has been developed under the strictest security guidelines and is constantly monitored accordingly.
Click for a detailed view of the SDK compliance with security industry standards by leading organizations.

EarnApp for Developers: Technical

Currently you can use EarnApp to monetize apps that run on:

  • Windows 
  • Mac
  • Android apps distributed via the Amazon playstore
  • SmartTVs (LG, Samsung)

We will contact all our developers when new platforms become available.

Implementation is fairly simple. Basically, you decide when to show the EarnApp screen, and if the user accepts, you modify the app behaviour (e.g. not display ads; unlock some premium features).

You also need to add an easy way for the user to opt out, for example in your app’s settings menu.

Please contact us to receive the implementation guide for your app’s platform(s).

No. The internet connection may only be used when the device is not busy with other tasks. EarnApp carefully safeguards device resources and ensures traffic is only sent by using the device’s available resources, in a manner that will not substantially affect the device’s operations.

No. Nothing is left on your user’s device.

It depends on the user’s Internet connection, country and other factors – but in general, BrightData only downloads traffic that is equivalent to a few web pages per day. In any case, remember that any data access will take place only when the computer is not loaded, so it will never slow anything down.

No, EarnApp does not use any space on your hard disk.

Very little. And even that happens only when the device is not loaded. In fact, your user will never feel it running. They will never see 100% CPU or experience any slowdown in apps!

No. CPU is only used when EarnApp sends traffic, which happens only when the device resources are available, so the user never feels it.

Only after the user clicks “I Agree” on the consent screen.

A few hours.
Realistically 1-2 days including testing.

Kaspersky detects the general type of technology used by the Bright SDK to collect web data, which is called proxy. 

But they also say very clearly that this it is NOT a virus. You can see specifically that Kaspersky, in their knowledge base, writes “If a user has installed such a program on his/her computer, or if it was installed by a system administrator, then it does not pose any threat.”

Find more info on 
Kaspersky site

EarnApp for Developers: Payments

EarnApp will pay you the sign-up bonus as soon as you release a version of your app with the SDK.

The bonus is an advance payment for your earnings. 

  • If your earnings exceed $1000 for the 1st month, we will pay the difference.
  • If your earnings are under $1000 for the 1st month, we will start paying you once you reach $1000 in earnings.

Your earnings are based on the number of monthly active users that opted-in to EarnApp.

IMPORTANT! EarnApp counts a user as active if they are online even once during a 24h period.
This means that the number of active users EarnApp counts is closer to your install base. Users do NOT need to be using your app to be considered active for EarnApp.

  • We pay per device. Meaning for example if a household has a PC, a laptop and a smart TV with your apps installed it’s 3 devices.
  • If a device has our SDK installed and is online even for 30 seconds, we count it as ‘active’ (doesn’t matter if we actually sent traffic through it or not).
  • At the end of that day, we have the total number of online devices.
  • At the end of the month, we do an average of the 30 days.
  • We multiply the number by the rate.

So for example (using just 5 days for simplicity):

Day 1 – 10 devices (for example, 6 households with 1 PC, 2 household with PC and Laptop)
Day 2 – 12 devices
Day 3 – 14 devices
Day 4 – 16 devices
Day 5 – 8 devices

Average: 60/5=12 devices
Payment: $Rate * 12

You can see your earnings at any time on the EarnApp control panel. For any questions, you can also contact your account manager.

We support payments by Wire, PayPal and Payoneer.

Payment will be made against a valid invoice, within 10 days following the end of a month.

Bright Data works with over 10,000 customers like major banks, universities, social networks, ecommerce sites, and many brands you know. Bright Data enables these qualified customers to download publicly available web data using the user’s Internet connection – data like web statistics, price comparison, and other verified business processes.

In general, companies use publicly available information (for example, product prices) for detailed research and financial analyses. But in many cases, when companies use their own IP address to browse the Internet, they can get inaccurate data. So getting the web page from a user’s IP address helps companies see the web as regular users see it – which ensures complete and accurate data.

Here are some examples of when companies get more accurate information from websites by using different IP addresses:

– To protect their brand: Are sites selling fake versions of my product?

– To protect their users: Are advertisers showing ads for products I don’t allow (e.g. firearms)

– To offer the best prices: What are the real prices 

Bright Data helps them get accurate information, which helps companies expand their databases and improve their products, services and pricing.

iOS SDK

It’s a new way for you to monetize your apps – one that does not disturb the user and guarantees their privacy.

 

Bright SDK is unique because you get paid for any user session that is 2 minutes or longer. Basically, you will be able to monetize users even before you display the first ad – and without interrupting their app experience.

 

Bright Data collects information that is publicly available on the web. It uses the user’s IP address to download a few web pages (in the background, while they are using your app) from well known Internet sites. This is done in a way that never interrupts the user, and is GDPR/CCPA compliant. Information from these webpages is then used to enrich Bright Data’s datasets, which companies use to improve their databases, offe better products, services and pricing. 

It’s a new way for you to monetize your apps – one that does not disturb the user and guarantees their privacy.

Bright SDK is unique because you get paid for any user session that is 2 minutes or longer. Basically, you will be able to monetize users even before you display the first ad – and without interrupting their app experience.

Bright Data collects information that is publicly available on the web. It uses the user’s IP address to download a few web pages (in the background, while they are using your app) from well known Internet sites. This is done in a way that never interrupts the user, and is GDPR/CCPA compliant. Information from these webpages is then used to enrich Bright Data’s datasets, which companies use to improve their databases, offe better products, services and pricing.  

No personal information is collected, except the user’s IP address. Bright Data does not know anything about the user and does not do any tracking. Specifically, to be clear, BrightData does not leave cookies on the phone, DOES NOT record, store or send the user’s IDFA. We just know that, for example, an iPhone 12 with IP of 94.23.64.123 exists – nothing more.

Because the Bright SDK does not track the user in any way, it is of course not impacted by App Tracking Transparency.

In fact, Bright SDK is probably the most privacy-aware monetization solution on the market.

No. DO NOT suggest BrightSDK as an alternative to paying for premium items or subscription via the AppStore.
This is in violation of AppStore’s policy.

We suggest implementing the SDK on apps that have a long session length.

No. BrightSDK can work side by side with other SDKs (e.g. AdMob, IronSource etc.)

Bright Data will pay you for every unique daily active user (DAU) that has a session length of over 2 minutes. Rates vary per country – contact us for details.

This information is available to you in real time on the developer dashboard.

Absolutely. Many developers use the Bright SDK as an alternative monetization to ads. 

The benefits are real: users enjoy a cleaner app with fewer ads, and developers get increased retention and monetization.

Specifically, banner ads usually offer relatively low eCPMs and annoy users (for example: flashing banners on screen while a user tries to focus on a Sudoku puzzle). The Bright SDK is an excellent alternative to banner ads – for developers, it pays *more* than banner ads, and for users it eliminates the annoying banner ads.

Here are a few examples:
– Seeing fewer ads (e.g. remove banners from a game).
– An alternative to seeing a reward ad (e.g. for getting a hint in a game) etc.
– You may also simply ask for the user’s support of your app.

Absolutely. In the “donation model” use case, you are effectively asking your user to support you (for example: “Help keep my app free. If you accept the offer on the next screen, I will be paid”). Users may decide to opt-in if they love your app and want to support you, and if they do you will enjoy *additional revenue* on top of your current earnings from ads.

The SDK supports iOS 14 and above.

Not a lot. Actual usage will vary based on Bright Data’s needs, but is capped both per session for a 24h period. 

  • If the user is on Wifi, the BrightSDK will not exceed 50Mb per session and 200Mb per 24h period
  • If the user is on a mobile connection, the BrightSDK will not exceed 10Mb per session and 500Mb per 24h period

For reference, Bright SDK uses roughly the same amount of data as a few video ads.

Bright Data reviews BrightSDK implementation after initial release and regularly thereafter.
Your account will be terminated if you violate the SDK implementation guidelines.

LG-webOS SDK

It’s a new way for you to monetize your apps – one that does not disturb the user and guarantees their privacy.

Bright SDK is unique because you get paid for any user session that is 5 minutes or longer. Basically, you will be able to monetize users even before you display the first ad – and without interrupting their app experience.

Bright Data collects information that is publicly available on the web. It uses the user’s IP address to download a few web pages (in the background, while they are using your app) from well known Internet sites. This is done in a way that never interrupts the user, and is GDPR/CCPA compliant. Information from these webpages is then used to enrich Bright Data’s datasets, which companies use to improve their databases, offe better products, services and pricing. 

It’s a new way for you to monetize your apps – one that does not disturb the user and guarantees their privacy.

Bright SDK is unique because you get paid for any user session that is 5 minutes or longer. Basically, you will be able to monetize users even before you display the first ad – and without interrupting their app experience.

Bright Data collects information that is publicly available on the web. It uses the user’s IP address to download a few web pages (in the background, while they are using your app) from well known Internet sites. This is done in a way that never interrupts the user, and is GDPR/CCPA compliant. Information from these webpages is then used to enrich Bright Data’s datasets, which companies use to improve their databases, offe better products, services and pricing.  

Yes, of course. LG reviews and approves each app.
Remember: we never collect any user information and allow opting-out at any time.

Great news! Once your user has opted-in you start earning. See the minimal requirements to be considered as online.

This information is available to you in real time on the developer dashboard.

All you need can be found in this integration guide.

LG is available worldwide and so is the LG-webOS SDK. Rates vary between countries.

The minimal daily active time to be considered as online and qualify for payment is 5 minutes.
The SDK runs in the background so it is enough for your user to watch at least 5 minutes of TV to qualify, he doesn’t even have to use your app for you to get paid for that day!

Roku SDK

It’s a new way for you to monetize your apps – one that does not disturb the user and guarantees their privacy.

Bright SDK is unique because you get paid for any user session that is 5 minutes or longer. Basically, you will be able to monetize users even before you display the first ad – and without interrupting their app experience.

Bright Data collects information that is publicly available on the web. It uses the user’s IP address to download a few web pages (in the background, while they are using your app) from well known Internet sites. This is done in a way that never interrupts the user, and is GDPR/CCPA compliant. Information from these webpages is then used to enrich Bright Data’s datasets, which companies use to improve their databases, offe better products, services and pricing. 

It’s a new way for you to monetize your apps – one that does not disturb the user and guarantees their privacy.

Bright SDK is unique because you get paid for any user session that is 5 minutes or longer. Basically, you will be able to monetize users even before you display the first ad – and without interrupting their app experience.

Bright Data collects information that is publicly available on the web. It uses the user’s IP address to download a few web pages (in the background, while they are using your app) from well known Internet sites. This is done in a way that never interrupts the user, and is GDPR/CCPA compliant. Information from these webpages is then used to enrich Bright Data’s datasets, which companies use to improve their databases, offe better products, services and pricing.  

Yes, of course. Roku reviews and approves each app.
Remember: we never collect any user information and allow option-out at any time.

We suggest implementing the SDK on apps that have a long session length.

The SDK works on any Roku operating system.

The Roku SDK is supported in all the countries Roku is supported in.

Yes. This is the way Roku works – your app needs to be actively in the foreground.

The minimal daily active time to be considered as online and qualify for payment is 5 minutes.

We suggest implementing the SDK on apps that have a long session length.

Register for EarnApp Beta program

Sorry, EarnApp is not supported in your country at the moment. Please see the FAQ.

Thank you for registering for the EarnApp Beta program.

You were added to the beta testers list

We will send you testing requests when we will have new features and products to test.