New Report from YUDU Media Provides Unprecedented Insight Into How Users Interact with Magazines' iPad Editions

Report reveals hard numbers on return rates, opt-in rates and in-app purchasing

Cambridge, Mass. – May 17, 2011 – Digital publishing company YUDU Media (www.yudupro.com) today published its latest quarterly report revealing unprecedented insight into how users interact with reader Apps for the iPad and iPhone. The report is based on an analysis of 80 branded reader Apps that YUDU developed for customers. YUDU customers include Reader's Digest UK, Newsmax Magazine, US Tech, The College Journal and Runway Magazine. "Reader Apps" are defined as Apps developed primarily for sharing written content such as magazines, catalogs, books or brochures.

Highlights include:

• 40 percent of people who download reader Apps opt-in to share their contact details with publishers. This is much higher than most publishers would have thought, and potentially alleviates a major concern from publishers about Apple's insistence on maintaining control over users' contact information.
• Magazine apps showed a 64 percent return rate, meaning 64 percent of readers returned to the App after their initial visit. On average, readers returned to their magazine Apps 3.7 times, just as they might pick up a print magazine on their coffee table several times in order to read through it all.
• 33.7 percent of overall reader App downloads are software updates rather than downloads of new Apps, indicating a high level of engagement from readers with their existing reader Apps. This is significant in a world where one in four Apps downloaded are used only one time.
• Overall volume of reader App downloads is increasing at an even faster pace than Apple device sales, meaning owners are downloading more and more Apps for their devices and indicating that more owners may be reading content digitally rather than in print form.
• In-App purchasing has surged in recent months, indicating that this revenue channel is growing more significant for publishers as well as for Apple, which earns a 30 percent cut of every In-App purchase.

"Our findings suggest that branded reader Apps are achieving impressive levels of interaction with users across a number of criteria," said Richard Stephenson, CEO of YUDU Media. "The proportion of users supplying opt-in data, the number of return views, and the average number of edition returns all indicate a healthy level of interaction from users."

Stephenson continued, "The recent release of the iPad 2 is likely to fuel even faster growth of branded reader Apps, and continue to narrow the gap between print and digital readership. Publishers who until now had been on the fence about whether or not to invest in creation of a branded reader App for the iPad now have some hard proof about what to expect in terms of return on their investment."

Those interested in more detail can download the full report at www.yudupro.com/yudureport. The report is also available within the YUDU Media App available at the App Store.

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