It has been over 2 weeks since Pokémon GO’s initial launch and many users around the world now have access to the wildly popular app. In this latest Pokémon GO blog post we took at look at these Pokémon GO users to discover which countries are Pokémon strongholds, which apps are used by Pokémon GO players, and how the app landscape has changed as a result of Pokémon. The data and insights from this study are useful for app marketers to better their ASO and improve re-targeting campaigns.
When looking at data from 24 countries around the world, it becomes apparent that Australia is the global leader in Pokémon GO’s Android reach. As of July 18th, 20% of all Australian Android phones had installed Pokémon GO, especially impressive when you consider that both Snapchat and Twitter have an install rate of around 25%.
After Australia, you might suspect that the US would come second in terms of Pokémon GO’s reach, as the app has been available in the US for a longer period of time. That, however, isn’t the case, and several European countries including Germany, Portugal, and Austria have already passed the US in percent of Pokémon GO Android installs. In Germany, the app has reached over 18% of Android phones, putting it ahead of both Snapchat (16.4%) and Twitter (16.7%).
As of July 18th, almost 14% of US Android devices had Pokémon GO installed on them, a figure that puts the US on par with Poland, Spain, and the UK, countries where the app had a later official release date.
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In other countries as well, the Pokémon GO phenomenon has been reaching Android phones across the world. In Hungary, the app has reached slightly more than 8% of Android phones, putting it well ahead of Tinder (2.8%) and nearing WhatsApp (12.8%).
Outside of Europe, the app has also reached countries in South America and Asia. As of July 18th, the app reached 6.2% of Android phones in India, putting it ahead of Snapchat (5%) and nearing Uber (11%). Similarly, in the Philippines and Singapore, the app is flirting with 5% of Android installs.
In the United Arab Emirates, Pokémon GO reached 3.5% Android installs on July 18th, a figure sure to rise in the coming days. This comes despite the fact that the United Arab Emirates’ Telecommunications Regulatory Authority have warned against playing the app and that the top clerics in Saudi Arabia issued a fatwa against playing the app.
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In addition to the countries above, Pokémon GO finally announced its long-awaited Japanese launch, a launch that had been delayed due to concerns that it would overload the servers.
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Trainers in Japan, thank you for being patient. Pokémon GO is now available to download in Japan!
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Installs of the app began immediately, with a whopping 24% of Android devices in Japane having installed the app within only a few days of Pokémon GO’s launch. This amazingly high percent of installs puts Pokémon GO ahead of popular messaging apps such as Snapchat, WhatsApp, and KakaoTalk. If installs continue to rise at this astronomical rate, Pokémon GO could soon pass Facebook Messenger (33.5%) and Instagram (34%) as well.
Where Are Pokémon GO's Biggest Users and What Other Apps Do They Use?
Looking back at data from the US, the Pokémon GO craze has resulted in increased usage of a number of other apps. Apps such as battery savers, GPS spoofers and VPNs, and weather and fitness apps have all seen an increase in usage time since the US went crazy for Pokémon. In the graph below we compared average usage time data from the 8 day period from June 22nd-June 29th and compared it to the average usage from the first 8 days following Pokémon’s US release, July 6th-13th.
The Hola VPN app saw a 104% increase in usage time, while Fake GPS Location Spoofer increased 73%. Apps like these have been used by Pokémon GO players to cheat in the game and there are reports that users with apps such as these are being banned completely from the game. Furthermore, because the app involves a fair amount of walking outdoors, apps such as The Weather Channel (20% increase), Fitbit (17%), and Runtastic (5%) have all seen increases in usage time.
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In addition to discovering which apps are seeing a post-Pokémon increase in usage time, SimilarWeb’s App Audience Interests tool can provide a list of apps that have a high probability of being used by Pokémon GO players. This information can be crucial for app marketers and for app re-targeting campaigns as it helps build a profile of the average Pokémon GO user.
To build a profile of a Pokémon GO user we looked at the top 10 non-native apps scoring highest according to our app affinity ranking. With this data, we notice that Pokémon GO’s users are heavy users of Snapchat and Instagram more than traditional social networks Facebook and Twitter. We can also discover that Spotify Music is used heavily among Pokémon GO players as is the Tumblr app, an app that only reaches about 4% of US Android phones, but is heavily used by Pokémon GO users. Other apps such as Amazon’s shopping app, communication app Kik, and humor app iFunny are also heavily used by the same users of Pokémon GO.
To put this in perspective, users of Clash of Clans show a much higher affinity to Facebook and lower affinity to Snapchat and users of Words with Friends prefer LinkedIn over Snapchat.
affinity
Finally, another consequence of the Pokémon craze has been apps trying to hop on the bandwagon by adding the word ‘Pokémon’ to their title. On July 1st, 2016 a total of 526 apps had the word ‘Pokémon’ somewhere in their title, a number which jumped to 1264 on July 18th, an increase of 140%.
Adding the word Pokémon to your app could help boost the app’s ASO and may result in an increase of in-store referral traffic from Pokémon GO. In our recent retail ASO study we discovered that some retail apps are better optimized for referral traffic, while others hardly received any and were forced to rely on other traffic sources. By adding the word Pokémon, app publishers and marketers are hoping their app has a higher chance of discovery and results in more downloads.
Who are Pokémon GO's Strongest Users?