It appears that evidently X’s experiment with charging all customers $1 to create an account hasn’t had a serious influence on app downloads within the two check areas.

Effectively, in relative phrases at the least.

As you possibly can see on this chart, through app evaluation supplier Sensor Tower, whereas X has declined within the general app rankings during the last three months, because it started its $1 “Not a Bot” sign-up check in New Zealand, it’s nonetheless been comparatively secure within the general obtain figures for the area.

X initially introduced its scheme to cost $1 for all new customers in the event that they need to have interaction within the app again on October seventeenth, with new account sign-ups in each New Zealand and the Philippines required to pay a small, annual charge to have interaction within the app.

Based mostly on this chart, X was ranked 77th in general downloads on October seventeenth, when the check begun, then it dropped to 89th the day after. Which can have been in response to the change, however since then, X has fluctuated within the NZ app charts. It’s at the moment the 91st most downloaded app within the area, which is notable drop from 77th, however nonetheless, X downloads haven’t tanked utterly because of the shift.

It’s really been the other within the Philippines, with X downloads on iOS rising for the reason that check started, going from seventieth on the iOS obtain charts on October seventeenth, to thirty second at the moment.

Comparable traits are mirrored within the Google Play Retailer charts for each areas, with NZ Android downloads remaining comparatively secure, and Philippines downloads rising. Android is the dominant OS within the Philippines, so these stats are seemingly extra indicative. X has moved up 50 spots within the free app rankings on Android in PH, from 190 at first of November, to 140 this week.

The numbers are seemingly a great signal for X’s push to make extra folks pay for the app, however then once more, customers can nonetheless obtain and use the app free of charge in each areas, with the $1 fee solely coming into play if customers need to submit, or work together with different posts within the app.

And whenever you additionally contemplate that 80% of all X customers by no means submit something in any respect, it could not really be that huge of a hurdle for utilization, with most individuals more likely to simply choose out of participating as a substitute of paying up.

Nonetheless, the numbers don’t mirror a major swing away from the app because of this, and it’d be attention-grabbing to additionally get perception from X as to how many individuals are literally paying the brand new $1 annual charge (notice: the $1 charge just isn’t listed as a prime 10 buy in both area in Sensor Tower’s app overviews).

The precept right here does make some sense, in that charging for an lively profile might make it extra cost-prohibitive for bot peddlers to function within the app. However extra subtle bot operations will seemingly simply construct the charge into their prices, whereas the choice motivation is probably going for X to get extra customers connecting their financial institution particulars to the app, with a view to its future push into funds, commerce, and so on.

I don’t suppose that charging all customers is the optimum approach to capitalize on the app’s alternatives, neither is it a broad-scale resolution to fight bots, however I do perceive X’s motivation, and its makes an attempt to strive new issues to battle bots.

And possibly, primarily based on these figures at the least, there may very well be some advantage to the initiative.