Wily dev strikes it rich with vuvuzela app

It’s fair to say there are plenty of vuvuzela haters out there. Dutch developer Moblio.nl certainly isn’t one of them though.

The company is currently making tens of thousands of dollars a week from its Vuvuzela 2010 app for iPhone and iPad, according to AdMob, whose ad units the developer is using.

The app is free, and since its release has held top spot in the App Store’s Top Free Apps chart in the UK, Germany, France, South Africa, Argentina, Japan and Australia, while going top-three in the US.

"the company is now earning several tens of thousands dollars per week via its share of advertising revenue," says AdMob’s head of marketing EMEA Matt Brocklehurst.

"We’ve helped monetise their inventory in over 100 countries worldwide. As of today, the Vuvuzela 2010 app has been downloaded over 3.5 million times, and has experienced explosive growth across the world."

The feat is all the more impressive because there are dozens of other vuvuzela apps available on Apple’s App Store. It seems that taking the free ad-supported approach has made Moblio’s effort the champion.