You’re an 18-year old whiz developer who builds a mobile app that blows up. How do you make sure you cash in before the novelty wave is over?
College freshman John Hotovy, CEO of the startup Atonality Mobile, recently created TuneMe, a fun mobile app which enables users to record their voices singing their favorite songs, and then automatically synchronizes them with the melody–making average shower singers sound like Katie Perry, T-Pain, or any other big recoding artist.
When TuneMe went live, Hotovy initially turned to Google’s AdMob to employ basic banner ads for monetization. But even as downloads soared from 30,000 to 170,000 in a few weeks — revenue stayed flat, with CPMs hovering in the neighborhood of 50 cents.
So Hotovy turned to Pontiflex, a fast growing Brooklyn-based startup best know for lead generation ads on the Web. Using the company’s in-app advertising product, Pontiflex AppLeads, CPMs suddenly ballooned to $80.
“We were about to pull the free version off the Android Market before we saw the impact of the revenue from Pontiflex AppLeads,” says John Hotovy, CEO of Atonality Mobile. “The increase in revenue from signup ads has definitely contributed to keeping the free version around.”
Launched in mid 2010, AppLeads is designed to offer a simple plug-in ad solution for all sorts of app developers. Much like Pontiflex’s online ad product, AppLeads are centered around driving users to sign up for offers, rewards programs and email correspondence.
In the case of TuneMe, users are presented with sign-up ads as their songs are being processed.
According to CEO Zephrin Lasker, AppLeads sometimes command $100 CPMs. “Mobile app developers are now providing real entertainment and utility to their audience and should be paid for what they do,” Lasker said. “We are happy to help them make real money in a way that is still respectful of the user experience, and help keep apps free.”
More in Media

Condé Nast and Hearst strike Amazon AI licensing deals for Rufus
July 10, 2025
Condé Nast and Hearst have joined the New York Times in signing a licensing deal with Amazon for its AI-powered shopping assistant Rufus.

Media Briefing: AI payouts may be entering a new era
July 10, 2025
AI compensation is evolving — and new models, not just publisher demands, are driving the shift beyond flat-fee licensing.

In Graphic Detail: AI platforms are driving more traffic — but not enough to offset ‘zero-click’ search
July 10, 2025
Here are five graphs that reveal the major trends emerging in the world of AI and ‘zero-click’ search, and what it means for publishers.