App Publishers Lost $17.5B To Piracy In The Last 5 Years, Says Tapcore

Not all pirates say “arrghh” and wear eye patches. Some are smart, sophisticated, and technologically advanced. So smart, in fact, that they’ve siphoned off almost $18 billion in revenue from legitimate mobile publishers, says Tapcore.

Some apps have lost as much as $76 million to pirates, apparently.

“Piracy refers to the illegal modification and/or distribution of an app by someone other than its official owner,” says Remco Smit, SVP of business development for Tapcore, which re-monetizes pirated apps for their original owners. “Pirates [remove] attribution, advertising, and tracking functionalities … then republish the apps on one of the many alternative app stores around the world with their own monetization solutions included.”

Get the full story in my post at Forbes …