Analytics firm App Annie has launched Audience Intelligence, which provides data on an apps users.

Publishers can use the service to understand the users of their apps, and of competitors. Audience Intelligence features demographic data on gender, age, income and other standard metrics; data on which other apps share a high proportion of users with their own; and, as of next year, user sentiment.

App Annie intends the platform to be used to better understand rival apps, improve the targeting of marketing campaigns, and create products that are better suited to their audience.

“We’ve talked to many app publishers and while they use our estimates of downloads and revenues to compare themselves to other apps and categories, getting accurate demographics – even of their own user base, let alone competitors – is extremely difficult”, said App Annie CEO Bertrand Schmitt. “This is a big growth opportunity for App Annie and publishers alike and I know that the benefits will ripple across the entire app ecosystem.”

Audience Intelligence can be purchased as a standalone product, or bundled with App Annies Store Intelligence.