We’re live blogging from the Inside Social Apps 2012 Conference in San Francisco, from Philz Coffee a few blocks a way. While other attendees discuss and pretend to understand such industry jargon such as “velocity” and “ad mediation,” I sip my favorite coffee in the world and type away.

The big takeaways from the show so far: Facebook Credits conversion rates are much lower than expected and you need to spend a lot of money to make it big on the iPhone and Android platforms. If you are a small developer, life is tough.

It seems like just about everyone is rolling out a social network for mobile games these days. PapayaMobile was one of the first on Android, and they’ve just announced a partnership with Tapjoy to put together a new "Social Marketplace" for Android app developers.

What do you do when Apple starts rejecting apps that feature your "offer walls," which reward the installation of certain apps with in-game currency? If you're Tapjoy, you take your ball, go home, and start up your own darned App Store.

When Apple dropped the hammer on incentivized installs back in April, most folks had believed that would sound the death knell for then-thriving companies built around the pay-per-install business model. Instead it forced them to get creative. Take Tapjoy for instance. Back in June, they launched a $5 million fund to help iOS developers make the jump to Android – a platform where incentivized installs are still fair game. Now, only two months later, they’ve announced new partnerships that bring the total number of apps using their monetization services to more than 10,000.

Apple’s App Store is a big place. It’s a big place that’s full of small, wonderful, and imaginative developers. Some of those developers have spread their wings to the Android platform. Others haven’t, and it’s not necessarily due to a lack of interest – a lot of these fine folks simply lack the funds or skills needed to port their games from one device to another. Tapjoy is looking to help select developers jump these hurdles with their new $5 million Tapjoy Android Fund.

When Apple de-emphasized the impact on downloads in its AppStore ranking algorithm this past week, they also reportedly decided to clamp down on incentivized download programs, such as Tapjoy, W3i, and Flurry.

Based on numerous reports (see sources at the end of this article for more details), Apple is rejecting developers who submit apps with offers walls and incentivized offer programs, on the grounds that they are violating section 3.10 of the developer guidelines, which basically states that you can’t “game” the system.

For good or naught, these changes are creating ripple effects on multi-million dollar incentivized apps market, discovery, and the entire eco-system around developing freemium games for the iOS platform.

Game companies are launching mobile game publishing programs at a flurrious place!

Flurry, best known for its mobile analytics software and AppCircle, its app recommendation engine, has launched its own publishing program.

Tapjoy is the latest company to throw it’s the mobile and social publishing ring. Currently, Tapjoy is a leading distribution channel for social and mobile apps.

During GDC, I noted that everyone wanted to be a game app publisher.Tapjoy’s publishing program (entitled “self-publishing”) is different in that Tapjoy will give its app partners marketing credits to reach its millions of users in return for undisclosed business terms, obviously involving a revenue share on the back-end. Unlike other publishing programs, developers retain control of their IP, which if you ever talk to a game developers, means a lot. Tapjoy may also fund game titles as well.

Much like Instanbul was once Constanstinople, Tapjoy was once Offerpal but the similarity ends there. Tapjoy is now a leading distribution and monetization channel for the iOS (e.g., iPhone) platform and the recipient of $21 million in new funding. Everyone loves a comeback games business story, or at least Gamezebo does. Which is why I sat down with Shannon Jessup, VP of Global Sales and Marketing at Tapjoy, to learn how they turned their business around, why they betted big on iPhone and won, and what's the next big thing in their future. We also learned about ... cost per action? Sounds groovy.