Jim, I agree with what you are saying. Why is it ridiculous that he wrote that the Market is being limited to major developers? That is what has happened now when the "new" section has been dropped. My company can afford to advertise, but those who don't, will have very small opportunities on Android market.
My experience from several appstores is that if the apps never get featured, they get few downloads. I think it will be hard to promote apps on announcenment forums, because most people who download don't write reviews. You have to have at least a few hundred downloads to get a good rating. I also used to stroll through the "Just In" looking for new stuff. I really miss that now. Ian, I don't agree that an app could be lucky to get even a couple of extra hits out of being published on the "new" section. Our apps used to get a few hundred downloads from this, which was necessary to boost further downloads and get reviews. On Feb 14, 9:10 am, Adam Ratana <adam.rat...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Monday, February 13, 2012 4:12:17 PM UTC-5, Spooky wrote: > > > Aside from that, though, you're right...if you don't have the advertising > > > budget, can't get it reviewed (I have *NO* idea what it takes to get that > > done), and the new app announcement forums don't get you anywhere, your > > apps will go unnoticed (like my more recent ones have) and, if it's a > > paid app that you've spent a lot of time on, well, you probably wasted > > that time. Yeah, it sucks...massively. And from what I've heard, that > > was the intention behind google's doing that---to limit the Market to the > > major devs (no indies) with massive budgets. > > I have to disagree with this, speaking just for myself. I am an "indie" > developer who does Android stuff mainly for fun, and in my spare time. > It's been profitable beyond my modest expectations, and I have zero > marketing budget. I truly feel that the market is democratic and a > meritocracy based on my limited experience. When I have launched apps > that in my estimation have a broader appeal than others, they have done > better and have placed higher in the ranks, than ones that I felt would be > more limited in appeal. The stats seem to bear it out. It has taken a > while sometimes for an app to gain critical mass (and sometimes blogs have > picked them up eventually... I did try to tell blogs about my first app > when I launched it to no effect...), but I think if you create something > that people will enjoy and there is a need for it in the marketplace, > people will find it, and it will eventually do well, and then tail off at > some point perhaps. I've seen a few of my apps go from page 2 or 3 of > certain keyword searches to the top spot over time, without my > intervention, just based on downloads/purchases/ratings over time. I'd > like to think that that's because of the work I put in to make a good > product, and word of mouth at play, rather than random chance. > > If you create something compelling and unique, I truly believe that people > will find it eventually, whether it be a smaller or larger niche of the > marketplace. Again, I'm just one of the little guys, but I have to say > I've been enjoying the ride. Some things have been frustrating, but > they're the same things that everyone gets frustrated about, I don't feel > the "deck is stacked." Large developers with big marketing budgets (and > development budgets) will dominate the featured section, but I expect that, > typically their products have a mass appeal and are quite polished. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to android-developers+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
