Android App Promotion Questions

    Recently, a friend of mine asked me to answer a few questions about promoting Android applications. We agreed that I will write a post. Over the past year, I have a certain impression of working in the Android Market. I will gladly share my opinion. I hope that my experience will be useful to developers. I would be glad if the post engenders a constructive discussion.

    According to Android Market:

    1. How often do updates are posted, are there any real bug fixes in these updates, or are users “believing and silently updating”?

    As a user, I either “believe and silently update” the application, or do not update at all if the application is not interesting to me. All people are different and there are users who always follow the current changes in the update, my IMHO - people who install updates predominate, delving into details rarely. There is also a category of applications in which each update brings new features. As a rule, loyal users of such an application always expect new features or content to be updated.

    As a developer, I think that the application needs to be updated regularly once every one to two weeks. There are at least two reasons for this: firstly, regular updates with new features and content positively affect the formation of a loyal audience of the project, and secondly, when updating the application falls into the 'Just in' category, which positively affects the number of downloads. If the application has positive comments and high ratings, the download volume during the update is much larger. It is worth noting that if you update more often than once a week, then there will not be a jump in downloads, since the application will not get into 'Just in'.

    Empty updates without changes are best avoided. Almost always (we are all not without a sin!) In an update, I try to make some new feature or fix bugs. Without bugs, there is only hello word, so there is always something to improve / fix, especially when it comes to programs for mobile devices. Most likely, frequent empty updates can adversely affect the audience’s loyalty and developer reputation. In addition, a rich update, as a rule, is very effective. IMHO the ideal option is to pre-develop updates before the release of the application, even if the first version is slightly truncated.

    As practice shows, regular updates are a very important and effective tool in promoting applications, but to achieve decent results, updates alone are not enough.

    2. What download dynamics is needed and for what period in order to get into the TOP?

    It is difficult to answer this question unequivocally, since the market is changing rapidly. Today it’s much harder to enter TOP Free than TOP Paid. My experience shows that if there are 5-10 downloads in one to two months, then you can enter the TOP Paid-100 in your category. TOP Free is a little trickier. At different times, I reached the 30th place in TOP Free in my category. My most successful application has 700,000 downloads since April last year, with the first 50,000 downloads being difficult, then it went easier. Now this program is kept in TOP Free 50 in its category with the dynamics of 1000-5000 downloads per day. Over the weekend, downloads are 20-30% more.

    3. If the application is free, but it has internal payments, should they be carried out through Google Checkout or do they turn a blind eye to this?

    Internal payments are a very profitable model, however, on Android I have not tried it. Given the vast majority of free applications, I was afraid that this model would be perceived "hostile" by users. I heard that PayPal has its own In-App Purchase library for Android, but there is no experience with it. On issues of internal payments, there are several interesting branches on StackOverflow.

    4. What statistics is collected - downloads, number of users by version, what they do in the application, etc.

    Since I try to make applications as easy as possible, I do not use a special library to collect statistics. The statistics in my applications are collected by the library for advertising from Mobclix. In the admin panel, I have the opportunity to watch 'App Opens' and 'New Users' by the hour, except for directly advertising metrics (impressions, eCPM, eCPC, etc.). I agree that collecting statistics is very important, but so far I am content with a limited set of parameters.

    Promotion:

    5. Have you worked with review sites and catalogs? Is there a clear leader that gives the most downloads? In the event that the review and the catalog provide a link to the application in the Android Market, is it possible to track which resource gave these downloads on the Market?

    Worked with review sites. I don’t think there is a clear leader like TouchArcade for iOS. I think that a review on Pocket Gamer will have a good effect . The ideal option is to find as many review sites in Google as possible, sort them with alexa and send everyone a request to do a review. The more reviews - the better! It is not possible for me to track the number of downloads from a specific review at the moment. You can also order banners on thematic sites. There is a resource BuySellAds.com, where you can filter and sort ad slots on android sites by impressions and price. In addition, you can directly contact advertisers on popular sites. Surely, popular sites belong to media holdings, with which you can, if you wish, master a part of the advertising budget.

    As for third-party, alternative directories for Android software, I could not achieve the number of downloads comparable to the Android Market. The main reason for my failure is my laziness. Since there are many directories and I do updates almost every week, I’m very uncomfortable submitting updates regularly. Therefore, I have scored on directories so far. Perhaps I just do not see a worthy alternative to the Android Market. I admit that I will return to the topic of directories later.

    6. Have you worked with any of the advertising networks such as Tapjoy.com, Mdotm.com, Smaato.com? I mean, as an advertiser. By impressions? By downloads?

    As an advertiser, I mainly worked with AdMob and Mobclix . Contextual budgets were not very large, so it is difficult to compare objectively. According to my feelings, there is one instal for a free application for 10 clicks. Again, much depends on the content of the advertisement, description of the application and screenshots.

    7. Have you placed ads on Google contextual advertising?

    I often advertise apps with AdMob, $ 200 dollars diverge within 6-7 hours. According to my statistics, one click is 237 impressions (not the best indicator), for $ 200 you can get about 5000-10000 clicks and, according to my feelings, 500-1000 downloads. Maybe I'm wrong in the calculations.

    8. A similar question on the same grids - with whom is it better to work to display someone else’s ads at home, why.

    As an ad seller , I ’ve worked closely with AdMob , Quattro Wirelless, and Mobclix . Now I mainly use Mobclix. To date, an average of 600-700 thousand impressions per day is generated for my most popular program. It should be noted that if the program is popular, then the advertising network does not always have enough advertising in order to serve all the requests of the application. If this happens, then you can lose up to 90% of your income. For such cases, there are solutions that allow you to ensure that the application is filled up with advertising by automatically replacing advertising networks based on the availability of ads. Today I know 2 solutions that allow you to do this automatically - AdMob + AdWirl and Mobclix . I like Mobclix more , because Mobclixcollects money from all advertising networks, accumulates it at home and makes one payment to the developer from all networks. In the case of AdWirl , each ad network needs to receive money separately. The advantages of Mobclix include the ability to use AdMob as an alternative.

    Outro

    At the end of 2010, I was convinced that developing for Android is not only interesting, but also profitable. On the advertising model, you can earn and pretty good. There are many free niches in the Android Market that you can and should take.

    I am sure that there are quite a few ways to promote your software for Android. The main thing is not to be afraid to experiment! In no case do not get upset if something does not work out and never stop.

    Thanks. I would be very happy for your comments.

    UPD In the comments for collecting statistics, applications are advised to use Flurry or Google Analytics for Android

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