Google play, rating your own app. - General Marketing & SEO

if i have an android phone, am i allowed to download and rate my own apps? or is this against google play policy?
Ive searched around and cant find any solid answer.
the reason i am asking is because if i upload a new app and give a 5 star rating, it will drastically increase its visibility in the Google play store.
anyone have any experience with this? because i do not want to risk getting my dev account suspended for something as stupid as a couple of 5 star ratings (multiple apps).

This is a good question, why not create a new Google account, and rate your app?
What is the name of your app? I can rate it for you.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

TheGTS said:
This is a good question, why not create a new Google account, and rate your app?
What is the name of your app? I can rate it for you.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe that rating your app from a different account is not very honest, but you can do it. But you have to install the app and Google has a way of detecting fake reviews (e.g. coming from a combination of same device/same IP address).
Also a completely different story is rating your app from your dev. account - I believe it is possible because you have the app INSTALLED, but I did not have the guts to click on the review icon

To be honest one review will not affect anything...usually reviews are taken seriously with couple thousand downloads on the app.. at which point your own review wouldnt even matter...

AppDevProject said:
To be honest one review will not affect anything...usually reviews are taken seriously with couple thousand downloads on the app.. at which point your own review wouldnt even matter...
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Well, good ratings are one of the factors which place your app at the top of the search results. If your rating was the first one, it could have a serious impact. But asking your friends might be better.

Not sure if it's against policy, but as mentioned above - it's not very honest.
Do you really need to rate your own apps? Are they not good enough or enticing enough to make others rate it legitimately?

Very good points. Get family and friends to rate your app.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app

tomed said:
Not sure if it's against policy, but as mentioned above - it's not very honest.
Do you really need to rate your own apps? Are they not good enough or enticing enough to make others rate it legitimately?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to get some ratings quickly. Especially when you are zero budget indie. Even if you don't appear in Top games/apps it still influences the search rankings. E.g. when I released my game Mr. Dandelion, I ranked so low, I had to scroll down very far. Searching for "Dandelion game" I was ranked as 21. I managed to get some friends, family and fellow Indie developers to rate it and it bumped me to place 10. Now my goal is to appear on the first page after searching for "Dandelion". Unfortunately there's a million live wallpapers about dandelions

Are politicians allowed to vote for themselves? Of course! Rating your own app isn't that dishonest and won't have a real impact. Creating more accounts to rate your app is definitely dishonest (and probably doesn't pay off anyway). Writing reviews for your own app without disclosing that you made the app is shady imho.

gummihaf said:
Are politicians allowed to vote for themselves? Of course! Rating your own app isn't that dishonest and won't have a real impact. Creating more accounts to rate your app is definitely dishonest (and probably doesn't pay off anyway). Writing reviews for your own app without disclosing that you made the app is shady imho.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And since when are politicians honest :laugh:

kulisgames said:
And since when are politicians honest :laugh:
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Click to collapse
Touché! :good:

Personally, I've only gone as far as +1 and sharing my own app. Like others have said previously, in the long run, rating your own app won't have a major impact increasing visibility, but you SHOULD encourage your friends/users to rate it so it begins to be noticed by Google's search algorithm.

I just reread Google's Developer Distribution Agreement[1] and Developer Content Policy[2] and found the two places where they mention app ratings.
Neither of the terms say a developer can't rate their own apps. But, I have more to say after the quotes...
In the Developer Distribution Agreement:
"4.9 Product Ratings. The Market will allow users to rate Products. Only users who download the applicable Product will be able to rate it. Product ratings will be used to determine the placement of Products on the Market with higher rated Products generally given better placement, subject to Google's ability to change placement at Google's sole discretion. The Market may also assign you a composite score for any Product that has not received user ratings. A Developer Composite Score will be a representation of the quality of your Product based on your history and will be determined at Google's sole discretion. For new Developers without Product history, Google may use or publish performance measurements such as uninstall and/or refund rates to identify or remove Products that are not meeting acceptable standards, as determined by Google. Google reserves the right to display Products to users in a manner that will be determined at Google's sole discretion."
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In the Developer Content Policy:
"Developers must not attempt to change the placement of any Product in the Store, or manipulate any product ratings or reviews, by unauthorized means such as fraudulent installs, paid or fake reviews or ratings, or by offering incentives to rate products."
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Click to collapse
I take it from these two policies that is is okay for you to rate and review your own app. But, creating a new account, then installing the app to rate it would be considered a fraudulent install. So, don't do that. There are many websites (and spam emails I get every week) that break these policies and if you use any of them, then you are risking your development account and apps.
Another note: You can not buy your own apps from Google Play, therefore you can not rate or review your own paid apps either. The error message you will get when trying to buy your own app is "Your order was cancelled because you can't buy from yourself."
Though, personally, I have never rated any of my apps. And, I don't ask my closest friends to rate all my apps, just in case Google is trying to link accounts together (they do have the ability).
Your best bet is to create apps that people truly want. I have an app in the market now with over 100k installs without doing any real marketing. I guess people just like it that much. Though, I do believe in my app, and if I actually advertised it, then I could probably get 2-10x more daily installs.
(As a new user with less than 10 posts, I can't post outside links yet.)
[1]
Code:
play.google.com/about/developer-distribution-agreement .html
[2]
Code:
play.google.com/about/developer-content-policy .html

I am a new developer and this is quite informative. I want to ask the other way. If someone is intentionally giving bad rating to your app, how do u track it? If there is no "Google +" account who has rated the app, it will say "A google user" only.

reachal said:
I am a new developer and this is quite informative. I want to ask the other way. If someone is intentionally giving bad rating to your app, how do u track it? If there is no "Google +" account who has rated the app, it will say "A google user" only.
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Click to collapse
If the comment is obviously mean and unhelpful you could try to report it to Google and hope for the best.
I usually respond to the comment on the console. Users don't mind bad comments as long as we take actions.

rmyb said:
If the comment is obviously mean and unhelpful you could try to report it to Google and hope for the best.
I usually respond to the comment on the console. Users don't mind bad comments as long as we take actions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But then, when you have unhelpful comments, reply to them in the console, report them to Google after not getting any response, and then nothing happens, you know you just have to live with them.
On OP's topic, I have reviewed my own app, as I think it is very good at what it does, so I want to support it with my vote. Is that not a fair review?

danialgoodwin said:
Another note: You can not buy your own apps from Google Play, therefore you can not rate or review your own paid apps either. The error message you will get when trying to buy your own app is "Your order was cancelled because you can't buy from yourself."
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Click to collapse
I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to add some relevant information here for future viewers, considering I found this post and used it for information too. While you can't buy your own apps, you can create a promotion in the developer console, and use a promo code to give the app to yourself. I've done this for my own apps, and it worked successfully.

Nothing wrong with giving your app a decent first rating to kick things off. Remember that reviews and ratings are a useful tool to find out what people like or dislike about your app, and often offer guidance on how to improve it. Read it, digest it, and let the guys giving feedback know that you're doing something about it.

Related

[Q] how does admob pay you?

I am wondering how admob pays developers. I have set up a merchant account and have been selling apps for a couple of weeks now, but how exactly does admob give you money from ad revenue? Do they use your banking info from the merchant account on google check out, or do they do it another way?
AdMob writes checks and supports PayPal. I personally do PayPal.
They pay on a net "40" schedule, which means December's earnings will be "processed" on February 10th and sent around the 15th.
I can definitely recommend AdMob as a Publisher. Click through rates are outstanding and I am very happy with the profits that I have gotten from AdMob. Just don't ask users to click Ads for any reason.
thanks, any tips on increasing revenue? I just launched an ad based game today but I've only made like 22 cents so far
This is probably a dumb idea but put it somewhere people would accidentally hit a lot.
hyperbyteX said:
thanks, any tips on increasing revenue? I just launched an ad based game today but I've only made like 22 cents so far
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my Incredible using XDA App
Gahh Its Lee said:
This is probably a dumb idea but put it somewhere people would accidentally hit a lot.
Sent from my Incredible using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please don't do this. First off you risk being banned, second off it's click fraud and in the end hurts AdMob, Android and Mobile as a whole. Developers advertise on AdMob. If some advertiser pays AdMob, then gets a bunch of click fraud clicks, that aren't going to put any more money into AdMob. Which puts AdMob down money. Which means they can put out less money to the publishers.
@Anderdroid - how successful are your ads that you get, if you dont mind me asking (e.g., how many impressions, click rates, etc do your apps usually get) and is it one main app or balanced between several?
Sorry about that... Every thing iI've seen with admob always has ads where I hit them by mistake so I figured that was the general idea. Also I felt bad so I decided to bump with this post.
Anderdroid said:
Please don't do this. First off you risk being banned, second off it's click fraud and in the end hurts AdMob, Android and Mobile as a whole. Developers advertise on AdMob. If some advertiser pays AdMob, then gets a bunch of click fraud clicks, that aren't going to put any more money into AdMob. Which puts AdMob down money. Which means they can put out less money to the publishers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my Incredible using XDA App
Click fraud? I've never heard of this term b4. wether they click by accident or on purpose they sol end up seeing the ad so imo everyone wins. But I would hardcore cap this fraud...fraud would be doing something like making a click through button where the user thinks he is clicking on ones thing but actually clocks on an ad. Again this its primarily my opinion and I doubt it makes snt diferent in the world lol.
Sent from my Nexus One
Actually, it doesnt really matter if you put ads where people are likely to press them. Admob automatically adjusts how much you earn based on how successful your clicks are. For example, if someone clicks an ad, and actually goes on to buy the product or download the app, admob tracks this. If you have a bunch of clicks where the person immediately hits back, admob will lower your rates to balance this out.
Lakers16 said:
Actually, it doesnt really matter if you put ads where people are likely to press them. Admob automatically adjusts how much you earn based on how successful your clicks are. For example, if someone clicks an ad, and actually goes on to buy the product or download the app, admob tracks this. If you have a bunch of clicks where the person immediately hits back, admob will lower your rates to balance this out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How are you sure about this? I haven't heard anything like this before.
I have read tons of complaints about Advertisers in regards to the quality of clicks on AdMob... So much that I'm even avoiding advertising on it.
Because thats how online advertising has always worked.
If I own a website, and have ads for a product, some places will offer a small percentage of the sale if a person buys something and was navigated there by my website.
Pretty sure this is incorrect in regards to admob.e
Sent from my Nexus One
Admob completely controls how much you make per click. Apps that are more prone to misclicks will see a higher click %, but roughly the same eCPM as apps that keep the ads off to the side.
are there any specific guidelines?
dbroid said:
are there any specific guidelines?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Guidelines for admob here: support.google.com/admob/answer/1307237?hl=en
Guidelines for android+admob here: developer.android.com/training/monetization/ads-and-ux.html
These guidelines are generic enough to be applicable to other ad networks and other platforms
appyhand said:
Guidelines for admob here: support.google.com/admob/answer/1307237?hl=en
Guidelines for android+admob here: developer.android.com/training/monetization/ads-and-ux.html
These guidelines are generic enough to be applicable to other ad networks and other platforms
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, very useful!
Nice. Thanks.

StartApp

Hi,
first of all, if I can convince you to try out StartApp, Mod Edit: Link Removed
» StartApp FAQ
Well then, let's start. As I already announced here, I am currently trying out a new ad network for one of my apps. The network is called "StartApp". And although it is a little bit more intrusive than AdMob and not every user is going to like it, I am, however, already yet pretty satisfied with its results. In just two days I earned now more than $13 - which might not sound like a lot for some of you, but for me it actually it is quite much. Because in comparison to AdMob it's around 20 times more!
But simply look yourself:
» With AdMob banner ads I earned around $10 in the last 30 days.
» And now my StartApp earnings from just the last two days: $13.34.
(Well, of course, that were just two days, we will see, if this will hold on in the future.)
So how does StartApp actually work? Basically, there are two ways to earn money with StartApp.
1st Way: SDK Integration
Regarding of which option you choose (full integration / partial integration), with this way you will earn money for each installation of your app. I will simply quote the FAQ:
Our payment is based on number of app downloads; you get paid for each download generated with our SDK inside. There are 2 integration levels available: Full and Partial. The amount of payment depends on the integration level you choose. For full integration, we pay $0.055 for each new U.S install , $0.01 for each new install from any other country. For partial integration, we pay $0.04 for new U.S installs and $0.008 for new installs from any other country. A new user would be a user who's device does not have the StartApp SDK present. A returning user (with the StartApp SDK on his device) will grant you $0.01 each from the US and $0.005 for all other countries for both full and partial integration.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2nd Way: Popup (Exit) Ads
I will simply quote the blog:
The Exit Ad introduces StartApp developers to the rev share model, providing continuous income and great eCPM, all while keeping the seamless user experience that users expect and value.
The exit ad will display a full screen banner ad when the user exits the application, intruding minimally on the user experience of your app. When the user clicks the back button or the home button on their device to exit the application, they are presented with an ad that leads to a mobile website or a free app download when clicked. If they click “Not Now” the app will exit as normal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please note that you can also add those popup ads to other points of your app, e.g. "natural breaking points" (like a user saves a file or loads a game level and while the file is being saved or the game level is loaded, he cannot do anything anyway - so why not showing him a popup add now?).
(3rd Way: Referral Program)
You'll get $10, for the first 100 downloads a developer who was referred by you makes. The referred developer himself gets a bonus of $25 if he crosses this 100 downloads (that bonus is only for those being referred!). And afterwards, it even goes on: For every other of the following download-levels being crossed by the referred developer, you’ll get an extra payment:
- At 1,000 downloads + $25
- At 10,000 downloads +150
- At 100,000 downloads +$500
- At 1,000,000 downloads +$1,500
So summing it all up, you can make up to $2,185 for each referred developer. Therefore here again my appeal to you: Mod Edit: Link Removed Give it a try. It's a win-win-situation.
» StartApp FAQ
» Register now
(ATTACHEMENTS: SCREENSHOTS)
It sounds good, but the way they seem to work it is super intrusive.
http://www.startapp.com/faq/
How does it actually work?
We will supply you a SDK (including a step by step implementation guide). Integrating our product takes about 3 minutes! Once implemented, update your app on the market and add our disclaimer text to your app description. We are very focused on maintaining transparency, so it's highly important you let your users know about us. Your user will then get a search icon on his home screen, a bookmark link and a browser home page, all directing to our web search URL.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'd rather see ads, than have an app change my browser start page and add search icons.
Plus the permissions are kind of rough. System tools and read messages are hard for most people to accept.
Well, yes and no. You can decide to offer the user a clean app without any ads, but instead you include this shortcuts and bookmarks installation procedure. The user can easily decline this dialog (I think he has to do it 3 or 4 times until it stops appearing anymore):
In my opinion, this dialog is quite transparent and clear to the user. If he (accidently or deliberately) chose to accept this dialog, he can afterwards easily delete the bookmarks and shortcuts (drag to the trash or delete the link for the browser). After all, your users are going to have a completely ad-free app. In my opinion it is not that intrusive, since StartApp does not "settle into the system" or something.
You can also choose to only use those exit-popup-ads. I cannot say how much you can earn with them yet and if it is really more than with AdMob. But you can give it a try, especially they could be useful while loading a game level or saving a file or something (as explained above). The user might be more willing to look at those ads if he cannot do anything else at the moment anyway. That might be a cleaner solution than those AdMob ads, on which the user clicks accidently while playing a game, because the controls are next to the banner or something.
Concerning the permissions, here you can find an explanation. What do you mean by "read messages"? There is no permission needed to read SMS or something.
Personally, I decided to give StartApp a try, because AdMob's eCPM was somehow unexpectedly low (much lower than for other apps from me). Also, many, many stupid people installed my app (which is for ROOTED PHONES ONLY) and rated it negatively because "it does not work ('****', 'crap', '**** you', ...)". I certainly do not have pity on those who cannot even read...
Mod Edit: Link Removed
for the message thing I was going by their "can I see this live" link from the FAQs which goes to
start app quick search https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.startapp.quicksearchbox on the play store.
Is the one they install different from that one? also, system tools does show up in the play store descriptions, so they need to update where they say it doesnt.
Other than that it sounds interesting. The money you are currently getting from them includes the search combo, or is it just the interstitial(Exit) ads?
I like interstitials for some situations. and it seems so far for you they are paying out better than admob.
out of ideas said:
for the message thing I was going by their "can I see this live" link from the FAQs which goes to
start app quick search on the play store.
Is the one they install different from that one? also, system tools does show up in the play store descriptions, so they need to update where they say it doesnt.
Other than that it sounds interesting. The money you are currently getting from them includes the search combo, or is it just the interstitial(Exit) ads?
I like interstitials for some situations. and it seems so far for you they are paying out better than admob.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Out of ideas- Startapp truly has a very non obtrusive solution to monetize your apps and users accept this concept as it is much more friendlier than push notifications or even banners which appear from nowhere anf interrupt the usage of the app. Regarding the quick search you saw from their website it is identical to the one that will appear via the installation of your app. Bear in mind. that as Null0R has mentioned above, Startapp is 100% compliant with Google's policy, meaning the user can choose whether to accept or decline this addition, and it wont affect the installation of your app.
If you need and examples of apps using Startapp's SDK let me know.
Hey,
sorry for the late answer, I was waiting for an answer from StartApp myself.
Other than that it sounds interesting. The money you are currently getting from them includes the search combo, or is it just the interstitial(Exit) ads?
I like interstitials for some situations. and it seems so far for you they are paying out better than admob.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The very main part of the money I currently earn (still always around $8 - $10 per day) from StartApp definitely results from the SDK integration itself (bookmarks, search icon, ...). Currently, I earn only around $0.1 - $0.2 per day from interstitial ads. Thats not really impressive, but it still can concete with AdMob I guess (since my AdMob revenue never was really a lot higher on the same app I think). On the StartApp dashboard it says, my eCPM is $0.16. In AdMob, I always had around $0.07 eCPM. Paradoxically, my AdMob-eCPM raised since I integrated StartApp (I now have those two ad networks in one app). Now it is $0.10.
Like you, I also wanted know how many they actually pay for interstitial ads. The answer, however, was not really that concrete.
The advertisements that are shown on the exit ads earn various amounts due to the different agreements that we have with the advertiser. Depending on what advertisements are shown we help you out by calculating a eCPM for you. You are able to use this to compare the payment amounts between other ad networks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here they also say:
RevShare- StartApp will share a percentage earned from these advertisements with you. Payments are sent every month in a NET30 terms (30 days after the end of the payment period). Your Ecpm is easily visible in portal. The eCPM may change depending on various parameters.
[...]
hitman: do you pay per impression or per click ?
Matthew: We pay eCPM, which allows us to calculate a payment from both pay per impression and pay per click.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What might be interesting for you as well is that StartApp introduced a new type of interstitial ads last thursday: http://blog.startapp.com/3d-ad-latest-ad-type/
for the message thing I was going by their "can I see this live" link from the FAQs which goes to
start app quick search https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...quicksearchbox on the play store.
Is the one they install different from that one? also, system tools does show up in the play store descriptions, so they need to update where they say it doesnt.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think, this permission is not part of the requirements of the StartApp SDK. Rather the app itself needs to read messages, since it is a search app and you can search through your contacts, your messages, your apps and so on with it. At least, this would be my guess. You can check out my app's permission requirements: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.felixheller.sharedprefseditor (writing to sd card, however, is not part of the StartApp requirements).
For those who are being interested, I am willing to share my StartApp stats after one week of usage.
(click to enlarge)
So basically, I earned $56 in a week with StartApp. This really is a lot in my opinion. When I started with AdMob, I needed around 9 months until I reached my first $100 (until my first payout). How it seems like I need around two weeks with StartApp. So this is a quite dramatic improvement, I think, everybody noticed that on his own, huh?
Mod Edit: Link Removed
For me StartApp generates many fake-virus reviews.
ufomstr said:
For me StartApp generates many fake-virus reviews.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Fake-virus reviews"? I don't understand you. How do you mean this?
null0R said:
"Fake-virus reviews"? I don't understand you. How do you mean this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That means that antivirus software (not all, few of them) report StartApp as virus (or adware, depends on app). Then wanna-be-good users that don't understand what's going on posts 1-star reviews that there is virus in your app.
ufomstr said:
That means that antivirus software (not all, few of them) report StartApp as virus (or adware, depends on app). Then wanna-be-good users that don't understand what's going on posts 1-star reviews that there is virus in your app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh yeah, I get stupid comments as well. Few of them stated, that they actually do like the app, but that they do not like the new permissions and thus they won't update. They like the app. They rate it with one star. Logic.
Today I got the first time a "virus-comment" as well. Well, I try to deal with it. I always try to give friendly answers to stupid comments. I try to explain the permissions and why I chose to use something different than AdMob. You should also add StartApp's disclaimer to your app description (you actually have to):
We love creating apps, and want to keep them free forever. In order to keep our development running we are using a search service to generate some revenue from this free app. This app will add a couple search links on your device in the form of an icon, bookmark link and browser homepage. You may delete them easily (drag to the trash or delete the link for the browser), if you choose to use them, thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest, my average rating went a bit down since I included StartApp. But I still get lots of high ratings. Still, many users seem to be satisfied. So am I since I included StartApp. In my opinion, the earnings were definitely worth it until now.
For me it didn't help. I've added description about antivirus, but there are too many idiots that don't read description or are just dumb. Almost all of may 1stars are for virus... I will have to remove startapp.
when startapp release money on august 2013?
Hi,
Paydate of June is 1st August 2013, but today is 2/8/2013 and i still get nothing from Startapp. What's wrong? I'm at GMT+7, Hanoi, Vietnam.
the second question is : my friends, android developer were play startapp, said that their paypal account is loocked when withdraw money from startapp. Any one can confirm about it?
Look forward your answers, thanks!
startapp
9android.net said:
Hi,
Paydate of June is 1st August 2013, but today is 2/8/2013 and i still get nothing from Startapp. What's wrong? I'm at GMT+7, Hanoi, Vietnam.
the second question is : my friends, android developer were play startapp, said that their paypal account is loocked when withdraw money from startapp. Any one can confirm about it?
Look forward your answers, thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey i got an email and said they will paid in 8 aug, so i am waiting for 8 aug to come. i don't have clue about paypal account get locked
I use startapp in my app and yesterday XDA wrote article about my app:
http://www.xda-developers.com/android/easily-backup-your-apps-data-contacts-and-messages/
After few users reoprted my app as virus or malware, article about my app was updated and now it says that my app contains a malware.
If anyone going to be promoted by XDA portal don't use startapp
mane55 said:
I use startapp in my app and yesterday XDA wrote article about my app:
http://www.xda-developers.com/android/easily-backup-your-apps-data-contacts-and-messages/
After few users reoprted my app as virus or malware, article about my app was updated and now it says that my app contains a malware.
If anyone going to be promoted by XDA portal don't use startapp
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or don't use startapp at all...And I guess it wasn't exactly a "few" users...
http://www.xda-developers.com/announcements/xda-and-adware-apps/
mane55 said:
I use startapp in my app and yesterday XDA wrote article about my app:
http://www.xda-developers.com/android/easily-backup-your-apps-data-contacts-and-messages/
After few users reoprted my app as virus or malware, article about my app was updated and now it says that my app contains a malware.
If anyone going to be promoted by XDA portal don't use startapp
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ouch. thats a rough way to lose the "portal bump" and definetly makes it rough to recover from.
I've seen quite a few different apps using startapp being reported as viruses(even if they are not) and nothing kills a good rating faster than that.
Everyone ends up having to makes a bunch of apology follow ups and ends up dumping startapp.
So, not to seem rude or anything, but I don't think this is a good monetization solution for developers.
Well, I have removed startapp from my app. At least now we know that XDA don't allow apps with this kind of ad networks .
It is not a good monetization solution for developers - your app is marked as virus.
I will never use aggressive ads network in the future that mark your app as virus.
Fake virus
null0R said:
"Fake-virus reviews"? I don't understand you. How do you mean this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my case Leadbolt was generating fake-virus reviews. I got tons of bad reviews complaining that my app was infected. However, this happened only to one of my apps.
9android.net said:
Hi,
Paydate of June is 1st August 2013, but today is 2/8/2013 and i still get nothing from Startapp. What's wrong? I'm at GMT+7, Hanoi, Vietnam.
the second question is : my friends, android developer were play startapp, said that their paypal account is loocked when withdraw money from startapp. Any one can confirm about it?
Look forward your answers, thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
I cannot tell you a lot about that yet. International transfers take some time for sure. Today is the 13th August and I still did not receive any earnings, too - neither from StartApp nor from AdMob. But at the moment, that does not seem to be a thing to be worried about in my opinion. Because my first AdMob payout also took about 19 days (19th February). I will simply wait another week and wach out.
Although my referral links were removed (sorry 'bout that, didn't notice that rule and others posted referral links as well on other topics...), I still wanted to share my most recent experiences with you anyways. So here it is.
My earnings are still quite high. I earn about $12-$13 every day with only one app using StartApp. That's cool. I didn't change anything on my apps since I introduced StartApp.
On the other hand, my ratings of this one app are still going down slowly (including some false virus reports as well). That's stupid. But at the moment that's not a big enough reason to cancel this "StartApp experiment" in my opinion. I'll just wait a bit further, I guess. Maybe I could also write the StartApp support and ask them what to do about those virus reports and negative ratings and if they have some tips or something.
null0R said:
My earnings are still quite high. I earn about $12-$13 every day with only one app using StartApp. That's cool. I didn't change anything on my apps since I introduced StartApp.
On the other hand, my ratings of this one app are still going down slowly (including some false virus reports as well). That's stupid. But at the moment that's not a big enough reason to cancel this "StartApp experiment" in my opinion. I'll just wait a bit further, I guess. Maybe I could also write the StartApp support and ask them what to do about those virus reports and negative ratings and if they have some tips or something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey,
I am happy to hear your earnings are still high, there shouldn't be a reason they wont be
Here is what Startapp support answered: " Thank you for letting us know about this feedback from your users about messages from their anti-virus software.
We encountered several AV apps that have mis-flagged our SDK as Adware.
After working with with most of these companies, we now have only Dr. Web, AVG and Norton and a few others that are still flagging us as ad ware.
Our latest SDK offers an opt-in EULA for the end user, giving them the choice to add our search app. This user-friendly approach is a step forward to keeping your users aware and creating a long term business that will keep us and you, the developer, earning for the long run. We take the privacy of you and your users very seriously.
Some developers have also posted a message in their description letting users know that it may be flagged as a virus, but that it is not a virus
I hope this answers your question. If you have any more concerns, please let me know."
In addition, Google chose to present its "Disclosure of Ads to Users" using Startapp's EULA as an example of how to be transparent towards the end user.
Of course this doesn't change all anti viruses diagnostics but it does show that Google finds Startapp solution as very user friendly
Hope this helps

How to increase APP REVIEW???????????

If Any on suggest me.
My app is going better download approx 2000+/day.But compare to review is very low.
Please suggest me how to increase our app review in Google Play Section.
What's the app, read the reviews people are leaving and see if you can do what they are asking.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
My Apps kids educational related app
I had no posted google play store link.
please suggest me how to increase reviews.
sahiloffice said:
My Apps kids educational related app
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.classteacher.main
please suggest me how to increase reviews.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe your low review rate is caused by the fact that an adult person sees your app maybe once and then it's all in the hands of children. You should be glad that your app has so many downloads despite low review count! :good:
You can add something like "Review my app" in the menu of your app.
Uroborus said:
You can add something like "Review my app" in the menu of your app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Are you doing anything to entice people to rate the app?
It's a free app, which probably means it's like a throw away app for most. Unless you get people engaged to rate the app, you probably won't get more than the rate you currently get.
Would you be able to ask parents to provide their email address, and then you could follow up with them a couple of weeks later and ask for a review if they have any comments to share?
After three weeks with my game in the store, I got most of my reviews from the following sources:
1) Friends
2) Fellow developers
- this is probably the most important, because they will write a good review
- good way to get a review is to review somebody's app first and then message them (with some more feedback preferably) - I think I got like 15 reviews this way, works best in smaller communities
Friends and family is like cheating.. i don't do it but i think everyone does
Have you tried push notifications?
richardsd1985 said:
You can increase app review by sending a push message on a particular event to users with request to write a review .Also if your app is a game you can ask for review to unlock next levels.
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Click to collapse
You can use facefook and twitter. Good Luck!!
ursulac85 said:
You can use facefook and twitter. Good Luck!!
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Click to collapse
I tried asking them to put review when my app finished something useful for them.
the best way would be push notification in the app, ask people to review on social netoworks facebook twitter, but the best ones will come from customers
You should engage people in their discussions........
Using Social Networks helps.
If you have good download rate try ask your customers to write review for you, or maybe try to implement that option into your app.
I will give brilliant and honest reviews. If you like please let me know. You know I have some app and reviews with 5 star rating helps me lot to increase my business!!!!:fingers-crossed::fingers-crossed::fingers-crossed:
Lure them
I think one thing you can do is to try and lure the user to write a review. You can do this by giving out bonus features on every review/rating. If yours is an educational app then maybe certain features will open up only with a review.
If you develop in Java consider using AppRater script - it gives a very simple way of integrating rate request into your app
Getting reviews.
sahiloffice said:
If Any on suggest me.
My app is going better download approx 2000+/day.But compare to review is very low.
Please suggest me how to increase our app review in Google Play Section.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does your app solicit reviews within itself after being opened a few times. I have a database item that records how many times the app has been opened and prompts the user nicely for a review after the 3rd and 7th time opening the app.
Now my question to you is... HOW did you get 2000+/day downloads? I'm nowhere near that. However I do have about 10 reviews for every 100 installs.
2000 + downloads per day?
Its better then nice.
My apps have near by 100+ downloads per day and I don't know why...

How can I increase downloads

How can I increase downloads on my application without paid promotion? Here is the link https <Remove this space> ://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.random_messenger.android&hl=en
Alexhudson623 said:
Simply just try to offer good and quality apps for users or for website design service[/url] site owners. People do really appreciate good apps. I would like to share an example of the game app Candy crush which is doing just amazing and there are millions of users for this game app for now. And hundred and thousands of downloads have been made. People just love good apps. If you are making great then obviously you'll get liked by every one and the downloads will also increase which is a white hat technique.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? You are saying that just make your game and people will find it if it's good enough? Maybe that was true some years ago, but certainly nowadays it's completely wrong. Optimize your keywords to be shown in relevant searches is one of the keys (ASO), but unfortunately not the only one. Spread the word in alternative channels is also necessary... but it isn't enough neither. Actually, get users without spend tons of dollars in advertising is quite a challenge. I really would like to hear some advices from someone who have experience in this.
By the way, JeanPierreQC, your idea is quite good, but I'm afraid there's many apps which do exactly the same, anyway cool idea, it's a pity you need a lot of users to make it work.
With patience
Unless you get very lucky there is no any simple way to get users fast. The market places are very competitive. Market you apps in social media and internet forums, get all your friends and relatives download your apps. Make many apps that draw users to your other apps. Make so great app that somebody wants to become your partner and does the promotion for you. Simple things like the signature banner below this message can make the difference in the long term.
try to implement the ASO to trigger the app installs
Don't forget that download alone isn't enough. you need the users to be engaged. Having thousands of downloads will not give you higher ranking if everyone simply uninstall it immediately. So be aware from pay per install plan where the users has insensitive to perform the installation. At the end of the day, your app needs to be able to keep the customers with you.
ASO is imho a bit overrated. Having relevant keywords and a nice looking icon and screens, and stuff like that, is simply common sense to me. As long as you have that you have good enough ASO really. ASO isn't some secret trick to get thousands of daily downloads like some people seem to think. There are no secret tricks for that.
To get a lot of download you need to put in A LOT of work, and/or A LOT of money. And have a really good app of course.
Anyway, I good idea that has worked very well for me is localising. If you can't localise your entire app you can at least localise the app description. Adding a few more "big" languages for my app description have almost doubled my downloads, even though the app itself is in english only. It's also cheap as you can get translations for $5 each on fiverr. Sure you won't know how good they are for that little money, but it's basically no money spent and it's probably a lot better than google translate at the very least.
If you are sure that your app is engaging enough for users then try to put as many sharing options as possible within you app like fb,whatapp,twitter. this can boost your downloads.
digibligames said:
Anyway, I good idea that has worked very well for me is localising. If you can't localise your entire app you can at least localise the app description. Adding a few more "big" languages for my app description have almost doubled my downloads, even though the app itself is in english only. It's also cheap as you can get translations for $5 each on fiverr. Sure you won't know how good they are for that little money, but it's basically no money spent and it's probably a lot better than google translate at the very least.
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Click to collapse
Hi,
Pretty interesting and good suggestion.
Could you please share some stats or further experiences about with v.s. without localising
Have you tried PR to push your app?
There's a blog post called "State of App Promotion" that you should check out. Can't post the link because I'm a new user, but just search for "DecisiveAds" on Twitter. It's pinned to the profile. Good luck!
AAP -Android App Promotion
Try AAP - Android App Promotion app on playstore as they provide free download exchange services where you download an app and your app gets downloaded in return .You can see the results in daily reports and take appropriate measure while doing so .
I checked the AAP - The idea is good, but the app has only 1 thousand installs, probably no more than 300 active, that means using this app I can drive maximum 300 installs - not serious promotion. Additionally, it is not clear, how google will consider this way of promotion - legitimate or not? So, taking a risk for few more installs worth?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
Hi,
Insensitive install is quiet good for new app, because google don't care too much about uninstall for the first month of launch. Many big company also use insensitive install. But link building, website review, user review, how often user come back to you app is also really important.
dandev99 said:
Don't forget that download alone isn't enough. you need the users to be engaged. Having thousands of downloads will not give you higher ranking if everyone simply uninstall it immediately. So be aware from pay per install plan where the users has insensitive to perform the installation. At the end of the day, your app needs to be able to keep the customers with you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry but this is so wrong...
Having thousands of VALID downloads will boost your rankings even if 900 of them uninstalled it a day later. I'm writing from experience and not guessing
website promotion
The ultimate goal of search engine promotion is to increase sales. The more people see the site in high positions in the issue, the more people it visits and theoretically can become your customers. In order for a seo to produce results, it is necessary that the site be properly optimized using tools for a technical audit of the site and its analysis on parameters such as links, content and others.

Low budget for marking

Hi all,
I have low budget for the marking of my new game that i will publish soon
I have only $200 , is that amount will effect or i will just spend for nothing ?
and how i can use them ?
Thanks
It would be very easy to throw that money away. It won't do a lot, all told. Focus instead on the app, encouraging people to review it positively, managing bad reviews, building up a good relationship with an initially small number of users so that they'll tell their mates and build your numbers up. Talk to people for whom your app solves a problem. They don't exist? Well, there's your problem and $200 of marketing won't help
Ryan.T.Student said:
It would be very easy to throw that money away. It won't do a lot, all told. Focus instead on the app, encouraging people to review it positively, managing bad reviews, building up a good relationship with an initially small number of users so that they'll tell their mates and build your numbers up. Talk to people for whom your app solves a problem. They don't exist? Well, there's your problem and $200 of marketing won't help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ryan has an important point: actually, adwords, facebook ads, *can* bring some result but at a too much heavy cost. I have tried them and my cost per install was like $5 to $10, for free apps...
Prompting users to review your app in your app works, but do it at moments when they achieve something positive with your app, like attaining a certain level in a game. Building a relationship is a key, i can't agree more to that
$200 is a low budget.
Try first the all free methods we all know are aware off (mailing, asking parents and friends to download and promote the app, posts on forums and so on).
Also try to exchange reviews with other developers (I'm always willing to do it, for instance).
And if your really want to boost the number of downloads of your games in order to look more attractive for users visiting your Google Play page, you can buy incentive installs from tapjoy (0.10 / install will give you up to 2,000 downloads (but I don't think it worth the effort, as vast majority will remove your app right after they get their rewards).
Here are some useful methods to increase downloads for consumer mobile apps:
• Application name-is unique
• Keywords-including related keywords, but be careful - don’t stuff every keyword into your app
• Make Facebook or Twitter page for your app and write story of your game there to attract every users
• Description. Your description is clearly the value of your App
Best of luck in your app business.

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