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
