Visibility on Google Play

Hey folks

I would like to know what could cause problems with the visibility on Google Play. Supposed that the manifest created by Unity is right and filtering works correct.

My game Rolling (com.MKLab.Rolling) is not listed anywhere. The only way to find it, you need to search for the name.
If someone has the same problem or even solution or nice tip please post here.

--Jack

 

Many reasons
* No lite/up-purchase version, only paid. Most people don't pay without testing before. One solution is, make two games a lite demo for showcase and one paid one with full features. Most likely you won't be able to take over the progress so its bad. A free version with upsale (in-app purchase to unlock full features) is better
* Android Market/Google Play rankings only update once per day
* Only the top 500 games are displayed in the category listings (Top 500 free <category> apps, Top 500 paid <category> app, Top 500 grossing <category>, Top 500 new <category> free apps, Top 500 new <category> paid apps)

In order to appear in the top 500 listings you game needs to be successful (downloads, ratings, activities are counted in). In the "Top 500 new xxx" categories only apps which are younger than 30 days will appear. After that they won't appear in this listings anymore.

You must have at least some kind of marketing (free or paid doesn't matter that much) if you want to get successful on Android (same applies for iOS too i guess). Simply making a game and uploading and waiting for the money to roll probably won't bring you any revenue. The real work begins after you release the game, and all the marketing around it

 

What is the best possibility for that? How does`t it work ingame, give it a tool for that?

 

Since my game is not 30 days old, it should appear in the "Top 500 new xxx", I think. Correct me if I´m wrong.

 

Hi,

When selling anything in this world advertisment is really what sells things unless you already have a huge reputation in the industry that you sell from.

Tseng was correct in saying you "need" to have a strategy. Just being in the top 500 for a little bit is not going to really help you sell anything. People that make good money with mobile applications find a way to add social and community factors to their game/application.

Mike

 

It can appear there, if it's better rated than the 500 other games. If not, it won't. The New categories are not a guarantee to appear there.

Yes, and most part of this must be considered before releasing the game. The Top New Categories in Google Play/Android Market can be very powerful in bosting your games popularity. Depending on category if you manage to get in the top 100, it's almost ensured that you will make ~500+ downloads/day (at least on Free games) only due to the visibility.

But in order to appear (and climb up) on the Top New category, work is required. There are certain optimizations that can be done to increase your visibility in the market, then you need (optionally) some kind of review on some of the major Andorid Game Review sites. This will boost the downloads for some time and throwing you up on the Top 100 New listings. If you manage to get in the Top 50, you will have enough downloads to appear in the "Top Free/Paid" categories and climb up there.

Of course one way to do is buy advertisement, even though that's quite risky for small developers. You will easily waste 1000$ worth of clicks within a day or two without getting to many downloads. So if you go the advertising route, you must spend much money, which is impossible for small indie devs.
There is enough posts on the internet from people who used AdMob for example with 100$ budget and it got used up in 1-2 hours and they only go 10-20 downloads from it. In order for such advertisement to be effective (to catapult your game high enough in the Top Rankings that the popularity gets enough downloads for you), you must invest 10.000-10.000$ in advertising.

That's also one of the big downsides from Android Market/Google Play. The games with high explore (i.e. Top Free 25 Action Arcade) get so many exposure and downloads (100.000+) only because they are in the Top25. That's why many big companies invest up to 500.000$ to get their game in Top 25. Because once it's there, it's self-advertising itself, which in turn helps them to stay at the top.

But there are also free marketing options, even though they are less effective but still worth. The first 30 days of a newly released game are most important on Google Play, because if you climb up quickly enough to the Top 100 you will see many downloads which will give you a good boost.

 

With every Android game launch we have bought $100 worth of ads on http://www.appbrain.com/ - not sure how much it helps, but each game has made it into the New Top 10.