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应用曝光困难不应怨苹果和谷歌不作为

发布时间:2013-11-29 13:50:53 Tags:,,,,,

作者:Carter Dotson

我经常听到手机开发者痛心疾首地谈论应用检索问题。

让人们找到自己制作的内容是个永恒的挑战。怎么办?普遍的建议是苹果和谷歌必须拿出一些行动。

好吧,这就是症结所在:在应用发现方面,大平台所有者几乎没有做过什么努力,所以在我看来,我们不能再指望他们帮助我们找到解决问题的答案了。

开发者应该开始自己想办法了。

App-discovery(from visionmobile.com)

App-discovery(from visionmobile.com)

不偏袒

值得一提的是,除了营销它们自己的产品,苹果和谷歌也不知道怎么改进游戏检索问题。以支持游戏手柄的游戏营销为例。没有人找得到它们。

如果苹果和谷歌不,或者也许不可能让手柄游戏的发现变得容易,那么他们怎么可能解决各自商店里的“应用曝光难”的问题呢?

想想MOGA和Logitech最近在iOS平台发布的第一款MFi手柄游戏。这些都是昂贵的命题,购买只支持iPhone和iPod touch的控制器的价格高达99.99美元。

购买这些手柄的人都是第一批尝鲜的人——渴望用这些手柄玩游戏的消费者。

但他们是怎么发现它的?在应用商店中搜索关键词如“游戏手柄”、“控制器”和甚至MFi。你会得到什么?一大堆垃圾,有用的信息几乎没有。

部分是因为品牌影响力不够:人们找不到一个可以用于搜索的特定术语。Pangea Software似乎比较聪明,不仅让自家的游戏可兼容,而且保证搜索“游戏手柄”的人肯定找得到他们的游戏。

现在,苹果可以做的是:在应用商店中添加一个兼容手柄的游戏的子栏目,以方便玩家搜索。看起来好像没那么困难。但是,苹果还是没有行动起来。

也许它会的,但是——当你觉得谷歌也应该在它自己的商店里这么做时,也许它不会。

讽刺的是,谷歌本来就是做搜索引擎——使用户从网络的庞大信息池中找到自己想要的内容起家的。它不可能没有办法在那么小的Google Play的中提供相同的服务。

甚至更令人郁闷的是,某些开发者已经说过谷歌可以让支持手柄的游戏更容易被发现。

现在,发现支持手柄的游戏可能是偶然的,也可能是通过第三方如MOGA的应用和社交媒体。但当然,像MOGA这种公司有很大一部分经济收益来源于促销他们自己的手柄游戏。所以他们才愿意下功夫。

确实,这是个问题:方便原则,如果手柄太难吸引消费者,那么就应该让消费容易找到可兼容的内容。

我们也知道,当内容方便搜索时,消费者就会汹涌而来。这就是为什么手机视频越来越火。这就是为什么那么多游戏要做得让玩家容易花钱。

即使不说手机游戏,尽量方便消费者搜索正是Valve推出专用的Steam Machines的原因,如果玩家愿意,他们甚至愿意把电脑与电视连接起来。

现代的成功法则是,迎合懒人。老实说,这条原则也适用于应用发现:开发者帮消费者出他们不必出的力。

然而,残酷的事实是,无论是iOS还是Android,在苹果和谷歌没有在应用曝光方面做出努力的情况下,仍然发展得不错。无论如何,消费者还是下载越来越多的应用。

所以,开发者应该停止抱怨应用曝光难。苹果和谷歌不欠你什么——是你自己选择支持它们的平台的,所以你要自己承担后果。

说到应用发现,开发者真的应该靠自己的努力获得成功了。

找到市场的不等式。学习如何优化应用商店的搜索功能。抓住产品本身的新特征,大肆宣传!在社交媒体上露面,寻找新空间——也许找不到新市场,也许能获得巨大的成功。

利用工具如在线视频。Trinket工作室的Tom Eastman认为,在YouTube上宣传产品,甚至比上《纽约时报》更能拉动销量。

手机游戏本来就是反传统的,所以用全新的手段博眼球也是应该的。如果可能,多花一些时间和资金搞营销。独立开发者似乎特别讨厌营销,但成功离不开营销。

营销不是一个肮脏的词——它是使用创意的工具表达你为什么做你的游戏,它有什么特别这处。这是这个等式的必要部分。

总之,游戏不会自己推销自己,平台所有者也亏欠你。你要自己想办法扭转局势。开始奋斗吧!(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,拒绝任何不保留版权的转载,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

Stateside: It’s time to stop blaming Apple and Google for poor app discovery

by Carter Dotson

The complaint I keep hearing from mobile developers is that discovery is a pain.

Getting people to find the content that they’re making is an eternal challenge, and the suggestion inevitably comes that Apple and Google need to do something about it.

Well, that’s the thing: the major platform holders have shown little effort when it comes to making even basic app discovery a focus, so – in my view – it’s time we stopped looking for them to serve up the answers.

It’s time developers started working on the answers for themselves.

No favours

It’s also worth considering that, besides promoting their buddies, Apple and Google have any idea how to improve game discovery anyway. Look at what’s happening with the promotion of games that support gamepads. No-one can find them.

If Apple and Google won’t – or, perhaps, can’t – make discovery of gamepad games easy, then what’s to say they would be able to solve the problem of discovering good content on their respective stores?

Consider the recent launch of the first MFi gamepads on iOS from MOGA and Logitech. These are both expensive propositions, requiring a steep $99.99 entry fee to buy a controller that only supports iPhone and iPod touch devices.

The people that buy these gamepads are early adopters – consumers that will have a craving for content to play with these gamepads.

But how are they to find it? Search for terms like ‘gamepad’, ‘controller’, and even MFi on the App Store. What do you get? A lot of junk results, and few results for actual games that support them.

Part of it is the lack of solid branding: there’s no one specific term that people can search for, no. Pangea Software seems to have been smart, not only making their games compatible but making sure that people who search for ‘gamepad’ can find their games.

Now, what Apple could do is this: it could launch a subcategory on the App Store that features compatible gamepad, making them far easier to discover. Seems like it wouldn’t be that hard. But yet,

Apple hasn’t done it.

Maybe it will, but – when you consider Google hasn’t made any such move on its own store yet – maybe it won’t.

Searching for a hero

The irony is, Google has built its empire on the back of search – of enabling users to find content they want from the vast pool of information that is the inernet. Yet, it can’t seem to offer the same service on the comparatively small Google Play.

Even more frustrating is the fatc that I’ve talked to developers who have said that Google could make games discoverable by gamepad support.

Right now, discovering games with gamepad support is either accidental, or through a third-party like MOGA’s app and social media efforts. But of course, firms such as MOGA have a vested financial interest in promoting gamepad games that serve their respective products. That’s why they do it.

And really, that’s the problem: convenience rules, and if gamepads are to gain traction with consumers, it has to be as easy as possible to find compatible content.

We also know what happens when you do make searching for content convenient – consumers jump on boatd. It’s why mobile video watching is on the rise. It’s why so many games try to make it easy for people to spend money without making them jump through hoops.

Even outside of mobile, the power of making things as convenient for the consumer as possible is why Valve is producing dedicated Steam Machines even though, if gamers wanted, they could already plug their PCs into their TVs.

Success in modern times is about pandering to laziness, to be frank, and that’s also the key to app discovery: putting in effort so that customers don’t have to.

I owe you nothing

The hard truth, however, is that both iOS and Android are doing fine without Apple and Google making the effort to ensure that relevant and quality content is pushed out to consumers – consumers are downloading more and more apps anyway.

So, it’s time for developers to stop moaning about app discovery. Apple and Google don’t owe you anything – it was your choice to support their platforms, and so it’s your job to make sure that decision was a worthwhile one.

When it comes to discovery, it’s time to start bootstrapping.

Find the market inequalities. Learn basic SEO for the stores. Take advantage of new features first, and make a fuss about it! Have a presence on social media. Try to take advantage of new spaces – maybe they won’t pan out with new customers, but maybe one notable success will be worth it.

Utilise tools such as online video. Tom Eastman of Trinket Studios claims that featuring in this YouTube video boosted sales more than getting featured in the New York Times.

Mobile gaming is unconventional at its core, so start experimenting with finding new ways to get more eyeballs on games. Set aside more time and money if possible for marketing efforts. Indies especially seem to hate marketing whenever I talk to them, but marketing stems from within.

Marketing isn’t a dirty, grubby word – it’s using creative tools to express why you made your game in the first place and what makes it special. It’s a necessary part of the equation.

On the whole, games don’t sell themselves, and the platform holders do not owe you a favour. It’s your job to turn the tide. Start fighting as hard as possible.(source:pocketgamer)


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