游戏邦注：本文原作者是2D手机休闲游戏开发及销售解决方案供应商MoMinis市场销售经理Ora Weissenstern，她针对手机游戏在Android Market的销售问题，提出了自己的一些建议。

谷歌Android Market最近推出了自己的应用内置计费系统，支持开发者提供应用内置付费功能，虽然这对所有Android应用和游戏开发者来说是一个巨大的进步，但实际上，开发者在入驻这个平台之前还是应该考虑到Android Market存在的一些问题：

Android Market

1.繁琐的计费流程

Android Market有许多应用程序均属于免费产品，多数游戏提供免费下载服务（游戏邦注：其下载量超过了25万次）。

该平台多数游戏为免费产品的一大原因在于，谷歌的应用计费服务并不到位。而苹果的做法则与此不同，它将iPhone用户的信用卡帐号与iTunes帐号绑定，支持用户实现一键式的支付操作。Android用户使用的是自己的Google帐号，他们在注册时并不需要提供Google Checkout或信用卡信息。iPhone的成功得益于两个主要因素：其一是苹果要求iPhone用户首次激活手机时需输入信用卡信息，而且多数用户都执行了这种操作。其二与iTunes商店有关，早在iPhone登台之前，iTunes就已经拥有大量注册用户，所以苹果很容易凭借这一优势，让iPhone用户轻松下载手机游戏。

但Android用户如果打算购买一款游戏，就得输入自己的信用卡信息，这意味着他们在执行付费操作时得随身携带信用卡，其繁琐的支付流程也大大降低了付费用户的转化率。这也正是开发者不得不在Android Market免费供应游戏、应用的原因之一。

2.平台分裂性问题

angry-birds-android

由于许多设备制造商都采用了Android操作系统，平台分裂性就成了Android的一个老大难问题，这种现象在《愤怒的小鸟》首次登陆Android平台时的表现最为明显。

不仅开发者苦不堪言，Android用户也常常为此大为伤神，因为这种分裂性问题会让他们无从判断哪款手机设备才是最理想选择。

《愤怒的小鸟》在多个Android手机设备上无法正常运行的问题引起用户不快后，该游戏开发商Rovio只好在一个月后另外再开发了一个独立而轻量型的游戏版本，以期解决这个分裂性问题。但这样并不能彻底解决问题，用户还是得费劲打听自己的手机该安装哪个版本的游戏。

对开发者来说，谷歌区分了智能手机与平板电脑的Android操作系统后，更进一步恶化了该平台的分裂性问题。据Pocket-lint报道，谷歌将针对可运行Android 3.0版游戏的智能手机设备发布一个中级版的Android操作系统，这样最终只会加剧Android操作系统的分裂性。

3.应用检索问题

android_market_search

尽管用户可以通过不同分类搜索应用内容，但谷歌Android Market仍然缺乏人性化的应用检索服务。如果用户在广泛搜索中输入特定游戏或开发商名称，该系统不会显示明确的搜索结果。例如，输入“愤怒的小鸟”这个关键词，用户很可能会发现搜索结果中充斥着大量与之相关的壁纸、山寨版应用以及大量垃圾应用。很显然，这种检索服务并不能创造最佳用户体验，同时也为用户带来了另一种不便。

4.缺乏市场营销工具

Android Market缺乏伙伴计划、折扣券等为开发者提供的市场营销和推广工具，而GetJar等第三方应用商店却推出了多种支持开发者推广游戏的服务，从这一点上看，开发者在Android Market平台上几乎没有可行的推广策略。

5.销售渠道的局限性

开发者过去仅可在Android Market所支持的特定地区销售游戏，去年底谷歌又扩大了这些地区的名单，添加了香港、巴西和其他16个地区及国家。但目前为止，该平台开发者仍仅可在29个国家中销售游戏。

6.应用退款政策

谷歌的应用退款政策也是Android Market的一大问题，该平台原先支持用户在24小时内无条件退款，结果出现了大量用户在一天内下载游戏后又将其退回的现象。虽然谷歌已在不久前将退款的时间限制在15分钟内，但旧的退款政策所带来的影响已经难以磨灭，其危害在于它培养了Android Market用户的退款消费习惯。

相关解决方案

那么开发者如何克服Android Market的存在问题呢？如果能将一些解决方案与自己设定的目标相结果，那么开发者就有可能创新运营模式，在该平台顺利创收。

1.推出简装版游戏：开发者可以通过让用户试玩“简装版”游戏（可以是含有限关卡或时间限制的游戏版本），并提供一键式付费操作，诱使他们购买完整版游戏。这种模式（先试玩后付费）在PC游戏市场也十分奏效，只要开发者推出的这个简装版游戏足够令人上瘾，那么用户就会沉迷其中，然后就会自觉掏钱下载完整版游戏。

2.提供虚拟商品：开发者可选择在游戏中植入虚拟商品以增加用户体验，例如添加独特的武器、非凡的力量和游戏的额外内容等。一般来说，用户如果真的喜欢一款游戏，他们就会愿意为游戏功能付费以增加自己的成就感和满足感。所以开发者应设计好一款完整的游戏，然后再其中添加一些富有吸引力的额外付费功能。

3.手机游戏广告：开发者还应善于利用手机游戏广告，这里有两种可选择的游戏广告形式：

*广告赞助：它们会在用户玩游戏过程中展示或播放广告。虽然这种广告模式也受到了质疑，但人们还是无法忽视它所取得的巨大成功。《愤怒的小鸟》在2010年12月就通过这种广告模式创收100万美元。

*品牌/产品植入广告游戏：这类广告游戏一般是针对特定产品或品牌而设计，最为典型的例子是《Fishlabs》，它的主要作用是推广大众途锐汽车，在iPhone平台收获了上千万的下载量。虽然这种模式利润更为可观，但也更有风险和挑战性——开发者只有受到广告主“委托”才能启动项目。所以这种模式并不具有太多扩展性，而且仅适用于一小撮开发者。

考虑第三方应用商店

开发者其实还可以选择其他Android应用商店，这其中就包括亚马逊Appstore、GetJar、MobiHand、SlideMe等不断发展的新晋应用商店，它们推出的特色服务可支持开发者推广游戏，创造品牌知名度。这些第三方应用商店还提供多种计费模式和支付选项（例如PayPal），所以开发者可权衡这些应用商店的优劣，根据自己的运营计划做出选择。虽然Android Market确实在不断进步，但开发者仍需挖掘多个销售平台的市场潜力，才能让自己的辛勤劳动获得最大回报。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

Why in-app billing doesn’t solve all of Android Market’s problems

Google’s recent launch of in-app billing in the Android Market gives app developers a way to make more money by letting them sell digital content within their applications. It’s a great improvement for game and app developers looking to do business on the Android platform. But before you commit, you should be aware of a number of challenges you’ll face in selling apps on the Android Market.

1. Cumbersome Check-Out Process: Most of the applications and games in Google’s Android Market are free, and the majority of games that are downloaded in large quantities (more than 250,000 times) are free.

One of the main reasons games are free is Google’s inefficient check-out process. Contrary to iPhone users, who have a credit card correlated with their iTunes account that allows one-click purchasing, Android users use their Google account, which does not require that they sign up for Google checkout or provide their credit card information. iPhone’s success can be attributed to two main factors. The first is that iPhone users are requested to enter their credit card information when first activating their phone, and majority of users do so. The second has to do with the iTunes store, which had millions of registered users prior to the iPhone launch. It was a small leap for Apple to get their existing users to download games for their iPhone.

But Android users are only prompted to provide their credit card information after choosing to buy a game. The fact that users need to haul out their credit cards at this stage, combined with a cumbersome purchase flow, lowers the conversion of paid games and applications. Consequently developers have to “sell” their games for free in Google’s Android market.

2. Device Fragmentation: With so many device manufacturers adapting the Android OS to their specific devices, fragmentation of the OS has become a problem. The issue of fragmentation reared its ugly head with Angry Birds’ Android first release and, according to the latest reports, it’s here to stay.

Do not be mistaken, fragmentation is not only the developer’s problem. It can also be confusing (and frustrating) for users who need to figure out which flavor will work on their device and can be flustered at the multitude of choices.

Angry Birds users reported performance problems with several Android devices. As a result, just one month after the game’s successful launch, Angry Birds maker Rovio developed a separate, lighter version of the game in an attempt to resolve fragmentation issues. Even then, though, users need to figure out which version to install on their device.

As for developers, the plot thickens as Google separates smartphone and tablet OSes. A report from Pocket-lint suggests that Google will release a mid-way version of Android for smartphones that can run some Android 3.0 (“Honeycomb”) games on phones, which could ultimately result in a split of the Android OS.

3. Search Limitations: Despite the fact that users can search for content using various “categories”, searching for content in the Google Android Market can get somewhat confusing. When users search for a specific game or developer in the general search, the results aren’t displayed in the clearest way. For instance, a simple search for “Angry Birds” is likely to flood your screen with wallpaper collections, unofficial rip-offs, and plain old spam applications. Needless to say, this does not create the best user experience and presents another hurdle for users within the Google Android Market.

4. Lack of Marketing Tools: The Android Market lacks in marketing and promotional tools for developers, such as affiliate programs, coupons and more. Whereas third-party app marketplace GetJar lets developers promote free games in various ways such as paid promotions and affiliate programs, the Android Market presents developers with close to no options for marketing and promotion.

5. Limited Distribution: In the past, developers who wished to sell their games to users were limited geographically to a certain amount of countries that the Android Market supports. Google only added prominent regions such as Hong Kong, Brazil and 16 others towards the end of 2010. To date, developers can only sell their games in 29 countries.

6. Google’s Return Policy: To makes things even more complicated, Google’s has a problematic game return policy. Google initially allowed users to buy games and return them within 24 hours.

Users, therefore, downloaded games, played them for one day and then were refunded for these games. Google recently updated this to 15 minutes, but the old policy might have created a misleading perception of the Google Android Market and the way users consume games and applications.

A Few Solutions

So how do you overcome these Android Market challenges? The trick is to combine a few solutions and adjust them to your specific goals. Developers are advised to be creative from a marketing perspective and make use of alternative business models in their monetizing efforts.

1. Lite Version of Games. Developers can allow users to play a “lite version” of their game apps (either based on the amount of levels or a time limited game) and buy the full version with a

click of a button, easing the way users are required to purchase games today. Besides the fact that this is the most successful and popular model in the PC games market (“Try before you buy”), it also makes sense. If developers succeed in creating a cool, beautiful and addictive lite version of their games, users will hopefully become addicted, which will encourage them to purchase the full version of the game.

2. Virtual Goods. By the same token, developers can choose to include virtual goods in their games to support or enhance the user experience. Examples include unique weapons, extraordinary powers, and additional chapters in game apps. In general, users who enjoy a game are more likely to spend money on features that improve their achievements, increase their success and level of satisfaction. This is accomplished by designing a game that is complete on its own but can be enhanced with small additions.

3. Mobile Games Ads. Developers can also make use of mobile games ads. There are two main kinds of ads related to games.

* Ads: These are ads that are displayed to users while playing games. Despite the criticism of this business model, it has shown great success and is expected to continue to do so in the future.

Rovio’s Angry Birds generated net revenues of $1 million per month from ads alone in December 2010.

* Branded/Product Placement Games: These games are designed to promote a specific product or brand. A most noted example is the Fishlabs game, which was designed to promote Volkswagen Touareg. This game was downloaded by millions of iPhone users. While this model is considered to be more lucrative, it is also more challenging to carry out for the simple reason that you need to put the cart before the horse — ie, you need to be “commissioned” to develop such a game before you start the development process. So this model isn’t always scalable and will only work for a minority of developers.

Don’t Forget Third-Party App Stores

Developers who have already developed Android games should also consider other app-stores in the market, which are steadily growing, including Amazon, GetJar, MobiHand, SlideMe, and more that allow developers to distribute their games, promote them and create brand awareness. These stores allow various pricing models and billing methods (like PayPal). You’ll want to study the requirements and limitations of these stores and weigh the pros and cons of each before launching your apps there. While the Google Android Market is slowly adding assets for profitability, developers should definitely tap into the many distribution channels in order to reap rewards from their hard work.（source:venturebeat）