How to make money on Android

freshfish

Hey all,
Publishing on the Android store (google or Amazon) for free limits your revenue sources.
a) Kiip only seems to work with North American clients
b) Playerhaven only works with iOS

So, I thought about creating my own splash page that would link to some affiliate link like the Linkshare for iOS...

Does anyone know any such program that would give us a few cents to link to paid or unpaid apps that wouldnt require an API?

Thanks

youngster9

Currently there is no monetization methods for android as far as I know. So I would make a game that is good enough to be paid for otherwise you will need to port it to iOS. Also unless you are a pro member there are no special monetization methods other than making a paid app.

youngster9

LiquidGameworks

Yes, the Android market sucks, and without admob, it is hard to target it. However, you're forgetting two excellent Android based markets for which there are still eager buyers. Amazon and Nook. Both those stores are excellent places to sell apps.

Janitro

Hello guys, I just wanted to let you know that making money in Android is possible. I've been doing some research about how it can be done and with all that knowledge (gathered from all kind of sources) I wrote a guide with all the steps needed to make money with Android. You can check it out in my site: http://www.getintoandroid.com/makemoney Cheers!

GLGAMES

Regarding amazon app store, anyone encounters after putting a lite version n paid version of the same app, and then changing the paid to free. There's no download to the full free version at all but instead all downloads continues on free lite version?? i tried to stop lite version from sales but it just keeps getting downloads instead ....

nickbuakaew

i was wondering, how do i make money with my free app for android?

nickbuakaew

yes i am a pro-member. i put my game for $.99 for a week already, but nobody bought it yet.
i'm getting nervous. any suggestion on how to sell android app???

tenrdrmer

Im not 100% sure but I think Kiip works on Android as well. so that is a possible way to monetize your free app. http://forums.gamesalad.com/discussion/40985/question-about-kiip-across-multiple-platforms#Item_4

But honestly the nook and fire seem to be the best android options.

freshfish

Thanks for your comments but as a newbie to the field I was I was honestly looking for actual help and not a satirical response. Although, I do agree with you that a good enough game will be paid for.

But...
a) From what I understood the Android market is not as easy to charge for since there is no iTunes-like setup. So I believe that many people look to use ads to monetize. Is Penguin Glide on the Android market?
b) I also didn't realize that ads were considered gimmicks. It is a viable method of monetization just like lite versions of games with IAP to unlock full game.

Does anyone else have any suggestions for the Android Market?

freshfish

Yes Kiip works for Android but only for North America which alienates the rest of the world. I posted something similar earlier to see if there was a roundabout way of creating your own ads (like using linkshare links on the iOS store) but couldnt find anything yet.

freshfish

Yes I have been eying the nook/kindle market but for alot of international markets I think ads are the only way to get some money out of apps that are geared to those markets.

Interesting point: I put up 2 apps on Android to test a market and got 15,000 downloads in 5 days. Since I used GS, I dont have any ads to support the other smaller apps I want to put up that will cumulatively get 100k or more in downloads over the next 30 days or so. If it were a Corona build, I would have integrated Inneractive or AdWhirl to maximize fill rates

tenrdrmer

Well you can make all the link share links you want and put them in. theres no rule against that. but there is no way for you to change the links without and update to the app.

tenrdrmer

Oh and While Kiip may only work for North America. its better to get some revenue for those users as opposed to No revenue from the world. no?

tenrdrmer

Merged these discussions. No real need to have two threads on the same topic.

freshfish

Oh and While Kiip may only work for North America. its better to get some revenue for those users as opposed to No revenue from the world. no?

True if it is a general app/game but not if it is targeting a non-North American population...say Europe or Asia.

tenrdrmer

We can "What If" things all you want. Im a Fire Fighter its my Job to imagine What ifs but if your SDK does provide you with a way to monetize a free android app besides North America then dont make a free android app for elsewhere.

freshfish

@tenrdrmer I'm not sure what you meant by your last comment or what I did to make you think I'm playing a speculation game... I'm simply trying to find ways to monetize an Android app when using GS, more specifically for a target audience other than North America.

tenrdrmer

Well then your only option is Sell it. GS doesn't have anything else right now.

Photics

Well you can make all the link share links you want and put them in. theres no rule against that. but there is no way for you to change the links without and update to the app.

Not exactly. I use Apache Redirects to control my links. I can change the redirect without having to update the app.

freshfish

@photics Thanks...I was considering dynamic links but that wouldn't help with the promo material like the text or image that would be linked. It would have to be something like "Click here for an awesome new game"

What affiliate program do you use?
Thanks for your input

Photics

Thanks...I was considering dynamic links but that wouldn't help with the promo material like the text or image that would be linked. It would have to be something like "Click here for an awesome new game"

That's true. Unfortunately, GameSalad doesn't have behaviors for communicating with a web server... but doesn't it have a way to load a web page in the app? If you have a promo page on your website, couldn't be that embedded in the game? (This might be a bad idea, as explained in the next paragraph.)

Although, my strategy might be different than yours. I'm basically promoting Photics.com products... like my sound files and books. I'm not sure if an affiliate will appreciate generic text links or being embedded in an app from a web page. If you don't follow the rules, you might not get paid...

http://photics.com/a-warning-for-android-developers-that-use-adsense-for-content

...that's a story from years ago, but the lesson can still be helpful today. Force-fitting ads in an Android app might not be such a good idea.

What affiliate program do you use?
Thanks for your input

I'm currently not using any affiliate programs at the moment. I was using LinkShare, which was a fairly successful project, but my web development work has taken priority.

I thought about releasing BOT and Arch Fiery as free games on Android (and on iOS with Achievements) but AdMob is not supported. I've used AdMob in the past and I was pleased with the results. But without AdMob, I wonder if there is enough justification for the $299 investment in a Pro subscription. With iAds, it's simply not enough revenue. I'm not sure if Kiip and PlayHaven can do the job.

freshfish

@photics That's a good warning about the affiliate rules but I wouldn't force anything that may compromise my account.

Cross promoting your own games/apps is ideal especially if you have critical mass. But I'm not there yet. Do you know if anything like Admob is in the pipeline for GS?