Based on our data the calendar produced ~$5000 in sales for our initial devs combined! And because each new free app advertsize the other paid apps,it's going to keep on growing! So yes it does help! The calendar increases visibility (120,000 Apps out there)and each free app is helping the other paid apps and if you combine it with matching it with a specific goal, there is value here and remember the app stays advertised for an entire month! Someone mentioned it above which other site does this: 30 days x $20 = $600. For $600, what other site allows developers to have an icon with a link to their game on the homepage for a month that has 4,300+ followers on twitter and is ranked higher by alexa.com? http://twitter.com/freeappaday http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/freeap...m#trafficstats It's a pretty good value proposal, and the fact that we are screening, increases the value of each app itself and that's why people are purchasing them from the site afterward and that's the reason why the apps need to be good apps! We're installing a voting system where the top voted apps will be framed in gold, silver and bronze which will further increase the value of the apps!
Those pesky forum threads! I invited TA devs to jump in for free two weeks ago and no one replied: http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=40814
I'd say that is unfair and an overstatement. I'd bet all the money I've got that developers get increased exposure. How much and whether that translates to sales is up for debate. (I'd bet a donut that the rate of success is along the lines of hit or miss.) If this was a thread about whether or not FAAD was worth it, I'd say it is totally appropriate. As it stands it seems to me like any other thread crying about how much an app costs. The people declaring things like "it should be free or I won't download it!" are ridiculous. The crying in this thread is likewise silly.
@jonlink Scroll back in this discussion and see that the ranking of participating apps has actually declined. You don't make more sales when your ranking drops.
Cocoto Kart sharing their numbers!! Message from Eurocenter: "The number are incredible: 153653 free download so far ! 47016 for Thursday 35344 for Friday 34993 for Saturday 36300 for Sunday" His sales figures from the in-apps are enormous as well! I mean now if you still don't see the value, there is not much more I can do!
In this business the developer is the one providing the service. Any business model is based on somebody providing a service or product in exchange for a fee. Not a providing a service or product and a fee.
What is bad business, in my opinion, is that it requires already promoted apps. Because the site makes some sort of selection of what he thinks is good apps. So basically, FAAD is not even promoting those apps. It's only asking money to perpetuate the visibility of an already proven game. And that game has to be free pricing. So in the end, when I take all these arguments, I come to the point where it's the app which is promoting the site, not the invert. So in this meaning, if the app has to be free, I find it not right to ask for money. There's nothing bad at asking for money in exchange of a service. But here, the business plan is not right. And that's my personal opinion, even if I have participated in threads against piracy or not. I'm not asking to share my idea, but just explaining how I, a potential customer, would not be satisfied with the current formula.
He had a freemium business model and a good app he used a FAAD campaign and he is making an enormous amount of cash now ....get it? So go make a good app and I'll be happy to post it as long as it meets our criteria of course! "The number are incredible: 153653 free download so far ! 47016 for Thursday 35344 for Friday 34993 for Saturday 36300 for Sunday" His sales figures from the in-apps are enormous as well! I mean now if you still don't see the value, there is not much more I can do! And that's what I meant by "Free Money"
So here's the problem. A developer asked to be included in FreeAppaDay.com, and he found that there were charges involved. He then decided to not use the service. And then he decided to write a rather long post about why this is unfair. I think, as stated before, discussion on whether it's a good service to use is perfectly valid. This is a good forum to do so. But to accuse ICS Mobile of being immoral, well, that's just inaccurate. He offered a service, he stated the prices in an email, and that was it. No one required him to do so for traffic. "I'm offering my app for free to generate traffic for his site." Now, it's true, the idea of offering the apps for free generates traffic. But that traffic has been generated more through a twitter account, and the hard work to spam (face it, he did promote his website on this forum) here - that's what generated the traffic. He only did so after he had a number of programs lined up. Now, he probably got those by doing the hard work to find developers willing to take a chance with an unproven concept. So again, he did the work. In fact, the site FreeAppAlert.com does so without even contacting the developers to begin with. It's not a bad idea - the price might be steep to some (I don't think it does) - but it's not a bad idea. ICS - aside from needing a better copywriter, I don't think you did anything "wrong" per se. You need to do a better job in your twitter posts (such as naming the games you're promoting) as well as your posts here. You're giving too much credence to the idea you're doing something wrong by coming off as defensive. You're providing an optional service. If someone else created a site with a group of indie developers - a competing site that doesn't require advertising fees and the like - they are free to do so. But they haven't.
I think the business model is a good one. I have a lot of friends with iPhones who do not frequent Touch Arcade, appshopper or other sites targetting iPhone apps. When I see a good promotion on TA, I pass it along to them. However, their primary means of finding an app is going to the App store and looking at the top games, both free and paid. So if Freeappaday has enough of a following, an app that isn't able to get visibility on the top 20 is able to get pushed up. That's a very good service if you want visibility to the millions of iPhone users that shop that way. I think many people don't realize that out of the millions of iPhone users, only a small percentage pay attention to TA. And there are probably many that come to the site only to look at the front page blog and not the forums where many of the weekly freebies can be found. It's naive to think that devlelopers that choose to market their app through a service like this have other means to promote to the larger iPhone user population.
finally some peopel look at this without a 'OMG ICS MOBILE ARE CHEATING DEVS'! view. ics mobile had a clever plan and obviously devs think the service is worth the money asked. the only mistake they did was tricking us users into thinkig it was free for everybody, win win! it's obviously not, but it's a clever scheme on ics mobile's part and that's that. now let's please stop attacking ICS mobile
No offense, but I wasn't replying to you directly. I took a quick look, doesn't seem like it is a very comprehensive study to me. Is that one whole app? Or are there more? One thing that is for certain is that it isn't enough to make bold claim in all caps. Anyway, like I said, I don't think it's a smart business decision, but it still isn't immoral or illegal. All parties are consenting and there is full disclosure among them.
If I never hear the word 'freemium' again, it will be too soon. I bet some marketing guys actually got up and hi-fived each other when they thought of that.
Oh, my sincere apologies then Also, I wanted to salute you for your indie exposure site initiative. That's a very useful move.
OK folks. I don't think anyone is offering any new opinions here anymore, and I think there are really two main points discussed over and over so far. To summarize: 1. Did ICS mislead the public on the nature of FAAD? Yes, clearly, and despite an initially defensive attitude in this thread, they have now apologized publicly and to me privately for it. ICS says that they will update their site to make this point clear. Thank you for that. 2. Is their service worth $600 - $1200. Some say yes, some say no, some say say not yet, but one day soon with the right app it might be. "You pays your money, you takes your chances." If you have something genuinely new to add, please do, but if you just want to offer a "me too" opinion, then I kindly ask you to let this thread die. Thanks to all for a lively and enlightening discussion.
Cocoto Kart FAAD Experience Article http://www.pocketgamer.biz/r/PG.Biz/Cocoto+Kart+Online+(iPhone)/news.asp?c=18003
