Review requests

[Feldspar]

I'm wondering what is "Standard Practice" for getting paid apps reviewed on a review site/podcast/etc. I can think of a few options but they each have their cons.

- Issue a standard press-release style email to the reviewer. This could easily get lost or ignored. You're also demanding the reviewers to buy your app before they can review it.

- iTunes gift cards can be sent in increments of $10. This doesn't guarantee a review, or even that the money will be spent on your app. For $0.99 apps this seems like overkill.

- Free trial period. I don't know how quickly and often you can change the price level of an app, but it seems plausible to set it to free for a few days while reviews get out. This might also get you a jump-start on the in-iTunes "reviews" as well as word of mouth advertisement. However, you may face backlash when you put the pricetag back on. You also have to choose the right length of time: enough to get it in the hands of reviewers, but not too long that you can't take advantage of the publicity.

- "Lite" Version for free. This is really a side topic, since you want the full version to get reviewed.


Have any of you tried these methods? I would be grateful for any insights

[kshep]

Hello Feldspar,

For our game Imangi we used two approaches:

1) We contacted as many review sites / blogs directly. We sent them information about our game, screenshots, a link to our youtube video, and links to a few other reviews that had already been done.

2) Some sites requested an adhoc version of the game to be sent to them, others preferred gift cards, and some even purchased it on their own.

In terms of getting noticed, I think the best thing to do is to try to provide the reviewer or blogger with everything they would need to write an article. That way they don't haven't to do any digging around or getting back in contact with you to get more information.

-Keith

[ritajones]

Be as specific as possible and provide as much information as the blogger will need and make sure they maintain a positive tone throughtout. After all, they are getting paid for the review. And you will dramatically cut down on the amount of work they need to do. This is getting to be a rather popular promotional method anymore.

[moopf]

Be careful about sending money to the reviewers through Paypal/iTunes gift cards. I've done it with a few review sites (at their request) and over a week later only one of them has actually reviewed the game. I've also sent ad-hoc versions to some at their request and am yet to actually see any of those review the game either.

[kshep]

I had a similar experience with some of the sites that requested an iTunes gift certificate to do the review. Most of them did really sub-par reviews for very lightly visited sites. One site even complained that we didn't offer a high score list, when it was right there when you finish a game... Laughable, I guess he didn't even play.

It's been my experience that the sites that do the best in-depth reviews are the ones that purchase the games themselves and don't request money from you.

-Keith

[Pring]

Yup, I can corroborate that. Sent out review requests/paypal payments to several sites that swallowed them without putting up a review, nearly two weeks later.

Struggling to maintain visibility now. I don't want to be one of these people that pushes out constant updates but I do need a way to make the app more visible, either in the store, or by driving traffic from outwith the store straight to the app. Any suggestions welcome!

[moopf]

Originally Posted by Pring

Struggling to maintain visibility now. I don't want to be one of these people that pushes out constant updates but I do need a way to make the app more visible, either in the store, or by driving traffic from outwith the store straight to the app. Any suggestions welcome!

I hear you and, like you, I don't want to play the constant updates game. I'm not sure what to do to bring greater visibility at the moment - I've submitted to over 30 sites, even sent paper press releases to magazines and newspapers in the UK (to the right people, of course), used all the various forums around, done a little online advertising, dropped the price until the end of the month and now I'm stuck.

I think I may just leave the PR on this one and try seeding some previews of my next game when it's in a fit state to do so. Try to get a bit of buzz up around it, and see if that works in reality

[moopf]

Thought I'd update this thread with what happened. I sent press releases to 30 sites (14th/15th September) about my game and it's time to out some sites

Two required payment so they could purchase the game and neither of those have reviewed the game - that's App Store Apps - iPhone and iPod Touch Apps Reviewed Every Day and iPhone App Reviews

Two wanted ah-hoc versions and neither of those have reviewed the game - that's 148Apps - iPhone and iPod Touch Application Reviews and News and iPhone Games Network: iPhone Games, Reviews and News (this second one did put up a quick 'this is in the app store' but not a review)

Out of the rest, the following were the only ones to review:

1. toucharcade.com
2. hawtapps.com

appcraver.com didn't want to review the game but wanted an interview, which I did. However that was buried so quickly on their site that I doubt anybody read it lol Rather than spacing their posts out, they seem to upload posts quickly, so nothing gets a great deal of front page time.

A couple of days ago I came across a video review of Hiqup on YouTube by touchgaming.org. I hadn't submitted to them and they did a nice 10 minute video review, so that was a pleasant surprise.

Overall the experience has been a little disheartening - in all the press releases that were sent I was offering an ad-hoc version or to pay via. Paypal so they could purchase, and any other information they needed. I tried to make this easy for them.

I also sent paper press releases to a lot of magazines and papers (to the correct contacts, or as correct as I could find) just for the sheer hell of it (you never know, eh!) Have heard nothing on that yet.

[kshep]

Hey moopf,

Thanks for sharing your marketing experience. We've had a similar experience, down to some of the same non-response with some of the review sites. I'm sure they are simply overwhelmed. I've had the best response from the following sites:

toucharcade.com
fingergaming.com
pocketgamer.co.uk

My new favorite review site is gamesareevil.com. Their editors are VERY nice and have put together a wonderful gaming site for all platforms. They did a review of Imangi and were nice enough to put up a pre-release announcement for our new game Imangi Word Squares.

Check them out if you have a chance.

-Keith

[bhearn]

I also sent review requests to several review sites, offering a iTunes gift certificate or an ad-hoc version.

The only site to respond at all was iphonegamenetwork.com. They said they would write a review, but nothing yet. That was 5 days ago. I guess I should be patient... not sure how to get the other sites to review me.

[ghost]

I gave reimbursed (via PayPal) AppStoreApps.com for a review of two apps. That was Sept 12th. He promised he'd do the review soon, and set it hsould be up that weekend. It wasn't. This has been repeating and the review has yet to be uploaded

[moopf]

Originally Posted by bhearn

I also sent review requests to several review sites, offering a iTunes gift certificate or an ad-hoc version.

The only site to respond at all was iphonegamenetwork.com. They said they would write a review, but nothing yet. That was 5 days ago. I guess I should be patient... not sure how to get the other sites to review me.

Following up from my post (I sent iphonegamesnetwork.com an ad-hoc version 15th September) they've put a review up today of my game:

Review: Hiqup | iPhone Games Network

It took a while for them to get around to review it (nearly a month) but it is a glowing review and it's thorough, so I'm more than happy that they finally got around to it

Originally Posted by ghost

I gave reimbursed (via PayPal) AppStoreApps.com for a review of two apps. That was Sept 12th. He promised he'd do the review soon, and set it hsould be up that weekend. It wasn't. This has been repeating and the review has yet to be uploaded

Yes, I'm in the same boat with appstoreapps.com (I sent Paypal money for them to buy it). I've had several emails from them saying that they were recording a video review, that it would be up at such and such a time, and nothing. I haven't contacted them again since the last time they said it was going up (that was 23rd September) and have given that up. I won't be sending them Paypal for review copies again in the future.

[Software-Diner.de]

I don't see why I should send them money to buy the app. Exactly this what you both described was my fear and besides: How much do I have to pay on top for a good review? ;-) (I mean, how trustworthy is a paid review in the eyes of the reader?)

But I've also sent out several AdHoc-Copies to review-sites and so far none of them posted a review. I don't know exactly how long this is past now...maybe 14 days? Well, I just keep on waiting paitently and send out more copies to interested review sites... :-)

[moopf]

Originally Posted by Software-Diner.de

I don't see why I should send them money to buy the app. Exactly this what you both described was my fear and besides: How much do I have to pay on top for a good review? ;-) (I mean, how trustworthy is a paid review in the eyes of the reader?)

For me, it wasn't about paying to get a good review. It was about a way of getting a copy to a reviewer that doesn't cost them anything - I want publicity for my game so of course I want to make it as easy as possible for a reviewer to get a copy.

Remember that most of these review sites are run by individuals as a hobby and it probably isn't feasible for them to buy every app out of their own pocket for review. Having said that, if I'm providing a copy to them at a cost to me by their request (which was the case with appstoreapps.com - they contacted me for a review copy without having previously having any contact with them) then I'd expect a review to be posted, whether positive or negative, in a reasonable period of time. appstoreapps.com clearly hasn't done that, nor has iphoneappreviews.net (these were the only two I sent Paypal money to.)

You have to remember as well that this whole thing, the app store etc., is new and people are trying to find the most stress-free ways of getting review copies to reviewers and working out which review sites are worth the time and effort on.

Ad-hoc is a pain, but I'd prefer to do that over sending money via. Paypal now.

[Software-Diner.de]

Originally Posted by moopf

For me, it wasn't about paying to get a good review. It was about a way of getting a copy to a reviewer that doesn't cost them anything - I want publicity for my game so of course I want to make it as easy as possible for a reviewer to get a copy.

Remember that most of these review sites are run by individuals as a hobby and it probably isn't feasible for them to buy every app out of their own pocket for review.

moopf, don't get me wrong. I wasn't saying that anybody here or anywhere actually *is* trying to buy good reviews. I was just trying to point out that it could be interpreted this way!

I've been working for a print computer-magazine as an editor for two years and I know how this all can be seen by outsiders. That's why I chose to never ever pay for a review. Either I can give away a review copy for free or I can't have a review. That's what *I* have as options chosen for me.

But to make it clear: I don't blame anyone to pay for advertizing or for getting a review-copy to the reviewer! And I don't want to offend anyone with my thoughts!

Besides all that I am well aware that people do this in their sparetime. I do it on the side as well and people also expect certain things like e-mail-support and frequent updates. Sure, not for free but IMHO for a small fee.
Making some money with a review site is very hard I guess. Advertizing won't make them rich, so all they get are essentially free copies of all the programms...but that won't feed their family. :-( But that's a whole other story I guess...

[Pring]

I also sent money to appstoreapps.com for review copies and haven't had a review in the last month.

[moopf]

Originally Posted by Pring

I also sent money to appstoreapps.com for review copies and haven't had a review in the last month.

Well I think we're seeing a trend here with appstoreapps.com I guess we're getting a good image of this site now and what we, as developers, should be providing to them. I'd certainly provide them an ad-hoc version in future, but wouldn't send them any money through Paypal again. I hope they aren't still soliciting for review copies paid by Paypal or iTunes gift cards as they did with myself. Here's the email I got from them originally on the 14th September (nothing personal here, the guy's name is on the website anyway):

My name is Doug, I own and run AppStoreApps.com where I review both
free and paid applications/games available in the App Store.

I was curious to review your applications available for the iPhone. If
you are able to send me a PayPal Donation(or iTunes gift card). I can
use it to purchase your apps, and review them on my website ASAP.

Currently AppStoreApps.com is doing just over 1500 uniques per day(and
growing). If not, I will eventually get around to reviewing them,
it'll just take me longer.

Thanks,
Doug
AppStoreApps.com

I dread to think how long it would take them to get around to it if I hadn't send them the money - we're at nearly a month later after I did!

[brendand]

Hmm... very interesting... this was my letter also:

Hey,

My name is Doug, I own and run AppStoreApps.com where I review both
free and paid applications/games available in the App Store.

I was curious to review your application(s) available for the iPhone.
If you are able to compensate the cost via PayPal(or an iTunes Gift
Card). I
can use it to purchase your app(s), and review them on my website ASAP.

Currently AppStoreApps.com is doing just over 1,800 uniques per
day(and growing). If not, I will eventually get around to reviewing
them, it'll just take me longer.

Thanks,
Doug
AppStoreApps.com

Looks like it's word for word the same as yours. I too sent money to buy my app. I wonder if he's just collecting a lot of money from a lot of developers promising to review? I do see reviews on his site though, so it's hard to gauge. Perhaps he's just swamped. But still. I never solicited the review. He just sent me that email out of the blue.

Have we all been had?

[kshep]

Doug reviewed Imangi a while back when I sent him a gift card. I didn't have any trouble with him, perhaps he's just busy?

-Keith

[Doug]

Originally Posted by ghost

I gave reimbursed (via PayPal) AppStoreApps.com for a review of two apps. That was Sept 12th. He promised he'd do the review soon, and set it hsould be up that weekend. It wasn't. This has been repeating and the review has yet to be uploaded

Just wanted to talk about what's going on behind the scenes at AppStoreApps.com(the website I own/run).

First let me say I am very sorry about the delay in the review. obviously a month after is way beyond my ETA for reviews.

When I started AppStoreApps.com, I knew that until the ad revenue began coming in. . .that I was going to rely on an outside source of income. If I could afford it, I would(and will when the revenue from the ads builds up). I thought the way to go about this would be by getting donations from the visitors themselves. I even used a Skribit widget to get the most requested reviews done first.

I was then contacted by the developer of eWallet, and he offered to compensate the cost of the application to get an honest review on the website. I accepted and did just that. After a few weeks I noticed that the visitors weren't able to donate at the frequency that would be best for the website. If I only used visitors donations I would be able to get maybe 4-5 reviews in per month. If you look now, I might miss a day here or there, but I normally post about 5 per day(lately I've been doing 6). The more time I get to put toward the website, the more I will be able to do per day.

This rate would not keep the traffic flowing and growth would be stagnant. I thought that if 1 developer was willing to reimburse the cost then why wouldn't others. Which is why I started contacting developers.

There are a few of reasons why I haven't been able to get to some of the reviews.

1 - I still work a 'real job'. Though I have been able to take more time off from that job, I am still stretched for time.
2 - Sooooo many applications. There are between 75-100 new applications released every day. The more traffic AppStoreApps.com gets(we broke 2,100 uniques yesterday), the more developers are wanting to get their reviews on thew website(so more are responding).
3 - Technical issues.
3a - The first one was the 'too many applications bug'. At that time I was not 'logging' the applications that were being reimbursed. There weren't that many applications coming out each day so I was able to keep up(though starting to get behind). I got about 10-150 applications deep on my iPod Touch, and the iPod crashed(from the bug). This put me 2-3 more days behind because it happened 2 more times.
3b - I just had to format. I was getting a BSoD when using this new RAM that I bought(just upgraded to 4GB). I put the other back in and backed up my data then upgraded to Vista 64-bit. . .or so I thought. Come to find out I missed the videos section(only backed up my screenshots), so not only did I lose 100 or so reviews that I hadn't had a chance to back(but where already published). . .but I also lost 67 reviews that I hadn't published yet. I was so pissed when I found this.

The reviews being posted now were ones that were half uploaded(only to Revver), I upload them to YouTube right before I publish them(which as you can see there is no YouTube icon under the Revver video for a while.

I know there is no excuse when you paid for something. Sadly the reviews lost(that weren't published yet) are gone, and I don't have a log of them. The only thing I can do is wait for the developer to email me saying 'hey, where's my review', then I can ask which app and make sure it's in the list of applications to review.

Yes there is an ongoing list right now. It was backed up(except for the videos that were lost). Yes I am behind. Like I said, the more traffic the website does, the more developers respond. Currently the list is about 175 applications deep(I said I was behind. . .and the format didn't help).

Again, I apologize to any developer that hasn't seen their review in the time frame they thought. You are being put in the list in the order that you respond to me.

If anyone has any questions about where their application is in the list, don't hesitate to contact me. My email is contact@appstoreapps.com

[brendand]

Hey Doug,

That's no problem. I had pretty much forgotten about the fact that you contacted me to do a review until I saw this email posted here which was the same text as the one you sent me. So then I began to wonder what was up. We understand that you're very busy with so many apps coming out. I'm also very sorry to hear about your crash and lost data. Hope the Tap Forms review wasn't one of the lost ones. Time to fire up Time Machine and get a regular backup going

Anyway, I'm sure you'll catch up soon.

Thanks,

[Doug]

Hey Brendan,
Thanks for the kind words. If I weren't worried about electricity costs, I would have an external drive(lord knows I have enough) on 24/7 backing up my data. That, along with heat(I live in Atlanta, Ga), make me from even using my 1080p TV/XBOX 360 as much as I would like. I normally do a good job. . .but I was at the point where I was like 'should i back up. . .naa I'll wait until I pile up a little more'. Now I know what to do next time I think about it. When I first started it I thought it was going to be a 'slow start', but with the pace Apple has kept up with(broke over 5,000 applications this weekend), it's harder than I first imagined.

I just wanted to clarify. I don't plan on stealing anyone's money. I could probably even offer refunds. . .but it's not like I haven't purchased the application. . .it's purchased, it just might be 'lost in the shuffle'. I think it would benefit both of us(me and the developer) if I just continue working hard(I'm normally up til like 6am) and eventually get caught up.

Thankfully nothing is 'fully lost', even though I have to re-download applications from the App Store, they still have my data, and I don't have to re-purchase the applications. The worst case possible is that I have to search my email account(which archives everything), and see that you've send in a payment, then I know to put you back into the list.

BTW - If anyone still questions my credibility. Just know I have been reviewing iPhone applications for almost a year now. My first website was InstallerApps.com, where I review jailbroken iPhone applications(over 10,000 uniques per day). The mysql database was down for most of the day(I think it's up now though), 1and1.com has been great with telling me what's going on with it.

Again, my email is contact@appstoreapps.com. I don't just discard emails. If I haven't responded to you in a day or two(or three), don't think I just deleted your email and forget about you. I would just rather give you good news. . .and not something that you might think was an excuse.