Have you ever wondered how some developers
build a great product and business on Google Play?
My name is Serge Kassardjian.
I work on the Google Play team.
My focus is on apps and games for our Android ecosystem.
I'm going to tell you how to create a successful app in Play
and leverage unique Android features to do so.
My team works with our partners to build great experiences
for Android that get their content distributed
to our large install base of Android users around the world.
We want your business and brand to succeed on Google Play.
So what will you learn here?
I will show you how to create a successful app in Play
and leverage unique Android features to do so.
There are a lot of great ways to unlock value
and succeed as an Android developer.
And I will help you get started doing so.
I'm going to show you how and why to do this,
demonstrating its importance to your brand and business.
I'll also show you some interesting Android related
facts as well product features you may not be aware of.
Google Play is a great place to grow your business,
especially if you do it the right way.
The platform is growing very quickly
as is our engaged audience interacting
with the apps and games in the store.
We currently have over 50 billion downloads,
with over 2 billion downloads coming every month,
and we've paid out more than 4x as much money to developers
in 2013 as we did compared to 2012.
Play also provides a unique iterative environment
for our developers that allows them to A/B test
using such features as alpha and beta testing
and staged roll outs.
Further, developers can take advantage of other form factors
that will drive engagement through new channels
and touch points such as tablets, wearables, and others.
This is an awesome way to drive new use cases for your app that
previously were not available when
you were on smartphones only.
Play will not only allow you to leverage our gigantic audience,
but also take advantage of new functionality
using your content.
We are living in an increasingly global world,
and every business and app is becoming an international one.
What is your strategy across the globe?
Google Play and Android is an opportunity
to unlock this through our distribution and strengths
in various markets that are large and growing quickly
as you can see here.
Partners such as JackThreads and Noom
all use tools to grow international numbers.
In fact, 2/3 of all Play purchases
actually happen internationally.
And we strongly encourage our developers
to take advantage of this.
This large international community
includes 200 plus countries that can download from the Play
store at 130 plus buyer markets.
To take advantage of this big opportunity,
use our tools for internationalization
and language translation to help make shifting from country
to country and language to language very easy.
Users will feel a lot more attached to your app
if it feels familiar and not so foreign.
Further, identify countries that you are not
in that are potentially great markets for Android and Play.
You can see unexpected spikes of traffic
in countries that you've activated,
and start focusing on those markets, which
coincide with the big markets for Android and Play.
The next thing to look at is design.
I can't express the importance of good visual design
and interaction patterns.
Design, design, design.
Make a strong Android Design.
It changes everything.
People love great looking apps.
It's your extension of your brand.
Pure Android Design makes you speak to the audience in a way
that they are used to interacting with their device.
It will improve conversion and bring your right content
to the front.
Great Design apps are great performing apps.
So why and how does Design help?
Well, quality wins every time.
Our researchers have shown that users
are willing to pay more for better quality.
By using our Android Design guidelines,
such as our standard action bar, drawer, and tabs,
you can create an environment that people
will spend more and feel like it's
the primary channel for your content.
As you can see here, as your star rating improves,
so does consumer's willingness to pay.
We see a dramatic increase in monetization per user
as ratings move from one to five stars.
Further, tablet optimization emphasizes sizes quality
and purchases.
Compared to phones, we've seen a 1.7 next purchase
rate on tablets.
Also, we continue to make it much easier
for your customers to pay as we increase our forms of payment.
For example, direct carrier billing
is now available for over 50% of Play users.
And don't forget, you can respond to all your reviewers.
Talk to your audience to get your ratings up and improve
your app.
As your audience sees you interacting with them
and invested in their needs, they'll
provide valuable feedback and consider
changing their review based on your changes.
Not only does this help you improve your app,
but ultimately helps improve the community
of interacting around your app and their feelings
towards your company.
And don't forget-- sizing correctly
makes a big difference.
The smaller your app, the less likely people
will uninstall it, and more likely
they will to download it.
People look for this stuff.
They don't want apps that eat up their memory
and drain their battery.
There are ways to reduce these uninstalls.
Uninstalls will ultimately hurt you
in how you appear in the charts and search in the store.
Always try to avoid these uninstalls.
And don't forget, take advantage of all
of our fun, unique Android features and best practices.
Standout icons catch everyone's attention,
and Android icons have a distinct style
that our users look for.
The app should be a silhouette on a clear background
at a high definition, XXHDP.
Make sure yours is optimized for devices
and is an effective identifier of your app.
Make a great Play listing that is very accurate
and includes screenshots of both phone and tablets
as well as creating a great video for this listing.
When you are marketing your app, create a Google Play badge
on your materials and deep link it
to your Play store listing so your users can
find your app easily.
And finally, don't forget to have some fun with your app
and engage your consumers in new and exciting ways using
dynamic notifications, live wallpapers,
and creative widgets.
Thank you for taking the time to learn more
about some of the best practices for apps and games
on Google Play.
We are excited to see the new version of your app.
My name is Serge, and I'm looking forward
to working with some great app developers.