Hi everyone,
Just want to share a little experience regarding the use of SMS billing for my game "Game For Two" on Google Play.
* The main reason
My developer account is not in the list of supported countries that can publish paid/freemium apps.
So I integrated SMS (and Paypal) payment into the game to be able to monetize.
* Result:
Basically not too bad, I got many praises from users, they really like the game.
On the other hand, I also got many 1-star ratings (and complains) due to users being afraid of sms permissions although I've tried my best to explain in the app description.
* What I've realised:
From user point of view it's understandable that they don't trust.
(And one of the big reason IMO is from the bad history of Android about malware)
SMS billing is a good solution to monetize, but maybe it's not suitable on Google Play and for developed markets.
It can be good for 3rd party stores, developing markets, OEM,...
I'm thinking about creating a bank account abroad
Comments
Likes: phongtt
Do you have numbers about the proportion of devs who are using SMS billing?
That would help to prioritize maybe.
I can't decide that for you
Anyway, a little more info after a chat with a Fortumo representative...
He shows me some games that have sms permissions but pretty huge downloads (more than 1M) and good ratings. What I find out is that I don't seem to see their users complain about the permissions
He and I still don't know the reason. He just thought that maybe puzzle game players are different from the ones in those games. But he promised he'll try to find an answer from his side too.
(For the game names, sorry I can't share due to their policy)