is this common? (review sites)

Yes.
It gets frustrating after a while though...just gotta keep fighting through.

 

Ya, i've tried advertising in the past with previous apps, and typically the results weren't worth it as a small shop, as I think most folks (like my self) are trained to ignore ads, or they only pay attention to something with a big name or large brand presence.

That being said...eventually you'll get good feedback/communication with a larger publication.

Thanks for the support!, Ya we released yesterday, and I'm very excited! We've been marketing for a good 2+ weeks straight and plan on continuing marketing for the foreseeable future until we reach a reasonable goal and beyond!

I'll be sure to check out your game once available as well!!

 

Unfortunately it's just something that has to be done. I can't speak for the larger sites, but as someone that's recently set up a small app review site, getting those links or mentions can be beneficial.

I don't like suggesting that links or such like should be added to a site, especially not before a review (it just feels tacky and inconsiderate to the developer), but if I do review an app I'll normally ask the developer if they might be able to mention the site in some way once I've posted the review. It's not always successful, but it does help a tiny bit, so I have to do it. Building awareness of a site is quite important, and if consumers see links or mentions of my site in a few app descriptions or on developer websites, it's likely to make the site seem more reputable, thus making them more likely to visit it. That's how I see it, anyway.

 

I am also wondering on how to get a review on one of the "big" sites. Do they sell reviews as well?

 

Yes it is common. But when you're starting out it's fair enough to give a mention to the other small guys who show at least some genuine interest. I added a good review url to my first app's description...and have just remembered that I forgot to add the "other" smaller review too, so I'll get onto that thanks! @OliS I agree that the website is different than the store description, I think a website would take more consideration before agreeing to link! Give it a test ;-)

 

We struggled to get reviews from the big players for a long time. TA right here was the first, thanks guys, and I think that may have kicked a couple of others into gear.

Still being ignored by most of them though. I guess a game with only a million downloads isn't worth the airtime.

I'll link our website to anyone who gives us a good review, I mean why wouldn't I. However it's certainly unreasonable to expect someone to link to a fair or poor one.

 

Ya, we're still waiting for a major blog to cover us as well. I think (hopefully) it's mainly time and patience.

With most of these sites though, they are probably inundated with hundreds of requests a week, as well as streamlined communications with the major studios who would bump the smaller guys to the next spot in(or off) the queue when they have news of their own, of course that's the conspiracy side of me speaking lol.

 

I don't know what the "big" sites are that you have in mind. But AppAdvice, PocketGamer, Appolicious, and 148apps all reviewed Cavorite unprompted -- as in, I never sent them a code. A Touch Arcade reviewer also offered a review unprompted. No money ever changed hands though PG did solicit me to buy ads right after their review. (Update: Ooops, now that I look back, I did send a code to 148apps!)

Many non-US middle-tier sites wrote me asking for codes (iPhone Italia, AppsJP, et al). And probably about 1/3rd of sites, from middle to small, reviewed after I offered a code. Out of the 60 or so codes I gave out, about 30 reviews popped up -- not all from folks whom I gave codes.

Big site reviews definitely produce a sales bump. I had the (mis)fortune of having most major reviews days apart. I add the (mis) because it would have been a really nice bump to have them on the same day. Still it was awesome to be reviewed and I really appreciate everyone who covered the game.

So in short, you shouldn't be paying for reviews. The big sites are legit and make their money off ads -- no need for you to pay them.

 

I guess there are always two sides, I can totally understand developers, who want to see a news or review for their game. But I can also understand at least the small/medium pages, that they would like to get features in the iTunes/App Store description with a quote for example. I also think this is a good deal, of course just if the score is fine, nobody would go for a score like 5/10 and publish this in the description on iTunes.

For example I run my page on my own just in my free time in the evening, so I don't have the time to review every game or write a news about everything. I need to take a look at the material and decide what could be interesting enough to reveal it. Even for my page I receive a lost of requests, so I don't want to know how many requests a major page like TouchArcade receives.

Anyway we're always happy if someone is getting in contact with us, it's always good to get the latest news, screens, videos and requests for reviews. On the other hand, I'm always happy if we get our quote on the description on the app store page or offer some advertisement space for a very small amount of money for example. Sometimes we even offered to help out in fixing localization for the German version

 

Was a month or two. TouchArcade finally ran it after fans started making a fuss, which was nice. Shortly after that we got a couple more.

The only response we got at all to a sneak peek offering before the game went out was once again from TouchArcade, for which we're indebted. Hopefully now we have a track record the big guys might take our next release a bit more seriously.

There is a real problem here in that I'm sure all of these editors get bombarded with requests day in/day out to review utter rammel. If you're an unknown then there's no default assumption that yours won't also be a stinking pile. I'm 100% sure that getting reviewer's attention will get easier as your company name starts to stick as being "a serious dev" amongst these guys.

It's almost as hard to get visibility from an app reviewer as it is as hard to use app reviews to get visbility from the general public! Possibly harder.

 

I'd agree with that. If I see that an app's from someone that I know can deliver a high quality app, I'm more likely to want to review it before I've found out what it is. That's just one reason why it's important to try to build a good reputation as a developer, I suppose.

 

As a smaller app review site, I take in any request for for reviews, be it big name dev's, or small indie developers trying to get their name out there.
I almost prefer reviewing smaller name apps, because then there isn't as much competition with getting your review ranked higher on google.
Plus, if the app gets big, you'll have nice little spot as the first result when people start looking it up for reviews.

I'm sure this is probably different for larger sites, who don't have trouble ranking well on google, but I just thought I'd give a little insight on the matter.

EDIT: I will however have to be selective. There is no limit to what brand/type of game I will review, but there is a limit to the quantity I can review. I may have a tight schedule, so your app might not be accepted at that time.

 

I'd agree with what you're saying really. I try to cover a nice mix of apps to help readers discover new apps and also find out if they want to buy the apps that are popular or well known (as well as for traffic generating reasons, etc).

But still, I'd say that if a developer does have a few apps under their belt and at least the start of a good reputation, it will help them to get more reviews. Why? Their apps are more obviously likely to be high quality. Readers want to know about high quality apps, so reviewers are more likely to give immediate consideration to these developers. Unfortunately, it does make it hard for small indie devs, which is why I still give every app submission that I receive equal consideration.

 

Well consider GLWG duly put forward to both of you.

Can't manage any codes yet though, we've run out. However a free update is in the works and I'll send some out once I get a fresh batch from that if you're interested?

 

Absolutely. The risk of peaking too soon is much lesser than the risk of not peaking at all, which can happen if your release gets lost in the flood.

Just my opinion though, but I'm probably wrong. GLWG has over 17000 user reviews at a 9.6/10 average yet it's still just dropped off the iPad chart again. Clearly I can't market for toffee.

 

Thanks. If you contact the email on my site when you've got a few more codes I'll see what I can do.