David Lane is the CEO of Brighton, UK developer Fat Fish Games.
With over a billion Android users across 190 countries, Google has clearly won the hearts and minds of smartphone owners the world over.
But when it comes to looking after its mobile developers the internet giant still comes up short.
The bottom line is that Google's core business of selling advertising is under threat on mobile.
Users prefer using apps as their gateway to the information they need, rather than going through the browser as they might on a desktop.
Therefore, unless the developer plugs their app into one of its tools, Google misses out on all that rich data which it needs to supercharge its ad targeting.
New opportunity
If Google wants to continue sucking up the worlds data then it needs to integrate with apps across all platforms.
On the web, everyone uses Google Analytics giving it all the data it needs. However, mobile developers tend to use a host of different thirdparty tools like Flurry, Swrve and deltaDNA to understand how their games are performing and players are behaving.
Personally, I've always avoided Google's mobile products as they've been repurposed versions of its web tools. That's until now.
I've always avoided Google's mobile products as they've been repurposed versions of its web tools.
At its Developer Day at GDC 2015, Google announced a host of new mobile-focused analytics and monetisation tools designed specifically for mobile app developers, to help them make greater sense of their data and improve the player experience of their games.
While this is a good move from Google, I doubt these new features will be able to provide the same granular level of data or access to the data that other 3rd party tools currently offer for free, offering little reason to switch.
What indie developers really want
Let's be straight. Analysing data isn't a core competency for most indie developers who are still getting up to speed on exactly how to extract actionable insights from all the data our analytics platforms collect.
Therefore, what developers really want is someone to talk to when they are pulling their hair out trying to make sense of all the numbers in front of them.
Google prides itself on being data-led and optimising its platforms with machine learning algorithms. However, sometimes you just need the support of a good old human at the end of the line or Google Hangout.
As a developer, Google is extremely proactive when trying to get you to use one of its platforms, but in my experience the 'aftercare' leaves a lot to be desired.
For example, we were using Google Wallet to provide in-app purchases in our app, when suddenly our account was closed with Google claiming our use didn't comply with its guidelines and that we should go and find another solution.
It would be great if we could have jumped on a call with someone to discuss this. However all we had is automated forms and canned email responses that did not help us at all.
Compatibility issues
We know that Google's business is collecting data and we are ultimately the product.
Google has to recognise that customers play games across a range of mobile devices.
Even though it has its baby, Android, Google has to recognise that customers play games across a range of mobile devices from different providers each with their unique design challenges.
As a result, developers increasingly relying on middleware tools like Unity to help them write once and deploy 'anywhere/any device'.
Currently Google's SDKs just aren't compatible with enough thirdparty platforms like Unity to make it the de facto choice for game developers.
In fact, we ended up going with a paid analytics solution rather than Google's free version partly because the lack of a Unity SDK.
While I understand that Google has a Unity SDK now in beta, if they want to get developers into the Google ecosystem they need to be understanding the valuable role that these platforms play in the mobile game development process.
Because Google is active in so many markets, it's always going to struggle to excel in every one.
That said, with the popularity of mobile applications and games only set to continue, the prize for getting its mobile analytics offering right and listening to its developers would be huge.
