So was recently approached by some people to build an app once I get my feet wet. So hoping for some guidance. Basic app that allows for a selection of different news feeds along with a few blogs. Only problem is some of them dont have rss, so wondering how I would go about tackling those few? Also they don't want to pay me for the app but by a set amount each time a user clicks on their news/blog, so is tere a way to monitor that and if so what do people charge?

Hmm - that's a risky way to go about it. I'd push for either a fixed upfront cost or a fixed monthly cost - or both. In terms of how to do this, RSS is obviously the easiest way. But if that's not an option, then I would talk with them about how they generate their webpages. Are the articles stored in a database that they have access to? If so, you could probably create a php script that collects that data (such as article title, link to image, and a link to the html page with the article), and then outputs that as JSON. If that's not an option either, then I would look at a HTML Parser using PHP ("Simple HTML DOM Parser" is a good one). There you can break down HTML pages into components (like Div elements, Anchor elements, etc), take what you need, and turn it into JSON. Once you have the JSON, you can feed it into the plugin of your choice using the dataURL property.

I am going to talk to them more about their data. I know it's scary not to get a upfront payment but I know they said this way I can add new blogs and news sources. So I guess it's hard saying which route I should go... But if I went the way I talked about is it possible to track that stuff? And what would be a fair charge per click?

Not sure what a fair cpc would be - but they certainly won't want to pay more than they're getting in advertising revenue, so I would look to see what current advertising CPC rates are and take some percentage of that. As far as tracking, you could with some work. If you can convert the feeds into JSON like I talked about, then you could add some code into whatever plugin is displaying the articles (like a menu plugin) to do some sort of tracking (probably sending a data request to a php script on your webserver) whenever an article is clicked.

Wonder if it would be possible to track with the rss plugin and maybe use a custom URL plugin for the non RSS feeds?

Sure - might not give you as much flexibility or control over design, but would be easier to implement. You'd still need some custom coding done to track button clicks or page loads though.

Thanks chris1 gave me some good things to think about here coming up

I don't like the idea of being paid 'per click'. If they're confident in their product, you should be paid. If they're not confident in their product, why should you be the gambler? They need to accept as much risk as you, at the minimum. Regardless, if you setup something on 'your' server, you can gleen some of the details from the device data. I've only just started to play with this, but you can utilize some of the 'data merge field' values for your statistics. https://www.buzztouch.com/docs/v1.5/mergeFields.php Specifically, "ScreenID" which will let you know 'which' of the screens your apps is using. You could also simplify recording clicks by using a third party script (such as the smug redirector) to 'capture' the request and log it, while transparently sending the requested data to the user. It'll take a few lines of php and ObjC code, but it can be done. Cheers! -- Smug

The more I think about it the less I like the idea too. I might just tell them there is a first time fee (to cover expenses) up to so many "clicks" and then after that have a set price per click. That way it helps cover my end, plus shows them good faith that I am giving them a certain amount of "clicks". Smug that is interesting I might be in touch with you in the future about this.

I am reminded of the KFC story. The Col offered the printer $0.25 (could have been more or less) per bucket sold to each franchise. The printer held out for a flat fee. Gamble if you plan on keeping your day job. The information you learn from developing the app, marketing and fulfillment will far exceed any upfront fees you will collect. I would be more interested on how they intend to market the app. Look in to Flurry they have several tools that may do what you want to confirm (audit) the number your client will likely provide. Good luck Mike

Thanks mike great advice and nice suggestion!