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Comment by downandout | Hacker News Reader

This isn't general advertising. It's only on the App Store and is based on the keywords you enter into a search in the store. They rolled this out because it's basically impossible for an unknown developer to get noticed anymore on there. Apple haters will use any new product to criticize the company, but this seems fairly benign and fills a need among developers.

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Ahh yes, more fees for developers.

> it's basically impossible for an unknown developer to get noticed

They could improve the search algorithm to solve this. Perhaps redesign the app store UI to better accommodate new apps. Or they could stagnate for years and then solve the problem by charging developers more.

I'm not a hater though.

>Ahh yes, more fees for developers.

Developers (including myself) are already paying these fees to Google, Facebook and Bing in the form of app install ads. We'll likely get more more bang for the buck directly on the App Store though, so IMO it's a win for developers.

Your media mix will likely shift, but you'll still be paying Facebook, Google etc. as well. Btw take a look at Twitter if you aren't already. I've had good results there.

Thanks, I will. I had always heard that Twitter sucked for most stuff...glad to hear someone is having a good experience.

Absolutely. Feel free to reach out if you want any in depth advice. (Email is in my profile.)

> They could improve the search algorithm to solve this.

How? If there are 1000s of new apps coming out per day, how do you better accommodate all of them?

Currently it's easier to find apps BY NAME on Google. There are tons of improvements. Filter out paid apps, in-app purchase ones. Filter by category, ratings. Do not destroy ratings after each update.

>Perhaps redesign the app store UI to better accommodate new apps.

Do you have any ideas on how to do it?

They could check Hacker News way of handling relevant new entries, seems to work fine for this kind of problem.

>> They rolled this out because it's basically impossible for an unknown developer to get noticed anymore on there.

Lol This is what will happen in reality an unknown developer starts trending with the next Meerkat, only for a Twitter to push 10M$ worth of Ads for its Periscope (Development cost 5M$ ~ half the marketing budget) on App Store and bury the "unknown developer"

Think about it this way, All app installs must go through the app store, and by introducing ads at the second last stage, the entire "word of mouth" funnel is now under threat. So unless the the user has a "direct deep link" (E.g. via the app website, or ahem FB Ads) to the app store page, That user is much more likely to be lost to a competitor.

To expand my example: Earlier someone would have their friend mention "Meerkat", leading them to search for Meerkat and they would be guaranteed to find Meerkat un-distracted by any other well funded competitor. Now Apple has essentially exploited its "Walled garden" monopoly on installs, by introducing Ads in the second last steps used in 65% of cases.

If you think this is a "good thing" for developers you are gravely mistaken and iOS devs are being taken for a ride.

If their answer to lacking discoverability is ads, I very much doubt it's a good one.

> They rolled this out because it's basically impossible for an unknown developer to get noticed anymore on there.

I feel like this is kinda missing the point. The solution for app discovery (not that I really think there is one) isn't "sell ads". Organic discovery is always going to be far superior.

>They rolled this out because it's basically impossible for an unknown developer to get noticed anymore on there.

How does the unknown developer go about buying ads with unknown revenue?

This seems to me like it will give an advantage to the bigger players, and that Apple will reap most of the benefits.

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