Most people on HN would be able to checkout and build the app, so why not just use iAd and offer an in-app purchase to remove ads (1$) for the version in store? That way you could collect some revenue and subsidize the cost of the developer license.
(edit) I don't mind ads per se, but I find it exceptionally irksome when others decide, for me, that I should be made aware of this product and that service. Thanks, but no.
"I don't mind ads per se, but I find it exceptionally irksome when others decide, for me, that I should be made aware of this product and that service."
I don't understand this sentence. What else does an ad do? Or are you referring to the fact that there wasn't a heads-up in the app description?