Ads in Paid Apps Are Rude or The Internet's Preposterous Sense of Entitlement

http://blog.benmcredmond.com/ads-in-paid-apps-are-rude-or-the-internets-pr

by benofsky • 16 years ago

2 9 16 years ago

blog.benmcredmond.com

dlsspy2• 16 years ago

If you want to make revenue from ads, then do so. If you want me to buy your app, don't also make me pay with ads. This seems perfectly reasonable.

wccrawford• 16 years ago

Agreed. To put it differently: No double-dipping.

benofsky3• 16 years ago

Why is this different than buying a newspaper — in the case I'm talking about, you're also getting a constant stream of new content, which you obviously don't with a newspaper. (I'm genuinely asking)

dlsspy2• 16 years ago

I don't buy newspapers and I canceled my cable when they started (in addition to putting commercials in my shows) putting audible bugs over the shows I was trying to watch.

hsmyers• 16 years ago

It is not a sense of entitlement--- it is years of watching network television where the content (that cost millions) doesn't cost the viewer one red cent; it is all supported by advertisements.

benofsky3• 16 years ago

Which make a lot less money online...

rrbrambley• 16 years ago

I too have thought about how ads in paid apps seem "rude," but lately, I have begun to wonder if there is actually a middle ground. If you decide to sell your application for a low price when you know that users would be willing to pay much more, is there something wrong with using ads if you let the user know before they purchase? I am pretty conservative when it comes to buying mobile apps, and I think I'd be a lot more likely to pay for a $0.99 app with unintrusive ads, than pay $5.99 and never see ads.

gamble• 16 years ago

Ads are the last thing I want to waste limited smartphone screen real estate on. I'll happily pay to avoid ads, but there's no way I'm going to pay for something that forces me to wade through ads. If your app isn't profitable, raise the price.

benofsky3• 16 years ago

In this case I'm talking about apps where there is a constant cost to providing the app (i.e. it's a service) — rising the price doesn't fix the problem, a paid subscription would be the alternative.

Ads in Paid Apps Are Rude or The Internet's Preposterous Sense of Entitlement

Related Stories