[aub3bhat]

>> 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.