[jonplackett]

Apple adding ads to the AppStore was a terrible idea. Not because I hate seeing ads, but as a developer I hate it.

I’ve made some apps that have had millions of downloads that I launched with no ad spend whatsoever, just good old fashioned viral growth. It got a tonne of copycats but that was OK because I just made the app better in response.

Now, your app is competing against all the inevitable copycats - but those copycats can now just outspend you on ads. They no longer have to make a better product, just have a bigger budget. People are lazy and download the first result a lot of the time.

AppStore search is famously awful enough as it is, ads make it even worse.

[musicale]

It's also a lousy user experience since the bogus ad app shows up at the top of the page and eats up screen space, especially on a phone.

> People are lazy and download the first result a lot of the time.

If people need something right away, they're unlikely to want to spend time evaluating a bunch of alternatives.

[jackjeff]

It’s just made the App Store unusable. Even exact name search is fraught with peril.

I just Google things instead now.

I feel like this is what is going to happen for every product Apple will infest with ads.

[nullwarp]

It's good to know I'm not the only one who finds the app store literally insufferable. like you have one option, their store, and now even their store you have to be careful because the ads are so subtle.

[musicale]

> exact name search is fraught with peril

precisely

> I just Google things instead now.

Google search results seem to have the same problem where actual results get pushed below the fold by ads.

[olliej]

It’s so obnoxious - rather than fixing search or discovery they made a “buy the first few hits” service