[gaborcselle]

You bring up a good point: Do ads work to get user adoption? I'm not sure - I certainly haven't heard of an app that used ads for more than just jumpstarting the viral loop.

Are there examples of apps that have gotten adoption through ads?

[webwright]

Hotel Tonight and Uber both advertise a LOT-- I assume they have the LTV to support the cost of buying a user via ads. I've spoken to a lot of mobile ad experts and, because the targeting power isn't yet there, they say it's cheaper to buy a user with plain ol' web ads than mobile ads (unless your a game).