Every day we are bombarded with annoying advertising. Just like every one else, I don’t enjoy having to view ads when I watch TV, use an app or play a game on my phone, but there they are.
Unfortunately, these days, there is just no way around it.
I think things started to work towards where we are now when the original app stores were in their infancy. Before Apple and Google started to branch out into software sales with Google Play and Apple App Store, applications and games were often given away by means of a trial version. I remember buying computer magazines such as PC Format, PC Gamer for their CD’s that contained demos and trials of games and applications, and sometimes even full versions of older versions. As a child I even purchased magazines that had floppies and tapes that came with them that had demo’s of games on them.
With the availability of internet, the interest for these magazines greatly reduced, because now you could just download a trial version from the internet.
With the introduction of smartphones, both Apple and Google opted to create a single spot where people would be able to download and install everything they wanted. Of course both basically created a monopoly for their own devices, and because developers were required to use these stores, a (30%) portion of the proceeds of each sale went to them.
It didn’t help that due to the high price of smart phones, people expected things to be free. I recall the fallout on the internet when Apple released the original iPhone and iPod Touch and anounced the Appstore for these devices. Many people seemed to be under the impression that because Apple owned the Appstore that because they spent a lot of money on their phone that apps should have been free.
Now we know better ofcourse. The appstore is just like a market, where different vendors offer their goods. The appstore is just a convenient location where you can find it all, neatly organized.
But for developers to be competitive, aside from the app itself, the price is a very big factor. Many developers followed along with the old style, free trial version and a paid full unrestricted version. This works in some scenarios, but with the advent of the smartphone, peoples attention span seemed to have declined, so while people might enjoy a trial version of a game, with so much competition, it might be just enough for them to jump to a trial version of a different game when the trial ends, leaving the developer unpaid for something that might have been worked on for a very long time.
So instead of providing a trial version and a pay version, the current trent is for developers to just provide the full experience for free, but bundled with ads. Some minor additional features and the removal of ads can often be bought with a “pro” version or “key” but essentially by including advertising into apps and games, the developer is ensured that when people use their app or play their game, they are getting some money for their work.
Each ad that is displayed will only bring in a very small fraction of a penny for a developer, but if it is a successful app or game, and many people play it and play it for longer periods of time, those fractions of a penny can add up.
So while advertising is quite annoying, it results in people being able to enjoy full applications and games for no monetary cost to them other that a little of their time, and it results in developers getting at least some payment for their work.