If you're an indie developer, dealing with advertising is something you should be doing, but (as we are fully aware of here on TouchArcade) it really isn't a thing many mobile developers consider anymore. Well, Apple recently released an ad product called Search Ads Basic which allows developers to easily create iTunes search ads with a very predictable cost. Unlike previous iTunes ads, which were an easy way to burn a bunch of money, Search Ads Basic only charges you when someone actually installs your game. I reached to 10000000 [$2.99] and You Must Build a Boat [$2.99] developer Luca Redwood who was tweeting about this earlier today, and he mentioned that when he experimented with the old search ads he was paying nearly $30 for a single $3 install. Comparatively, with the Search Ads Basic you can basically low-ball your cost per install, which on a paid game allows you to turn a profit no matter what on these ads, as you're paying far less per install than you're making on the actual purchase. For example, Luca has paid £11.55 for 23 purchases of YMBAB:
He mentions that he doesn't expect to get rich anytime soon on this, but with paid games it's basically free money. Also, just for signing up you get $100 in ad credit for free, so why not" Additionally, as Luca says, "If a user sees my ad and doesn't click it, I don't pay for that - but it doesn't mean that view didn't have any value. There's a theory in advertising that it's repeated exposure that makes ads ...