I have a casual mobile game in the play store. The first few levels were free to play with the rest requiring one in-app payment to unlock. Less than 1% of players paid and all the comments complained about it. I made almost no money.
I changed it to have all levels free but an advert (mobile gaming related) appeared beween each level. One in-app payment removed all adverts. Less than 1% of people pay to remove them, and very few people complain about them - I made several times more money than before.
The implication is that most people won't pay for anything (even 79p from their £500 phone) and they are happy to accept adverts in free games.
I'm sure most people don't actually sit and watch them - I certainly wouldn't as I'd pay to hide them. But if advertising companies are willing to pay me to show an advert that no-one sees, who am I to complain?
Biting the hand that feeds IT
