Fewer ads, better free apps: designing monetisation people tolerate

I build free apps, and free apps need money from somewhere. In my case that is ads. The question is not whether to show them but how many, where, and who decides.

Count the button presses

Every app has one action people came for. In CV Spark it is "Save as PDF". In Zoar it will be "Download". I count how many taps and how many ads sit between opening the app and that action. If an ad competes with the main button for attention, the design is wrong, whatever the revenue says.

Prefer ads people choose

A rewarded ad that the user starts, in exchange for something clear, respects their time more than an interstitial that appears mid-task. "Watch a short ad to export" is a trade. A full-screen ad after every tap is a toll.

No dark patterns

• The close button is visible and the same size every time.
• No fake "download" buttons that are really ads.
• No countdowns that reset.
• The privacy policy names the ad provider before the ad ships.

The target is the fewest ads the app can run on, not the most it can get away with.

Small apps, small costs

Because my apps are offline and serverless, they cost almost nothing to run. That is what makes a light ad load possible. No server bill means no pressure to squeeze every session.