I’m sure every one who has an iPhone or an Android phone has encountered ads while using free apps. For those who haven’t, this is what it looks like.

These ads are usually placed in a way that does not interfere with app navigation and are usually static pictures with text. From a consumers standpoint, we can’t complain; we downloaded an app for free and we use it as much as we want. The developers are probably making some money from either impressions or number of times someone taps the ad. I am personally okay with this sort of advertising.

Now, on the other flip side, I’ve encountered two tactics used by advertisers on apps that did not impressive me at all.

1. Ads are designed in a way to encourage impulsive clicks such as a Facebook message or notification alert. Once you click on it, you lose what you were doing with the app and the phone either takes you to the AppStore/Marketplace or opens a browser page with the advertisers content.

2. Ads are positioned very close to frequently tapped buttons in the app so it becomes a matter of probability of when you will eventually tap the ad.

These tactics puzzle me and I consider them to be very poorly designed and not well thought out. If someone is paying for each tap on their ad, chances are they are wasting their money on users who are not interested in what they are offering. Taking that into account, it seems as if someone is profiting from an ineffective advertising scheme.