Really? Putting ads in an app is somehow unethical?

Of course it is.

It's not just "putting ads" it's linking with 3rd party ad libraries that can do whatever the hell they want under the umbrella of this dev's app. How is this even remotely better than letting some other 3rd party gather app's usage data? It's absolutely the same shit, only sideways. If he had a problem with latter, recognizing a problem with former should've been a no-brainer. Except if there wasn't some money involved.

Of course? Really? Maybe if you think there is a problem with the analytics then it is a problem, but there are clearly lots of people who don't have a problem with the analytics. I personally don't have a problem with either as both a user and a dev. To say that ads are unethical without even any discussion strikes me as absurd.

"Ooops, I sent paying customers ad impressions. Hrm, that doesn't seem to work." How coy.