Ben Lovejoy, writing for 9to5mac:

Apple recently started offering developers the opportunity to buy search ads in the App Store, allowing their apps to be shown when users search for particular keywords. Those ads have now started showing up for U.S. users.

The theory is that it allows deserving apps from smaller developers to be seen by more people, giving them a better shot at competing with the big boys. Early examples, though, are not encouraging.

For example, search for Pokémon Go, and you get an ad for Catch ’em, an app which appears to be just copying the idea rather than bringing anything new to the party (below). Other examples posted similarly seem to show ads that are just hijacking popular search terms with me-too apps.

Is there a balance here? Are there stories out there of developers of legitimate apps (as opposed to copycat/land-grab apps) who have benefited from these ads?

Too early to truly draw any conclusions. I would hate to see the app store turn into a steady, muddied stream of ads. That would, indeed, suck.