Search: yes, but to counter that: the App Store shows ads of your competitors ABOVE your own app, even if someone searches for your app by name. Promotion: onl

Search: yes, but to counter that: the App Store shows ads of your competitors ABOVE your own app, even if someone searches for your app by name. Promotion: only the ones that seem to be successful anyways. Mostly no niche apps Distribution: yes Analytics: Not everybody needs this and they're pretty basic, too. They also introduce hurdles: Rating system (can be easily abused), or in the case of the App Store: review process (sometimes somewhat arbitrary), no insight into payments (you can't even issue a refund). One service that is indeed quite useful: They handle all payment processing and country's tax. You just get a single payment wired to your bank account. Makes your own taxes a lot easier. This and distribution are probably the biggest benefit for most apps (especially niche apps), but does this justify a 30% cut?