I would like Apple to fix search before they start asking devs to pay for placement. For such a simple data set, their search features are completely non-existent. Search terms look to need to be pretty close to exact, the search results are artificially limited by some mechanism, no ability to search multiple terms, no ability to create custom lists, no ability to filter based on more than their two or three meaningless filters, etc.
I suspect that after nearly a decade of no meaningful enhancements, this is done by design and helps push specific apps up the list in some manner.
Adding paid search capabilities helps no one except Apple and large development companies that can now blow through their marketing budget even quicker. Great for them not so great for Jane Doe's app which suffers under this type of oppressive change.
One of the biggest problems in the App Store is discoverability. The only options are to search for specific keywords or to browse one of the few lists offered by Apple. User-created lists add a bit of human perspective on the problem of finding related items. For example, on YouTube I consider lists as being very important for navigation.
I suspect that after nearly a decade of no meaningful enhancements, this is done by design and helps push specific apps up the list in some manner.
Adding paid search capabilities helps no one except Apple and large development companies that can now blow through their marketing budget even quicker. Great for them not so great for Jane Doe's app which suffers under this type of oppressive change.