I have a time tracking app in Google Play. It has fine reviews. Yet if I search for "time tracker" it's almost impossible to get to, and if I search by its full name "Hours - time tracker", it's still on page two.
Almost all of the apps (I found one exception) that appear above my app have in-app purchases and or
ads, and most of them have a lower score than mine.
It's hard not to come to the conclusion that my app is somehow penalized for not generating income for Google.
If we had real competition with stores competing to provide the most value for the users, then I would expect non-profit apps like mine to bubble up rather than drown.
On Android, you do have competition though. There are app stores from Amazon, Samsung, and F-Droid. Not to mention, you could go direct to consumer and list the application's installer for download directly on a web page.
Almost all of the apps (I found one exception) that appear above my app have in-app purchases and or ads, and most of them have a lower score than mine.
It's hard not to come to the conclusion that my app is somehow penalized for not generating income for Google.
If we had real competition with stores competing to provide the most value for the users, then I would expect non-profit apps like mine to bubble up rather than drown.