I don't expect them to promote anything, back in the day a good app could get some initial traction, make it to the top 1000 apps in a category and move up the

I don't expect them to promote anything, back in the day a good app could get some initial traction, make it to the top 1000 apps in a category and move up the charts based on usage and good reviews. That's not possible anymore. It's a known fact that the only way to make it on the app store these days is to blow half a million dollars on a burst ad campaign to get a large initial volume of downloads. Other option is to have the number of "App Store Managers", who decide what gets featured, and that option is only really available to top VC firms and large companies.