“Users care a lot about what their cohorts say — that's one of the better ways to understand if it's worthwhile to download. Having good store ratings is more important than just affecting your rank.”

Good ratings are a conversion mechanism, not just a ranking signal

Michael targets 4.5+ stars not primarily to climb search rankings but because ratings are social proof that directly influences the download decision. He acquires apps that already have strong ratings because high ratings are a lagging indicator of real product utility — and utility drives almost every other metric: retention, referrals, organic word of mouth.