“We often urge people who are so fixated on getting featuring from the store that is wonderful and there's so much else you can do... really urge everyone to not anchor exclusively on featuring as the method for growth.”

Getting Featured on Google Play Is a Spike, Not a Strategy — Build the Foundation First

Google's own Play Store lead cautions against treating editorial featuring as a business strategy. Even when featuring happens, it produces a spike that still requires marketing infrastructure beneath it. Developers who anchor on featuring instead of building sustainable growth loops are outsourcing their fate to an editorial team they can't control.