Apify Store ranks Actors by lifetime users, not titles, developer's analysis finds

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A developer published eight Actors on Apify Store in five days, carefully optimising titles and documentation, yet struggled to appear in search results. After noticing identical Actor names ranking dozens of positions apart, they ran a statistical analysis using Spearman's rho across multiple search terms. The data showed lifetime cumulative users correlated strongly with search rank — scoring above 0.87 across all tested terms — while 30-day user counts barely registered. Title changes were found to temporarily remove an Actor from the index before restoring it to its original position, debunking the assumption that renaming influenced rank. The finding means ranking is effectively a ratchet: every historical user permanently boosts an Actor's position, but also creates a steep wall for newer entrants competing against established tools.

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