Apple considers paid search, placement on App Store

Apple Inc. has constructed a secret team to explore changes to the App Store, including a new strategy for charging developers to have their apps more prominently displayed, according to people familiar with the plans.

Among the ideas being pursued, Apple is considering paid search, a Google-like model in which companies would pay to have their app shown at the top of search results based on what a customer is seeking. For instance, a game developer could pay to have its program shown when somebody looks for “football game,” “word puzzle” or “blackjack.”

I’ll be honest, this seems like a very un-Apple thing to do. This will only widen the gap of small developers having any chance of being fairly featured on the App Store, and that gap is pretty large already.