Please do not post the same thing multiple times. The board software automatically flags certain posts as needing moderator attention. This happens the most often for new users. I'm pretty sure this is made clear at the time you attempt to post. Posting the same thing over and over again just makes that many more posts the moderators have to weed through later. This makes us sad. Don't make us sad. If your post/thread doesn't appear, just wait a while. Don't post it again. If it hasn't shown up by the next day, then you can try again. I normally go through posts in the mornings, and try to check a few times throughout the day, but I'm not here 24/7. There will typically be a significant delay before posts are approved. Just be patient.
Paid rank and free rank are separated, when you'll switch back to pay, the app will retrieve his old rank. However, some website like appshopper might pick your app because of the price drop so you can beneficiate a bit from their visibility even after the switch.
It all depends about what we see when we search our own app, for a guy who get in the top 200 grossing all category, you won't notice spam app because they are not there, but when you search for your own app title and you see a lot of clones app using same screenshots, only titles and icons are differents and reviews are clear enough about how crappy is the app above yours, well that's what need to be changed... Today, It's all about finding niche to start a new app without $K ads, and it's sad to see closed door for new app with real potential.
