Rules
A place in the census comes from page views plus sponsorship, and a one-time developer chat bonus. Here is exactly how it works, in plain terms.
What Censuus is
Censuus is a public, indexable ranking of apps. Each app gets a permanent page that search engines and visitors can find, and that page brings people to your app over time. We are honest about the source of that traffic: it comes from the census being public, from people sharing and browsing it, and from the audiences makers bring. We do not buy bots, fake installs, or paid clicks, and we do not promise a specific number of views, taps, or downloads.
How rank is counted
Your organic score comes from page views of your Censuus page, and sponsorship (below) adds to it. Views are counted server-side and deduplicated per visitor fingerprint per day, so one visitor counts at most once a day, and tracking parameters (utm and the like) are ignored. One page view is worth one point toward your rank. A store tap is shown next to your app for context but is never scored. Suspected bot and data-center traffic is filtered out before anything is counted.
How sponsorship works
Sponsorship is the main way to add points on top of your views; the only other is the one-time developer chat bonus below. It is a monthly subscription: each $1 per month adds 10 points to your place, the same points a view would add. There is no decay, so your total stands as long as the sponsorship is active. Sponsorship changes only your position, never the underlying view counts, and it never guarantees a specific number of taps or installs. Cancel anytime; payments are non-refundable.
Developer chat bonus
Post a link to your app in the Censuus developer chat on Telegram and the app gets a one-time bonus of 10 points, once per app. Like sponsorship, the bonus moves only your position and never changes view counts.
App Match and the app assistant
App Match is a discovery page where visitors swipe through apps from the census. For each app we build an AI assistant that speaks as the app and tells visitors what it does, who it is for and how it works. The assistant uses only public information about the app: name, icon, screenshots, category, developer, platforms, store rating and store description. It never quotes prices or makes promises on your behalf, never presents itself as the developer or as support, and never asks visitors for personal data. Its answers are generated automatically and can be imperfect, so the store page always has the final word. The owner of an app can ask us to switch the assistant off for it.
Where app info comes from
We pull app details from the public stores: the App Store via the iTunes lookup, and Google Play from the app store page. Name, icon, category, and description come from there, so keep your store listing accurate and it stays accurate here.
What you can publish
Links to apps on the App Store or Google Play, or a product site. One entry per app; duplicates are merged.
What is not allowed
Adult content, fraud, malware, or anything that breaks the law or the rights of others. Any attempt to inflate views: bots, click farms, or automated visits. Listings that misrepresent an app you do not own or represent.
Anti-inflation
Every view is filtered: per-visitor and per-day deduplication, rate limits, and screening of bots and data centers. Inflated views are not counted, and entries with systematic inflation are removed without warning.
Your listing
Once published, your page is public and links to your app without extra tracking parameters. You can ask us to remove a listing you own at any time, and we may remove any entry that breaks these rules.