Adding another data point — same symptoms, same lack of resolution. Sharing here in case the pattern helps Apple eventually acknowledge this as a systemic issue.
App: ZenTerm (App ID 6760935103, Bundle ID com.zenterm.mobile)
Released: 2026-03-31 (45 days ago)
Status: Ready for Sale (1.3.2 live)
Developer: Individual
Symptoms (matches Brutal Time exactly)
App Store search for the exact name "zenterm" → zero results, 45+ days running
iTunes Search API (https://itunes.apple.com/search?term=zenterm&country=jp) returns my app correctly
Direct App Store URL https://apps.apple.com/jp/app/zenterm/id6760935103 works fine
Apple Search Ads campaign creation flow cannot find my app either — neither by name search nor by pasting the canonical App Store URL
v1.3.2 (released 2026-05-06, with all third-party trademarks proactively removed from keywords) has now been live for 9 days — no change in search visibility
Apple Support response so far
Date
Action
Result
2026-04-11
First written inquiry
Templated reply: "we don't guarantee app placement"
2026-04-14
Second written inquiry (clarifying it's an indexing issue, not ranking)
Ignored for 24 days
2026-05-08
Phone call to Apple Support
Agent: "we cannot provide any answer on this case"
2026-05-08
Third written inquiry (with Apple Search Ads evidence + Apple's own help doc cross-reference)
Ignored for 7 days as of today, despite Apple's stated SLA of "within 2 business days" on the contact form
Apple's own documentation strongly suggests a silent flag
Per Apple Search Ads help "If your app does not appear as a promotion option," the listed causes are:
Account not linked to ASC — N/A
App registered <24h ago — N/A (38 days)
App cannot be promoted (policy violation / guideline violation / placement unavailable) — ★ only remaining candidate
Special characters in app name — N/A (pure ASCII)
32-bit / app bundle — N/A
France / China specific — N/A
So Apple's own documentation strongly implies a policy-violation flag is silently active on the app, but Apple refuses to disclose what it is despite three inquiries.
Self-remediation already attempted
I proactively removed all third-party trademarks (Claude, Codex, Copilot, Mac mini, Raspberry Pi) from keywords in version 1.3.2 (released 2026-05-06), per public guidance that trademark keywords are the most common silent-suppression trigger. The Apple Search Ads check above was performed after this remediation went live.
Questions to the thread
For OP and others affected:
Has DTS Technical Support Incident yielded any actionable response, or is it always rejected as out of scope?
Has anyone observed a delayed reindex (weeks/months) eventually fixing this without intervention?
Has anyone tried switching the developer account from Individual to Organization and seen recovery?
Does anyone have a documented contact path that bypasses the standard support template?
Happy to share screenshots or additional diagnostic data if it helps validate this is a recurring infrastructure-level bug.
