I'm not entirely sure of this feedback but here goes.

When I first created my store page (no product, just page) I didn't find it on any search in Itch. When I spoke with support, they explained that the page only goes into search when there is an actual product available for download. I totally get that and agree with that change (I remember it was different). It would probably get pretty frustrating for players to keep clicking store pages that don't have an actual product for download. So now I've uploaded a demo finally and I can see myself in the search results at last, but not when browsing. I have to search directly. Naturally I'm not deluded enough to be looking in any category but 'Recent' and it's not there. This leads me to conclude that 'Recent' depends on the date of  store page creation rather than the actual upload of a product.

May I suggest that if the system makes it so that the store page is not published for players to see if there is no product, that it be treated as new when that product is actually uploaded?

Heya there!

As per the FAQ, I believe you can achieve the same effect you're looking for by publishing a major dev log update on the project, and this will bump it up to the top of the recent games list. Or at least affect its visibility in some way. I think it was meant to help for this particular instances when a game got a new demo, or large update and could be seen by people in the recent page again. I could be wrong, though!

Unfortunately that does not work. The day I released my demo I made a Major Update/Launch devlog announcing it but it made no difference. Also, I could see that being an easily abusable feature.

Support has confirmed for me that placement within 'Recent' is dependent on the date which the store page is published, and not when a product is first uploaded. So it would probably be best if you publish a store page and upload a product at the same time.