there have been numerous times where i find an awesome free app that has been downloaded a ton of times (like 20000+) that is no where to be found on the top 25 free apps. is there any chance i can search for these somehow? that way id have a ton more apps.
Nope, not that I know of, unless some of the third party review apps can do it. it's a feature they need to add to the App Store IMO.
there are 3rd party websites like that, that show how many times they have been downloaded, just google it