I think that the search results are automated based on the frequency of those keywords in your feed, the number of episodes you have, the quality of your reviews and how many times people have hit your subscribe button.
If you exclude the word "podcast" and just search for "kiteboarding" the results are a bit different.
Therefore, I don't think you're being featured. I hope that doesn't come across as harsh, I just wanted to answer your question, not be a buzz kill!
Don't get discouraged, though. iTunes' "popularity meter" isn't accurate. Instead of tracking how many people are subscribed to your podcast and basing your rank on that, it bases rank on how many NEW subscribers you've gotten through iTunes in the past x hours or x days.
I'm telling you this because many of the featured podcasts are automatically placed in featured sections by that method. As I understand it, to be truly featured you either are hand-picked for the marquie section on the front page, grouped into a specific highlighted category on the front page, or automatically placed on the front page of a specific category section.
I hope that helps?
Jon
TreeLine Productions
Fort Collins, CO USA
Currently producing these popular podcasts:
"The Rest of Everest" Video Podcast *Voted as one of iTunes' "Best of 2006" podcasts
*Nominated for "Best Video Podcast" in the 2007 People's Choice Podcast Awards
www.therestofeverest.com
"Beyond the Movement: The Pilates Podcast"
www.thepilatespodcast.com
