I recommend Microsoft's Launcher, it's simple and gets out of your way. Similarly, Edge's search widget just launches a browser and executes your search. This really should be the stock behaviour that Google should provide.
"... application stores are fast becoming the prime delivery mechanism for infected applications..."
I completely disagree with that statement. People downloading pirated or fake APKs from the web is the prime delivery mechanism for infected applications.
Regarding #1, it's a pain when the stats break, and I agree it needs to be more robust and accurate, but it has no effect on your rankings what so ever.
I don't know any specifics, but on Y Combinator's page they say:
"We make small investments (rarely more than $20,000) in return for small stakes in the companies we fund (usually 2-10%)."
Which I assume means $20,000 = 10% (max of both ranges). So a 30% stake, at this stage, is worth $60,000, which is less than the salary of an average experienced programmer, so is it such a bad deal?
That's not the point he is trying to make. Computers are the tools of your job. Not providing the best tools is a false economy because the cost is easily offset by the increased productivity of the programmer.
It looks like it still needs a lot of work. As a quick test I looked for Sports Bars in London (via their categories) and it returned an Antique Shop in Westerham. I then tried editing the record to remove irrelevant categories and got a server error.
https://www.informit.com/store/latex-companion-parts-i-ii-97...