Yeah... I do think releasing on Steam could help a lot. Unfortunately, at least in the near future, Steam isn't an option for me unless I have a publisher. Because of my complicated tax situation, I would need to hire an expensive international tax lawyer to help me figure out how to fill out all the paperwork correctly for Steamworks (even though I would be releasing the game for free). This on top of the $100 fee to release a game is just a lot more money than I can spare right now, particularly as I just lost my job. To release on Steam, I would need someone else that has a Steamworks account to let me publish under them.
Thank you so much for the support though, that really means a lot 💕 I wish this too, both for myself and for the other devs that are in the same situation as me. I know a few others that have also been deindexed but told by itch that "their game doesn't appear deindexed," so it doesn't seem to be an isolated issue either... :(