I can tell you that a while back, upwork did something similar. Now, to bid on jobs you have to buy something called connects, and each job submission uses X amount, and you can increase the amount to move yourself higher on the search results. they even make you pay connects to show an availability badge.

I can't say for sure if it's a good thing, I only apply for things I am highly qualified for and i literally don't think in 10 years i have ever gotten anything i applied for, people reaching out to me directly on upwork is how I've always secured clients.

it's probably a good thing though, because any time a job would be posted, it would immediately have 500 applications. jobs seem to still have a lot, but who knows.