We added that to the description because otherwise folks searching for "k9" or "k9mail" or "k-9 email" couldn't find the app or got pushed to sketchy malware pretending to be K-9. If Play's search worked, we wouldn't have had to stick keywords in the description. (But also, it wasn't against policy when we did it 5+ years ago. And I absolutely don't mind them asking us to change it. But the zero-strikes removal thing pisses me off.)
Searching for those works now, so the rule against spamming the description makes sense. What doesn't make sense is the hamfisted enforcement. If it were a Google app, it would not have been delisted, and that is an antitrust lawsuit waiting to happen.
Why would it be scummy? Do you think the authors of the email app is trying to trick the local kennel club members into install their open source email client unwillingly?