Methodology FAQ

No. Every point is attached to a published rule, and none of the rules reference payment, advertising, or any commercial relationship. The 30 editorial points are assigned by editors who are not told about referral relationships.

Scores recalculate when the listing is edited, a review is approved or removed, or verification status changes — plus a full weekly pass. Common causes: new reviews, an editorial review being completed, or freshness points decaying on a stale listing.

The app has neither an editorial review nor any approved user reviews yet, so we do not publish a number. The score appears once the listing has at least one independent signal.

Yes. One rule registry scores every app in the directory. There are no per-vendor exceptions, and any change to the rules applies to all apps at the next recalculation.

From the real distribution of all non-provisional scores across the directory, refreshed weekly. Tied scores share the same percentile.

Because it leads that category under the published methodology: either the highest current AppsInsight Score (score mode) or the top editorial evaluation against our fixed rubric (editorial mode). You can inspect the score breakdown on its profile.

No. Rankings are computed from scores and editorial evaluation only. Any paid placement, if present, is labeled and shown outside the organic ranked results.

Scores update continuously as listings and reviews change; ranking snapshots and movement arrows refresh with the weekly scoring pass across the whole directory.

The app that gained the most ranking positions in its category since the previous weekly snapshot. It is computed automatically from rank movement, not editorial choice.

No. Whether a listing has a referral link is invisible to the scoring engine and to the editors who review the product. Rankings are computed from the published scoring rules only.

No. Referral commissions are paid by the vendor out of their marketing budget; your price is the same either way.

No. Reviews are only removed when they violate our moderation guidelines, and payment plays no role in that decision.

Not by itself. Claiming lets a vendor complete their profile, and completeness points are available equally to every vendor. The claim itself is worth zero points.

Named editors working from a fixed six-criterion rubric. Editorial reviews are attributed, and editors are not told about any commercial relationship with the vendor under review.

No. AI tools assist with data extraction and drafting listing summaries, but every scored editorial criterion, ranking, and recommendation is decided by a human, and AI-assisted text is editor-reviewed before publication.

Use the corrections contact at the bottom of any Trust Center page. A person reads every report; confirmed errors are corrected and the page's last-updated date reflects the fix.

All reviews pass moderation before publication, and score impact is milestone-based, rating-weighted, and recency-sensitive — so bursts of fake reviews earn little and are removed when detected, which automatically recalculates the score.

Either our editors ranked it first against the category rubric, or — in automatically ordered categories — it has the highest client rating, with review count, verified status, and name as tie-breakers.

No. Editorial ranks are never for sale, and the automatic ordering formula excludes featured and advertising status entirely. Featured placements are labeled and shown in designated slots outside the organic order.

No. Awards are supplied by the company for display context only and carry zero weight in editorial or automatic ordering.

Use the Appeals & Corrections page. Rank appeals are assessed against the published methodology; if an input (rating, verification, reviews) is wrong, fixing it updates the order.

Three layers: reviews require a registered account and pass automated spam protection; a human moderator checks every review against the guidelines before publication; and score impact is milestone-based, rating-weighted, and recency-sensitive, so bursts of fake reviews earn little and are removed when detected — which recalculates the score automatically.

No. Reviews are removed only for guideline violations, decided by moderators who are not told about commercial relationships. Payment plays no role.

You need a registered account, but only your display name is shown publicly. Your email is used for verification and is never published.

All reviews are human-moderated before publication. If your review meets the guidelines it will be published as written, including critical reviews.

No. AI assists with extracting factual listing data from vendor websites. User reviews are written by people, editorial verdicts are decided by editors, and AI-assisted text is editor-reviewed before publication — see our Editorial Standards.

Yes — vendors who claim their listing can update vendor-provided fields, which then go through review before publishing. Independently verified signals (HTTPS, badge verification, review activity) cannot be self-asserted.

Pricing is vendor-provided or collected from the vendor's own website, and listing freshness is scored — stale listings visibly lose points. Always confirm final pricing with the vendor; report outdated pricing via Appeals & Corrections.

Report it through Appeals & Corrections. You get a reference ID, a person reviews it, confirmed errors are corrected, and any affected score recalculates automatically.

No. Listing, claiming, and verification are free. Optional paid products buy labeled visibility only — never scores, ranks, or editorial outcomes.

Submissions are reviewed by a human, typically within a few business days. Complete profiles with accurate data clear review fastest.

Most rejections are incomplete profiles (missing logo, description, category, platforms, or pricing model), duplicate listings, or data that contradicts your own website. Fix and resubmit — or appeal if you believe the decision was wrong.

Not by itself. Claiming lets you complete and maintain your profile; completeness points are available equally to every vendor. The claim itself is worth zero points.

We aim to respond within five business days. Your reference ID confirms the appeal is logged the moment you submit.

Factual errors are corrected in place with an updated last-modified date. Reviews are removed only for guideline violations. Scores are never hand-adjusted — we fix wrong inputs and let the score recalculate.

We need an email address to reply and to verify ownership claims, but your appeal is not published anywhere and your identity is not shared with the vendor or reviewer involved.

No. Appeals have no effect on ranks, scores, or review standing in either direction — outcomes depend only on the published methodology.

The snapshot refreshes weekly after the full AppsInsight Score pass and category rank snapshots. The "report generated" timestamp on the page shows when the current numbers were computed.

No. Every metric is computed from live directory data — published apps, approved reviews, and logged appeals. Payment and advertising have no effect on what appears here.

From the same database and cron jobs that power scores, rankings, and moderation on AppsInsight. See Where Our Data Comes From for the full pipeline.

Buyers and quality raters should be able to verify that a directory is active and accountable. Publishing our own health metrics is part of that accountability.

Editorial verdicts and scores are written by AppsInsight staff listed on this page. User reviews are written by registered community members and moderated separately.

Editors are AppsInsight employees or contracted analysts with software evaluation experience. Team membership is managed internally and flagged on each profile shown here.

Editors must disclose conflicts of interest per our Editorial Standards. Material conflicts are resolved before publication — typically by recusal or reassignment.

Visit their public profile for professional links, or use Appeals & Corrections for methodology or factual disputes.

No. We do not sell review content or personal data to vendors for targeting or outreach.

Appeals are retained for accountability and audit purposes so we can demonstrate that disputes were logged and reviewed.

You may request account deletion subject to moderation requirements and legal obligations. Published reviews may be anonymized rather than deleted when they are part of the public record.

This page is a trust-center summary. The complete legal terms are in our site Privacy Policy, linked from this page.