ShitelyOuthouse documentationGrade a site

Outhouse › Ad Load › Marketplace

Pay-to-rank

Results whose position depends on what the seller pays the platform.

Pay-to-rank: Promote, from Shitely Media
Promote, from Shitely Media

Why it matters

A marketplace is a list. The top of a list is valuable. Pay-to-rank recognises that value and invites sellers to pay for it, through higher commission, a visibility programme or a sponsored slot, so that the order of results reflects commitment rather than suitability.

Sellers pass the cost on in their prices, and the visitor pays it. Regulators have asked platforms to disclose this. They do, in a sentence near the Sort by menu.

How Outhouse measures it

Outhouse counts sponsored or paid listing labels, statements that commission or payment affects ranking, How we rank links, Travel Ads, Preferred partner badges and a default sort of Recommended or Our top picks. Two or more scores in full.

This audit counts towards Ad Load, with a weight of 3. A category is 75% its two highest-scoring audits and 25% all of its audits, weighted, so a site is judged mostly on what it does most and partly on how many things it does.

How to improve your score

Install Promote. Available on selected plans. See all products.

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