How the rankings work
Transparency first: here's how LidoRank's scores and rankings are built, and why a ranking is sometimes shown as “in progress”.
Where reviews come from
Every score comes from someone filling in the questionnaire across our ten criteria. We keep three categories clearly distinct: anonymous review; registered-account review (whose email address we confirm); and — in the future — verified visit, the only one that will attest actual presence on site. We do not solicit or publish fake or paid reviews, and when we detect manipulation we act as explained below.
A weighted score, not a plain average
A ranking score isn't the plain average of the votes: we use a Bayesian weighted average. We start from a cautious baseline equal to the overall mean of all reviews published on the platform, with a weight equivalent to about 8 reviews: with few votes the score stays close to this mean, and as reviews grow it increasingly reflects the club's real judgement. This way a club with a single enthusiastic review doesn't leapfrog one with dozens of solid ones.
Thresholds to enter a ranking
A club enters a ranking only after a minimum number of reviews: at least 10 for the town ranking, 20 for the regional one and 30 for the national one. Below these thresholds we assign no position: we'd rather say “ranking in progress” than crown a “best” on the basis of very little data. The position shown (#1, #2…) is computed only among clubs that have passed the threshold.
How much a review counts, and anti-fraud defences
Not all reviews count the same. A registered-account review carries full weight; an anonymous one counts about a quarter: it stays visible but moves the score less. A review that is quarantined or rejected drops out of the calculation entirely (zero weight) while remaining on record. On top of this, rate limits and an anti-surge damper temporarily hold suspicious spikes. We don't publish the exact anti-fraud parameters here, as that would make them easier to game.
User-reported information, kept separate from ratings
On the profile we keep subjective ratings (your experience) separate from the factual information users report (sea access, showers, deposit chip). The latter is shown as aggregate percentages, is made up of reviewers' statements rather than findings by LidoRank or any authority, and does not, on its own, turn a club into “non-compliant”: any important reports follow a separate, private path.
LidoRank is a pilot-stage platform: thresholds and criteria may be refined as the community grows.