Every site on Tested.gg receives a Trust Score between 0 and 100. The score combines four independent factors, each measured on a 0–100 scale and then weighted to produce the final number.
The four factors
| Factor | Weight | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| User Reviews | 40% | Ratings from verified community members |
| Security & Trust | 25% | Technical safeguards and buyer protections |
| Popularity | 20% | Monthly visitor volume and growth trends |
| Transparency | 15% | Public business information and disclosures |
User Reviews (40%)
This is the largest factor. It breaks down into three sub-components:
- Weighted average rating (50% of the factor) - the mean star rating across all reviews, weighted so verified purchasers count more.
- Review volume (30%) - the total number of reviews, scored on a logarithmic scale. A site with 500 reviews scores higher than one with 50, but the gap between 5,000 and 50,000 is smaller.
- Recency (20%) - recent reviews carry more weight than older ones. A site that received strong ratings last month outscores one that peaked two years ago.
Security & Trust (25%)
This factor checks whether a site implements standard protections. Each feature adds points to the factor score:
- Two-factor authentication (+20)
- KYC identity verification (+20)
- Buyer protection program (+20)
- SSL encryption (+15)
- Manual item verification (+15)
- DMCA compliance (+10)
A site that offers all six features scores 100 on this factor.
Popularity (20%)
Traffic data comes from third-party analytics providers. The factor has two parts:
- Monthly visitors (60%) - measured as a percentile rank within the site's primary category. A mid-size trading site is compared against other trading sites, not against the entire platform.
- 3-month trend (40%) - whether traffic is growing, stable, or declining. Sustained growth raises the score; a sharp drop lowers it.
Transparency (15%)
Sites earn points by disclosing verifiable business information:
- Legal company name (+25)
- Physical address (+25)
- Company registration number (+20)
- Contact email (+15)
- Domain age over 2 years (+15)
Daily recalculation
Trust Scores recalculate once every 24 hours. When a new review is submitted or a site updates its security features, the change appears in the next daily run. You can check any site's current score on its profile page.
Score changes are usually small between updates. Large swings typically mean a batch of new reviews arrived or a security feature was added or removed.