How we check the services we rank
Our rankings, comparison pages and buyer's guides describe a market we compete in. That makes us an interested party, so this page sets out where every figure comes from, how it is dated, and the rules we apply to everyone, ourselves included.
Updated
Where the order comes from
Every ranked list on this site is ordered by each company's public Trustpilot TrustScore, highest first, with review count breaking ties. We do not calculate a score of our own and we do not weight anything, because a ranking a company computes for its own market is an advert with a table in it.
Review counts sit beside every score. A 4.8 from a hundred reviews and a 4.8 from several thousand are different records, and you should be able to see which is which.
How every figure is read and dated
By hand, on the date shown. Someone at Virallized opens each company's Trustpilot profile and reads the score, the review count and the star distribution from the profile itself. Prices, refund terms and what a plan includes are read on the company's own website. No scraping, no cached feed, no third-party data.
Each page carries the date its figures were last read. When one row was read on a different day from the rest, that row shows its own date. Wording from a company's site is quoted exactly, so you can check it in place.
Our own row is held to the same standard. Its figures are refreshed from our live Trustpilot profile whenever the site is built, whichever way they move.
How services are grouped
By what a company sells, in its own words on its own site, not by what it calls itself. A managed growth service works your account for you. A software tool is something you operate yourself. Companies that sell followers, likes or views as packages are listed separately and never ranked, because a good rating for a follower vendor shows the followers arrived, not that they were real people.
A company that sells a growth plan and follower packages on the same site is listed with the sellers. Where a call is not obvious we quote the company's own wording, so you can disagree with us.
When we say "avoid"
Some pages open with "Our verdict: avoid" and the service's name. That line is our opinion, and it follows a fixed rule, not a mood: the company's live Trustpilot score is 2.5 or lower from at least 50 reviews, or Trustpilot has suspended its rating after removing fake reviews.
The line always states the figures it rests on, read on the date shown on that page. If a company's record recovers past the rule, the line comes off at the next reading.
What we do not do
We do not buy or test the services we list, and no page on this site says we have. Everything on these pages comes from public sources you can check yourself, which is why every figure links to its source.
No company pays for a place in our rankings, comparisons or buyer's guides, or to change its position.
Our interest, stated plainly
Virallized is one of the services ranked. Our own row sits in the same table, at the same measure, read from the same source, and every comparison page says who wrote it. Weigh what we say about competitors with that in mind: it is the reason the figures are linked rather than summarised.
Who reviews these pages
Jay Mercer, who founded and runs Virallized, reviews and updates the rankings, comparison and buyer's guide pages. Jay's name and the date of the last update sit at the top of each one.
Corrections
Figures move. If you spot one that is out of date or wrong, including about our own service, email support@virallized.com with the page and the source. We re-read the source, correct the page and re-date it. If you represent a company we list, the same address reaches us.
Common questions
Do you test the services you rank?
No. We have not bought or trialled the products we list, and no page on this site claims we have. Every figure comes from a public source, linked where it appears.
Can a company pay to rank higher?
No. The order is each company's Trustpilot score, which none of us control, and no company pays for a place in our rankings, comparisons or buyer's guides.
Why trust a ranking written by a competitor?
You should not take it on trust, which is the point of the method: the order comes from a third party, every figure is dated and linked, and our own row is held to the same measure. Check any row against its source.
See the rankings, every service ordered by its public Trustpilot score.