Independence
Smarter Ranking is independently owned. No vendor, operator, agency, or advertiser influences a ranking’s ordering. We accept no payment for placement and run no sponsored rankings. Display or contextual advertising, where present, is sold and served separately from editorial and never affects a score.
Scoring integrity
Every ranking resolves to The SR Score from published, weighted criteria (see how we score). Weights are set before candidates are scored, and the same evidence bar applies to every candidate in a field. We do not retrofit weights to produce a desired winner.
Sourcing
Primary sources first: official documentation, pricing pages, regulator and licensing databases, and neutral third-party records. Every material claim must trace to a source a reader could check. We do not present marketing claims as verified fact.
Conflicts of interest
Anyone involved in a ranking discloses any financial or personal interest in a candidate; where a conflict exists, that person is recused from scoring it. Affiliate links, where used, are disclosed and are excluded from ranking logic.
Corrections
We correct errors of fact promptly and visibly. Minor fixes are made in place; corrections that change a verdict or a rank are recorded on the corrections log with the date and what changed. Report an error to revisions@smarterranking.com.
What we will not publish
- Pay-for-placement rankings, or rankings ordered by affiliate payout.
- Scores without a published rubric and a methodology receipt.
- Claims we cannot trace to a checkable source.
- Unreviewed AI-generated rankings.
- Invented quotes, fabricated statistics, or unverifiable specifications.
AI & automation
AI tools assist research and drafting. They do not score, decide rankings, or publish unreviewed. The desk scores, sources, and verifies; the publication is accountable for the result.
Changelog
- v2026.1 — Initial public standard for the relaunched scoring lab.