Algorithm Part II – Rating scale change

While not quite an algorithm change we are changing our score display scale.

Read part I here.

We’ve been working on aligning our rating scale for all our individual benchmarks and detailed rating history charts from a 10 scale to a 5 scale to match our stars. This was primarily a legacy based decision that we wanted to correct as we re-assess new challenges with our large datasets and increase trust and transparency across our storefronts.

One of the key drivers is to make the Seller Rating page as simple to understand while introducing more granular, deep dive topical data.

As we move towards our ratings algorithm shift, we are now adjusting the core storefront score originally out of 10. It’s now matching the 5 star scale. That is a store can have a review from (no score) to 5 points at max.

Store ratings can be anywhere on this spectrum. So a store can be 1, or 1.93, or 4.36, etc to a max of 5 points.

Stars should not change, but to explain the rounding process, our core star system employs ‘half stars’. Any rating ending with >=.25 or <.75 uses a half star with .24/.25 to .74/.75 being the threshold.

Items affected by the change include

• Your storefront page rating

• Widgets and testimonials you may have on your website

• Any insights or portal related data