Skip to content
Pingsold
Pingsold

Editorial policy

Pingsold ranks startups by numbers read from their own analytics. That only means something if the rules around it are clear, so here they are. Last updated .

What we list

Startups and online products with a working website, submitted by someone who owns it or is authorised to represent it. A person reviews every submission before it's published.

We reject a submission, and tell the founder why, when:

  • the website doesn't load, or isn't the product described;
  • the same website is already listed;
  • it's a parked domain, a link farm, or exists only to collect backlinks;
  • it's illegal, deceptive or adult content, or the submitter doesn't control the site.

When listings go live

Approved free listings join a queue, and up to 10 are published each day at 06:00 UTC. Listings showing the Pingsold badge on their homepage go ahead of those without, and lose that place if the badge comes down. An Instant listing ($29) skips the queue: it is reviewed within 24 hours and goes live once approved, or the payment is refunded. Paying buys speed, never approval.

How rankings are decided

Traffic rankings use only numbers read from each startup's own analytics (Google Analytics (GA4), Plausible, Fathom, PostHog or DataFast), connected read-only. Nobody, including us, types in or edits a startup's traffic. At least 80% of the tracked pageviews must be on the listed domain, checked on every daily sync; after 3 failed checks in a row the listing loses its verified status.

The Domain Rating board uses Ahrefs' Domain Rating, fetched monthly and always credited to Ahrefs. It's their number, not one we verify.

We exclude a startup from the rankings when we have reason to believe its traffic is manipulated (bought bot traffic, analytics shared with another site). We never move a startup up or down by hand.

What money can and can't buy

  • Can: a faster review (Instant), a labelled Featured placement for 7 days, or a labelled sponsor slot.
  • Can't: a rank. Featured listings and sponsors appear in their own labelled areas, never inside a leaderboard.
  • Can't: approval. A paid listing that doesn't meet this policy is rejected and refunded.
  • Can't: different wording. We don't write or edit descriptions in exchange for payment.

The first two listings, DropPerch and CiteGaps, are our own products: we used them to test verification end to end before opening the board. They're verified exactly like every other startup, and owning or paying for a listing never changes a rank.

Every profile links to the startup's website. The link is followed (dofollow) when the startup's traffic is verified, when the Pingsold badge is on its homepage (re-checked weekly), or with an Instant listing. Otherwise it's marked nofollow, as user-submitted links should be. Links in our guides are editorial: nobody pays to be mentioned.

Guides and comparisons

Our guides and comparison pages say when something is first-hand (we used it launching Pingsold) and when it's what another site says about itself. Each page shows the date its facts were last checked. Comparisons say plainly what the other site does better.

Corrections and removal

If something on Pingsold is wrong, including about another company, email support@pingsold.com and we'll fix it and update the page's date. Founders can edit their listing at any time from the dashboard, and delete it, with its traffic history and analytics connection, instantly from its Settings page.

Pingsold is run by WebVogue Technologies.

See also how verification works, how to get a dofollow link and our terms.