How We Rank
Top Ten Dublin uses a transparent, multi-source ranking system. Rankings are algorithmic but reviewed editorially before publishing. Scores are stored and versioned so you can always see why a business ranked where it did.
The Four Scoring Components
Reputation Score
Stable quality signals — primarily Google Places rating and review volume. A higher rating combined with more reviews scores higher. We use a logarithmic scale for review volume so a business with 500 reviews doesn't automatically crush one with 100.
Authority Score
Not all mentions are equal. A write-up in The Irish Times carries more weight than a generic blog post. Each source has a quality weight (0–1) assigned based on editorial standards and local relevance. Mentions are scored by source quality × sentiment × recency.
Trend Score
Recent momentum matters. A business getting attention now gets a trend boost. We compare 7-day mention volume to 30-day volume and weight by sentiment. Businesses with no recent mentions see their trend score decay gradually over time.
Confidence Score
How reliable is this ranking? A business appearing across four independent sources scores higher confidence than one only seen in a single source. Low-confidence matches (ambiguous business names, few data points) are penalised here and often flagged for editorial review.
Data Sources
| Source | Type | Quality Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Google Places | Official API | 1.00 |
| Editorial (Irish Times, TheJournal) | Web crawl | 0.85 |
| Apify (directories) | Scrape | 0.70 |
| Reddit (r/dublin, r/ireland) | API | 0.60 |
| Manual editorial | Internal | 1.00 |
Editorial Review
Every ranking is reviewed before publishing. We can apply editorial overrides to hide closed businesses, fix incorrect category assignments, or exclude businesses that don't genuinely serve Dublin customers. Rankings are never sold or influenced by advertising.
How Often Rankings Update
Data pipelines run on demand. Major categories are refreshed at least monthly. Trending data is updated more frequently. Each ranking page shows a "last updated" date.
Limitations
Not all sources are available equally across all categories. A category with fewer editorial articles (e.g. barbers) will have lower confidence scores overall compared to one with extensive coverage (e.g. restaurants). We note this on category pages where relevant.
Rankings reflect the data available at time of last update and may not capture very recent openings, closures, or changes in quality.