How we reach a verdict.
VYRDICT separates attention from value. Viral Score describes momentum; Worth Score reflects a structured editorial assessment of consumer evidence, value, momentum, hype risk, and relevant market context.
Research before publication
Products added through VYRDICT’s suggestion and research pipeline are reviewed before publication. We verify the exact product identity, distinguish meaningful variants where possible, assess current trend signal, review evidence used in scoring, and verify shopping routes and market information where the available evidence supports them.
A research lead is not a published verdict. Ambiguous product identity, insufficient virality evidence, weak consumer proof, missing risk context where relevant, or unresolved market evidence can block or delay publication.
Viral and Worth answer different questions
Viral Score measures how strongly the exact product is attracting current attention. It is not a quality score or a purchase recommendation.
Worth Score measures whether the evidence supports real-world value after considering consumer experience, repeat-use signals, price/value, category expectations, momentum, and hype risk. A highly viral product can therefore receive a low Worth Score or appear on the Skip List.
Current score bands, the scoring framework, evidence categories and confidence standard are documented on the How Scores Work page. Exact weighting, normalization, calibration and anti-gaming logic are proprietary so the scoring system remains defensible and harder to manipulate.
Evidence is not treated as interchangeable
Brand-owned claims, retailer listings, aggregate ratings, verified-buyer evidence where available, independent editorial testing, community discussion, technical information, and clinical literature can serve different purposes. VYRDICT records source role and uses evidence according to what that source can reasonably establish.
Consumer proof is not considered complete merely because one rating exists. VYRDICT looks for independent corroboration and requires actual rating/review evidence before secondary editorial or community signals can complete the consumer picture.
Regional scores and shopping context
Viral evidence may be broader than one country, while price, retailer availability, and category value can differ by market. A market-localized Worth Score is published only when sufficient local purchase and value evidence exists.
When local price, retailer, or category-value evidence is incomplete, VYRDICT labels that market context as pending or unavailable rather than presenting a generalized score as localized evidence. VYRDICT does not copy a score from one country into another and call it localized.
Beauty, wellness, and clinical context
When risk or clinical context is relevant, VYRDICT distinguishes evidence about the exact branded product from ingredient-, class-, or category-level evidence. Ingredient-level literature may provide useful context, but it is not represented as proof that the branded product itself was clinically tested.
Health, beauty, skincare, supplement, and wellness coverage is editorial product information rather than individualized medical advice.
Shopping links, sponsorships, and independence
Retailer links are selected for usefulness, market relevance, and verification. Commercial relationships do not determine Viral Scores, Worth Scores, or editorial verdicts.
If VYRDICT receives a commission, free product, sponsorship, discount, or another material benefit connected to a product, retailer, or piece of content, that material connection will be disclosed clearly where reasonably relevant. Sponsored placements, if introduced, will be identified separately from editorial scoring.
Freshness and corrections
Product availability, pricing, retailer routes, formulations, images, and trend momentum can change. VYRDICT records verification dates, maintains re-review workflows, and may revise a score or verdict when materially better or newer evidence becomes available.
When we identify an incorrect product variant, stale price, broken retailer route, or materially unsupported claim, the goal is to correct the underlying catalog record rather than preserve a stale verdict. Corrections and product-update suggestions can be submitted through the Suggest a Product workflow.
Suggestions are research leads
A user suggestion does not automatically enter the public catalog. Suggestions first enter a private research queue and must pass the same identity, evidence, scoring, and publication checks as other research candidates.
Questions about our standards
Questions about VYRDICT’s editorial or scoring standards may be sent to hello@vyrdict.com.