How ranking works

1.The principles

This page explains what decides the order of things on Zinola: feeds, businesses, search results, reviews and directories. It also lists every way our team can change that order.

1. 1.1Nobody can pay for a higher place today. There are no ads, no paid boosts and no listing fees. It is free to be listed and free to use.
2. 1.2The same rules apply to every business. No business gets a different formula, and money can't change one.
3. 1.3When the order is adjusted for you personally, we explain how here (see Section 5). When our team adjusts it for a place, we explain that too (see Section 6).

2.Street, Home and Market feeds

By default, these feeds are ordered by how close an item is to you, then by time. The nearest items come first, and within the same distance the newest leads.

1. 2.1Our team can switch a place to a blended order instead. It gives each item a score from three things: how recent it is (this fades over about two days), how near it is, and how much engagement it has. A popular post can then sit above a newer one.
2. 2.2For posts, engagement means likes, replies and shout-outs. For listings, it means reactions and enquiries. Engagement is counted on a scale that stops growing past about 100, so one very popular item can't push everything else off the page.
3. 2.3On Street you can sort by newest, popular (likes first, then replies) or most shouted-out.
4. 2.4On Marketplace you can sort by nearest (the default), most liked, price (listings without a price come last) or ending soon (offers ending within 7 days).
5. 2.5Sorting by newest ignores distance. It is simply the newest first.

3.What being nearby does

“Nearby” works in rings around a center point. The center is the area you picked, or your phone's location if you haven't picked one.

1. 3.1Your own area comes first.
2. 3.2Then areas within about 5 km, nearest first.
3. 3.3Then the rest of your city.
4. 3.4Then other cities in your state.
5. 3.5Then everywhere else.

4.How Home is laid out

1. 4.1Each page of Home mixes a few kinds of things: posts from your area first (up to 4 at the top), a review, and posts that people you follow gave a shout-out.
2. 4.2The post with the most shout-outs in your city this week can be pinned to the top. It needs at least 2 shout-outs to qualify.
3. 4.3Marketplace listings and business rails appear between posts.

5.Personal adjustments

There is one personal adjustment, and it only applies to signed-in people who have told us which topics they like or don't. You can tell us through an occasional question, or in Settings → Your interests.

1. 5.1Items tagged with a topic you said yes to are treated as a little newer than they are, about half a day by default. Items tagged with a topic you said no to are treated as a little older, about a quarter of a day.
2. 5.2Our team sets the size of this adjustment and can switch it off entirely.
3. 5.3We also record likes, saves and enquiries, but today they don't change the order by themselves.
4. 5.4If you're signed out, or haven't answered, you see the same order as everyone else in your place.
5. 5.5Blocking someone removes their content from your lists, and yours from theirs. That is a filter, not a ranking change.

6.What our team can adjust

Our team can change the order for a place. Settings work at three levels: an India-wide default, a city, and an area. A more specific setting overrides a broader one.

1. 6.1For a city or area, we can lift or lower a category, which shifts its items by up to a few days in either direction. We can also hide a category from that place's feed.
2. 6.2We can pin a post or listing to the top of page 1 for a set period. A pinned item carries a “Pinned” label, so you can always tell it apart from the normal order.
3. 6.3Pinned and adjusted items still follow the normal visibility rules. You never see something you couldn't otherwise see: posts from people you've blocked stay hidden, and a closed circle's posts stay inside it.

7.Sponsored placements

1. 7.1Nothing on Zinola is sponsored today.
2. 7.2The system has a “sponsored” placement, and it is switched off. If we ever switch it on, those items will be labeled Sponsored where they appear, and we will update this page first.

8.How businesses are ordered

1. 8.1You can sort the business directory by rating (average rating, then number of reviews), most reviews, most experience or newest.
2. 8.2When you've picked an area and aren't filtering by one, businesses nearest you come first, then rating. Businesses that serve your whole city, state or all of India are included.
3. 8.3The “Verified only” filter shows claimed listings that passed our business or project verification.
4. 8.4The “Suggested businesses” rail on Home is chosen by Zinola and then ordered by rating. Nobody paid to be there.

9.Search

1. 9.1Businesses whose name contains your whole search come first.
2. 9.2Then close name matches.
3. 9.3Then businesses that serve the area you selected.
4. 9.4Then rating and number of reviews.

10.Reviews and ratings

1. 10.1Reviews on a business page are shown newest first.
2. 10.2A business's rating is the average of its published reviews, rounded to one decimal. Six sub-ratings are averaged the same way: quality, timeliness, communication, pricing, accountability and attitude.
3. 10.3Hidden or removed reviews drop out of the rating.
4. 10.4A business can't remove or reorder its reviews. It can post one public reply to each review.

11.What the badges mean

Each badge means one specific check. None of them is for sale.

1. 11.1A verified tick on a business means the listing is claimed by its owner and passed our business or project verification. A phone check alone doesn't earn it.
2. 11.2Checked by Zinola on a review means our team looked into that review. A business with at least one such review gets a Zinola-checked reviews tag.
3. 11.3Verified on a review means it came through a single-use review link the business sent that customer.

12.How moderation affects lists

1. 12.1Content reported by 3 people within 24 hours is hidden while we review it. For hate, sexual content or harassment, 2 reports are enough.
2. 12.2Content from hidden, removed or suspended accounts disappears from every list.
3. 12.3Apart from that, reports and moderation are not a ranking signal. See the Community Guidelines for what we act on.

13.People and circles

1. 13.1The People directory shows the newest members first, and only people who have chosen to be discoverable.
2. 13.2The Circles directory shows circles with the most members first, then the newest. When you've picked an area, nearby circles come first.
3. 13.3Invite-only circles never appear in the directory.

14.Changes to this page

1. 14.1When ranking changes, we update this page. The date at the top shows when it was last updated.