Methodology
How We Rank Sites
AdultRankly separates editorial category decisions from the ordering rule used inside each category.
Category inclusion is editorial
A listing first has to fit the category. AdultRankly uses the factors below to decide where a destination belongs and what information is useful to describe in the directory or a review.
- Category fit
- Whether the destination actually matches the category promise and whether its main product or catalog belongs there.
- Access model
- What is free, freemium, or paid, and whether the catalog data describes that distinction clearly.
- Usability
- Browsing structure, search and filtering, mobile behavior, and obvious friction that matters when AdultRankly evaluates a destination.
- Catalog and features
- The content format, feature set, library focus, and other characteristics used to describe and compare destinations accurately.
- Availability
- Whether the destination, important pages, and outbound URLs are reachable when information is checked.
These factors are editorial checks, not a hidden numeric score. A statement about usability, catalog depth, ads, or features does not by itself move a site above another listing unless the ordering data described below changes.
Ordering inside a category
AdultRankly uses the search-volume field stored in the directory's search-interest dataset, highest first. The same stored records drive the category pages, so editors do not manually rearrange individual listings after the ordering rule is applied.
Where a category intentionally combines access tiers, Premium entries are placed ahead of Freemium and Free entries, then ordered by the stored search-interest value inside that tier. A site without a recorded value follows sites in the same tier that do have one. Ties are broken by site name.
What “search interest” means here
Search interest is a relative popularity signal based on the numeric search-volume value stored with a site record. It is not an AdultRankly quality score and it should not be read as a claim that the first listing is the best service.
The current catalog does not store a verifiable provider field, geographic market field, or measurement-period field alongside those values. Because that provenance is absent from the data model, AdultRankly does not name a provider, claim a country-specific scope, or present the figures as a verified estimate of total demand. Missing provenance is disclosed here rather than filled in by assumption.
Reviews and directory descriptions
Review copy and category descriptions summarize the evidence recorded for a destination: what it is, what it offers, its access model, and practical browsing details where those details are supported. They are separate from the search-interest ordering rule.
No numeric ratings or aggregate scores are shown because the site does not maintain a repeatable scoring dataset for them.
Affiliate relationships
Affiliate relationships can change the outbound destination used by a Visit Site link, but they do not override category inclusion or ordering. Affiliate links are marked as sponsored in the HTML and the commercial relationship is explained in the Affiliate Disclosure.