How rankings work
- Third-party lab analysis
- Vials bought anonymously
- The lab is named on every record
- Rankings are calculated only from test results. Vendors cannot pay for a score.
Anonymous purchases
Only vials Tested.ph buys anonymously, through each vendor's normal checkout, count toward a grade. The vendor cannot choose which vial is bought, and the partner laboratory sees a sample code, not a vendor name. Records sent in by vendors or buyers are published and labelled with their source, but never scored.
A published method
Every grade comes from one formula, published in full on the methodology page and read from the same configuration the scoring code uses. A vendor is ranked after 3 scored batches in 12 months, and recent batches count more. Grades are listed in the Tested Index and frozen monthly in the changelog.
Raw data
Every public record is downloadable as CSV or JSON from open data, so anyone can recompute a grade. Each record carries the SHA-256 fingerprint of the signed lab report.
What vendors can and cannot pay for
Vendors can pay for testing and for the Tested Verified badge. Nothing a vendor pays for changes a score, a grade or the order of the Index.
Vendors can pay for
- Testing their own batches, published as vendor-submitted records.
- The Tested Verified badge for a published, identity-confirmed record.
Vendors cannot pay for
- A grade, a score, a rank or a place in the Index.
- Choosing which vial Tested.ph buys anonymously.
- Delaying, hiding or editing a record Tested.ph bought itself.
No affiliate links, no advertising, no sponsored placement, and no links to sellers other than a vendor's own website on its own page.
Right of reply
Before a record is published, the vendor gets 72 hours to reply. Replies are published unedited next to the result. Vendors can also reply to their vendor report at any time through the contact page.
Corrections
If a record is wrong, it is corrected in place, the change is described on the record, and it is listed in the corrections log. Nothing is edited silently or deleted. Save a record's key in My vault to be told when it changes.
How to dispute a result
- Write through the contact page with the task number and what you believe is wrong.
- Tested.ph checks the record against the signed report. A transcription error is corrected publicly like any other correction.
- If you dispute the analysis itself, the question goes to the partner laboratory, which reviews its data. Where a retained sample exists, it can be re-analysed; the outcome is published on the record.
The laboratory
Tested.ph does not perform analysis. Every result comes from a named partner laboratory and is signed by its registered chemist, as Republic Act 10657 requires. About partner labs. More about Tested.ph is on the about page; journalists can use the press kit; the rules for using records are in the terms.