Methodology
How we grade
The rubric behind every letter: what each section is graded on, how the critic works, and how reader votes are kept honest.
Every review on TierMarks is hands-on: the critic uses the product, grades each category on the S–F scale, and shows the evidence. Reader votes run on the same scale as a separate track that never mixes with the critic’s grade. The tiers themselves are defined on the grades page.
What each vertical is graded on
Categories are fixed per vertical, and every product gets all of them plus an overall:
Movies
Plot · Cinematography · Acting · Dialogue · Overall
TV Shows
Plot · Cinematography · Acting · Dialogue · Overall
Games
Difficulty to make · Visuals · Story · Gameplay · Overall
Evidence rule: Hours played must be stated on-page (spec 6.7).
Anime
Story · Animation · Characters · Overall
Manga
Story · Art · Characters · World-building · Overall
Consoles
Performance · Game library · Design · Price per value · Overall
AI & LLMs
Critical thinking · Coding · Repetitive tasks · Ease of use · Overall, re-verified every 60 days, with a public changelog.
Evidence rule: Actual test-prompt transcripts (published or excerpted) behind each category grade (spec 6.7).
SaaS
Useful value prop · Ease to set up · Price · Overall, re-verified every 90 days, with a public changelog.
Evidence rule: Screenshots from a real account (spec 6.7).
TVs
Performance · Fidelity · Price per value · Overall, re-verified every 365 days, with a public changelog.
Evidence rule: Original photos of the unit (spec 6.7). Stock imagery is banned.
Golf Courses
Course design · Conditioning · Scenery · Value · Overall, re-verified every 365 days, with a public changelog.
Evidence rule: Original photos from a round actually played (spec 6.7 pattern).
Golf Clubs
Forgiveness · Distance · Feel · Price per value · Overall
Evidence rule: Original photos of the club, hit on a real range or course (spec 6.7 pattern).
Cameras
Image quality · Autofocus · Video · Handling · Price per value · Overall, re-verified every 365 days, with a public changelog.
Evidence rule: Original photos of the camera in hand (spec 6.7). Stock imagery is banned.
Golf Balls
Distance · Greenside spin · Feel · Price per value · Overall, re-verified every 365 days, with a public changelog.
Evidence rule: Original photos of the ball, played on a real course (spec 6.7 pattern).
Albums
Production · Lyrics · Vibe · Overall
Cars
Exterior · Interior luxury · Features · Reliability · Economy · Depreciation · Maintenance cost · Innovation · Engine · User experience · Overall, re-verified every 365 days, with a public changelog.
Evidence rule: Original photos of the car driven (spec 6.7). Press imagery is banned.
Phones
Reliability · Camera · Battery life · OS · Screen · Performance · Innovation · Overall, re-verified every 365 days, with a public changelog.
Evidence rule: Original photos of the phone in hand (spec 6.7). Stock imagery is banned.
The critic track
One reviewer, every category graded by hand, an overall that is a judgment, not an average. Reviews under 400 words of original prose do not publish; stock imagery is banned; hardware is photographed in person; AI models are tested with published transcripts; SaaS is screenshotted from a real account; games state hours played.
The user track and vote integrity
Anyone can vote, no account needed. Verified voters (email) count double. Behind the scenes: rate limits, an invisible bot challenge, device fingerprint deduplication, and statistical anomaly detection that quarantines suspicious voting waves without telling the bots they were caught. A user grade appears at 10 weighted votes; a user S needs 25; structured-data ratings publish only past 30 counted votes with a clean integrity record. Quarantined votes never count, and every counting rule is deterministic and re-computable from the raw vote log.
Independence
No affiliate links, no sponsored reviews, no ad networks. If that ever changes it will be disclosed on the page it affects and here. Products are bought or accessed the same way you would buy them. Read more about the site.
Corrections and re-reviews
Fast-moving categories get scheduled re-verification (AI every 60 days, SaaS every 90, TVs yearly). Substantive updates appear in an on-page changelog with dates; grades can move in either direction. A title’s year only advances when a real re-review backs it.