Sports
Rank higher on the booking map with trust, not money
Published
On Sol26 SportTech, venues reach the top of the map by keeping an honest schedule, not by paying for ads. This post explains how the trust score works.
Players open a booking app and usually pick one of the first few venues in the list. So map ranking decides most of the new bookings a venue receives. The question is what that ranking is based on.
On Sol26 SportTech, ranking is based on the venue's trust score, and that score cannot be bought.
Three inputs to the trust score
A venue's trust score comes from three inputs:
- Whether the venue cancels bookings itself, since every venue cancellation is a game players lose
- Whether the venue settles on time
- The share of the venue's bookings that come from app members
That score decides the map ranking. No advertising package lifts a venue above one with a higher score.
Why ranking is not for sale
The two behaviours that lift a venue, keeping an honest schedule and settling on time, are the same behaviours that make the platform trustworthy for players. When ranking can be bought, players learn that the top of the list is not necessarily the best venue, and stop trusting the list.
Tying ranking to real behaviour benefits all three sides: players book venues that keep their word, honest venues get more bookings, and the platform keeps its credibility.
Listed, synced and cloud
The map has to be complete to be useful, so the platform lists venues that do not use the software, from open data. There are currently 400 listed venues in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.
- Listed venues appear in search, players can only call, and they rank below bookable venues
- Venues that sync their price list and open or busy hours can be booked in the app and are fully ranked
- Venues on the Cloud edition are also fully ranked
Listed venues do not benefit from the demand the app creates. To receive bookings, a venue syncs its schedule, just as a restaurant on a food delivery app has to keep its menu and opening hours current to get orders.
What owners can do to rank higher
There is no trick beyond running the venue well: keep the booking grid true to reality so bookings never need cancelling, settle on time, and serve players well enough that they come back through the app. A grid that blocks double bookings inside the database means no cancellations caused by double bookings.
Frequently asked questions
- Can a venue pay to reach the top of the map?
- No. Ranking is decided by the trust score and cannot be bought.
- What goes into the trust score?
- Three inputs - whether the venue cancels bookings itself, whether it settles on time, and the share of its bookings that come from app members.
- Do venues without the software appear on the map?
- Yes. Listed venues appear in search so players can call them, but they rank below venues that can be booked in the app.
- How many venues are on the map?
- There are currently 400 listed venues in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Most of them cannot yet be booked through the app.
Sol26 SportTech
Sports venue management software and booking app
