Score Accuracy & Methodology
How Accurate Is Your AdGateScore?
AdGateScore is designed to give you a reliable assessment of your website's ad network readiness, but no automated tool can perfectly predict human approval decisions. Here is what you should know about how we calibrate our scoring and where the limitations are.
Data Sources
AdGateScore pulls data from multiple sources to build your score:
- Direct page analysis: We fetch and analyze your web pages directly, checking content length, structure, images, links, and technical elements. This is the most reliable data source because we are looking at your actual site.
- Google PageSpeed Insights API: We use Google's PSI API to measure Core Web Vitals and performance metrics. This provides the same data that Google uses for search ranking signals.
- Mozilla Observatory: We check security headers and HTTPS configuration using Mozilla's security analysis tools.
- Public traffic estimators: For traffic signals, we use publicly available data to estimate your site's traffic volume and sources. This is inherently less precise than direct analytics access.
- DNS and SSL analysis: We check your domain's SSL certificate, DNS configuration, and hosting setup for compliance signals.
Calibration Process
Our scoring thresholds are calibrated against the published requirements of each ad network. We regularly review network requirement pages, publisher forums, and approval/rejection reports to keep our thresholds aligned with real-world outcomes. When a network updates its requirements, we update our scoring accordingly.
The scoring weights (how much each module contributes to the overall score) are based on analysis of which factors most strongly correlate with network approval decisions. Content Quality has the highest weight (25%) because it is consistently the most important factor across all networks.
Update Frequency
We review and update our scoring methodology on an ongoing basis. Network requirement changes are typically reflected in our scoring within a few weeks of being publicly announced. Module-level scoring algorithms are refined based on feedback from publishers who share their approval outcomes with us.
Your individual scan results are point-in-time snapshots. They reflect your site's state at the moment of the scan and do not update automatically. To get current data, run a new scan.
Known Limitations
No automated scoring tool is perfect. Here are the areas where AdGateScore may be less accurate:
- Traffic estimation: Public traffic data is an approximation. If your actual traffic is significantly different from public estimates, your Traffic Signals score may not reflect reality. Networks with direct analytics access will see your real numbers.
- Content niche evaluation: Some ad networks prefer certain content niches (food, travel, finance) over others. Our scoring does not currently weight niche desirability because it varies by network and changes over time.
- Domain age and history: Some networks consider domain age and previous policy violations. These factors are difficult to assess automatically and are not fully captured in the score.
- Subjective quality: Ad network reviewers exercise subjective judgment about content quality, site design, and brand safety. Our automated checks capture measurable quality signals but cannot replicate human judgment entirely.
- Dynamic content: Sites that rely heavily on JavaScript rendering may score differently than static sites because the scanner may not execute all client-side scripts during analysis.
What a Green Status Means
When AdGateScore shows "Ready" (green) for a network, it means your site meets the publicly documented requirements that we can measure. This is a strong indicator of likely approval but not a guarantee. Networks may consider additional undocumented factors, and human reviewers may make subjective decisions that differ from automated assessments.
Conversely, a "Not Ready" (red) status almost certainly means you will be rejected if you apply now. The measurable requirements are clear minimum thresholds, and failing to meet them results in automatic rejection before a human reviewer even looks at your site.
Feedback and Accuracy Reporting
We actively seek feedback from publishers about their approval outcomes. If you applied to a network based on your AdGateScore results and the outcome differed from what we predicted, we would love to hear about it. This feedback helps us refine our scoring and improve accuracy for all users. You can share feedback through the Contact page.