Methodology

Collection

We prefer operator feeds. Public adapters identify themselves, respect robots directives, terms and rate limits, and never bypass login, paywalls or CAPTCHA. Operators can request an opt-out at operators@bidterminal.lol.

Every fetch is stored as a versioned, content-addressed raw snapshot. Normalized events are written only when a canonical fingerprint changes; replays must not duplicate snapshots or alerts.

Verification tiers

Observed means the value appeared in public operator-controlled material. Claimed means an organization proved domain control through DNS TXT or a well-known file. Verified means the operator supplied scoped API or analytics evidence that passed validation.

Payment cannot change a verification tier, confidence value or market position. Operator plans buy workflow and analytics tools only.

Prices and currencies

Native prices are stored in integer minor units with their ISO currency. We never use floating-point money. A normalized USD value, when present, is a separate FX observation with its own provider, timestamp and version; it never overwrites native price.

Traffic and efficiency

Traffic and click metrics carry an explicit window: live, one hour, 12 hours, 24 hours, since launch, lifetime, visible board, or unknown. Public counters are never silently treated as audited unique users.

Raw cost per click appears only when current published board spend and clicks share a defensible basis. Leader premium is the leader value relative to the runner-up. Top concentration is the leader value divided by published board spend. Metric coverage measures disclosure across eight core fields; it is not a quality score.

Freshness and failure

A source that fails parsing three consecutive times becomes stale. The last good observation remains visible with its original timestamp; zero is never published as a substitute. We alert engineering and retain the failed raw captures for drift analysis.

Corrections

Send evidence and the affected market URL to research@bidterminal.lol. Corrections append to the audit record; they do not erase the history of what was previously observed.