Robots rated by visitors

How viewer ratings work

• Anyone can rate a robot from 1 to 10 on its page. You don't need an account. You can change or remove your rating later.
• An average appears from 5 ratings. A robot enters Viewers' choice from 10 ratings.
• Weighted score, like IMDb's Top 250. A few enthusiastic votes shouldn't beat hundreds of considered ones, so the list uses a weighted rating: score = (v ÷ (v + m)) × R + (m ÷ (v + m)) × C, where R is the robot's average, v its number of ratings, C the average of all ratings on the site, and m = 10. With few votes, a robot's score stays close to the site average; with many, it approaches its own average.
• "I own or have used it" is self-declared. We show how many raters ticked it, but we can't verify it.
• One rating per visitor per robot. When you rate, we set one small cookie holding a random ID so you can change your rating later. We also limit how many new ratings a single network can add for the same robot in a day, and how many ratings it can send per hour.
• No moderation of opinions. We never remove a rating because we disagree with it, and makers can't pay to change ratings. We remove only ratings from clear manipulation, such as scripted voting or a coordinated campaign, and we'll say publicly when we do. We ask makers, their agencies and our own team not to rate robots they are involved with.
• Never part of the Robot 500. The Robot 500 method uses only sourced specifications and real-world evidence. Viewer ratings are unverified opinions and are shown separately.
• What we store: the robot, your rating, the "used it" tick, the time, the random ID, and a one-way hash of your network address (for the limits above), which we delete after 30 days. See our privacy notice.