The algorithm takes into consideration the total number of reviews a product, service, or dispensary has received.

Our Thought Process: The more reviews a product or service receives, the more helpful the ranking is. A high number of reviews allows the algorithm to be more accurate on a vendor's standing and will determine whether or not the company truly provides the best marijuana products or services.

The algorithm measures the average star rating a company receives based on user reviews.

Our Thought Process: Averages can be a powerful thing, especially when it comes to determining a company’s worth. The average star ratings pulled from a "crowd" of people will give our visitors a more comprehensive picture of what a company, product or service is like and will help our team determine the best marijuana and CBD-based companies.

The algorithm places more emphasis on reviews left by real LinkedIn-connected reviewers.

Our Thought Process: Anonymous reviews are less valuable than reviews that are tied to real people. Reviews connected with legitimate LinkedIn account holders automatically hold more value in the eyes of the algorithm.

The algorithm gives more weight to authentic customer reviews than it does to employee reviews. Reviews that fail to classify the relationship between the writer and the company hold the least value.

Our Thought Process: Customers pay the bills so we naturally give more weight to reviews written by individuals on bestmarijuanaguide.com who have put their money where their mouth is. Employee reviews also hold some value (though not as much) as they may offer internal views. This part of the algorithm is key to finding the best CBD and marijuana companies the current industry has to offer.

The algorithm favors reviews that relay a deep understanding of the experience and is of use to other readers.

Our Thought Process: A simple statement "Company XYZ sucks" holds some value, however; a review that further explains as to why it is that “Company XYZ sucks” holds far more weight.

Most vendors fit multiple categories. The algorithm takes into consideration which solution the reviews are referring to.

Our Thought Process: If a company offering multiple solutions receives reviews, those reviews should only impact the rankings of those categories that the review references.

The algorithm measures the ratio of textual reviews versus the video reviews left on a vendor’s profile.

Our Thought Process: Our visitors get a clearer picture when they can read reviews as well as watch them. A vendor that can attract an equal number of textual reviews and video reviews is maintaining an ideal ratio and is that much closer to being considered one of the best marijuana companies on our list.

The algorithm calculates the average age of reviews, favoring newer reviews over older ones.

Our Thought Process: A vendor usually either improves or declines in performance over time. What reviewers claim five years ago should hold less value to what people are saying today. They may have been the best marijuana vape pen in 2014, but are they still considered the top? Probably not.

The algorithm takes into consideration the use of time-related and numerical details within a review.

Our Thought Process: Reviewers sharing this information are more likely to be invested in their selected vendor. The more details about the purchase, the better.

The algorithm takes into consideration the use of any specific language that would be considered to be relevant to the type of vendor being reviewed.

Our Thought Process: A reviewer using language relevant to the type of product, service, or dispensary being reviewed suggests a higher depth of knowledge about the vendor's industry.

The algorithm takes into consideration whether a review was incentivized versus organic.

Our Thought Process: It is important to ensure vendors are able to get organic reviews that are not based on a monetary or other type of incentive. The companies who attract the most organic reviews will naturally end up being considered one of the best marijuana/CBD companies on our list.

The algorithm takes into consideration whether a review is found to be similar in language to another and to what extent there is a similarity.

Our Thought Process: Redundant or copied reviews provide less value to a reader than completely original reviews written based on unique experiences.

The algorithm uses factors such as quantity and quality of links to determine the strength of a vendor's website.

Our Thought Process: Great businesses have a strong presence in the online world. Our highly sophisticated algorithm incorporates tools which have been worked on for over a decade, replicating the same signals Google uses to determine the popularity and relevance of a website. The more active and present a company is in the online community, the more likely it will end up ranking amongst our best marijuana companies.

The algorithm checks for offline usage of brand and domain name in news, media, and social outlets.

Our Thought Process: Not every review on a business resides on bestmarijuanaguide.com. To give our visitors a comprehensive view of a company, we include mentions of a vendor even outside of bestmarijuanaguide.com.

The algorithm measures the effort a business takes in engaging and using the applications on their profile page to inform our visitors about their product or service.

Our Thought Process: Businesses who engage with their customers through their profile page (responding to questions and negative reviews) provide more value to our visitors and should be rewarded.

The algorithm credits additional points to vendors who are engaged and invested in trying to generate reviews on their profile page.

Our Thought Process: Reviews encourage smarter purchases. A vendor that uses the bestmarijuanaguide.com badge to generate reviews and registers for the Customer Outreach Program is embracing transparency and reviews.

The algorithm determines if a vendor contributes thought provoking, insightful content on our blog for the benefit of our visitors.

Our Thought Process: Information is power. Most of our visitors take their decision to purchase a product very seriously. A company who contributes to our blog by providing exclusive, valuable, and trendy content will be considered as more of an authority in their space and more likely to be ranked amongst the best CBD and marijuana companies.

The algorithm takes into consideration whether or not a vendor has produced their own frequently asked questions from their experiences.

Our Thought Process: By providing sample questions and answers which are commonly asked, a vendor is beginning a dialogue with those interested in their offerings.

The algorithm takes into consideration whether the profile is updated quarterly to ensure accurate and timely information.

Our Thought Process: Many vendors are constantly making improvements to their offerings. The information in their profile should always reflect those changes and contain the most recent, on-trend information.

The algorithm takes into consideration whether or not a representative of the company has done a video interview with us.

Our Thought Process: An interview with a member of the bestmarijuanaguide.com team gives a vendor the opportunity to create a dialogue with not only our team, but with those viewing the interview.

The algorithm takes into consideration the number of negative reviews a vendor has resolved with their buyers.

Our Thought Process: Vendors who consistently resolve issues with their buyers are most likely to learn from those experiences and improve their offerings.