What is VFCore Score?
Short answer
A 0–100 score and letter grade combining an outlet’s authority, reach, link value, discoverability, label transparency and operational reliability.
Six components, with published weights: authority 30%, reach 25%, link value 15%, discoverability 10%, transparency cost 10%, operational quality 10%.
Two deliberate choices make it differ from a raw metric dump. Traffic is log-scaled, so outlets are compared by order of magnitude rather than crowded at the bottom of a linear axis. And a prominent sponsored label costs points, because two outlets with the same traffic are not worth the same if one stamps "Sponsored" across the top.
Why it matters
A directory that ranks by a secret number is marketing. Publishing the weights means the ranking can be checked rather than trusted.