G2 Research Scoring Methodologies

Review Sorting Methodology

G2 puts logic in place to ensure the reviews shown on product pages are the most helpful to buyers. When the page is sorted by default, the sort is calculated with a custom algorithm that includes the following data points.

• Recency of the review
• Amount of feedback provided in the review
• Attribution (Did the reviewer keep their name and company public)
• Whether the reviewer is a current user of the solution (Included a screen shot)
• Community engagement with the review

G2 Star Rating Methodology

The G2 Star Rating is calculated by aggregating reviewers' answers to our Likely to Recommend question (1–10 scale) and dividing the average in half.

You will see half stars because the visual is rounded up to the nearest half.

Alternatives Sorting Methodology

The top alternatives sorting algorithm is meant to surface the products most similar in functionality and which buyers can leverage for similar uses. Three sources of information are used to determine the sort, as listed below:

• The breadth of overlap in categories as determined by G2 research analysts, as an indicator of similarity of function
• The depth of category overlap based on the number of reviews attributed to each category, as an indicator of overlap of usage 
• The number of product to product comparisons made by G2 users, as an indicator of overlap of interest from buyers

Market Presence Scoring Criteria

Best Software Sellers and Software Products Lists - Scoring Methodologies

To be included in one of G2’s Software Sellers or Software Products “Best Of” lists, a software seller or software product must receive at least 100 approved and published reviews* during the evaluation period. For the “Best Of” lists, the evaluation period is January 1 to December 31 each year**, and scores reflect only data from reviews submitted during that time. The Market Presence score reflects the data that is as recent as the cut date.

Scoring Methodologies

Best Software Sellers Lists

• Software sellers are ranked based on a combination of Satisfaction and Market Presence scores for each seller.
• Satisfaction is an aggregate score based on a seller’s products across their assigned categories. All products with 5 or more reviews in the evaluation period and 10 or more reviews overall are included in this score.
• Market Presence inputs are aggregated by software seller and then normalized across all eligible sellers. Market Presence is scored relative to all sellers with 10 or more reviews.
• The region-based lists (ANZ, India, and EMEA) follow the Best Software Sellers Lists methodology for sellers, but only considers sellers from a particular region. A number of factors are used to determine which region software sellers are grouped in, including, but not limited to, where the company was founded, where its executive team resides, and where the majority of its workforce is located.

Best Software Products Lists

• Products are ranked based on reviews across all categories they are a part of. Category rankings for Satisfaction and Market Presence are normalized as usual. 
• The score for a product is first calculated for each individual category, and then those category scores are combined. The overall score is weighted based on the competitiveness*** of each category. 
• The “Highest Satisfaction” list is based solely on G2’s Satisfaction algorithm (rather than G2 Score), normalized within categories. The score for a product is first calculated for each individual category, and then those category scores are combined. The overall score is weighted based on the competitiveness*** of each category.
• The “Fastest Growing Products” list is based on G2's Momentum algorithm, normalized across categories.
• The persona-based lists (e.g., Best Software for Sales Products) follow the Best Software Products Lists methodology but only include reviews within a smaller subset of categories relevant to a particular persona.
• The segment-based lists (Small-Business, Mid-Market, and Enterprise) follow the Best Software Products methodology, but only consider reviews submitted by users working in the named segment size. G2 defines small-business as a company with 1-50 employees, mid-market as a company with 51-1,000 employees, and enterprise as a company with 1,001+ employees.

Notes on the "Best Of" Scoring Methodologies:

Keep in mind that, for G2’s annual “Best Of” lists, the scores only reflect reviews submitted in the evaluation period. Other G2 reports might include more or less data which would potentially show different rankings for software sellers and software products.

Also, broadly-defined “Other” categories such as “Other Marketing Software” and “Other IT Security Software” were excluded to ensure we were evaluating products with relevant comparative scoring.

* Business partner reviews count toward the 100 reviews threshold needed to be eligible for G2’s “Best Of” lists, but they are not calculated as part of the rankings. 

** The 2020 “Best Of” list evaluation period was extended and ran through March of 2020, instead of the usual end date of December 31, 2019.

*** Competitiveness, in this instance, is determined by how many products are competing in each category and how many reviews those products receive.

v2.0