Stay Up scoring model
A worked, interactive explanation of how newness, qualified clicks, boosts, and click-through quality become one ranking score—without penalizing weak or absent traffic.
Time decay
Age means elapsed time since one specific event happened, measured whenever the score is recalculated—not the visitor’s or customer’s age.
now − qualified click timestamp. Every qualified unique click is decayed separately, then the remaining weights are added.
One click now plus one click seven days ago produces 1 + 0.5 = 1.5 click momentum.
now − successful payment timestamp. Decay each payment by its own age and sum what remains.
$20 now plus $10 paid 30 days ago gives $20 + $5 = 25 paid power. Their ages are never averaged.
Interactive worked example
Starter power begins at 5, falls linearly to 2.5 at day 3.5, and reaches 0 at day 7.
A qualified click should be unique, legitimate, and tied to a counted impression. Exact bot and repeat-click filters remain a production decision.
(3.57 starter + 10.58 organic + 25 paid) × 1.07 = 41.9 points
Payment parts: 20 + 5 + 0 · global click bonus adds 2.70 points
Click quality
CTR is the share of counted impressions that become qualified clicks. Above-average response can amplify the whole score. Weak or absent traffic produces a neutral 1.0× and never reduces it.
Recent clicks and impressions count more than old ones, producing click and impression momentum.
Add a baseline of 100 impressions at 4% CTR so tiny samples cannot look unbeatable.
Compare smoothed CTR with 4%, then clamp the global multiplier to 1.0×–1.2×.
smoothed CTR = (28 click momentum + 4 baseline clicks) ÷ (530 impression momentum + 100 prior impressions)
= 5.08%
Protection rule: click quality is global, but its floor is 1.0×. With no clicks, organic power is zero and the score is simply starter + paid. Strong CTR can amplify the subtotal by up to 20%; weak CTR never subtracts points.
The V1 model uses a one-week linear starter grant, seven-day click half-life, 30-day paid half-life, 20-point organic cap, 4% baseline CTR, and 100 prior impressions. Traffic constants remain configurable.
Four ways to be found
Recent attention, boost power, and click quality combine into one live score.
Organic momentum only. A genuine audience can win without payment.
Exposure is weighted toward projects that have not had a fair chance yet.
A simple chronological feed of newly approved projects.
Ready for the board?