We've been building Outbid Twist (outbid-twist.lol) - a pay-to-rank leaderboard in the outbid.lol style, bid and the highest bidder holds #1.
The one objection we keep hearing, from users and from other people building in this space, is basically the same every time: "isn't this just a ranking of whoever has the most money?" Fair question. Our attempt at an answer is a second leaderboard running alongside the bidding one - each round, the top 3 people who referred a paying bidder split a payout too, capped at $10k per rank. The #1 spot still goes to the highest bidder, but the people actually spreading the word get rewarded for it, not just the platform.
We haven't fully solved the trust problem - a cold visitor still sees "highest bidder wins" first - but it's meaningfully changed who has a reason to share the link.
Curious what this community thinks, whether you're building something similar or you've actually used one of these boards: does paying the distribution side change how legitimate a ranking feels to you? What would make you trust one more?
Pay to rank #1, Outbid Twist starts as a classic pay-to-rank leaderboard -submit a link, pay to hold #1.
What's different: a second, live leaderboard ranks people by real visitors they bring in. Every 15 days, the top 3 inviters get paid in cash - the exact amount the top 3 bidders paid, capped at $10k each. Existing pay-to-rank boards only reward spenders. This one pays the people who bring the crowd, too.
