The shout-out and the bids below it

Every Orbit's page has two parts. At the top is the shout-out: the bids that hold a slot right now, ranked and numbered, with their amounts. Below it are all the other bids, in the order they arrived, with no amounts. The line between the two is the cutoff: the lowest bid that still holds a slot.

How it works

1. The creator sets the slots. Between 1 and 10 of them, 3 by default. That is how many sponsors they promise to name.
2. Every bid joins one ranked list. Highest amount first. Two bids at the same amount are ranked by who placed theirs first. A company and a fan are ranked the same way.
3. The top bids fill the slots. With three slots, the three highest bids are the shout-out. They show at the top, numbered 1, 2, 3, each with its amount, while bidding is open.
4. Every other bid shows below, in arrival order. The earliest first, unnumbered, and with no amount. Raising your bid doesn't move your place there.
5. A new bid above the cutoff takes a slot. The bid that held the last slot drops below the shout-out, and its sponsor is told.
6. When bidding ends, the slots hold the winners. Only the winners are charged. Everyone below the cutoff pays nothing.
7. The creator may pick bids into the shout-out during the creator check, up to 5 on an Orbit. A pick is marked on the page as the creator's choice, adds a place, and is charged its own bid.
8. After the deadline, the page shows only the shout-out, with no amounts at all. The bids below it leave the public page.

What you see, and when

The creator's own review page keeps every bid after the deadline, because that is where they pick from.

Why it works this way

Why one list for everyone. If paying for rank is going to deliver rank, there can only be one ranking. Splitting ads from fan questions would need someone to judge which is which, and "what do you think of my app? link below" is both.

Why ties go to the earlier bid. Matching a bid doesn't beat it. If the later bid won the tie, the best move would be to wait until the last second and copy the top amount. This way, bidding early never costs you anything.

Why the order never shuffles. The ranking is amount, then time, and nothing else, so it always comes out the same. When bidding ends, the winners are worked out by exactly the ranking the page was showing you. The sponsors you saw in the slots are the sponsors who get charged.

Why the bids below show no amount. Nobody below the cutoff is charged, so there is no price to show. Showing amounts there would also let anyone read every losing sponsor's budget.

Why picks add a place. A sponsor who paid for a slot keeps it. A creator who wants to answer a fan's question can, without pushing out someone who paid.

Why amounts disappear at the deadline. What you bid or paid is between you, the creator and us. The amounts are only public while they matter, which is while people are still bidding.

Why the bids below leave the page. They were never charged, so there is nothing to show for them. It also means a link that sits below the cutoff stays up for days, not forever, which keeps spammers off the page.

What can go wrong

• You bid exactly the cutoff. You tie the last slot and lose it, because the earlier bid wins ties. The bid box quotes you the cutoff plus $1.00 for this reason.
• You're pushed below the cutoff. You're emailed. You can raise your bid until the deadline. If you don't, you pay nothing.
• You finish just below the slots. You may be next in line, and move up if a winner drops out. See After bidding ends.
• You wonder why your bid isn't on the page after the deadline. It finished below the cutoff, so it was never charged and is no longer shown.

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