Section 04 · The maths

One score, three dimensions of reality.

The three telemetry streams — consumer experience, workforce stress and financial velocity — resolve into a single multiplier applied to both surfaces at once: the organic ranking signal (SEO), where incumbency currently pays nothing for the traffic it cannot serve, and the paid auction rank (SEM), where capable operators currently pay most.

Vertical Equilibrium Score
VES = f(Relevance) × ( CX ÷ S ) × ( VT ÷ VA )

Equilibrium Ad Rank = (Bid Amount × Quality Score) × VES

VariableDimensionSource telemetryEffect when high
CXConsumer Experience IndexCall queue metadata, single-tap resolution surveys, service velocity.Lifts VES — the business can comfortably absorb more demand.
SWorkforce stressAnonymised shift hours, leave spikes, shift friction.Lowers VES — exposure throttles to protect the team.
Vₜ / VₐTarget over actual growth velocityZero-knowledge accounting sync across a rolling ninety days.Past target lowers VES; short of survival minimums raises it.
Operational states

How the engine reacts in practice.

Three states cover almost every real situation in a ten-player vertical pool.

ConditionMetric shiftAlgorithm actionSystem outcome
Over-extended / saturatedS approaches its ceiling, or CX falls.VES decreases; paid and organic exposure throttle gracefully.Staff protected from burnout, ad spend preserved, bad reviews avoided.
Target reached / over-servedActual velocity well beyond target velocity.VES decreases; prominence rotates outward.No single player monopolises the region's revenue.
Under-utilised / high capacityLow stress and actual velocity below target.VES increases; prominence and rotation amplify.Capable operators reach survival minimums and grow steadily.
Worked scenario

Two operators, one week.

A ten-player trades vertical in a single metropolitan service area, mid-winter, with demand spiking.

Operator A · incumbent

Free position withdrawn, and better for it

  • Strongest domain authority in the pool — the top organic slot costs it nothing per lead.
  • Crews already averaging well over standard hours; two unplanned absences.
  • Call abandonment climbing; resolution velocity slipping past the vertical mean.
  • VES falls. The free organic overflow is withdrawn first and bids ease back behind it for six days. The backlog clears, and exposure returns.
Operator G · capable challenger

Amplified, within limits

  • Modest budget and a young domain, but a fully staffed roster with genuine availability — today it has to buy every click it gets.
  • Resolution rates comfortably at or above the vertical mean.
  • Quarterly velocity tracking below the sustainable target for the pool.
  • VES rises. Organic prominence is earned rather than bought, until their own stress signal says enough.

The formal macro-economic write-up of this model, including the open specification document, lives at @rsp/macro · VES Formula.

Grounding

Notes, sources and definitions.

Keep reading

Continue through the specification.

Section 00

Overview

Why ranking by budget alone breaks markets — and what replaces it.

Section 01

Pooled intent

Rich real-time demand signals with the identifiable source burned on write.

Section 02

Capacity & workforce

Serviceability, stress-load and financial velocity as exposure valves.

Section 03

Consumer experience

Neutral, vertical-congruent feedback that acts as a relief valve.

Section 05

Calibration & adoption

The 90-day sandbox, privacy guardrails and the case for adoption.