Tier Promotions
Tier promotions allow admins to advance a publisher to a higher tier regardless of their current lifetime point total. This is a tool for recognizing exceptional contributors who have earned elevated marketplace standing through means that the point system doesn't fully capture.
When Tier Promotions Are Appropriate
Tier promotions are a powerful and highly visible action — they should be used sparingly and with clear justification:
| Appropriate Use | Example |
|---|---|
| Founding ecosystem partners | A publisher who was a key design partner before the marketplace launched — they have marketplace impact that predates the tracking system |
| Strategic partner recognition | A publisher entering a formal strategic partnership where Gold or Platinum tier is part of the partnership agreement |
| Retroactive correction | A publisher whose historical points were lost due to a system migration or data loss event that cannot be individually reconstructed |
| Tier-skip for exceptional contribution | A publisher at the top of Silver who made a major ecosystem contribution deserving Platinum recognition immediately, without waiting for the point accumulation |
How Tier Promotion Works
Tier Promotion vs Point Award
| Tier Promotion | Point Award | |
|---|---|---|
| Changes tier? | Yes — directly sets tier to target level | Only if points push lifetime total past threshold |
| Changes point total? | No — point totals are unchanged | Yes — adds to lifetime and weighted score |
| Affects leaderboard? | No — weighted score unchanged | Yes — weighted score increases |
| Approval required? | Always — dual-admin for all promotions | Only for awards over 500 pts |
| Publisher notified? | Yes — email and in-platform notification | Yes — email and in-platform notification |
Once a tier promotion is applied, the publisher holds that tier permanently — the same no-downgrade rule that applies to normally earned tiers applies to promoted tiers. If a tier promotion was issued in error, it can only be corrected by a downgrade action (a separate, also dual-admin-approved action). Downgrades are extremely rare and should not be needed if tier promotions are used appropriately.
Publisher Notification on Promotion
When a tier promotion is applied, the publisher receives:
- An in-platform notification: "Your publisher tier has been updated to [Tier] by the MarketHub admin team"
- An email with the new tier, the effective date, and the reason note provided by the admin
- Immediate access to all benefits associated with the new tier — search boosts, featured placement eligibility, and support level upgrades activate instantly