Methodology

Sources

• Google Places (New). Primary source for business name, phone, website, Google rating + review count, hours, and photos. Queried against the full taxonomy of ~113 categories localised to Isla Holbox and Chiquilá.
• OpenStreetMap (ODbL). Primary source for small essentials (ATMs, pharmacies, laundromats, bike shops) that are often missing from Google Places. Also provides GPS coordinates when Google doesn’t.
• Owner submissions. Verified business owners can override hours, phone, description, and upload original photos through the claim flow (see below). Owner-provided data takes precedence over scraper-provided data on the public listing.
• First-hand knowledge. Editorial guides, zone descriptions, and category context are written by the PlayaHolbox team.

Dedup logic

When two records appear across sources, we merge them in this order:

• Shared Google Place ID → definitely the same.
• Shared phone number → the same.
• Shared website domain → the same.
• Name + coordinates within 50 m → the same.
• Normalized name match within the same category → probable duplicate, flagged for human review.

The record with the higher data-completeness score wins; non-null fields from the other record are merged in to fill gaps.

Rankings

Default sort on hub pages is Google rating, descending. We also offer sorts by review count, name, and photo count. We don’t rank by anything a business can pay for — and if we ever add sponsored placement, it will be visually and algorithmically separate from editorial rankings. A 5.0 with four reviews can currently rank ahead of a 4.9 with hundreds; we’re rolling out a confidence-adjusted rating with minimum review thresholds in a future release.

Refresh cadence

• Scraper refresh: every 30–90 days per category (restaurants weekly in peak season, pharmacies/ATMs quarterly).
• Owner edits: live within 60 seconds of save.
• Live data: weather every 15 min, ferry schedule continuous, biolum rating recomputed every 15 min from moon + cloud data.

Verification tiers

Verified by owner

The business claimed its listing, we confirmed ownership via a matching business email or Google Business account, and the owner has reviewed and signed off on the displayed facts. Shows the “Verified by owner” badge.

Google-sourced

Facts come from Google Places and have not yet been confirmed by the owner. Hours and photos may lag reality by weeks.

OSM-sourced

Facts come from OpenStreetMap. Usually just name + location — contact info and hours may be missing until the owner claims.

Corrections

Spot a mistake? Email info@playaholbox.com or submit the correction via the contact form. We respond within 1–2 business days.