{"id":1303,"slug":"rule-label-every-published-data-figure-with-vintage","title":"R6 — Every published number gets a label (what it is) and a vintage (how fresh); the Zestimate defence depends on it","kind":"rule","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","smb-owner","candid-team"],"topics":["data-infrastructure","editorial-discipline","estimate-quote-law","accuracy-risk-published-data"],"reference_body":"**Rule:** Every customer-visible data-derived figure — a \"homes near transit,\" an \"estimated savings,\" a \"rate,\" an \"availability count\" — gets two visible accompaniments: (a) a **label** stating what the number is (an estimate, a model output, an in-stock count as of *when*); (b) a **vintage** (the date / cadence at which it was last computed).\n\n**Why:** [[zillow-zestimate-error-rates]] — the legal defence that survived to the 7th Circuit was that the Zestimate was always labelled an *estimate*, not an appraisal. The same principle applies to every published figure ([[accuracy-risk-published-data]]). The same rule also governs customer-facing calculators ([[rule-label-every-estimate-with-vintage]]).\n\n**How to apply:**\n- Default label discipline: every number gets a one-line accompaniment (what it is + vintage).\n- Stale-data alerts on the maintenance side ([[rule-budget-for-pipeline-maintenance-from-day-one]]) — if the data is older than the published cadence, show that.\n- Apply the same discipline to ACS-derived figures ([[acs-margins-of-error-false-positives]]) — publish the MOE.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"rule-label-every-estimate-with-vintage","title":"R3 — Label every published estimate as an estimate, and show its vintage prominently","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"acs-margins-of-error-false-positives","title":"ACS 5-Year Estimates carry margins of error that produce \"false positives\" in small/rural areas if ignored","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"zillow-zestimate-error-rates","title":"Zillow Zestimate published error rates — ~1.9% on-market, ~7.5% off-market; lawsuits; 7th Circuit 2019 sided with Zillow partly because \"estimate\" was clearly labelled","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-data-driven-tools-smb-june-2026","title":"Research brief: live data and data-driven tools for SMBs — when it's an edge, when it's overkill (June 2026)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"article-data-tools-for-smbs-edge-or-overkill","title":"Article (draft): Before you buy that data tool, ask one question — would your competitor's version look exactly like yours?","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"pipeda-breach-reporting-rrosh-24-month-records","title":"PIPEDA mandatory breach reporting (in force Nov 1, 2018): report RROSH breaches to OPC + notify affected individuals + KEEP RECORDS OF ALL BREACHES for 24 months","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"rule-build-for-citation-not-just-utility","title":"R4 — When SEO is part of the case, build for CITATION not just utility — the public quotable number earns the links; the private personal answer does not","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}]},"created_at":"2026-06-20T16:57:39.002Z","updated_at":"2026-06-20T16:57:39.002Z"}