Why I’ve grown to hate “best of” awards

Every year like clockwork, magazines and newspapers roll out their annual “Best Of” awards. Best Realtor. Best Restaurant. Best Dentist. Best Builder. Best Everything.

And every year I find myself rolling my eyes a little harder.

Let’s be honest about what most of these awards really are: self-congratulatory popularity contests that deliver very little value to the people they claim to serve — the readers and customers.

At their core, many of these contests reward who can mobilize the most votes, not who actually provides the best product or service. Send enough emails to your client list, post enough reminders on social media, and suddenly you’re the “Best in the City.” It’s less about excellence and more about who can campaign the hardest.

For businesses, the awards often become a marketing exercise. Win the badge, buy the plaque, purchase the ad, and plaster the logo everywhere. The publication gets advertising revenue. The winner gets bragging rights. Meanwhile, the consumer gets… what exactly?

Rarely is there meaningful evaluation, industry expertise, or objective standards behind the results. In many cases, the difference between “Best Of,” “Runner Up,” and “Didn’t Place” is simply who had the largest email database willing to click a voting link.

That’s not quality. That’s turnout.

The real irony is that truly great businesses usually don’t have time to campaign for awards. They’re busy doing what actually matters — serving clients, refining their craft, and building reputations the old-fashioned way: through results and relationships.

Awards that mean something typically come from industry peers, professional associations, or rigorous judging processes. They reflect expertise and standards.

Most “Best Of” lists don’t.

Instead, they create a cycle of businesses chasing validation that ultimately benefits the publication far more than the reader.

In the end, the businesses that actually stand out rarely need a badge telling people they’re the best.