Yeah sure, this movie with 1.3 rating and 5 (out of 100) metascore, with only 50k ratings, is the #1 movie this week. The algorithm is really transparent and trustworthy, clearly there’s no manipulation going on.
(for those who don’t know, IMDb is owned and operated by Amazon)
If I were tasked with implementing an algorithm tasked with being “justifiable” but also putting it at the top, I’d simply refuse.
If I was a complicit piece of shit, though, I’d probably use engagement, scaled by recency… with whatever recency curve puts it at number 1.