Best in Portland ranks local businesses in Portland from public, checkable data: the Google rating and review count of each business.
The formula
We do not use the raw average: a business rated 5/5 by 3 people would outrank a 4.8/5 with 800 reviews, which says nothing useful. Every business therefore gets a Bayesian weighted score:
Score = (v ÷ (v + m)) × R + (m ÷ (v + m)) × C
- R: the business’s Google rating
- v: its number of reviews
- m: credibility threshold (25 reviews)
- C: average rating of the category in Portland
The fewer reviews a business has, the more its score is pulled back toward its category average. Permanently closed businesses, and those with fewer than 10 reviews, are left out. Ties are broken by review count, then by whether the business has a website.
What we do not do
- No negative rankings: we only publish the businesses that made the list.
- Rankings are not for sale: the “Partner” spots are clearly separated and never affect the ranking.
- A business can ask to be removed at any time through our contact page.
Rankings are recalculated every quarter.