How we rank
A plain star average is a poor way to compare businesses. A company with 25 reviews and a perfect 5.0 would sit above one that has kept a 4.9 across 1,500 customers, even though the second record is far harder to earn. The TLM score fixes that by weighing two things together: how highly customers rate a business, and how many customers have rated it.
The score
For each business we take its average customer rating and its number of reviews, then pull the rating towards the category average. The fewer reviews a business has, the stronger the pull. A business with hundreds of reviews keeps a score very close to its own rating; a business with only a handful lands nearer the middle of its category until more customers weigh in.
score = (v ÷ (v + m)) × R + (m ÷ (v + m)) × C
- R is the business's average rating out of 5.
- v is its number of reviews.
- C is the average rating across every eligible business in the category.
- m is a caution weight: 200 in categories where reviews are plentiful, 60 where they are scarce.
Who is eligible
- The business is open and serves metropolitan Melbourne.
- It has its own website.
- It meets the review minimum shown at the top of its category: 50 in high-volume categories, 20 where businesses naturally collect fewer.
- Companies with several branches are counted once, using the branch with the most reviews.
Where the ratings come from
Ratings and review counts are public figures from Google Maps. We do not copy reviews onto this site. On each listing you can load the current rating straight from Google Maps and follow the link to read the reviews there. Reviews aren't verified by Google, but Google checks for and removes fake content when it's identified. Learn more about Google Maps user-generated content policy.
Featured listings
A category may show one listing labelled “Featured” above the ranking. Featured placements are promotional and are always labelled. They do not change any business's score or its position in the ranked list.
Updates
Each category shows the date it was last recalculated. Scores move as businesses gain reviews, so positions can change from one update to the next.