Ranking Score Explained

G'day, thanks for your interest in how we calculate an experience's ranking score. It's at the core of Rankers so I'm pleased you're curious.

The ranking score percentage is used to compare and sort experiences in ranking tables. It is not necessarily a direct measurement of the quality of a particular experience as rated by its customers. I've found it a useful tool to allow me to find the best experiences with confidence. But I've also found it important to read the customer reviews before making any final judgements!

We calculate an experience's ranking score using a multi-factor data model instead of a raw data average (mean). This model takes into account several important questions. For instance - is there a trusted body of reviews? What is the age of a review and is the review from a credible source?

Below you'll find details around some of the important factors that went into calculating the ranking score for Ultimate Descents New Zealand.

If you have any questions or comments about our ranking score calculation please get in touch at info@rankers.co.nz. We don't believe this is perfect or complete so we're always interested in ways we might make improvements.

Cymen Crick's avatar

Cymen Crick

Rankers Owner

Ultimate Descents New Zealand

Valid Reviews

51 Valid Reviews

The Ultimate Descents New Zealand experience has a total of 51 valid reviews. There are no invalid reviews that are excluded from the calculation. Reviews can be excluded only when a reviewer is not verified or after an investigation by our team determines the reviewer is not genuine.

Below is the distribution of ratings for the 51 valid reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 28
55%
9/10 10
20%
8/10 9
18%
7/10 3
6%
6/10 1
2%
5/10 0
0%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

91.96% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Ultimate Descents New Zealand valid reviews is 91.96% and is based on 51 valid reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here as a comparison to the weighted average.

Face-to-Face Reviews

16 Face-to-Face Reviews

The Rankers team meets with travellers while they’re in New Zealand and conducts face-to-face surveys. These reviews, in our opinion, are the most trusted in the industry and represent a critical control sample. To our knowledge, we are the only travel review website in the world that has gone to this extent.

More about face-to-face reviews

Within the 51 valid reviews, the experience has 16 face-to-face reviews collected during interviews by our team.

Below is the distribution of ratings for the 16 face-to-face reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 4
25%
9/10 5
31%
8/10 6
38%
7/10 0
0%
6/10 1
6%
5/10 0
0%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

86.88% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Ultimate Descents New Zealand face-to-face reviews is 86.88% and is based on 16 face-to-face reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here for comparison purposes.

Weighted Average

92.91%

Rankers calculates a weighted mean as a base average on which we can improve. Individual review's ratings are given a weight based on several factors. The weight of a review determines the overall impact it'll have on the final weighted average.

Recent reviews have more weight as they are more relevant and reflect the experience as it currently operates. Over time reviews become less relevant and loose their impact on the ranking score.

Low rating reviews carry slightly less weight. This dampens the effect of very low ratings for every experience across the board. This is especially important when the experience has few reviews overall and a single negative rating can grossly mischaracterise an experience. Consistent poor reviews will still result in the experience receiving a comparitively low ranking score.

Credible sources provide reviews that can be trusted. If we have verified a reviewer is genuine via a face-to-face meeting then the review carries additional weight.

Reviewer Rating Age Relative Weight
S Weslake 10/10 2470 days 100%
Tamsin Banks 10/10 3297 days 44%
Antoine 9/10 3940 days -2%
Louison Laissus 9/10 3940 days -2%
Inga Memmen 10/10 3957 days -3%
Howell Davies 8/10 4670 days 2%
Frank & Margot Best 8/10 4979 days 2%
Weez18 10/10 4996 days 6%
Cory Wornell 8/10 5016 days 2%
Coral Last 8/10 5027 days 2%
Maite Severins 8/10 5046 days 2%
aggiemary04 10/10 5178 days 6%
jameyg 10/10 5300 days 6%
That_Guy 10/10 5331 days 6%
Tony Dodds 10/10 5361 days 6%
Patti S 7/10 5392 days 4%
Alain Deslandres 6/10 5433 days -2%
hobbes193 10/10 5451 days 6%
ChristinaO 8/10 5451 days 5%
Grainne Ahern 10/10 5451 days 6%
Chidlebyte 10/10 5451 days 6%
paulj 9/10 5467 days 2%
micha_de 10/10 5482 days 6%
Debs NZ 10/10 5482 days 6%
Julie Seakins 10/10 5482 days 6%
Tash 10/10 5726 days 6%
Jason 10/10 5726 days 6%
scott lomill 10/10 5729 days 6%
Sam 10/10 5747 days 3%
mnk 10/10 5757 days 6%
John 9/10 5767 days 2%
Laura 10/10 5774 days 3%
Jenny 8/10 5775 days 2%
Dave 9/10 5775 days 2%
Cliff 10/10 5782 days 3%
petra 7/10 5785 days 4%
anette brown 10/10 5785 days 6%
Ciaran Doyle 9/10 5789 days 6%
niall stephenson 8/10 5789 days 5%
pcoll 9/10 5816 days 6%
Matthias Hinnrichs 9/10 5835 days 6%
Georgina Mulligan 10/10 6046 days 6%
Laura H 9/10 6055 days 6%
Shane O'Mahony 9/10 6055 days 6%
Eric Scott 7/10 6072 days 4%
Rose M 10/10 6078 days 6%
russell_mahar 8/10 6078 days 5%
kevoc9 10/10 6102 days 6%
Lindsey_Morriss 10/10 6185 days 6%
cmorriss 10/10 6185 days 6%
Travis Brennan 10/10 6185 days 6%

Adjustments

Several adjustments to the weighted average are added to improve relevancy and credibility. These adjustments apply equally to all experiences that meet the criteria.

Sample Size Adjustment

No Adjustment

A reasonable number of reviews are necessary in order for the average to be credible and for an experience to take a prime position within the ranking tables. As such, experiences with only a few reviews have a moderated score. This does not mean that the experience or the reviews can't be trusted. The Ultimate Descents New Zealand experience has plenty of reviews and does not meet the criteria for any adjustment.

Recent Reviews Adjustment

-4.07% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 42 days. However the Ultimate Descents New Zealand experience does not meet the criteria for any adjustment.

In addition, an experience's ranking score may be adjusted for each day there is no new ranking. After 1 day the adjustment comes into effect. The maximum number of days that can be adjusted for is 200 days. Due to the seasonal nature of many businesses, this adjustment is applied dynamically throughout the year.

The Ultimate Descents New Zealand experience has been adjusted for 200 days. Adjustments are according to the following table.

Days Adjustment
197 -4.01%
198 -4.03%
199 -4.05%
200 -4.07%
201 -4.09%
202 -4.11%
203 -4.13%

Balancing Adjustment

1.16% Adjustment

Every experience's review score is adjusted to balance out the disproportional number of negative reviews that are contributed.

You won't be surprised to learn that disgruntled customers are more likely to leave a review than happy ones. They are motivated to share their experience and warn others. We consider this a good thing and it's why reading the reviews is important. However we've learned it can misrepresent the experience in a more overall sense.

We apply a balancing adjustment to counteract this effect and ensure the ranking score is a more fair representation of the experience. This adjustment is applied equally to all experiences.

Final Ranking Score

90%

The final ranking score once any adjustments, ratings, and rounding has been applied. This value is recalculated each day and a short rolling average is applied. Therefore it may not be precisely accurate based on the other values presented.