Ranking Score Explained

Hi, 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 Akaroa Dolphins.

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

Akaroa Dolphins

Valid Reviews

79 Valid Reviews

The Akaroa Dolphins experience has a total of 80 reviews. There are 79 valid reviews that are included when calculating the ranking score and 1 invalid review 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 79 valid reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 32
41%
9/10 26
33%
8/10 15
19%
7/10 3
4%
6/10 3
4%
5/10 0
0%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

90.25% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Akaroa Dolphins valid reviews is 90.25% and is based on 79 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

59 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 79 valid reviews, the experience has 59 face-to-face reviews collected during interviews by our team.

Below is the distribution of ratings for the 59 face-to-face reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 19
32%
9/10 20
34%
8/10 14
24%
7/10 3
5%
6/10 3
5%
5/10 0
0%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

88.31% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Akaroa Dolphins face-to-face reviews is 88.31% and is based on 59 face-to-face reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here for comparison purposes.

Weighted Average

91.13%

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
Lucy C 9/10 1743 days 100%
Christine 9/10 1802 days 93%
Tracey Cron 9/10 1833 days 92%
Inga Hoffmann 10/10 2533 days 66%
Freddrick Weiser 9/10 2870 days 53%
Mike Dw 9/10 2986 days 49%
Nolwen 9/10 3346 days 35%
The Beans 10/10 3355 days 35%
Ross D 10/10 3360 days 35%
Peter Passlack 10/10 3363 days 35%
Chea Hao Wong 10/10 3416 days 33%
Caroline Shaw 10/10 3585 days 26%
Pierre Mathis 10/10 3596 days 26%
Brenda Oomen 10/10 3599 days 26%
Estelle Daniel 10/10 3603 days 26%
Kim-Lara 8/10 3618 days 24%
Tamara 10/10 3632 days 24%
Sandra P 10/10 3660 days 23%
Marie Schmid 10/10 3987 days 11%
Angie Cairns 10/10 4017 days 10%
Jimmy Shaw 10/10 4270 days 0%
Wendy Hawkins 8/10 4691 days 15%
Roger Hawkins 9/10 4691 days 15%
Tanja Schlagermann 10/10 4698 days 15%
Alexander Mukasa 10/10 4698 days 15%
Erik Muchembled 10/10 4700 days 15%
Andrea Lang 8/10 4702 days 15%
Xtian_P 10/10 4786 days 15%
michellephil 10/10 4847 days 15%
nztintin 10/10 5061 days 15%
mandd 10/10 5061 days 15%
Orlando 9/10 5073 days 15%
Uwe Herrdum 9/10 5077 days 15%
Francis Corrigan 9/10 5091 days 15%
John & Vicki 9/10 5168 days 15%
G Tulloch 9/10 5390 days 15%
Edward Marhi 8/10 5393 days 15%
Robin Adair 9/10 5414 days 15%
Sandra Schulz 9/10 5421 days 15%
Derek Puplett 9/10 5431 days 15%
Martin Current 9/10 5442 days 15%
Hartmut Vogt 10/10 5443 days 15%
allesca 9/10 5547 days 15%
Mary Van 8/10 5608 days 15%
penz 9/10 5670 days 15%
victoriauk 8/10 5700 days 15%
Susanne Strassmann 6/10 5798 days 13%
M Sicard 9/10 5802 days 15%
Lasse Olesen 9/10 5813 days 15%
Keith Wilde 8/10 5815 days 15%
Sarah Goeckener 9/10 5892 days 15%
katharina 10/10 5892 days 15%
Katrin Wennin 8/10 5893 days 15%
Thorben Thede 9/10 5894 days 15%
Roma 10/10 5905 days 15%
HairyHaggis 10/10 5912 days 15%
Ronny 6/10 6131 days 13%
ChristinaV 10/10 6136 days 15%
JudithLehr 6/10 6138 days 13%
Steven 10/10 6143 days 15%
StijnH 8/10 6143 days 15%
FramiskaH 8/10 6144 days 15%
StefanGermany1 8/10 6144 days 15%
JaninaF 10/10 6144 days 15%
Tatjane 9/10 6158 days 15%
XaviG 9/10 6160 days 15%
JesusB 7/10 6160 days 14%
Denk 8/10 6189 days 15%
Katie Mitchell 10/10 6277 days 15%
Ben Ackland 8/10 6513 days 15%
Tessa McCormick 8/10 6523 days 15%
John Beirne 10/10 6880 days 15%
ranker_110 7/10 6884 days 14%
Christine 10/10 6889 days 15%
Helle 9/10 6891 days 15%
John 7/10 6891 days 14%
Reggie 10/10 6892 days 15%
Dave 9/10 6903 days 15%
Beate 8/10 6904 days 15%

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 Akaroa Dolphins experience has plenty of reviews and does not meet the criteria for any adjustment.

Recent Reviews Adjustment

-4.04% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 43 days. However the Akaroa Dolphins 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 Akaroa Dolphins experience has been adjusted for 200 days. Adjustments are according to the following table.

Days Adjustment
197 -3.98%
198 -4.00%
199 -4.02%
200 -4.04%
201 -4.06%
202 -4.08%
203 -4.10%

Balancing Adjustment

1.44% 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

89%

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.