Ranking Score Explained

Hey, 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

90.92%

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 1846 days 100%
Christine 9/10 1905 days 98%
Tracey Cron 9/10 1936 days 96%
Inga Hoffmann 10/10 2636 days 69%
Freddrick Weiser 9/10 2973 days 55%
Mike Dw 9/10 3089 days 51%
Nolwen 9/10 3449 days 37%
The Beans 10/10 3457 days 37%
Ross D 10/10 3463 days 36%
Peter Passlack 10/10 3466 days 36%
Chea Hao Wong 10/10 3518 days 34%
Caroline Shaw 10/10 3688 days 27%
Pierre Mathis 10/10 3699 days 27%
Brenda Oomen 10/10 3702 days 27%
Estelle Daniel 10/10 3706 days 27%
Kim-Lara 8/10 3721 days 26%
Tamara 10/10 3735 days 26%
Sandra P 10/10 3762 days 24%
Marie Schmid 10/10 4090 days 11%
Angie Cairns 10/10 4120 days 10%
Jimmy Shaw 10/10 4373 days 0%
Wendy Hawkins 8/10 4794 days 20%
Roger Hawkins 9/10 4794 days 20%
Tanja Schlagermann 10/10 4801 days 20%
Alexander Mukasa 10/10 4801 days 20%
Erik Muchembled 10/10 4803 days 20%
Andrea Lang 8/10 4805 days 20%
Xtian_P 10/10 4889 days 20%
michellephil 10/10 4950 days 20%
nztintin 10/10 5164 days 20%
mandd 10/10 5164 days 20%
Orlando 9/10 5176 days 20%
Uwe Herrdum 9/10 5180 days 20%
Francis Corrigan 9/10 5194 days 20%
John & Vicki 9/10 5271 days 20%
G Tulloch 9/10 5493 days 20%
Edward Marhi 8/10 5496 days 20%
Robin Adair 9/10 5517 days 20%
Sandra Schulz 9/10 5524 days 20%
Derek Puplett 9/10 5534 days 20%
Martin Current 9/10 5545 days 20%
Hartmut Vogt 10/10 5546 days 20%
allesca 9/10 5650 days 20%
Mary Van 8/10 5711 days 20%
penz 9/10 5773 days 20%
victoriauk 8/10 5803 days 20%
Susanne Strassmann 6/10 5901 days 17%
M Sicard 9/10 5905 days 20%
Lasse Olesen 9/10 5916 days 20%
Keith Wilde 8/10 5918 days 20%
Sarah Goeckener 9/10 5995 days 20%
katharina 10/10 5995 days 20%
Katrin Wennin 8/10 5996 days 20%
Thorben Thede 9/10 5997 days 20%
Roma 10/10 6008 days 20%
HairyHaggis 10/10 6015 days 20%
Ronny 6/10 6234 days 17%
ChristinaV 10/10 6238 days 20%
JudithLehr 6/10 6241 days 17%
Steven 10/10 6245 days 20%
StijnH 8/10 6246 days 20%
FramiskaH 8/10 6247 days 20%
StefanGermany1 8/10 6247 days 20%
JaninaF 10/10 6247 days 20%
Tatjane 9/10 6260 days 20%
XaviG 9/10 6263 days 20%
JesusB 7/10 6263 days 19%
Denk 8/10 6291 days 20%
Katie Mitchell 10/10 6380 days 20%
Ben Ackland 8/10 6616 days 20%
Tessa McCormick 8/10 6626 days 20%
John Beirne 10/10 6983 days 20%
ranker_110 7/10 6987 days 19%
Christine 10/10 6992 days 20%
Helle 9/10 6994 days 20%
John 7/10 6994 days 19%
Reggie 10/10 6995 days 20%
Dave 9/10 7006 days 20%
Beate 8/10 7007 days 20%

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

-3.34% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 70 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 -3.29%
198 -3.30%
199 -3.32%
200 -3.34%
201 -3.35%
202 -3.37%
203 -3.39%

Balancing Adjustment

1.36% 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.