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.

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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

91.05%

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 1785 days 100%
Christine 9/10 1844 days 97%
Tracey Cron 9/10 1875 days 96%
Inga Hoffmann 10/10 2575 days 69%
Freddrick Weiser 9/10 2912 days 55%
Mike Dw 9/10 3028 days 51%
Nolwen 9/10 3388 days 36%
The Beans 10/10 3396 days 37%
Ross D 10/10 3402 days 36%
Peter Passlack 10/10 3405 days 36%
Chea Hao Wong 10/10 3457 days 34%
Caroline Shaw 10/10 3627 days 27%
Pierre Mathis 10/10 3638 days 27%
Brenda Oomen 10/10 3641 days 27%
Estelle Daniel 10/10 3645 days 27%
Kim-Lara 8/10 3660 days 25%
Tamara 10/10 3674 days 25%
Sandra P 10/10 3701 days 24%
Marie Schmid 10/10 4029 days 11%
Angie Cairns 10/10 4059 days 10%
Jimmy Shaw 10/10 4312 days 0%
Wendy Hawkins 8/10 4733 days 17%
Roger Hawkins 9/10 4733 days 17%
Tanja Schlagermann 10/10 4740 days 18%
Alexander Mukasa 10/10 4740 days 18%
Erik Muchembled 10/10 4742 days 18%
Andrea Lang 8/10 4744 days 17%
Xtian_P 10/10 4828 days 18%
michellephil 10/10 4889 days 18%
nztintin 10/10 5103 days 18%
mandd 10/10 5103 days 18%
Orlando 9/10 5115 days 17%
Uwe Herrdum 9/10 5119 days 17%
Francis Corrigan 9/10 5133 days 17%
John & Vicki 9/10 5210 days 17%
G Tulloch 9/10 5432 days 17%
Edward Marhi 8/10 5435 days 17%
Robin Adair 9/10 5456 days 17%
Sandra Schulz 9/10 5463 days 17%
Derek Puplett 9/10 5473 days 17%
Martin Current 9/10 5484 days 17%
Hartmut Vogt 10/10 5485 days 18%
allesca 9/10 5589 days 17%
Mary Van 8/10 5650 days 17%
penz 9/10 5712 days 17%
victoriauk 8/10 5742 days 17%
Susanne Strassmann 6/10 5840 days 15%
M Sicard 9/10 5844 days 17%
Lasse Olesen 9/10 5855 days 17%
Keith Wilde 8/10 5857 days 17%
Sarah Goeckener 9/10 5934 days 17%
katharina 10/10 5934 days 18%
Katrin Wennin 8/10 5935 days 17%
Thorben Thede 9/10 5936 days 17%
Roma 10/10 5947 days 18%
HairyHaggis 10/10 5954 days 18%
Ronny 6/10 6173 days 15%
ChristinaV 10/10 6177 days 18%
JudithLehr 6/10 6180 days 15%
Steven 10/10 6184 days 18%
StijnH 8/10 6185 days 17%
FramiskaH 8/10 6186 days 17%
StefanGermany1 8/10 6186 days 17%
JaninaF 10/10 6186 days 18%
Tatjane 9/10 6199 days 17%
XaviG 9/10 6202 days 17%
JesusB 7/10 6202 days 16%
Denk 8/10 6230 days 17%
Katie Mitchell 10/10 6319 days 18%
Ben Ackland 8/10 6555 days 17%
Tessa McCormick 8/10 6565 days 17%
John Beirne 10/10 6922 days 18%
ranker_110 7/10 6926 days 16%
Christine 10/10 6931 days 18%
Helle 9/10 6933 days 17%
John 7/10 6933 days 16%
Reggie 10/10 6934 days 18%
Dave 9/10 6945 days 17%
Beate 8/10 6946 days 17%

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

-4.15% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 53 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 -4.08%
198 -4.10%
199 -4.13%
200 -4.15%
201 -4.17%
202 -4.19%
203 -4.21%

Balancing Adjustment

1.47% 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

88%

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.