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

90.76%

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 1966 days 100%
Christine 9/10 2025 days 97%
Tracey Cron 9/10 2056 days 96%
Inga Hoffmann 10/10 2756 days 66%
Freddrick Weiser 9/10 3093 days 50%
Mike Dw 9/10 3209 days 45%
Nolwen 9/10 3569 days 29%
The Beans 10/10 3578 days 29%
Ross D 10/10 3583 days 29%
Peter Passlack 10/10 3586 days 29%
Chea Hao Wong 10/10 3639 days 27%
Caroline Shaw 10/10 3808 days 19%
Pierre Mathis 10/10 3819 days 19%
Brenda Oomen 10/10 3822 days 19%
Estelle Daniel 10/10 3826 days 18%
Kim-Lara 8/10 3841 days 17%
Tamara 10/10 3855 days 17%
Sandra P 10/10 3883 days 16%
Marie Schmid 10/10 4210 days 1%
Angie Cairns 10/10 4240 days 0%
Jimmy Shaw 10/10 4493 days 16%
Wendy Hawkins 8/10 4914 days 16%
Roger Hawkins 9/10 4914 days 16%
Tanja Schlagermann 10/10 4921 days 16%
Alexander Mukasa 10/10 4921 days 16%
Erik Muchembled 10/10 4923 days 16%
Andrea Lang 8/10 4925 days 16%
Xtian_P 10/10 5009 days 16%
michellephil 10/10 5070 days 16%
nztintin 10/10 5284 days 16%
mandd 10/10 5284 days 16%
Orlando 9/10 5296 days 16%
Uwe Herrdum 9/10 5300 days 16%
Francis Corrigan 9/10 5314 days 16%
John & Vicki 9/10 5391 days 16%
G Tulloch 9/10 5613 days 16%
Edward Marhi 8/10 5616 days 16%
Robin Adair 9/10 5637 days 16%
Sandra Schulz 9/10 5644 days 16%
Derek Puplett 9/10 5654 days 16%
Martin Current 9/10 5665 days 16%
Hartmut Vogt 10/10 5666 days 16%
allesca 9/10 5770 days 16%
Mary Van 8/10 5831 days 16%
penz 9/10 5893 days 16%
victoriauk 8/10 5923 days 16%
Susanne Strassmann 6/10 6021 days 13%
M Sicard 9/10 6025 days 16%
Lasse Olesen 9/10 6036 days 16%
Keith Wilde 8/10 6038 days 16%
Sarah Goeckener 9/10 6115 days 16%
katharina 10/10 6115 days 16%
Katrin Wennin 8/10 6116 days 16%
Thorben Thede 9/10 6117 days 16%
Roma 10/10 6128 days 16%
HairyHaggis 10/10 6135 days 16%
Ronny 6/10 6354 days 13%
ChristinaV 10/10 6358 days 16%
JudithLehr 6/10 6361 days 13%
Steven 10/10 6365 days 16%
StijnH 8/10 6366 days 16%
FramiskaH 8/10 6367 days 16%
StefanGermany1 8/10 6367 days 16%
JaninaF 10/10 6367 days 16%
Tatjane 9/10 6380 days 16%
XaviG 9/10 6383 days 16%
JesusB 7/10 6383 days 15%
Denk 8/10 6411 days 16%
Katie Mitchell 10/10 6500 days 16%
Ben Ackland 8/10 6736 days 16%
Tessa McCormick 8/10 6746 days 16%
John Beirne 10/10 7103 days 16%
ranker_110 7/10 7107 days 15%
Christine 10/10 7112 days 16%
Helle 9/10 7114 days 16%
John 7/10 7114 days 15%
Reggie 10/10 7115 days 16%
Dave 9/10 7126 days 16%
Beate 8/10 7127 days 16%

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

-2.36% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 110 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 -2.33%
198 -2.34%
199 -2.35%
200 -2.36%
201 -2.37%
202 -2.39%
203 -2.40%

Balancing Adjustment

1.23% 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.