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

90.80%

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 1946 days 100%
Christine 9/10 2005 days 97%
Tracey Cron 9/10 2036 days 96%
Inga Hoffmann 10/10 2736 days 66%
Freddrick Weiser 9/10 3073 days 50%
Mike Dw 9/10 3189 days 45%
Nolwen 9/10 3549 days 29%
The Beans 10/10 3558 days 29%
Ross D 10/10 3563 days 29%
Peter Passlack 10/10 3566 days 29%
Chea Hao Wong 10/10 3619 days 27%
Caroline Shaw 10/10 3788 days 19%
Pierre Mathis 10/10 3799 days 19%
Brenda Oomen 10/10 3802 days 19%
Estelle Daniel 10/10 3806 days 18%
Kim-Lara 8/10 3821 days 17%
Tamara 10/10 3835 days 17%
Sandra P 10/10 3863 days 16%
Marie Schmid 10/10 4190 days 1%
Angie Cairns 10/10 4220 days 0%
Jimmy Shaw 10/10 4473 days 16%
Wendy Hawkins 8/10 4894 days 15%
Roger Hawkins 9/10 4894 days 15%
Tanja Schlagermann 10/10 4901 days 16%
Alexander Mukasa 10/10 4901 days 16%
Erik Muchembled 10/10 4903 days 16%
Andrea Lang 8/10 4905 days 15%
Xtian_P 10/10 4989 days 16%
michellephil 10/10 5050 days 16%
nztintin 10/10 5264 days 16%
mandd 10/10 5264 days 16%
Orlando 9/10 5276 days 15%
Uwe Herrdum 9/10 5280 days 15%
Francis Corrigan 9/10 5294 days 15%
John & Vicki 9/10 5371 days 15%
G Tulloch 9/10 5593 days 15%
Edward Marhi 8/10 5596 days 15%
Robin Adair 9/10 5617 days 15%
Sandra Schulz 9/10 5624 days 15%
Derek Puplett 9/10 5634 days 15%
Martin Current 9/10 5645 days 15%
Hartmut Vogt 10/10 5646 days 16%
allesca 9/10 5750 days 15%
Mary Van 8/10 5811 days 15%
penz 9/10 5873 days 15%
victoriauk 8/10 5903 days 15%
Susanne Strassmann 6/10 6001 days 12%
M Sicard 9/10 6005 days 15%
Lasse Olesen 9/10 6016 days 15%
Keith Wilde 8/10 6018 days 15%
Sarah Goeckener 9/10 6095 days 15%
katharina 10/10 6095 days 16%
Katrin Wennin 8/10 6096 days 15%
Thorben Thede 9/10 6097 days 15%
Roma 10/10 6108 days 16%
HairyHaggis 10/10 6115 days 16%
Ronny 6/10 6334 days 12%
ChristinaV 10/10 6339 days 16%
JudithLehr 6/10 6341 days 12%
Steven 10/10 6346 days 16%
StijnH 8/10 6346 days 15%
FramiskaH 8/10 6347 days 15%
StefanGermany1 8/10 6347 days 15%
JaninaF 10/10 6347 days 16%
Tatjane 9/10 6361 days 15%
XaviG 9/10 6363 days 15%
JesusB 7/10 6363 days 14%
Denk 8/10 6391 days 15%
Katie Mitchell 10/10 6480 days 16%
Ben Ackland 8/10 6716 days 15%
Tessa McCormick 8/10 6726 days 15%
John Beirne 10/10 7083 days 16%
ranker_110 7/10 7087 days 14%
Christine 10/10 7092 days 16%
Helle 9/10 7094 days 15%
John 7/10 7094 days 14%
Reggie 10/10 7095 days 16%
Dave 9/10 7106 days 15%
Beate 8/10 7107 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

-2.08% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 123 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 -2.05%
198 -2.06%
199 -2.07%
200 -2.08%
201 -2.09%
202 -2.11%
203 -2.12%

Balancing Adjustment

1.18% 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.