Ranking Score Explained

Kia ora, 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

90.97%

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 1866 days 100%
Christine 9/10 1925 days 97%
Tracey Cron 9/10 1956 days 96%
Inga Hoffmann 10/10 2656 days 66%
Freddrick Weiser 9/10 2993 days 50%
Mike Dw 9/10 3109 days 45%
Nolwen 9/10 3469 days 29%
The Beans 10/10 3477 days 29%
Ross D 10/10 3483 days 29%
Peter Passlack 10/10 3486 days 29%
Chea Hao Wong 10/10 3538 days 27%
Caroline Shaw 10/10 3708 days 19%
Pierre Mathis 10/10 3719 days 19%
Brenda Oomen 10/10 3722 days 19%
Estelle Daniel 10/10 3726 days 18%
Kim-Lara 8/10 3741 days 17%
Tamara 10/10 3755 days 17%
Sandra P 10/10 3782 days 16%
Marie Schmid 10/10 4110 days 1%
Angie Cairns 10/10 4140 days 0%
Jimmy Shaw 10/10 4393 days 12%
Wendy Hawkins 8/10 4814 days 12%
Roger Hawkins 9/10 4814 days 12%
Tanja Schlagermann 10/10 4821 days 12%
Alexander Mukasa 10/10 4821 days 12%
Erik Muchembled 10/10 4823 days 12%
Andrea Lang 8/10 4825 days 12%
Xtian_P 10/10 4909 days 12%
michellephil 10/10 4970 days 12%
nztintin 10/10 5184 days 12%
mandd 10/10 5184 days 12%
Orlando 9/10 5196 days 12%
Uwe Herrdum 9/10 5200 days 12%
Francis Corrigan 9/10 5214 days 12%
John & Vicki 9/10 5291 days 12%
G Tulloch 9/10 5513 days 12%
Edward Marhi 8/10 5516 days 12%
Robin Adair 9/10 5537 days 12%
Sandra Schulz 9/10 5544 days 12%
Derek Puplett 9/10 5554 days 12%
Martin Current 9/10 5565 days 12%
Hartmut Vogt 10/10 5566 days 12%
allesca 9/10 5670 days 12%
Mary Van 8/10 5731 days 12%
penz 9/10 5793 days 12%
victoriauk 8/10 5823 days 12%
Susanne Strassmann 6/10 5921 days 9%
M Sicard 9/10 5925 days 12%
Lasse Olesen 9/10 5936 days 12%
Keith Wilde 8/10 5938 days 12%
Sarah Goeckener 9/10 6015 days 12%
katharina 10/10 6015 days 12%
Katrin Wennin 8/10 6016 days 12%
Thorben Thede 9/10 6017 days 12%
Roma 10/10 6028 days 12%
HairyHaggis 10/10 6035 days 12%
Ronny 6/10 6254 days 9%
ChristinaV 10/10 6258 days 12%
JudithLehr 6/10 6261 days 9%
Steven 10/10 6265 days 12%
StijnH 8/10 6266 days 12%
FramiskaH 8/10 6267 days 12%
StefanGermany1 8/10 6267 days 12%
JaninaF 10/10 6267 days 12%
Tatjane 9/10 6280 days 12%
XaviG 9/10 6283 days 12%
JesusB 7/10 6283 days 10%
Denk 8/10 6311 days 12%
Katie Mitchell 10/10 6400 days 12%
Ben Ackland 8/10 6636 days 12%
Tessa McCormick 8/10 6646 days 12%
John Beirne 10/10 7003 days 12%
ranker_110 7/10 7007 days 10%
Christine 10/10 7012 days 12%
Helle 9/10 7014 days 12%
John 7/10 7014 days 10%
Reggie 10/10 7015 days 12%
Dave 9/10 7026 days 12%
Beate 8/10 7027 days 12%

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

-2.89% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 87 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 -2.85%
198 -2.86%
199 -2.88%
200 -2.89%
201 -2.90%
202 -2.92%
203 -2.93%

Balancing Adjustment

1.28% 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.