Ranking Score Explained

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

91.20%

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 1708 days 100%
Christine 9/10 1767 days 89%
Tracey Cron 9/10 1798 days 87%
Inga Hoffmann 10/10 2498 days 62%
Freddrick Weiser 9/10 2835 days 50%
Mike Dw 9/10 2951 days 46%
Nolwen 9/10 3311 days 33%
The Beans 10/10 3320 days 33%
Ross D 10/10 3325 days 33%
Peter Passlack 10/10 3328 days 33%
Chea Hao Wong 10/10 3381 days 31%
Caroline Shaw 10/10 3550 days 25%
Pierre Mathis 10/10 3561 days 24%
Brenda Oomen 10/10 3564 days 24%
Estelle Daniel 10/10 3568 days 24%
Kim-Lara 8/10 3583 days 23%
Tamara 10/10 3597 days 23%
Sandra P 10/10 3625 days 22%
Marie Schmid 10/10 3952 days 10%
Angie Cairns 10/10 3982 days 9%
Jimmy Shaw 10/10 4235 days 0%
Wendy Hawkins 8/10 4656 days 13%
Roger Hawkins 9/10 4656 days 13%
Tanja Schlagermann 10/10 4663 days 13%
Alexander Mukasa 10/10 4663 days 13%
Erik Muchembled 10/10 4665 days 13%
Andrea Lang 8/10 4667 days 13%
Xtian_P 10/10 4751 days 13%
michellephil 10/10 4812 days 13%
nztintin 10/10 5026 days 13%
mandd 10/10 5026 days 13%
Orlando 9/10 5038 days 13%
Uwe Herrdum 9/10 5042 days 13%
Francis Corrigan 9/10 5056 days 13%
John & Vicki 9/10 5133 days 13%
G Tulloch 9/10 5355 days 13%
Edward Marhi 8/10 5358 days 13%
Robin Adair 9/10 5379 days 13%
Sandra Schulz 9/10 5386 days 13%
Derek Puplett 9/10 5396 days 13%
Martin Current 9/10 5407 days 13%
Hartmut Vogt 10/10 5408 days 13%
allesca 9/10 5512 days 13%
Mary Van 8/10 5573 days 13%
penz 9/10 5635 days 13%
victoriauk 8/10 5665 days 13%
Susanne Strassmann 6/10 5763 days 11%
M Sicard 9/10 5767 days 13%
Lasse Olesen 9/10 5778 days 13%
Keith Wilde 8/10 5780 days 13%
Sarah Goeckener 9/10 5857 days 13%
katharina 10/10 5857 days 13%
Katrin Wennin 8/10 5858 days 13%
Thorben Thede 9/10 5859 days 13%
Roma 10/10 5870 days 13%
HairyHaggis 10/10 5877 days 13%
Ronny 6/10 6096 days 11%
ChristinaV 10/10 6101 days 13%
JudithLehr 6/10 6103 days 11%
Steven 10/10 6108 days 13%
StijnH 8/10 6108 days 13%
FramiskaH 8/10 6109 days 13%
StefanGermany1 8/10 6109 days 13%
JaninaF 10/10 6109 days 13%
Tatjane 9/10 6123 days 13%
XaviG 9/10 6125 days 13%
JesusB 7/10 6125 days 12%
Denk 8/10 6154 days 13%
Katie Mitchell 10/10 6242 days 13%
Ben Ackland 8/10 6478 days 13%
Tessa McCormick 8/10 6488 days 13%
John Beirne 10/10 6845 days 13%
ranker_110 7/10 6849 days 12%
Christine 10/10 6854 days 13%
Helle 9/10 6856 days 13%
John 7/10 6856 days 12%
Reggie 10/10 6857 days 13%
Dave 9/10 6868 days 13%
Beate 8/10 6869 days 13%

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

-4.07% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 42 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 -4.01%
198 -4.03%
199 -4.05%
200 -4.07%
201 -4.09%
202 -4.11%
203 -4.13%

Balancing Adjustment

1.44% 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.