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.

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

91.39%

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 1559 days 100%
Christine 9/10 1618 days 81%
Tracey Cron 9/10 1649 days 73%
Inga Hoffmann 10/10 2349 days 41%
Freddrick Weiser 9/10 2686 days 32%
Mike Dw 9/10 2802 days 30%
Nolwen 9/10 3162 days 21%
The Beans 10/10 3170 days 21%
Ross D 10/10 3176 days 21%
Peter Passlack 10/10 3179 days 21%
Chea Hao Wong 10/10 3231 days 20%
Caroline Shaw 10/10 3401 days 16%
Pierre Mathis 10/10 3412 days 16%
Brenda Oomen 10/10 3415 days 16%
Estelle Daniel 10/10 3419 days 16%
Kim-Lara 8/10 3434 days 15%
Tamara 10/10 3448 days 15%
Sandra P 10/10 3475 days 14%
Marie Schmid 10/10 3803 days 7%
Angie Cairns 10/10 3833 days 6%
Jimmy Shaw 10/10 4086 days 0%
Wendy Hawkins 8/10 4507 days 5%
Roger Hawkins 9/10 4507 days 5%
Tanja Schlagermann 10/10 4514 days 5%
Alexander Mukasa 10/10 4514 days 5%
Erik Muchembled 10/10 4516 days 5%
Andrea Lang 8/10 4518 days 5%
Xtian_P 10/10 4602 days 5%
michellephil 10/10 4663 days 5%
nztintin 10/10 4877 days 5%
mandd 10/10 4877 days 5%
Orlando 9/10 4889 days 5%
Uwe Herrdum 9/10 4893 days 5%
Francis Corrigan 9/10 4907 days 5%
John & Vicki 9/10 4984 days 5%
G Tulloch 9/10 5206 days 5%
Edward Marhi 8/10 5209 days 5%
Robin Adair 9/10 5230 days 5%
Sandra Schulz 9/10 5237 days 5%
Derek Puplett 9/10 5247 days 5%
Martin Current 9/10 5258 days 5%
Hartmut Vogt 10/10 5259 days 5%
allesca 9/10 5363 days 5%
Mary Van 8/10 5424 days 5%
penz 9/10 5486 days 5%
victoriauk 8/10 5516 days 5%
Susanne Strassmann 6/10 5614 days 3%
M Sicard 9/10 5618 days 5%
Lasse Olesen 9/10 5629 days 5%
Keith Wilde 8/10 5631 days 5%
Sarah Goeckener 9/10 5708 days 5%
katharina 10/10 5708 days 5%
Katrin Wennin 8/10 5709 days 5%
Thorben Thede 9/10 5710 days 5%
Roma 10/10 5721 days 5%
HairyHaggis 10/10 5728 days 5%
Ronny 6/10 5947 days 3%
ChristinaV 10/10 5951 days 5%
JudithLehr 6/10 5954 days 3%
Steven 10/10 5958 days 5%
StijnH 8/10 5959 days 5%
FramiskaH 8/10 5960 days 5%
StefanGermany1 8/10 5960 days 5%
JaninaF 10/10 5960 days 5%
Tatjane 9/10 5973 days 5%
XaviG 9/10 5976 days 5%
JesusB 7/10 5976 days 4%
Denk 8/10 6004 days 5%
Katie Mitchell 10/10 6093 days 5%
Ben Ackland 8/10 6329 days 5%
Tessa McCormick 8/10 6339 days 5%
John Beirne 10/10 6696 days 5%
ranker_110 7/10 6700 days 4%
Christine 10/10 6705 days 5%
Helle 9/10 6707 days 5%
John 7/10 6707 days 4%
Reggie 10/10 6708 days 5%
Dave 9/10 6719 days 5%
Beate 8/10 6720 days 5%

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

-2.01% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 124 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 -1.98%
198 -1.99%
199 -2.00%
200 -2.01%
201 -2.02%
202 -2.03%
203 -2.04%

Balancing Adjustment

1.09% 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.