Ranking Score Explained
Hi there, 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 Cougar Line.
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.
Cougar Line
Valid Reviews
84 Valid Reviews
The Cougar Line experience has a total of 88 reviews. There are 84 valid reviews that are included when calculating the ranking score and 4 invalid reviews 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 84 valid reviews:
| Rating | Count | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10/10 | 53 |
|
63% |
| 9/10 | 15 |
|
18% |
| 8/10 | 11 |
|
13% |
| 7/10 | 2 |
|
2% |
| 6/10 | 0 |
|
0% |
| 5/10 | 1 |
|
1% |
| 4/10 | 1 |
|
1% |
| 3/10 | 0 |
|
0% |
| 2/10 | 0 |
|
0% |
| 1/10 | 1 |
|
1% |
92.50% Average
The raw data average (mean) for all the Cougar Line valid reviews is 92.50% and is based on 84 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
31 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 84 valid reviews, the experience has 31 face-to-face reviews collected during interviews by our team.
Below is the distribution of ratings for the 31 face-to-face reviews:
| Rating | Count | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10/10 | 5 |
|
16% |
| 9/10 | 13 |
|
42% |
| 8/10 | 9 |
|
29% |
| 7/10 | 2 |
|
6% |
| 6/10 | 0 |
|
0% |
| 5/10 | 1 |
|
3% |
| 4/10 | 1 |
|
3% |
| 3/10 | 0 |
|
0% |
| 2/10 | 0 |
|
0% |
| 1/10 | 0 |
|
0% |
84.52% Average
The raw data average (mean) for all the Cougar Line face-to-face reviews is 84.52% and is based on 31 face-to-face reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here for comparison purposes.
Weighted Average
96.75%
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 | Face-to-Face | Weight | Relative Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gabrielle Johnston | 10/10 | 385 days | 76.51 | 100% | |
| nzthrillseekers | 10/10 | 749 days | 23.97 | 31% | |
| Sandra Wilson | 10/10 | 780 days | 20.72 | 27% | |
| Wolfgang | 9/10 | 1034 days |  |
5.59 | 7% |
| Robyn Hallowell | 9/10 | 1392 days | |
4.49 | 6% |
| Polly Foster | 10/10 | 1633 days | 4.08 | 5% | |
| Ben and Morgane | 9/10 | 1699 days | |
3.97 | 5% |
| Simon L | 10/10 | 2030 days | 3.4 | 4% | |
| Anthony Richards | 10/10 | 2089 days | 3.3 | 4% | |
| Yana W. | 10/10 | 2120 days | 3.24 | 4% | |
| James Wilson | 10/10 | 2181 days | 3.14 | 4% | |
| Shirley Piggott | 10/10 | 2334 days | 2.88 | 4% | |
| Howie Weir | 8/10 | 2423 days | 2.59 | 3% | |
| Nadine | 8/10 | 2467 days | |
2.52 | 3% |
| Sian Harries | 10/10 | 2485 days | 2.62 | 3% | |
| Sasha and Sandra Bonavia | 9/10 | 2485 days | |
2.62 | 3% |
| Denise Albrecht | 10/10 | 2489 days | |
2.61 | 3% |
| svenanka | 10/10 | 2515 days | 2.57 | 3% | |
| fayedoig | 10/10 | 2729 days | 2.2 | 3% | |
| voyager64 | 10/10 | 2729 days | 2.2 | 3% | |
| Jonathan Tuthill | 9/10 | 2745 days | |
2.17 | 3% |
| EmmaNewman | 10/10 | 2760 days | 2.15 | 3% | |
| Hiro1403 | 9/10 | 2760 days | 2.15 | 3% | |
| RichardClough | 10/10 | 2820 days | 2.05 | 3% | |
| Michelle | 10/10 | 2820 days | 2.05 | 3% | |
| jennyhuckstep | 10/10 | 2820 days | 2.05 | 3% | |
| AnneGrange | 10/10 | 2820 days | 2.05 | 3% | |
| Rhi | 10/10 | 2820 days | 2.05 | 3% | |
| kainga | 10/10 | 2820 days | 2.05 | 3% | |
| skphilpott | 1/10 | 2851 days | 1.45 | 2% | |
| Cornelia & Josef | 9/10 | 2863 days | |
1.97 | 3% |
| SimonPayne | 10/10 | 2881 days | 1.94 | 3% | |
| Beachfan | 10/10 | 2912 days | 1.89 | 2% | |
| calamityalex | 10/10 | 2912 days | 1.89 | 2% | |
| Brian & Di | 8/10 | 3108 days | |
1.48 | 2% |
| Janice OConnor | 9/10 | 3109 days | |
1.55 | 2% |
| W Groshops | 7/10 | 3115 days | |
1.4 | 2% |
| Richard Broughton | 9/10 | 3120 days | |
1.53 | 2% |
| nzMuppet | 10/10 | 3126 days | 1.52 | 2% | |
| Hartheib Schmid | 4/10 | 3129 days | |
1.2 | 2% |
| Katharina Dierkes | 5/10 | 3141 days | |
1.21 | 2% |
| Isbabel | 9/10 | 3152 days | |
1.48 | 2% |
| didine | 10/10 | 3154 days | 1.47 | 2% | |
| grumpy2 | 9/10 | 3185 days | 1.42 | 2% | |
| Mattie | 10/10 | 3246 days | 1.32 | 2% | |
| Bianca | 10/10 | 3307 days | 1.21 | 2% | |
| Vanessa | 10/10 | 3430 days | 1.0 | 1% | |
| letstraveltogether | 10/10 | 3460 days | 0.95 | 1% | |
| JTT | 10/10 | 3460 days | 0.95 | 1% | |
| Theresa | 10/10 | 3479 days | |
0.92 | 1% |
| bdgenge | 10/10 | 3491 days | 0.9 | 1% | |
| SB | 9/10 | 3493 days | |
0.89 | 1% |
| Helen Power | 9/10 | 3514 days | |
0.86 | 1% |
| Adriane | 8/10 | 3515 days | |
0.81 | 1% |
| chloeA | 10/10 | 3519 days | 0.85 | 1% | |
| Markus | 10/10 | 3535 days | |
0.82 | 1% |
| Duncan Fea | 10/10 | 3550 days | 0.8 | 1% | |
| Heather | 10/10 | 3550 days | 0.8 | 1% | |
| Annie | 10/10 | 3550 days | 0.8 | 1% | |
| sue pentelow | 10/10 | 3550 days | 0.8 | 1% | |
| jenny | 10/10 | 3550 days | 0.8 | 1% | |
| lizi | 10/10 | 3550 days | 0.8 | 1% | |
| judy | 10/10 | 3550 days | 0.8 | 1% | |
| ronella | 10/10 | 3581 days | 0.74 | 1% | |
| Barney_Biker | 10/10 | 3611 days | 0.69 | 1% | |
| Ruth Kinder | 10/10 | 3642 days | 0.64 | 1% | |
| NZJenJen | 8/10 | 3672 days | 0.56 | 1% | |
| Tanya | 10/10 | 3795 days | 0.38 | 0% | |
| Colleen Doherty | 10/10 | 3795 days | 0.38 | 0% | |
| penny hoyle | 10/10 | 3795 days | 0.38 | 0% | |
| Esther Craddock-Taylor | 10/10 | 3795 days | 0.38 | 0% | |
| Conrad Duden | 10/10 | 3825 days | 0.33 | 0% | |
| scottl | 10/10 | 3825 days | |
0.33 | 0% |
| BrunoS | 8/10 | 3860 days | |
0.25 | 0% |
| Eva Duessler | 10/10 | 3915 days | 0.17 | 0% | |
| Groen | 8/10 | 3937 days | |
0.13 | 0% |
| Frauke | 10/10 | 3956 days | |
0.1 | 0% |
| Caroline Cole | 8/10 | 4202 days | |
0.0 | 0% |
| Andy | 8/10 | 4268 days | |
0.0 | 0% |
| Lauren | 8/10 | 4532 days | |
0.0 | 0% |
| Cohen | 7/10 | 4551 days | |
0.0 | 0% |
| Andreas | 8/10 | 4591 days | |
0.0 | 0% |
| Elaine | 9/10 | 4603 days | |
0.0 | 0% |
| KikiNelissen | 9/10 | 4603 days | |
0.0 | 0% |
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 Cougar Line experience has plenty of reviews and does not meet the criteria for any adjustment.
Recent Reviews Adjustment
-3.98% Adjustment
There may be an adjustment if an experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 60 days. However the Cougar Line 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 199 days.
The Cougar Line experience has been adjusted for 199 days. Adjustments are according to the following table.
| Days | Adjustment |
|---|---|
| … | … |
| 196 | -3.92% |
| 197 | -3.94% |
| 198 | -3.96% |
| 199 | -3.98% |
| 200 | -4.00% |
| 201 | -4.02% |
| 202 | -4.04% |
| … | … |
Final Ranking Score
93%
The final ranking score once adjustments and rounding has been applied. This value is cached and recalculated each day. Therefore it may not be precisely accurate based on the other values presented.
If you have any questions or comments about our ranking score calculation please get in touch at info@rankers.co.nz.