Ranking Score Explained

G'day, 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 Southern Discoveries / Milford Sound Red Boats.

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.

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Cymen Crick

Rankers Owner

Southern Discoveries / Milford Sound Red Boats

Valid Reviews

74 Valid Reviews

The Southern Discoveries / Milford Sound Red Boats experience has a total of 74 valid reviews. There are no 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 74 valid reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 21
28%
9/10 28
38%
8/10 10
14%
7/10 14
19%
6/10 0
0%
5/10 0
0%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 1
1%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

86.89% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Southern Discoveries / Milford Sound Red Boats valid reviews is 86.89% and is based on 74 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

69 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 74 valid reviews, the experience has 69 face-to-face reviews collected during interviews by our team.

Below is the distribution of ratings for the 69 face-to-face reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 17
25%
9/10 27
39%
8/10 10
14%
7/10 14
20%
6/10 0
0%
5/10 0
0%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 1
1%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

86.09% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Southern Discoveries / Milford Sound Red Boats face-to-face reviews is 86.09% and is based on 69 face-to-face reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here for comparison purposes.

Weighted Average

87.75%

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 Relative Weight
C Clarke 7/10 3290 days 96%
Alice Ormandy 9/10 3312 days 100%
Manu Liberta 10/10 3357 days 97%
Bram Hoonhout 8/10 3363 days 94%
Sarah 10/10 3384 days 94%
Robertoi 9/10 3402 days 91%
Charly 9/10 3607 days 72%
Liam King 9/10 3619 days 71%
Clare Holden 10/10 3627 days 71%
Oliver Schatz 10/10 3654 days 68%
Nick Young 10/10 3659 days 68%
Lisa 8/10 3673 days 65%
Josephine 7/10 3689 days 60%
Markus Delinsky 8/10 4026 days 32%
Hubert 10/10 4098 days 25%
Anja Weppler 7/10 4332 days 3%
Sandra Frischmann 9/10 4362 days 0%
Simon Galpin 9/10 4363 days 0%
Kletter 9/10 4722 days 47%
Jeanne Moustier 9/10 4771 days 47%
Michael Kretzschmar 10/10 4806 days 47%
Lydia Holleman 9/10 4811 days 47%
John 9/10 4813 days 47%
Jon Barratt 9/10 4826 days 47%
Kali Lohman 8/10 4836 days 47%
Stuart Arrol 9/10 5060 days 47%
melemele 9/10 5064 days 47%
Simon Rawlinson 9/10 5076 days 47%
Jill Homewood 10/10 5088 days 47%
Signe Kaspersen 7/10 5089 days 44%
Robert Steendijk 7/10 5090 days 44%
Jaap & Susanne 7/10 5104 days 44%
Aridne Giraud 8/10 5107 days 47%
Nora 9/10 5108 days 47%
Andy Bridgman 7/10 5109 days 44%
Nikki Bentley 9/10 5110 days 47%
Filsack 8/10 5116 days 47%
Herbert 7/10 5137 days 44%
Stephane Lebel 10/10 5434 days 47%
Florian 9/10 5451 days 47%
Antoine Van Hoovled 9/10 5451 days 47%
K Dahmer 10/10 5454 days 47%
Julia 9/10 5459 days 47%
WeddingMaven 10/10 5461 days 47%
Kasia Robshaw 9/10 5465 days 47%
Roger Lows 9/10 5480 days 47%
Jochen 7/10 5487 days 44%
VisualDelight 10/10 5673 days 47%
John Cox 9/10 5832 days 47%
Susi Schoetzler 10/10 5874 days 47%
Simon Bartholomew 10/10 5928 days 47%
Raewyn 10/10 6157 days 47%
Ger 9/10 6158 days 47%
jjakkeren 7/10 6160 days 44%
PaulC 9/10 6166 days 47%
Dave Ashun 9/10 6167 days 47%
ChristinaV 8/10 6170 days 47%
JanW 3/10 6172 days 25%
KatrinS 8/10 6172 days 47%
Christian Moll 7/10 6176 days 44%
Peter 8/10 6176 days 47%
Charles 8/10 6192 days 47%
JennyD1 7/10 6266 days 44%
bobmcg 10/10 6273 days 47%
Stephanie Schikora 10/10 6303 days 47%
Paul 7/10 6338 days 44%
Suyin 10/10 6358 days 47%
Tom Ben 10/10 6531 days 47%
Anja Kunert 9/10 6557 days 47%
Zurcher Marco 10/10 6587 days 47%
Sandra Gustafson 7/10 6602 days 44%
Julie 9/10 6846 days 47%
Chatin Perrier 10/10 6897 days 47%
Pete 9/10 6914 days 47%

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 Southern Discoveries / Milford Sound Red Boats experience has plenty of reviews and does not meet the criteria for any adjustment.

Recent Reviews Adjustment

-4.15% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 51 days. However the Southern Discoveries / Milford Sound Red Boats 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 Southern Discoveries / Milford Sound Red Boats experience has been adjusted for 200 days. Adjustments are according to the following table.

Days Adjustment
197 -4.09%
198 -4.11%
199 -4.13%
200 -4.15%
201 -4.18%
202 -4.20%
203 -4.22%

Balancing Adjustment

2.11% 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

86%

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.