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 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.

Cymen Crick's avatar

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

87.66%

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 2854 days 95%
Alice Ormandy 9/10 2876 days 100%
Manu Liberta 10/10 2921 days 98%
Bram Hoonhout 8/10 2927 days 96%
Sarah 10/10 2948 days 96%
Robertoi 9/10 2966 days 94%
Charly 9/10 3171 days 80%
Liam King 9/10 3183 days 80%
Clare Holden 10/10 3191 days 80%
Oliver Schatz 10/10 3218 days 78%
Nick Young 10/10 3223 days 78%
Lisa 8/10 3237 days 75%
Josephine 7/10 3253 days 70%
Markus Delinsky 8/10 3590 days 52%
Hubert 10/10 3662 days 48%
Anja Weppler 7/10 3896 days 30%
Sandra Frischmann 9/10 3926 days 30%
Simon Galpin 9/10 3927 days 30%
Kletter 9/10 4286 days 6%
Jeanne Moustier 9/10 4335 days 3%
Michael Kretzschmar 10/10 4370 days 0%
Lydia Holleman 9/10 4375 days 0%
John 9/10 4377 days 0%
Jon Barratt 9/10 4390 days 34%
Kali Lohman 8/10 4400 days 34%
Stuart Arrol 9/10 4624 days 34%
melemele 9/10 4628 days 34%
Simon Rawlinson 9/10 4640 days 34%
Jill Homewood 10/10 4652 days 34%
Signe Kaspersen 7/10 4653 days 32%
Robert Steendijk 7/10 4654 days 32%
Jaap & Susanne 7/10 4668 days 32%
Aridne Giraud 8/10 4671 days 34%
Nora 9/10 4672 days 34%
Andy Bridgman 7/10 4673 days 32%
Nikki Bentley 9/10 4674 days 34%
Filsack 8/10 4680 days 34%
Herbert 7/10 4701 days 32%
Stephane Lebel 10/10 4998 days 34%
Florian 9/10 5015 days 34%
Antoine Van Hoovled 9/10 5015 days 34%
K Dahmer 10/10 5018 days 34%
Julia 9/10 5023 days 34%
WeddingMaven 10/10 5025 days 34%
Kasia Robshaw 9/10 5029 days 34%
Roger Lows 9/10 5044 days 34%
Jochen 7/10 5051 days 32%
VisualDelight 10/10 5237 days 34%
John Cox 9/10 5396 days 34%
Susi Schoetzler 10/10 5438 days 34%
Simon Bartholomew 10/10 5492 days 34%
Raewyn 10/10 5721 days 34%
Ger 9/10 5722 days 34%
jjakkeren 7/10 5724 days 32%
PaulC 9/10 5731 days 34%
Dave Ashun 9/10 5731 days 34%
ChristinaV 8/10 5734 days 34%
JanW 3/10 5736 days 19%
KatrinS 8/10 5736 days 34%
Christian Moll 7/10 5740 days 32%
Peter 8/10 5741 days 34%
Charles 8/10 5757 days 34%
JennyD1 7/10 5830 days 32%
bobmcg 10/10 5837 days 34%
Stephanie Schikora 10/10 5867 days 34%
Paul 7/10 5902 days 32%
Suyin 10/10 5922 days 34%
Tom Ben 10/10 6095 days 34%
Anja Kunert 9/10 6121 days 34%
Zurcher Marco 10/10 6151 days 34%
Sandra Gustafson 7/10 6166 days 32%
Julie 9/10 6410 days 34%
Chatin Perrier 10/10 6461 days 34%
Pete 9/10 6478 days 34%

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

-4.07% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 43 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 -4.01%
198 -4.03%
199 -4.05%
200 -4.07%
201 -4.09%
202 -4.11%
203 -4.13%

Balancing Adjustment

2.12% 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.