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 Waitomo Caveworld.

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

Waitomo Caveworld

Valid Reviews

74 Valid Reviews

The Waitomo Caveworld 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 15
20%
9/10 18
24%
8/10 20
27%
7/10 10
14%
6/10 8
11%
5/10 2
3%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 1
1%
1/10 0
0%

81.35% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Waitomo Caveworld valid reviews is 81.35% 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

68 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 68 face-to-face reviews collected during interviews by our team.

Below is the distribution of ratings for the 68 face-to-face reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 15
22%
9/10 16
24%
8/10 19
28%
7/10 9
13%
6/10 7
10%
5/10 2
3%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

82.50% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Waitomo Caveworld face-to-face reviews is 82.50% and is based on 68 face-to-face reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here for comparison purposes.

Weighted Average

82.40%

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
Cassandra Geyer 9/10 3814 days 100%
Mijke Boesten 8/10 3869 days 86%
Anders Hauke 8/10 3870 days 86%
Lengxi 8/10 3870 days 86%
Arvid Hellquist 9/10 4242 days 0%
Steven Lotrian 9/10 4589 days 87%
Alex Artigues 10/10 4637 days 88%
Serge Garcin 10/10 4637 days 88%
Tourist101 2/10 5091 days 23%
kayburns 9/10 5152 days 87%
Alison Rosser 7/10 5328 days 80%
Helen & Laurence 8/10 5403 days 86%
Kris Gijbels 8/10 5649 days 86%
Mike 6/10 5687 days 72%
Stefan Morris 8/10 5690 days 86%
Jessie Currie 7/10 5690 days 80%
Barry 9/10 5692 days 87%
Melanie Armbruster 6/10 5695 days 72%
Stefanie Halbrock 5/10 5695 days 60%
Jim Thomsen 8/10 5696 days 86%
Kate Thomsen 8/10 5696 days 86%
Denecke Thorsten 7/10 6045 days 80%
M and H Lunn 8/10 6045 days 86%
Henrik Plichta 9/10 6045 days 87%
Michael 10/10 6046 days 88%
San Ahuia 5/10 6055 days 60%
Amer 10/10 6061 days 88%
Coby Aalbrecht 7/10 6063 days 80%
Andreas Sterki 8/10 6134 days 86%
X Otte 7/10 6134 days 80%
Hansjoerg Ehrmann 9/10 6137 days 87%
Sophie Keate 8/10 6254 days 86%
Catherine Smiles 10/10 6284 days 88%
Martina 6/10 6370 days 72%
IanM 8/10 6370 days 86%
MarielR 9/10 6388 days 87%
Joel 9/10 6390 days 87%
Brigette Guikens 10/10 6391 days 88%
Keith 7/10 6394 days 80%
JuliaG1 8/10 6403 days 86%
DavidMurray 8/10 6404 days 86%
RosC 6/10 6405 days 72%
AndrewF78 9/10 6406 days 87%
EmmaB1 9/10 6416 days 87%
ClaudiaK 10/10 6419 days 88%
ArnarF 9/10 6429 days 87%
SonjaS 10/10 6429 days 88%
Burkhalter 9/10 6441 days 87%
Rene 7/10 6442 days 80%
Paula 8/10 6495 days 86%
Teresa 10/10 6501 days 88%
Kay 10/10 6549 days 88%
Jimmy 9/10 6567 days 87%
Anna 10/10 6567 days 88%
sabine 10/10 6567 days 88%
Elisabeth 10/10 6576 days 88%
Terneal King 7/10 6608 days 80%
Helen 6/10 6618 days 72%
Nicnac 8/10 6735 days 86%
Mark 10/10 6740 days 88%
Joanne M 7/10 6746 days 80%
Anna 10/10 6747 days 88%
Leila 9/10 6750 days 87%
Adam Richards 8/10 6750 days 86%
Lena1 9/10 6770 days 87%
Stephanie 9/10 6782 days 87%
Hanna 6/10 6783 days 72%
Maree 8/10 6783 days 86%
Orlaith 9/10 6783 days 87%
Lisa 8/10 6783 days 86%
Stephanie Jones 6/10 6810 days 72%
Paula Smith 7/10 6813 days 80%
Bridgy 8/10 7060 days 86%
JanKovar 6/10 7088 days 72%

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 Waitomo Caveworld experience has plenty of reviews and does not meet the criteria for any adjustment.

Recent Reviews Adjustment

-2.78% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 85 days. However the Waitomo Caveworld 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 Waitomo Caveworld experience has been adjusted for 200 days. Adjustments are according to the following table.

Days Adjustment
197 -2.74%
198 -2.76%
199 -2.77%
200 -2.78%
201 -2.80%
202 -2.81%
203 -2.83%

Balancing Adjustment

3.11% 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

83%

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.