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 Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruise.

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

Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruise

Valid Reviews

89 Valid Reviews

The Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruise experience has a total of 89 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 89 valid reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 55
62%
9/10 25
28%
8/10 8
9%
7/10 0
0%
6/10 1
1%
5/10 0
0%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

94.94% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruise valid reviews is 94.94% and is based on 89 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

74 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 89 valid reviews, the experience has 74 face-to-face reviews collected during interviews by our team.

Below is the distribution of ratings for the 74 face-to-face reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 44
59%
9/10 22
30%
8/10 8
11%
7/10 0
0%
6/10 0
0%
5/10 0
0%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

94.86% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruise face-to-face reviews is 94.86% and is based on 74 face-to-face reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here for comparison purposes.

Weighted Average

95.28%

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
Jonny Horn 9/10 3412 days 100%
Hazel Norman 10/10 3427 days 99%
James Jackson 10/10 3428 days 99%
Bartlomiej Berger 9/10 4123 days 26%
Ann Wilson 8/10 4379 days 0%
Anne and Steve Bartlett 9/10 4444 days 53%
Abby Rescr 9/10 4758 days 53%
Frederick Dean 8/10 4758 days 52%
Joey Mertzig 10/10 4775 days 53%
Rien 9/10 5115 days 53%
Clausen 9/10 5116 days 53%
kiwifrenchy 10/10 5123 days 53%
Sam 10/10 5127 days 53%
Pete & Pat Etheridge 10/10 5132 days 53%
Mike & Jennie 9/10 5134 days 53%
Stefes Wencke 10/10 5136 days 53%
Uwe Henze 10/10 5137 days 53%
Manuela Weber 10/10 5137 days 53%
Thyg Lingdal 10/10 5151 days 53%
caro 10/10 5183 days 53%
Dean 9/10 5198 days 53%
Anna Bret 8/10 5223 days 52%
Jaime Castells 9/10 5223 days 53%
Gary Koehler 10/10 5480 days 53%
jlgavin 6/10 5489 days 46%
Verheyen 10/10 5493 days 53%
Chris Darlington 10/10 5497 days 53%
Dieter Uhlmann 9/10 5500 days 53%
Angi Otti 10/10 5508 days 53%
Jackie Morris 10/10 5508 days 53%
Samuel Prechel 10/10 5509 days 53%
David Glover 10/10 5511 days 53%
Claus Olsen 10/10 5512 days 53%
H Schepers 9/10 5513 days 53%
georgiarose89 10/10 5548 days 53%
chrissie2011 10/10 5548 days 53%
Chris 10/10 5767 days 53%
Sabine 10/10 5767 days 53%
Kevin & Chris 9/10 5787 days 53%
davidm239 9/10 5793 days 53%
Margie 10/10 5832 days 53%
Agnes 8/10 5833 days 52%
Graeme + Jane Ryan 10/10 5844 days 53%
Westermann 10/10 5845 days 53%
Peter Brown 10/10 5850 days 53%
johnandgin 10/10 5854 days 53%
Angela 10/10 5855 days 53%
T. Timmers 9/10 5868 days 53%
Loleit 10/10 5875 days 53%
David Valentine 10/10 5876 days 53%
Annette Schmitt 9/10 5876 days 53%
Jeremy & Sarah Rind 10/10 5881 days 53%
Jessica 9/10 5887 days 53%
ChristinaO 10/10 5913 days 53%
Simon Jones 9/10 5913 days 53%
Jerry 10/10 5944 days 53%
HairyHaggis 9/10 5974 days 53%
Suzanne 10/10 6005 days 53%
Traveller Girl 10/10 6158 days 53%
Switz 10/10 6172 days 53%
DanielGermany 10/10 6180 days 53%
CornelissenS 9/10 6205 days 53%
Inger 10/10 6205 days 53%
Robert 9/10 6218 days 53%
Theresa 9/10 6224 days 53%
Sue 9/10 6227 days 53%
Inger Skov 10/10 6231 days 53%
Ruben 8/10 6261 days 52%
Claire 10/10 6274 days 53%
C Digby 9/10 6278 days 53%
Adam 10/10 6318 days 53%
Stephanie Schikora 10/10 6331 days 53%
Sue Stewart 10/10 6438 days 53%
James Gibbs 8/10 6530 days 52%
Helen 9/10 6538 days 53%
Menashe 10/10 6558 days 53%
George Jeffs 10/10 6567 days 53%
Paul Weston 9/10 6581 days 53%
Marian Mckinney 10/10 6581 days 53%
Charles Price 8/10 6592 days 52%
Vicky Elliott 10/10 6599 days 53%
Anne Mainwaring 10/10 6607 days 53%
Kilsby 10/10 6616 days 53%
Dupre 8/10 6657 days 52%
dieter 10/10 6675 days 53%
Rene Schotvanger 10/10 6790 days 53%
Pat Brewster 10/10 6790 days 53%
Paul Yacoumis 10/10 6916 days 53%
Sandra 10/10 6925 days 53%

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 Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruise experience has plenty of reviews and does not meet the criteria for any adjustment.

Recent Reviews Adjustment

-4.03% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 57 days. However the Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruise 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 Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruise experience has been adjusted for 200 days. Adjustments are according to the following table.

Days Adjustment
197 -3.97%
198 -3.99%
199 -4.01%
200 -4.03%
201 -4.05%
202 -4.07%
203 -4.09%

Balancing Adjustment

0.84% 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

92%

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.