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

95.30%

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 3325 days 100%
Hazel Norman 10/10 3340 days 100%
James Jackson 10/10 3341 days 99%
Bartlomiej Berger 9/10 4036 days 31%
Ann Wilson 8/10 4292 days 6%
Anne and Steve Bartlett 9/10 4357 days 0%
Abby Rescr 9/10 4671 days 47%
Frederick Dean 8/10 4671 days 47%
Joey Mertzig 10/10 4688 days 48%
Rien 9/10 5028 days 47%
Clausen 9/10 5029 days 47%
kiwifrenchy 10/10 5036 days 48%
Sam 10/10 5040 days 48%
Pete & Pat Etheridge 10/10 5045 days 48%
Mike & Jennie 9/10 5047 days 47%
Stefes Wencke 10/10 5049 days 48%
Uwe Henze 10/10 5050 days 48%
Manuela Weber 10/10 5050 days 48%
Thyg Lingdal 10/10 5064 days 48%
caro 10/10 5096 days 48%
Dean 9/10 5111 days 47%
Anna Bret 8/10 5136 days 47%
Jaime Castells 9/10 5136 days 47%
Gary Koehler 10/10 5393 days 48%
jlgavin 6/10 5402 days 41%
Verheyen 10/10 5406 days 48%
Chris Darlington 10/10 5410 days 48%
Dieter Uhlmann 9/10 5413 days 47%
Angi Otti 10/10 5421 days 48%
Jackie Morris 10/10 5421 days 48%
Samuel Prechel 10/10 5422 days 48%
David Glover 10/10 5424 days 48%
Claus Olsen 10/10 5425 days 48%
H Schepers 9/10 5426 days 47%
georgiarose89 10/10 5461 days 48%
chrissie2011 10/10 5461 days 48%
Chris 10/10 5680 days 48%
Sabine 10/10 5680 days 48%
Kevin & Chris 9/10 5700 days 47%
davidm239 9/10 5706 days 47%
Margie 10/10 5745 days 48%
Agnes 8/10 5746 days 47%
Graeme + Jane Ryan 10/10 5757 days 48%
Westermann 10/10 5758 days 48%
Peter Brown 10/10 5763 days 48%
johnandgin 10/10 5767 days 48%
Angela 10/10 5768 days 48%
T. Timmers 9/10 5781 days 47%
Loleit 10/10 5788 days 48%
David Valentine 10/10 5789 days 48%
Annette Schmitt 9/10 5789 days 47%
Jeremy & Sarah Rind 10/10 5794 days 48%
Jessica 9/10 5800 days 47%
ChristinaO 10/10 5826 days 48%
Simon Jones 9/10 5826 days 47%
Jerry 10/10 5857 days 48%
HairyHaggis 9/10 5887 days 47%
Suzanne 10/10 5918 days 48%
Traveller Girl 10/10 6071 days 48%
Switz 10/10 6085 days 48%
DanielGermany 10/10 6093 days 48%
CornelissenS 9/10 6118 days 47%
Inger 10/10 6118 days 48%
Robert 9/10 6132 days 47%
Theresa 9/10 6138 days 47%
Sue 9/10 6140 days 47%
Inger Skov 10/10 6144 days 48%
Ruben 8/10 6174 days 47%
Claire 10/10 6187 days 48%
C Digby 9/10 6191 days 47%
Adam 10/10 6231 days 48%
Stephanie Schikora 10/10 6244 days 48%
Sue Stewart 10/10 6351 days 48%
James Gibbs 8/10 6443 days 47%
Helen 9/10 6451 days 47%
Menashe 10/10 6471 days 48%
George Jeffs 10/10 6480 days 48%
Paul Weston 9/10 6494 days 47%
Marian Mckinney 10/10 6494 days 48%
Charles Price 8/10 6505 days 47%
Vicky Elliott 10/10 6512 days 48%
Anne Mainwaring 10/10 6520 days 48%
Kilsby 10/10 6529 days 48%
Dupre 8/10 6570 days 47%
dieter 10/10 6588 days 48%
Rene Schotvanger 10/10 6703 days 48%
Pat Brewster 10/10 6703 days 48%
Paul Yacoumis 10/10 6829 days 48%
Sandra 10/10 6838 days 48%

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

-4.06% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 42 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 -4.00%
198 -4.02%
199 -4.04%
200 -4.06%
201 -4.08%
202 -4.10%
203 -4.12%

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.