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

95.27%

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 3392 days 100%
Hazel Norman 10/10 3407 days 99%
James Jackson 10/10 3408 days 99%
Bartlomiej Berger 9/10 4103 days 26%
Ann Wilson 8/10 4359 days 0%
Anne and Steve Bartlett 9/10 4424 days 51%
Abby Rescr 9/10 4738 days 51%
Frederick Dean 8/10 4738 days 50%
Joey Mertzig 10/10 4755 days 51%
Rien 9/10 5095 days 51%
Clausen 9/10 5096 days 51%
kiwifrenchy 10/10 5103 days 51%
Sam 10/10 5107 days 51%
Pete & Pat Etheridge 10/10 5112 days 51%
Mike & Jennie 9/10 5114 days 51%
Stefes Wencke 10/10 5116 days 51%
Uwe Henze 10/10 5117 days 51%
Manuela Weber 10/10 5117 days 51%
Thyg Lingdal 10/10 5131 days 51%
caro 10/10 5163 days 51%
Dean 9/10 5178 days 51%
Anna Bret 8/10 5203 days 50%
Jaime Castells 9/10 5203 days 51%
Gary Koehler 10/10 5460 days 51%
jlgavin 6/10 5469 days 44%
Verheyen 10/10 5473 days 51%
Chris Darlington 10/10 5477 days 51%
Dieter Uhlmann 9/10 5480 days 51%
Angi Otti 10/10 5488 days 51%
Jackie Morris 10/10 5488 days 51%
Samuel Prechel 10/10 5489 days 51%
David Glover 10/10 5491 days 51%
Claus Olsen 10/10 5492 days 51%
H Schepers 9/10 5493 days 51%
georgiarose89 10/10 5528 days 51%
chrissie2011 10/10 5528 days 51%
Chris 10/10 5747 days 51%
Sabine 10/10 5747 days 51%
Kevin & Chris 9/10 5767 days 51%
davidm239 9/10 5773 days 51%
Margie 10/10 5812 days 51%
Agnes 8/10 5813 days 50%
Graeme + Jane Ryan 10/10 5824 days 51%
Westermann 10/10 5825 days 51%
Peter Brown 10/10 5830 days 51%
johnandgin 10/10 5834 days 51%
Angela 10/10 5835 days 51%
T. Timmers 9/10 5848 days 51%
Loleit 10/10 5855 days 51%
David Valentine 10/10 5856 days 51%
Annette Schmitt 9/10 5856 days 51%
Jeremy & Sarah Rind 10/10 5861 days 51%
Jessica 9/10 5867 days 51%
ChristinaO 10/10 5893 days 51%
Simon Jones 9/10 5893 days 51%
Jerry 10/10 5924 days 51%
HairyHaggis 9/10 5954 days 51%
Suzanne 10/10 5985 days 51%
Traveller Girl 10/10 6138 days 51%
Switz 10/10 6152 days 51%
DanielGermany 10/10 6160 days 51%
CornelissenS 9/10 6185 days 51%
Inger 10/10 6185 days 51%
Robert 9/10 6199 days 51%
Theresa 9/10 6205 days 51%
Sue 9/10 6207 days 51%
Inger Skov 10/10 6211 days 51%
Ruben 8/10 6241 days 50%
Claire 10/10 6254 days 51%
C Digby 9/10 6258 days 51%
Adam 10/10 6299 days 51%
Stephanie Schikora 10/10 6311 days 51%
Sue Stewart 10/10 6418 days 51%
James Gibbs 8/10 6510 days 50%
Helen 9/10 6518 days 51%
Menashe 10/10 6538 days 51%
George Jeffs 10/10 6547 days 51%
Paul Weston 9/10 6561 days 51%
Marian Mckinney 10/10 6561 days 51%
Charles Price 8/10 6572 days 50%
Vicky Elliott 10/10 6579 days 51%
Anne Mainwaring 10/10 6587 days 51%
Kilsby 10/10 6596 days 51%
Dupre 8/10 6637 days 50%
dieter 10/10 6655 days 51%
Rene Schotvanger 10/10 6770 days 51%
Pat Brewster 10/10 6770 days 51%
Paul Yacoumis 10/10 6896 days 51%
Sandra 10/10 6905 days 51%

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

-4.15% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 53 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 -4.08%
198 -4.10%
199 -4.13%
200 -4.15%
201 -4.17%
202 -4.19%
203 -4.21%

Balancing Adjustment

0.85% 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.