Ranking Score Explained

Kia ora, 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 Cruises.

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

Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruises

Valid Reviews

89 Valid Reviews

The Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruises 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 Cruises 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 Cruises 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

95.25%

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 2925 days 100%
Hazel Norman 10/10 2940 days 100%
James Jackson 10/10 2941 days 100%
Bartlomiej Berger 9/10 3636 days 48%
Ann Wilson 8/10 3892 days 29%
Anne and Steve Bartlett 9/10 3957 days 24%
Abby Rescr 9/10 4271 days 1%
Frederick Dean 8/10 4271 days 1%
Joey Mertzig 10/10 4288 days 0%
Rien 9/10 4628 days 31%
Clausen 9/10 4629 days 31%
kiwifrenchy 10/10 4636 days 31%
Sam 10/10 4640 days 31%
Pete & Pat Etheridge 10/10 4645 days 31%
Mike & Jennie 9/10 4647 days 31%
Stefes Wencke 10/10 4649 days 31%
Uwe Henze 10/10 4650 days 31%
Manuela Weber 10/10 4650 days 31%
Thyg Lingdal 10/10 4664 days 31%
caro 10/10 4696 days 31%
Dean 9/10 4711 days 31%
Anna Bret 8/10 4736 days 30%
Jaime Castells 9/10 4736 days 31%
Gary Koehler 10/10 4993 days 31%
jlgavin 6/10 5002 days 26%
Verheyen 10/10 5006 days 31%
Chris Darlington 10/10 5010 days 31%
Dieter Uhlmann 9/10 5013 days 31%
Angi Otti 10/10 5021 days 31%
Jackie Morris 10/10 5021 days 31%
Samuel Prechel 10/10 5022 days 31%
David Glover 10/10 5024 days 31%
Claus Olsen 10/10 5025 days 31%
H Schepers 9/10 5026 days 31%
georgiarose89 10/10 5061 days 31%
chrissie2011 10/10 5061 days 31%
Chris 10/10 5280 days 31%
Sabine 10/10 5280 days 31%
Kevin & Chris 9/10 5300 days 31%
davidm239 9/10 5306 days 31%
Margie 10/10 5345 days 31%
Agnes 8/10 5346 days 30%
Graeme + Jane Ryan 10/10 5357 days 31%
Westermann 10/10 5358 days 31%
Peter Brown 10/10 5363 days 31%
johnandgin 10/10 5367 days 31%
Angela 10/10 5368 days 31%
T. Timmers 9/10 5381 days 31%
Loleit 10/10 5388 days 31%
David Valentine 10/10 5389 days 31%
Annette Schmitt 9/10 5389 days 31%
Jeremy & Sarah Rind 10/10 5394 days 31%
Jessica 9/10 5400 days 31%
ChristinaO 10/10 5426 days 31%
Simon Jones 9/10 5426 days 31%
Jerry 10/10 5457 days 31%
HairyHaggis 9/10 5487 days 31%
Suzanne 10/10 5518 days 31%
Traveller Girl 10/10 5671 days 31%
Switz 10/10 5685 days 31%
DanielGermany 10/10 5693 days 31%
CornelissenS 9/10 5718 days 31%
Inger 10/10 5719 days 31%
Robert 9/10 5732 days 31%
Theresa 9/10 5738 days 31%
Sue 9/10 5741 days 31%
Inger Skov 10/10 5744 days 31%
Ruben 8/10 5775 days 30%
Claire 10/10 5787 days 31%
C Digby 9/10 5791 days 31%
Adam 10/10 5832 days 31%
Stephanie Schikora 10/10 5844 days 31%
Sue Stewart 10/10 5952 days 31%
James Gibbs 8/10 6043 days 30%
Helen 9/10 6051 days 31%
Menashe 10/10 6071 days 31%
George Jeffs 10/10 6080 days 31%
Paul Weston 9/10 6094 days 31%
Marian Mckinney 10/10 6094 days 31%
Charles Price 8/10 6105 days 30%
Vicky Elliott 10/10 6112 days 31%
Anne Mainwaring 10/10 6120 days 31%
Kilsby 10/10 6129 days 31%
Dupre 8/10 6170 days 30%
dieter 10/10 6189 days 31%
Rene Schotvanger 10/10 6303 days 31%
Pat Brewster 10/10 6303 days 31%
Paul Yacoumis 10/10 6429 days 31%
Sandra 10/10 6438 days 31%

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

Recent Reviews Adjustment

-3.96% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 46 days. However the Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruises 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 Cruises experience has been adjusted for 200 days. Adjustments are according to the following table.

Days Adjustment
197 -3.90%
198 -3.92%
199 -3.94%
200 -3.96%
201 -3.98%
202 -4.00%
203 -4.02%

Balancing Adjustment

0.83% 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.