Ranking Score Explained

Hey, 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 Waterfalls Estate.

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

Waterfalls Estate

Valid Reviews

65 Valid Reviews

The Waterfalls Estate experience has a total of 66 reviews. There are 65 valid reviews that are included when calculating the ranking score and 1 invalid review 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 65 valid reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 25
38%
9/10 21
32%
8/10 13
20%
7/10 3
5%
6/10 2
3%
5/10 0
0%
4/10 1
2%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

89.23% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Waterfalls Estate valid reviews is 89.23% and is based on 65 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

12 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 65 valid reviews, the experience has 12 face-to-face reviews collected during interviews by our team.

Below is the distribution of ratings for the 12 face-to-face reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 3
25%
9/10 5
42%
8/10 2
17%
7/10 1
8%
6/10 1
8%
5/10 0
0%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

86.67% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Waterfalls Estate face-to-face reviews is 86.67% and is based on 12 face-to-face reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here for comparison purposes.

Weighted Average

93.02%

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
BR 9/10 375 days 100%
JMB 10/10 802 days 69%
Sander & Eva 10/10 802 days 69%
DJ 10/10 833 days 66%
Adam 10/10 833 days 66%
Clément 10/10 925 days 56%
Sharon Butterworth 8/10 986 days 48%
Walt Drechsler 8/10 1016 days 45%
Joel Ross 9/10 1047 days 43%
Genevieve 10/10 1047 days 43%
James C 10/10 1075 days 40%
Coline 10/10 1075 days 40%
Dee & Colin 4/10 1106 days 24%
Matthew 10/10 1137 days 35%
Belen Ramirez 10/10 1655 days 7%
Melanie 9/10 1685 days 6%
Tayler 9/10 1777 days 5%
Marcela 9/10 1805 days 5%
Schubi 9/10 1836 days 5%
Billie Ratu 9/10 2020 days 4%
N&J Moseling 10/10 2142 days 4%
Layna 8/10 2202 days 4%
Tarek 10/10 2233 days 4%
DT 6/10 2233 days 3%
N&A 10/10 2233 days 4%
Franziska 10/10 2263 days 4%
Debbie 10/10 2294 days 4%
Phil 8/10 2324 days 4%
Jenny 9/10 2416 days 4%
Josie 9/10 2447 days 3%
Matt 9/10 2508 days 3%
JT 9/10 2508 days 3%
Margie 9/10 2536 days 3%
TP&MM 8/10 2536 days 3%
Libby 9/10 2567 days 3%
Nancy 7/10 2842 days 2%
Doreen Kersandt 10/10 2893 days 3%
Amy Lord 10/10 2908 days 2%
Phil and Mel Rowson 8/10 2990 days 2%
Sandra Wilson-Ryke 10/10 3006 days 2%
David Hutchison 9/10 3107 days 2%
Jason Stalgis 8/10 3259 days 2%
Glenn Johannsen 10/10 3295 days 2%
Sachiko 8/10 3432 days 1%
Carletta 10/10 3547 days 1%
Julia Summa 8/10 3669 days 1%
Christine Slowiak 9/10 3846 days 0%
Grace Fleck 7/10 3904 days 0%
Bridget M 10/10 3962 days 0%
Wilma Senior 9/10 4027 days 0%
Tobias Herrmann 10/10 4034 days 0%
Steve Power 8/10 4052 days 0%
Manuela 9/10 4055 days 0%
Fabian and Teresa 9/10 4720 days 0%
Krataihai 10/10 4819 days 0%
KDS_Holiday 8/10 4850 days 0%
Mr and Mrs White 6/10 5046 days 0%
Frank Claassen 8/10 5060 days 0%
Anglea de Smit 9/10 5075 days 0%
Preben vil Helmsen 10/10 5076 days 0%
Hans Bos 9/10 5156 days 0%
Paul 8/10 5162 days 0%
Andreas & Sonja 10/10 5171 days 0%
steveE 9/10 5734 days 0%
Martÿn Steenvoorden 7/10 5815 days 0%

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 Waterfalls Estate 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 44 days. However the Waterfalls Estate 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 Waterfalls Estate 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

1.15% 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

90%

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.