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 Waitomo Adventures Ltd.

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

Waitomo Adventures Ltd

Valid Reviews

93 Valid Reviews

The Waitomo Adventures Ltd experience has a total of 94 reviews. There are 93 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 93 valid reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 32
34%
9/10 22
24%
8/10 23
25%
7/10 8
9%
6/10 5
5%
5/10 2
2%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 1
1%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

86.13% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Waitomo Adventures Ltd valid reviews is 86.13% and is based on 93 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

77 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 93 valid reviews, the experience has 77 face-to-face reviews collected during interviews by our team.

Below is the distribution of ratings for the 77 face-to-face reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 23
30%
9/10 20
26%
8/10 20
26%
7/10 8
10%
6/10 3
4%
5/10 2
3%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 1
1%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

85.32% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Waitomo Adventures Ltd face-to-face reviews is 85.32% and is based on 77 face-to-face reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here for comparison purposes.

Weighted Average

87.30%

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
Dennis 10/10 3442 days 100%
Thomas Klinting 10/10 3496 days 93%
Franz Mesey 9/10 3511 days 91%
Judit Van lanen 10/10 3529 days 89%
Jack Robinson 8/10 3567 days 83%
Mikulas and Dominika 8/10 3589 days 80%
Elizabeth Braidotti 10/10 3639 days 76%
Craig Forsyth 10/10 3756 days 62%
Lea Behnem 10/10 3829 days 53%
Nicolas Justin 7/10 4173 days 10%
Stephanie Piou 8/10 4173 days 11%
Alex 9/10 4201 days 8%
Devan Sheppard 10/10 4270 days 0%
Nina Coopmans 7/10 4882 days 44%
Katherine 10/10 4906 days 48%
Lieven De Vlaminck 9/10 4912 days 48%
Andy 10/10 5003 days 48%
Ron 9/10 5007 days 48%
Bart Slingerland 9/10 5262 days 48%
Birds Tubbs 10/10 5263 days 48%
Malena 10/10 5278 days 48%
Schael 10/10 5282 days 48%
Ryan Pynappels 9/10 5289 days 48%
Tobias Forst 8/10 5370 days 47%
Sarah and Soren 9/10 5375 days 48%
Alberto Redner 10/10 5385 days 48%
Dozza 10/10 5430 days 48%
Sarah James 10/10 5612 days 48%
Nick Taylor 10/10 5612 days 48%
Laurent P 10/10 5616 days 48%
Paap 8/10 5649 days 47%
Wouter Jansen 8/10 5649 days 47%
Luise Jaeger 3/10 5662 days 20%
Steff 9/10 5664 days 48%
wannaraft 10/10 5672 days 48%
elpo 6/10 5917 days 40%
kempt 8/10 5948 days 47%
Andy 8/10 5999 days 47%
Sam Bishop 10/10 6009 days 48%
Kay Beaumont 10/10 6011 days 48%
Johan 10/10 6019 days 48%
Jakob Pedersen 7/10 6019 days 44%
Jens van Evp 9/10 6033 days 48%
Max Van der Zalm 8/10 6033 days 47%
Carolina Gonzalez 8/10 6035 days 47%
Kasper 9/10 6035 days 48%
Chance McGuire 10/10 6037 days 48%
katesc 9/10 6088 days 48%
rosalindm 9/10 6093 days 48%
jennyb 9/10 6097 days 48%
Thomas Willi 10/10 6109 days 48%
Jess Pasos 10/10 6118 days 48%
Nikki Turner 8/10 6264 days 47%
Sejna 8/10 6285 days 47%
michellew 10/10 6291 days 48%
erikholland 8/10 6344 days 47%
mariea 9/10 6355 days 48%
Krapels 9/10 6367 days 48%
Halley 5/10 6374 days 34%
Katie 10/10 6392 days 48%
Ian S 8/10 6393 days 47%
Debbie 7/10 6394 days 44%
Daniel 8/10 6402 days 47%
Kristy825 10/10 6406 days 48%
Limor 6/10 6414 days 40%
Prentner 6/10 6424 days 40%
Sonja 9/10 6448 days 48%
Bronagh Mcartan 9/10 6592 days 48%
Tim 10/10 6616 days 48%
Brent Scanlan 10/10 6685 days 48%
Meike Biel 10/10 6693 days 48%
Hendrik 6/10 6735 days 40%
Sabrina 8/10 6735 days 47%
Peter Aston 5/10 6735 days 34%
helga 9/10 6737 days 48%
Janne 8/10 6747 days 47%
Melissa Steedman 9/10 6782 days 48%
gemma1 6/10 6787 days 40%
Francesco 8/10 6817 days 47%
Jim&Rachel 9/10 6900 days 48%
MarkReid 10/10 7033 days 48%
HalRoberts 8/10 7055 days 47%
David 9/10 7064 days 48%
Justin 8/10 7064 days 47%
Alex 8/10 7071 days 47%
Hilary 7/10 7080 days 44%
Roran 7/10 7090 days 44%
Nina 10/10 7115 days 48%
Inga 9/10 7115 days 48%
Italy 8/10 7115 days 47%
Nina 8/10 7115 days 47%
Helen 7/10 7115 days 44%
JuanPablo 7/10 7132 days 44%

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 Waitomo Adventures Ltd experience has plenty of reviews and does not meet the criteria for any adjustment.

Recent Reviews Adjustment

-2.26% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 116 days. However the Waitomo Adventures Ltd 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 Waitomo Adventures Ltd experience has been adjusted for 200 days. Adjustments are according to the following table.

Days Adjustment
197 -2.23%
198 -2.24%
199 -2.25%
200 -2.26%
201 -2.27%
202 -2.29%
203 -2.30%

Balancing Adjustment

1.82% 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

87%

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.