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 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

87.58%

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 3191 days 100%
Thomas Klinting 10/10 3245 days 94%
Franz Mesey 9/10 3260 days 91%
Judit Van lanen 10/10 3278 days 90%
Jack Robinson 8/10 3316 days 84%
Mikulas and Dominika 8/10 3338 days 82%
Elizabeth Braidotti 10/10 3388 days 78%
Craig Forsyth 10/10 3505 days 66%
Lea Behnem 10/10 3578 days 58%
Nicolas Justin 7/10 3922 days 16%
Stephanie Piou 8/10 3922 days 19%
Alex 9/10 3950 days 16%
Devan Sheppard 10/10 4019 days 9%
Nina Coopmans 7/10 4631 days 22%
Katherine 10/10 4655 days 26%
Lieven De Vlaminck 9/10 4661 days 25%
Andy 10/10 4752 days 26%
Ron 9/10 4756 days 25%
Bart Slingerland 9/10 5011 days 25%
Birds Tubbs 10/10 5012 days 26%
Malena 10/10 5027 days 26%
Schael 10/10 5031 days 26%
Ryan Pynappels 9/10 5038 days 25%
Tobias Forst 8/10 5119 days 24%
Sarah and Soren 9/10 5124 days 25%
Alberto Redner 10/10 5134 days 26%
Dozza 10/10 5179 days 26%
Sarah James 10/10 5361 days 26%
Nick Taylor 10/10 5361 days 26%
Laurent P 10/10 5365 days 26%
Paap 8/10 5398 days 24%
Wouter Jansen 8/10 5398 days 24%
Luise Jaeger 3/10 5411 days 0%
Steff 9/10 5413 days 25%
wannaraft 10/10 5421 days 26%
elpo 6/10 5666 days 18%
kempt 8/10 5697 days 24%
Andy 8/10 5748 days 24%
Sam Bishop 10/10 5758 days 26%
Kay Beaumont 10/10 5760 days 26%
Johan 10/10 5768 days 26%
Jakob Pedersen 7/10 5768 days 22%
Jens van Evp 9/10 5782 days 25%
Max Van der Zalm 8/10 5782 days 24%
Carolina Gonzalez 8/10 5784 days 24%
Kasper 9/10 5784 days 25%
Chance McGuire 10/10 5786 days 26%
katesc 9/10 5837 days 25%
rosalindm 9/10 5842 days 25%
jennyb 9/10 5846 days 25%
Thomas Willi 10/10 5858 days 26%
Jess Pasos 10/10 5867 days 26%
Nikki Turner 8/10 6013 days 24%
Sejna 8/10 6034 days 24%
michellew 10/10 6040 days 26%
erikholland 8/10 6093 days 24%
mariea 9/10 6104 days 25%
Krapels 9/10 6116 days 25%
Halley 5/10 6123 days 12%
Katie 10/10 6140 days 26%
Ian S 8/10 6141 days 24%
Debbie 7/10 6143 days 22%
Daniel 8/10 6151 days 24%
Kristy825 10/10 6155 days 26%
Limor 6/10 6163 days 18%
Prentner 6/10 6173 days 18%
Sonja 9/10 6197 days 25%
Bronagh Mcartan 9/10 6341 days 25%
Tim 10/10 6365 days 26%
Brent Scanlan 10/10 6434 days 26%
Meike Biel 10/10 6442 days 26%
Hendrik 6/10 6484 days 18%
Sabrina 8/10 6484 days 24%
Peter Aston 5/10 6484 days 12%
helga 9/10 6486 days 25%
Janne 8/10 6495 days 24%
Melissa Steedman 9/10 6531 days 25%
gemma1 6/10 6536 days 18%
Francesco 8/10 6566 days 24%
Jim&Rachel 9/10 6649 days 25%
MarkReid 10/10 6782 days 26%
HalRoberts 8/10 6804 days 24%
David 9/10 6813 days 25%
Justin 8/10 6813 days 24%
Alex 8/10 6820 days 24%
Hilary 7/10 6829 days 22%
Roran 7/10 6839 days 22%
Nina 10/10 6864 days 26%
Inga 9/10 6864 days 25%
Italy 8/10 6864 days 24%
Nina 8/10 6864 days 24%
Helen 7/10 6864 days 22%
JuanPablo 7/10 6881 days 22%

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

-4.07% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 42 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 -4.01%
198 -4.03%
199 -4.05%
200 -4.07%
201 -4.09%
202 -4.11%
203 -4.13%

Balancing Adjustment

2.13% 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

86%

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.