Hi, 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

87.39%

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 3368 days 100%
Thomas Klinting 10/10 3422 days 93%
Franz Mesey 9/10 3437 days 91%
Judit Van lanen 10/10 3455 days 89%
Jack Robinson 8/10 3493 days 83%
Mikulas and Dominika 8/10 3515 days 80%
Elizabeth Braidotti 10/10 3565 days 76%
Craig Forsyth 10/10 3682 days 62%
Lea Behnem 10/10 3755 days 53%
Nicolas Justin 7/10 4099 days 9%
Stephanie Piou 8/10 4099 days 11%
Alex 9/10 4127 days 8%
Devan Sheppard 10/10 4196 days 0%
Nina Coopmans 7/10 4808 days 35%
Katherine 10/10 4832 days 39%
Lieven De Vlaminck 9/10 4838 days 39%
Andy 10/10 4929 days 39%
Ron 9/10 4933 days 39%
Bart Slingerland 9/10 5188 days 39%
Birds Tubbs 10/10 5189 days 39%
Malena 10/10 5204 days 39%
Schael 10/10 5208 days 39%
Ryan Pynappels 9/10 5215 days 39%
Tobias Forst 8/10 5296 days 38%
Sarah and Soren 9/10 5301 days 39%
Alberto Redner 10/10 5311 days 39%
Dozza 10/10 5356 days 39%
Sarah James 10/10 5538 days 39%
Nick Taylor 10/10 5538 days 39%
Laurent P 10/10 5542 days 39%
Paap 8/10 5575 days 38%
Wouter Jansen 8/10 5575 days 38%
Luise Jaeger 3/10 5588 days 11%
Steff 9/10 5590 days 39%
wannaraft 10/10 5598 days 39%
elpo 6/10 5843 days 31%
kempt 8/10 5874 days 38%
Andy 8/10 5925 days 38%
Sam Bishop 10/10 5935 days 39%
Kay Beaumont 10/10 5937 days 39%
Johan 10/10 5945 days 39%
Jakob Pedersen 7/10 5945 days 35%
Jens van Evp 9/10 5959 days 39%
Max Van der Zalm 8/10 5959 days 38%
Carolina Gonzalez 8/10 5961 days 38%
Kasper 9/10 5961 days 39%
Chance McGuire 10/10 5963 days 39%
katesc 9/10 6014 days 39%
rosalindm 9/10 6019 days 39%
jennyb 9/10 6023 days 39%
Thomas Willi 10/10 6035 days 39%
Jess Pasos 10/10 6044 days 39%
Nikki Turner 8/10 6190 days 38%
Sejna 8/10 6211 days 38%
michellew 10/10 6217 days 39%
erikholland 8/10 6270 days 38%
mariea 9/10 6281 days 39%
Krapels 9/10 6293 days 39%
Halley 5/10 6300 days 25%
Katie 10/10 6318 days 39%
Ian S 8/10 6319 days 38%
Debbie 7/10 6320 days 35%
Daniel 8/10 6328 days 38%
Kristy825 10/10 6332 days 39%
Limor 6/10 6340 days 31%
Prentner 6/10 6350 days 31%
Sonja 9/10 6374 days 39%
Bronagh Mcartan 9/10 6518 days 39%
Tim 10/10 6542 days 39%
Brent Scanlan 10/10 6611 days 39%
Meike Biel 10/10 6619 days 39%
Hendrik 6/10 6661 days 31%
Sabrina 8/10 6661 days 38%
Peter Aston 5/10 6661 days 25%
helga 9/10 6663 days 39%
Janne 8/10 6673 days 38%
Melissa Steedman 9/10 6708 days 39%
gemma1 6/10 6713 days 31%
Francesco 8/10 6743 days 38%
Jim&Rachel 9/10 6826 days 39%
MarkReid 10/10 6959 days 39%
HalRoberts 8/10 6981 days 38%
David 9/10 6990 days 39%
Justin 8/10 6990 days 38%
Alex 8/10 6997 days 38%
Hilary 7/10 7006 days 35%
Roran 7/10 7016 days 35%
Nina 10/10 7041 days 39%
Inga 9/10 7041 days 39%
Italy 8/10 7041 days 38%
Nina 8/10 7041 days 38%
Helen 7/10 7041 days 35%
JuanPablo 7/10 7058 days 35%

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

-2.47% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 105 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 -2.43%
198 -2.45%
199 -2.46%
200 -2.47%
201 -2.48%
202 -2.50%
203 -2.51%

Balancing Adjustment

1.84% 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.