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

87.36%

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 3388 days 100%
Thomas Klinting 10/10 3442 days 93%
Franz Mesey 9/10 3457 days 91%
Judit Van lanen 10/10 3475 days 89%
Jack Robinson 8/10 3513 days 83%
Mikulas and Dominika 8/10 3535 days 80%
Elizabeth Braidotti 10/10 3585 days 76%
Craig Forsyth 10/10 3702 days 62%
Lea Behnem 10/10 3775 days 53%
Nicolas Justin 7/10 4119 days 10%
Stephanie Piou 8/10 4119 days 11%
Alex 9/10 4147 days 8%
Devan Sheppard 10/10 4216 days 0%
Nina Coopmans 7/10 4828 days 38%
Katherine 10/10 4852 days 42%
Lieven De Vlaminck 9/10 4858 days 41%
Andy 10/10 4949 days 42%
Ron 9/10 4953 days 41%
Bart Slingerland 9/10 5208 days 41%
Birds Tubbs 10/10 5209 days 42%
Malena 10/10 5224 days 42%
Schael 10/10 5228 days 42%
Ryan Pynappels 9/10 5235 days 41%
Tobias Forst 8/10 5316 days 41%
Sarah and Soren 9/10 5321 days 41%
Alberto Redner 10/10 5331 days 42%
Dozza 10/10 5376 days 42%
Sarah James 10/10 5558 days 42%
Nick Taylor 10/10 5558 days 42%
Laurent P 10/10 5562 days 42%
Paap 8/10 5595 days 41%
Wouter Jansen 8/10 5595 days 41%
Luise Jaeger 3/10 5608 days 14%
Steff 9/10 5610 days 41%
wannaraft 10/10 5618 days 42%
elpo 6/10 5863 days 33%
kempt 8/10 5894 days 41%
Andy 8/10 5945 days 41%
Sam Bishop 10/10 5955 days 42%
Kay Beaumont 10/10 5957 days 42%
Johan 10/10 5965 days 42%
Jakob Pedersen 7/10 5965 days 38%
Jens van Evp 9/10 5979 days 41%
Max Van der Zalm 8/10 5979 days 41%
Carolina Gonzalez 8/10 5981 days 41%
Kasper 9/10 5981 days 41%
Chance McGuire 10/10 5983 days 42%
katesc 9/10 6034 days 41%
rosalindm 9/10 6039 days 41%
jennyb 9/10 6043 days 41%
Thomas Willi 10/10 6055 days 42%
Jess Pasos 10/10 6064 days 42%
Nikki Turner 8/10 6210 days 41%
Sejna 8/10 6231 days 41%
michellew 10/10 6237 days 42%
erikholland 8/10 6290 days 41%
mariea 9/10 6301 days 41%
Krapels 9/10 6313 days 41%
Halley 5/10 6320 days 27%
Katie 10/10 6338 days 42%
Ian S 8/10 6339 days 41%
Debbie 7/10 6340 days 38%
Daniel 8/10 6348 days 41%
Kristy825 10/10 6352 days 42%
Limor 6/10 6361 days 33%
Prentner 6/10 6370 days 33%
Sonja 9/10 6394 days 41%
Bronagh Mcartan 9/10 6538 days 41%
Tim 10/10 6562 days 42%
Brent Scanlan 10/10 6631 days 42%
Meike Biel 10/10 6639 days 42%
Hendrik 6/10 6681 days 33%
Sabrina 8/10 6681 days 41%
Peter Aston 5/10 6681 days 27%
helga 9/10 6683 days 41%
Janne 8/10 6693 days 41%
Melissa Steedman 9/10 6728 days 41%
gemma1 6/10 6733 days 33%
Francesco 8/10 6763 days 41%
Jim&Rachel 9/10 6846 days 41%
MarkReid 10/10 6979 days 42%
HalRoberts 8/10 7001 days 41%
David 9/10 7010 days 41%
Justin 8/10 7010 days 41%
Alex 8/10 7017 days 41%
Hilary 7/10 7026 days 38%
Roran 7/10 7036 days 38%
Nina 10/10 7061 days 42%
Inga 9/10 7061 days 41%
Italy 8/10 7061 days 41%
Nina 8/10 7061 days 41%
Helen 7/10 7061 days 38%
JuanPablo 7/10 7078 days 38%

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

-2.15% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 118 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 -2.12%
198 -2.13%
199 -2.14%
200 -2.15%
201 -2.16%
202 -2.17%
203 -2.18%

Balancing Adjustment

1.78% 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.