Ranking Score Explained

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 Akaroa Dolphins.

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

Akaroa Dolphins

Valid Reviews

79 Valid Reviews

The Akaroa Dolphins experience has a total of 80 reviews. There are 79 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 79 valid reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 32
41%
9/10 26
33%
8/10 15
19%
7/10 3
4%
6/10 3
4%
5/10 0
0%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

90.25% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Akaroa Dolphins valid reviews is 90.25% and is based on 79 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

59 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 79 valid reviews, the experience has 59 face-to-face reviews collected during interviews by our team.

Below is the distribution of ratings for the 59 face-to-face reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 19
32%
9/10 20
34%
8/10 14
24%
7/10 3
5%
6/10 3
5%
5/10 0
0%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

88.31% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Akaroa Dolphins face-to-face reviews is 88.31% and is based on 59 face-to-face reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here for comparison purposes.

Weighted Average

91.00%

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
Lucy C 9/10 1805 days 100%
Christine 9/10 1864 days 98%
Tracey Cron 9/10 1895 days 97%
Inga Hoffmann 10/10 2595 days 70%
Freddrick Weiser 9/10 2932 days 56%
Mike Dw 9/10 3048 days 51%
Nolwen 9/10 3408 days 37%
The Beans 10/10 3416 days 37%
Ross D 10/10 3422 days 36%
Peter Passlack 10/10 3425 days 36%
Chea Hao Wong 10/10 3477 days 34%
Caroline Shaw 10/10 3647 days 27%
Pierre Mathis 10/10 3658 days 27%
Brenda Oomen 10/10 3661 days 27%
Estelle Daniel 10/10 3665 days 27%
Kim-Lara 8/10 3680 days 26%
Tamara 10/10 3694 days 26%
Sandra P 10/10 3721 days 25%
Marie Schmid 10/10 4049 days 11%
Angie Cairns 10/10 4079 days 10%
Jimmy Shaw 10/10 4332 days 0%
Wendy Hawkins 8/10 4753 days 18%
Roger Hawkins 9/10 4753 days 18%
Tanja Schlagermann 10/10 4760 days 19%
Alexander Mukasa 10/10 4760 days 19%
Erik Muchembled 10/10 4762 days 19%
Andrea Lang 8/10 4764 days 18%
Xtian_P 10/10 4848 days 19%
michellephil 10/10 4909 days 19%
nztintin 10/10 5123 days 19%
mandd 10/10 5123 days 19%
Orlando 9/10 5135 days 18%
Uwe Herrdum 9/10 5139 days 18%
Francis Corrigan 9/10 5153 days 18%
John & Vicki 9/10 5230 days 18%
G Tulloch 9/10 5452 days 18%
Edward Marhi 8/10 5455 days 18%
Robin Adair 9/10 5476 days 18%
Sandra Schulz 9/10 5483 days 18%
Derek Puplett 9/10 5493 days 18%
Martin Current 9/10 5504 days 18%
Hartmut Vogt 10/10 5505 days 19%
allesca 9/10 5609 days 18%
Mary Van 8/10 5670 days 18%
penz 9/10 5732 days 18%
victoriauk 8/10 5762 days 18%
Susanne Strassmann 6/10 5860 days 16%
M Sicard 9/10 5864 days 18%
Lasse Olesen 9/10 5875 days 18%
Keith Wilde 8/10 5877 days 18%
Sarah Goeckener 9/10 5954 days 18%
katharina 10/10 5954 days 19%
Katrin Wennin 8/10 5955 days 18%
Thorben Thede 9/10 5956 days 18%
Roma 10/10 5967 days 19%
HairyHaggis 10/10 5974 days 19%
Ronny 6/10 6193 days 16%
ChristinaV 10/10 6197 days 19%
JudithLehr 6/10 6200 days 16%
Steven 10/10 6204 days 19%
StijnH 8/10 6205 days 18%
FramiskaH 8/10 6206 days 18%
StefanGermany1 8/10 6206 days 18%
JaninaF 10/10 6206 days 19%
Tatjane 9/10 6219 days 18%
XaviG 9/10 6222 days 18%
JesusB 7/10 6222 days 17%
Denk 8/10 6250 days 18%
Katie Mitchell 10/10 6339 days 19%
Ben Ackland 8/10 6575 days 18%
Tessa McCormick 8/10 6585 days 18%
John Beirne 10/10 6942 days 19%
ranker_110 7/10 6946 days 17%
Christine 10/10 6951 days 19%
Helle 9/10 6953 days 18%
John 7/10 6953 days 17%
Reggie 10/10 6954 days 19%
Dave 9/10 6965 days 18%
Beate 8/10 6966 days 18%

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 Akaroa Dolphins experience has plenty of reviews and does not meet the criteria for any adjustment.

Recent Reviews Adjustment

-4.03% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 57 days. However the Akaroa Dolphins 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 Akaroa Dolphins experience has been adjusted for 200 days. Adjustments are according to the following table.

Days Adjustment
197 -3.97%
198 -3.99%
199 -4.01%
200 -4.03%
201 -4.05%
202 -4.07%
203 -4.09%

Balancing Adjustment

1.46% 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

88%

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.