Ranking Score Explained

Kia ora, 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 Harbour Nature Cruises.

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 Harbour Nature Cruises

Valid Reviews

58 Valid Reviews

The Akaroa Harbour Nature Cruises experience has a total of 58 valid reviews. There are no invalid reviews 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 58 valid reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 14
24%
9/10 19
33%
8/10 14
24%
7/10 6
10%
6/10 0
0%
5/10 2
3%
4/10 1
2%
3/10 1
2%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 1
2%

83.28% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Akaroa Harbour Nature Cruises valid reviews is 83.28% and is based on 58 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

48 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 58 valid reviews, the experience has 48 face-to-face reviews collected during interviews by our team.

Below is the distribution of ratings for the 48 face-to-face reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 8
17%
9/10 17
35%
8/10 14
29%
7/10 6
13%
6/10 0
0%
5/10 1
2%
4/10 1
2%
3/10 1
2%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

83.13% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Akaroa Harbour Nature Cruises face-to-face reviews is 83.13% and is based on 48 face-to-face reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here for comparison purposes.

Weighted Average

91.18%

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
Sabrina Saunders 10/10 1106 days 100%
Stefano Clerici 10/10 2417 days 11%
Sue Milne 10/10 2908 days 8%
Fran and Ben 10/10 2919 days 8%
Patricia 8/10 3245 days 6%
Ceri Eaton 9/10 3274 days 6%
Thomas Zilio 4/10 4017 days 1%
JoMary Smith 9/10 4059 days 2%
Marco Schmidt 10/10 4344 days 0%
Christian Schumacher 10/10 4344 days 0%
Karin Genyn 10/10 4441 days 3%
N Zitscher 5/10 4458 days 2%
Peter Harden 9/10 4460 days 3%
Jenny McTigue 8/10 4740 days 3%
Mike & Jennie 8/10 4741 days 3%
Stefes Wencke 10/10 4743 days 3%
Johan Kroese 9/10 4770 days 3%
Herbert 8/10 4772 days 3%
Michael 9/10 5079 days 3%
Richard Dudfield 10/10 5082 days 3%
Louise van der Hyden 9/10 5094 days 3%
elmoandjoey 10/10 5186 days 3%
Tim 10/10 5216 days 3%
Conny 9/10 5395 days 3%
Victoria Slater 7/10 5435 days 2%
Risch & Seybold 9/10 5443 days 3%
Schumacher 9/10 5448 days 3%
Greg Kennedy 9/10 5508 days 3%
csziegler 10/10 5535 days 3%
stephenb 8/10 5545 days 3%
carsteng 7/10 5545 days 2%
Kathrin Thomas 9/10 5563 days 3%
james masura 10/10 5581 days 3%
Steve Drake 1/10 5642 days 1%
Andrea 7/10 5715 days 2%
stephen 9/10 5796 days 3%
NatasjaV 8/10 5813 days 3%
JimmyK 8/10 5813 days 3%
JohannaB 7/10 5814 days 2%
Peter Bowen-Simpkins 9/10 5815 days 3%
eatc 9/10 5826 days 3%
Daniel 3/10 5831 days 1%
schenk 8/10 5845 days 3%
groenewold 8/10 5859 days 3%
Karen 8/10 5866 days 3%
Ducolq 7/10 5867 days 2%
Rebekka 5/10 5867 days 2%
Mary Hamilton 10/10 5959 days 3%
Esther 8/10 6001 days 3%
Jim Summers 8/10 6043 days 3%
Stewart 8/10 6178 days 3%
angela 9/10 6178 days 3%
Bauer 7/10 6193 days 2%
Kenneth and Mette 8/10 6195 days 3%
Knol 9/10 6196 days 3%
Dorris Schwarz 9/10 6241 days 3%
Eleanor Adams 9/10 6287 days 3%
Fred 9/10 6525 days 3%

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 Harbour Nature Cruises experience has plenty of reviews and does not meet the criteria for any adjustment.

Recent Reviews Adjustment

-4.15% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 51 days. However the Akaroa Harbour Nature Cruises 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 Harbour Nature Cruises experience has been adjusted for 200 days. Adjustments are according to the following table.

Days Adjustment
197 -4.09%
198 -4.11%
199 -4.13%
200 -4.15%
201 -4.18%
202 -4.20%
203 -4.22%

Balancing Adjustment

1.45% 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.