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 Southern Discoveries / Milford Sound Red Boats.

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.

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Cymen Crick

Rankers Owner

Southern Discoveries / Milford Sound Red Boats

Valid Reviews

74 Valid Reviews

The Southern Discoveries / Milford Sound Red Boats experience has a total of 74 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 74 valid reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 21
28%
9/10 28
38%
8/10 10
14%
7/10 14
19%
6/10 0
0%
5/10 0
0%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 1
1%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

86.89% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Southern Discoveries / Milford Sound Red Boats valid reviews is 86.89% and is based on 74 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

69 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 74 valid reviews, the experience has 69 face-to-face reviews collected during interviews by our team.

Below is the distribution of ratings for the 69 face-to-face reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 17
25%
9/10 27
39%
8/10 10
14%
7/10 14
20%
6/10 0
0%
5/10 0
0%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 1
1%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

86.09% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Southern Discoveries / Milford Sound Red Boats face-to-face reviews is 86.09% and is based on 69 face-to-face reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here for comparison purposes.

Weighted Average

87.57%

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
C Clarke 7/10 3359 days 95%
Alice Ormandy 9/10 3381 days 100%
Manu Liberta 10/10 3426 days 95%
Bram Hoonhout 8/10 3432 days 92%
Sarah 10/10 3453 days 92%
Robertoi 9/10 3471 days 89%
Charly 9/10 3676 days 62%
Liam King 9/10 3688 days 61%
Clare Holden 10/10 3696 days 61%
Oliver Schatz 10/10 3723 days 57%
Nick Young 10/10 3728 days 57%
Lisa 8/10 3742 days 53%
Josephine 7/10 3758 days 47%
Markus Delinsky 8/10 4095 days 9%
Hubert 10/10 4167 days 0%
Anja Weppler 7/10 4401 days 34%
Sandra Frischmann 9/10 4431 days 38%
Simon Galpin 9/10 4432 days 38%
Kletter 9/10 4791 days 38%
Jeanne Moustier 9/10 4840 days 38%
Michael Kretzschmar 10/10 4875 days 38%
Lydia Holleman 9/10 4880 days 38%
John 9/10 4882 days 38%
Jon Barratt 9/10 4895 days 38%
Kali Lohman 8/10 4905 days 37%
Stuart Arrol 9/10 5129 days 38%
melemele 9/10 5133 days 38%
Simon Rawlinson 9/10 5145 days 38%
Jill Homewood 10/10 5157 days 38%
Signe Kaspersen 7/10 5158 days 34%
Robert Steendijk 7/10 5159 days 34%
Jaap & Susanne 7/10 5173 days 34%
Aridne Giraud 8/10 5176 days 37%
Nora 9/10 5177 days 38%
Andy Bridgman 7/10 5178 days 34%
Nikki Bentley 9/10 5179 days 38%
Filsack 8/10 5185 days 37%
Herbert 7/10 5206 days 34%
Stephane Lebel 10/10 5503 days 38%
Florian 9/10 5520 days 38%
Antoine Van Hoovled 9/10 5520 days 38%
K Dahmer 10/10 5523 days 38%
Julia 9/10 5528 days 38%
WeddingMaven 10/10 5530 days 38%
Kasia Robshaw 9/10 5534 days 38%
Roger Lows 9/10 5549 days 38%
Jochen 7/10 5556 days 34%
VisualDelight 10/10 5742 days 38%
John Cox 9/10 5901 days 38%
Susi Schoetzler 10/10 5943 days 38%
Simon Bartholomew 10/10 5997 days 38%
Raewyn 10/10 6226 days 38%
Ger 9/10 6227 days 38%
jjakkeren 7/10 6229 days 34%
PaulC 9/10 6235 days 38%
Dave Ashun 9/10 6236 days 38%
ChristinaV 8/10 6238 days 37%
JanW 3/10 6241 days 8%
KatrinS 8/10 6241 days 37%
Christian Moll 7/10 6245 days 34%
Peter 8/10 6245 days 37%
Charles 8/10 6261 days 37%
JennyD1 7/10 6335 days 34%
bobmcg 10/10 6342 days 38%
Stephanie Schikora 10/10 6372 days 38%
Paul 7/10 6406 days 34%
Suyin 10/10 6427 days 38%
Tom Ben 10/10 6600 days 38%
Anja Kunert 9/10 6626 days 38%
Zurcher Marco 10/10 6656 days 38%
Sandra Gustafson 7/10 6671 days 34%
Julie 9/10 6915 days 38%
Chatin Perrier 10/10 6966 days 38%
Pete 9/10 6983 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 Southern Discoveries / Milford Sound Red Boats experience has plenty of reviews and does not meet the criteria for any adjustment.

Recent Reviews Adjustment

-3.34% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 70 days. However the Southern Discoveries / Milford Sound Red Boats 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 Southern Discoveries / Milford Sound Red Boats experience has been adjusted for 200 days. Adjustments are according to the following table.

Days Adjustment
197 -3.29%
198 -3.30%
199 -3.32%
200 -3.34%
201 -3.35%
202 -3.37%
203 -3.39%

Balancing Adjustment

1.98% 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.