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 Doubtful Sound Overnight 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

Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruises

Valid Reviews

89 Valid Reviews

The Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruises experience has a total of 89 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 89 valid reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 55
62%
9/10 25
28%
8/10 8
9%
7/10 0
0%
6/10 1
1%
5/10 0
0%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

94.94% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruises valid reviews is 94.94% and is based on 89 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

74 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 89 valid reviews, the experience has 74 face-to-face reviews collected during interviews by our team.

Below is the distribution of ratings for the 74 face-to-face reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 44
59%
9/10 22
30%
8/10 8
11%
7/10 0
0%
6/10 0
0%
5/10 0
0%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

94.86% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruises face-to-face reviews is 94.86% and is based on 74 face-to-face reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here for comparison purposes.

Weighted Average

95.26%

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
Jonny Horn 9/10 2937 days 100%
Hazel Norman 10/10 2952 days 100%
James Jackson 10/10 2953 days 100%
Bartlomiej Berger 9/10 3648 days 48%
Ann Wilson 8/10 3904 days 29%
Anne and Steve Bartlett 9/10 3969 days 24%
Abby Rescr 9/10 4283 days 1%
Frederick Dean 8/10 4283 days 1%
Joey Mertzig 10/10 4300 days 0%
Rien 9/10 4640 days 32%
Clausen 9/10 4641 days 32%
kiwifrenchy 10/10 4648 days 32%
Sam 10/10 4652 days 32%
Pete & Pat Etheridge 10/10 4657 days 32%
Mike & Jennie 9/10 4659 days 32%
Stefes Wencke 10/10 4661 days 32%
Uwe Henze 10/10 4662 days 32%
Manuela Weber 10/10 4662 days 32%
Thyg Lingdal 10/10 4676 days 32%
caro 10/10 4708 days 32%
Dean 9/10 4723 days 32%
Anna Bret 8/10 4748 days 31%
Jaime Castells 9/10 4748 days 32%
Gary Koehler 10/10 5005 days 32%
jlgavin 6/10 5014 days 27%
Verheyen 10/10 5018 days 32%
Chris Darlington 10/10 5022 days 32%
Dieter Uhlmann 9/10 5025 days 32%
Angi Otti 10/10 5033 days 32%
Jackie Morris 10/10 5033 days 32%
Samuel Prechel 10/10 5034 days 32%
David Glover 10/10 5036 days 32%
Claus Olsen 10/10 5037 days 32%
H Schepers 9/10 5038 days 32%
georgiarose89 10/10 5073 days 32%
chrissie2011 10/10 5073 days 32%
Chris 10/10 5292 days 32%
Sabine 10/10 5292 days 32%
Kevin & Chris 9/10 5312 days 32%
davidm239 9/10 5318 days 32%
Margie 10/10 5357 days 32%
Agnes 8/10 5358 days 31%
Graeme + Jane Ryan 10/10 5369 days 32%
Westermann 10/10 5370 days 32%
Peter Brown 10/10 5375 days 32%
johnandgin 10/10 5379 days 32%
Angela 10/10 5380 days 32%
T. Timmers 9/10 5393 days 32%
Loleit 10/10 5400 days 32%
David Valentine 10/10 5401 days 32%
Annette Schmitt 9/10 5401 days 32%
Jeremy & Sarah Rind 10/10 5406 days 32%
Jessica 9/10 5412 days 32%
ChristinaO 10/10 5438 days 32%
Simon Jones 9/10 5438 days 32%
Jerry 10/10 5469 days 32%
HairyHaggis 9/10 5499 days 32%
Suzanne 10/10 5530 days 32%
Traveller Girl 10/10 5683 days 32%
Switz 10/10 5697 days 32%
DanielGermany 10/10 5705 days 32%
CornelissenS 9/10 5730 days 32%
Inger 10/10 5731 days 32%
Robert 9/10 5744 days 32%
Theresa 9/10 5750 days 32%
Sue 9/10 5753 days 32%
Inger Skov 10/10 5756 days 32%
Ruben 8/10 5787 days 31%
Claire 10/10 5799 days 32%
C Digby 9/10 5803 days 32%
Adam 10/10 5844 days 32%
Stephanie Schikora 10/10 5856 days 32%
Sue Stewart 10/10 5964 days 32%
James Gibbs 8/10 6055 days 31%
Helen 9/10 6063 days 32%
Menashe 10/10 6083 days 32%
George Jeffs 10/10 6092 days 32%
Paul Weston 9/10 6106 days 32%
Marian Mckinney 10/10 6106 days 32%
Charles Price 8/10 6117 days 31%
Vicky Elliott 10/10 6124 days 32%
Anne Mainwaring 10/10 6132 days 32%
Kilsby 10/10 6141 days 32%
Dupre 8/10 6182 days 31%
dieter 10/10 6201 days 32%
Rene Schotvanger 10/10 6315 days 32%
Pat Brewster 10/10 6315 days 32%
Paul Yacoumis 10/10 6441 days 32%
Sandra 10/10 6450 days 32%

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 Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruises experience has plenty of reviews and does not meet the criteria for any adjustment.

Recent Reviews Adjustment

-4.05% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 43 days. However the Doubtful Sound Overnight 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 Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruises experience has been adjusted for 200 days. Adjustments are according to the following table.

Days Adjustment
197 -3.99%
198 -4.01%
199 -4.03%
200 -4.05%
201 -4.07%
202 -4.09%
203 -4.11%

Balancing Adjustment

0.84% 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

92%

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.