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 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

95.32%

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 3008 days 100%
Hazel Norman 10/10 3023 days 100%
James Jackson 10/10 3024 days 100%
Bartlomiej Berger 9/10 3719 days 48%
Ann Wilson 8/10 3975 days 29%
Anne and Steve Bartlett 9/10 4040 days 24%
Abby Rescr 9/10 4354 days 1%
Frederick Dean 8/10 4354 days 1%
Joey Mertzig 10/10 4371 days 0%
Rien 9/10 4711 days 37%
Clausen 9/10 4712 days 37%
kiwifrenchy 10/10 4719 days 37%
Sam 10/10 4723 days 37%
Pete & Pat Etheridge 10/10 4728 days 37%
Mike & Jennie 9/10 4730 days 37%
Stefes Wencke 10/10 4732 days 37%
Uwe Henze 10/10 4733 days 37%
Manuela Weber 10/10 4733 days 37%
Thyg Lingdal 10/10 4747 days 37%
caro 10/10 4779 days 37%
Dean 9/10 4794 days 37%
Anna Bret 8/10 4819 days 36%
Jaime Castells 9/10 4819 days 37%
Gary Koehler 10/10 5076 days 37%
jlgavin 6/10 5085 days 32%
Verheyen 10/10 5089 days 37%
Chris Darlington 10/10 5093 days 37%
Dieter Uhlmann 9/10 5096 days 37%
Angi Otti 10/10 5104 days 37%
Jackie Morris 10/10 5104 days 37%
Samuel Prechel 10/10 5105 days 37%
David Glover 10/10 5107 days 37%
Claus Olsen 10/10 5108 days 37%
H Schepers 9/10 5109 days 37%
georgiarose89 10/10 5144 days 37%
chrissie2011 10/10 5144 days 37%
Chris 10/10 5363 days 37%
Sabine 10/10 5363 days 37%
Kevin & Chris 9/10 5383 days 37%
davidm239 9/10 5389 days 37%
Margie 10/10 5428 days 37%
Agnes 8/10 5429 days 36%
Graeme + Jane Ryan 10/10 5440 days 37%
Westermann 10/10 5441 days 37%
Peter Brown 10/10 5446 days 37%
johnandgin 10/10 5450 days 37%
Angela 10/10 5451 days 37%
T. Timmers 9/10 5464 days 37%
Loleit 10/10 5471 days 37%
David Valentine 10/10 5472 days 37%
Annette Schmitt 9/10 5472 days 37%
Jeremy & Sarah Rind 10/10 5477 days 37%
Jessica 9/10 5483 days 37%
ChristinaO 10/10 5509 days 37%
Simon Jones 9/10 5509 days 37%
Jerry 10/10 5540 days 37%
HairyHaggis 9/10 5570 days 37%
Suzanne 10/10 5601 days 37%
Traveller Girl 10/10 5754 days 37%
Switz 10/10 5768 days 37%
DanielGermany 10/10 5776 days 37%
CornelissenS 9/10 5801 days 37%
Inger 10/10 5801 days 37%
Robert 9/10 5814 days 37%
Theresa 9/10 5820 days 37%
Sue 9/10 5823 days 37%
Inger Skov 10/10 5827 days 37%
Ruben 8/10 5857 days 36%
Claire 10/10 5869 days 37%
C Digby 9/10 5874 days 37%
Adam 10/10 5914 days 37%
Stephanie Schikora 10/10 5927 days 37%
Sue Stewart 10/10 6034 days 37%
James Gibbs 8/10 6126 days 36%
Helen 9/10 6134 days 37%
Menashe 10/10 6154 days 37%
George Jeffs 10/10 6163 days 37%
Paul Weston 9/10 6177 days 37%
Marian Mckinney 10/10 6177 days 37%
Charles Price 8/10 6188 days 36%
Vicky Elliott 10/10 6195 days 37%
Anne Mainwaring 10/10 6203 days 37%
Kilsby 10/10 6212 days 37%
Dupre 8/10 6253 days 36%
dieter 10/10 6271 days 37%
Rene Schotvanger 10/10 6386 days 37%
Pat Brewster 10/10 6386 days 37%
Paul Yacoumis 10/10 6512 days 37%
Sandra 10/10 6521 days 37%

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

-4.14% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 49 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 -4.08%
198 -4.10%
199 -4.12%
200 -4.14%
201 -4.16%
202 -4.18%
203 -4.20%

Balancing Adjustment

0.85% 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.