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 River Valley Rafting.

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

River Valley Rafting

Valid Reviews

48 Valid Reviews

The River Valley Rafting experience has a total of 49 reviews. There are 48 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 48 valid reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 21
44%
9/10 14
29%
8/10 9
19%
7/10 2
4%
6/10 2
4%
5/10 0
0%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

90.42% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the River Valley Rafting valid reviews is 90.42% and is based on 48 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

42 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 48 valid reviews, the experience has 42 face-to-face reviews collected during interviews by our team.

Below is the distribution of ratings for the 42 face-to-face reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 15
36%
9/10 14
33%
8/10 9
21%
7/10 2
5%
6/10 2
5%
5/10 0
0%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

89.05% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the River Valley Rafting face-to-face reviews is 89.05% and is based on 42 face-to-face reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here for comparison purposes.

Weighted Average

91.50%

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
R R 10/10 2708 days 100%
Juliane Mueller 10/10 3232 days 59%
Dave Lamb 9/10 3273 days 55%
Chris Simpson 10/10 3308 days 53%
Josefin Lind 8/10 3968 days 0%
Herman Holmgist 10/10 3968 days 1%
Kate Morgan 10/10 5073 days 8%
Theta 10/10 5450 days 8%
Michael 10/10 5460 days 8%
Canuck85 10/10 5784 days 8%
danam 10/10 5785 days 8%
PBouwmessten 9/10 5804 days 8%
boz 10/10 5816 days 8%
Tom 9/10 5817 days 8%
Tom 8/10 5817 days 8%
Karen 9/10 5846 days 8%
Sophie 8/10 5856 days 8%
Richard Rodd 10/10 5862 days 8%
tarahenrys 10/10 5905 days 8%
David 9/10 6003 days 8%
Terri Scott 10/10 6019 days 8%
Mike Dudey 6/10 6065 days 3%
Nick 9/10 6170 days 8%
Robert 10/10 6176 days 8%
Elise 10/10 6176 days 8%
Fung 10/10 6176 days 8%
Shannon 7/10 6176 days 6%
Hannah Holmes 7/10 6184 days 6%
Sue 9/10 6188 days 8%
Gina 6/10 6193 days 3%
Issy 9/10 6193 days 8%
Chris 8/10 6209 days 8%
Stacey 8/10 6209 days 8%
Christina 10/10 6454 days 8%
Tomomi 8/10 6512 days 8%
Dave 9/10 6514 days 8%
Uri 10/10 6514 days 8%
James 9/10 6514 days 8%
Valerie 9/10 6521 days 8%
Karen Nellist 8/10 6539 days 8%
GillianW 8/10 6540 days 8%
Camilla 9/10 6560 days 8%
Twan 8/10 6560 days 8%
PaulineTurner 10/10 6561 days 8%
RosalindBoyes 9/10 6561 days 8%
Paul 10/10 6562 days 8%
Stauros 9/10 6562 days 8%
ranker_410 10/10 6573 days 8%

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 River Valley Rafting 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 River Valley Rafting 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 River Valley Rafting 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

1.40% 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

89%

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.