Ranking Score Explained

G'day, 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 Swim with the Dolphins.

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

Swim with the Dolphins

Valid Reviews

91 Valid Reviews

The Swim with the Dolphins experience has a total of 93 reviews. There are 91 valid reviews that are included when calculating the ranking score and 2 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 91 valid reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 15
16%
9/10 26
29%
8/10 25
27%
7/10 12
13%
6/10 4
4%
5/10 2
2%
4/10 4
4%
3/10 3
3%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

79.89% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Swim with the Dolphins valid reviews is 79.89% and is based on 91 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

80 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 91 valid reviews, the experience has 80 face-to-face reviews collected during interviews by our team.

Below is the distribution of ratings for the 80 face-to-face reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 12
15%
9/10 25
31%
8/10 24
30%
7/10 10
13%
6/10 3
4%
5/10 1
1%
4/10 4
5%
3/10 1
1%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

81.13% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Swim with the Dolphins face-to-face reviews is 81.13% and is based on 80 face-to-face reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here for comparison purposes.

Weighted Average

80.99%

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
Nadja Guiliani 4/10 3246 days 67%
Ben Blackwell 8/10 3260 days 100%
mathieu boustie 5/10 3357 days 70%
Mattias 7/10 3968 days 34%
Arnaud Memay 7/10 4049 days 27%
Susser 8/10 4049 days 28%
Samuel Fritscher 9/10 4357 days 0%
Fabian and Teresa 10/10 4383 days 45%
Joroen Borkert 7/10 4439 days 42%
Faassen 8/10 4460 days 44%
Ben Simons 9/10 4723 days 45%
Martin Beuker 4/10 4733 days 29%
Romla 8/10 4734 days 44%
Marie Dutron 8/10 4737 days 44%
Preben vil Helmsen 10/10 4739 days 45%
Rick & Suus 8/10 4740 days 44%
Nora 9/10 4740 days 45%
Barry Baily 9/10 4740 days 45%
Christiane & Dirk 8/10 4741 days 44%
Scott Simpson 5/10 4744 days 34%
Wolfgang Beute 8/10 4744 days 44%
batzi 3/10 4848 days 24%
bow 3/10 5001 days 24%
Nick van de Belt 9/10 5070 days 45%
Patrick Gloede 9/10 5076 days 45%
Stoop 9/10 5079 days 45%
Siegfried Tuiel 10/10 5082 days 45%
Laura Leigh 6/10 5086 days 39%
John Taylor 7/10 5092 days 42%
Jon_and_Family 7/10 5093 days 42%
Marjan Van Den Braak 4/10 5094 days 29%
Wouter Teensma 8/10 5097 days 44%
Ann Parry 10/10 5097 days 45%
Rob 8/10 5108 days 44%
Alan & Gill Geach 7/10 5115 days 42%
Sarah Ewing 9/10 5118 days 45%
John N 8/10 5452 days 44%
Elisabeth Egerup 10/10 5465 days 45%
Wielink 8/10 5466 days 44%
Pierre Pilon 9/10 5466 days 45%
Pascal Auber 8/10 5472 days 44%
Lamb 9/10 5485 days 45%
Tonny 8/10 5485 days 44%
Dawn Campbell 10/10 5517 days 45%
guichard 7/10 5537 days 42%
HairyHaggis 10/10 5548 days 45%
katepat 10/10 5548 days 45%
Colin S 10/10 5556 days 45%
Ulyate 6/10 5559 days 39%
Alex D'Souza 7/10 5609 days 42%
Patrick 9/10 5639 days 45%
billdee 10/10 5670 days 45%
EvertG 8/10 5773 days 44%
KatrinK 10/10 5785 days 45%
David 8/10 5792 days 44%
neeltjec 9/10 5792 days 45%
monikav 10/10 5792 days 45%
Martien van Brakel 9/10 5792 days 45%
kymberlyw 9/10 5793 days 45%
Katy1 8/10 5794 days 44%
Anneleen 8/10 5822 days 44%
RosC 6/10 5827 days 39%
Simon 9/10 5841 days 45%
Gunhild 9/10 5856 days 45%
Lars 10/10 5859 days 45%
Miha 7/10 5897 days 42%
Ana 7/10 5904 days 42%
Cindy 9/10 5905 days 45%
Mark 9/10 5923 days 45%
Stephanie Schikora 10/10 5935 days 45%
Rhys Howell 6/10 6126 days 39%
Ben 9/10 6163 days 45%
Vikki 10/10 6168 days 45%
Kelly Noirin 8/10 6179 days 44%
Ohad 9/10 6185 days 45%
Trinkler 9/10 6185 days 45%
Nancy Dol 9/10 6189 days 45%
George Clark 7/10 6189 days 42%
Kathy Hawey 8/10 6191 days 44%
Myrtille de Vries 9/10 6196 days 45%
Buys 9/10 6197 days 45%
Haemnerli 8/10 6197 days 44%
Vaclaf 9/10 6203 days 45%
Jenny Hulsebosch 9/10 6220 days 45%
Willemien 8/10 6284 days 44%
Vern 7/10 6394 days 42%
James 8/10 6394 days 44%
Rietveld 8/10 6550 days 44%
Janne 8/10 6562 days 44%
Nina 3/10 6564 days 24%
Inga 4/10 6564 days 29%

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 Swim with the Dolphins 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 Swim with the Dolphins 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 Swim with the Dolphins 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 -4.17%
202 -4.20%
203 -4.22%

Balancing Adjustment

3.97% 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

81%

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.