Ranking Score Explained

Kia ora, 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 The Weta Cave.

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

The Weta Cave

Valid Reviews

52 Valid Reviews

The The Weta Cave experience has a total of 52 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 52 valid reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 15
29%
9/10 14
27%
8/10 11
21%
7/10 7
13%
6/10 2
4%
5/10 2
4%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 1
2%
1/10 0
0%

84.04% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the The Weta Cave valid reviews is 84.04% and is based on 52 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

50 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 52 valid reviews, the experience has 50 face-to-face reviews collected during interviews by our team.

Below is the distribution of ratings for the 50 face-to-face reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 13
26%
9/10 14
28%
8/10 11
22%
7/10 7
14%
6/10 2
4%
5/10 2
4%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 1
2%
1/10 0
0%

83.40% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the The Weta Cave face-to-face reviews is 83.40% and is based on 50 face-to-face reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here for comparison purposes.

Weighted Average

85.17%

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
Harriet and Paul 9/10 2941 days 100%
Margot 7/10 3011 days 86%
Bjorn Nielsen 9/10 3013 days 94%
Rose Guillaume 10/10 3035 days 93%
Pierre Landenne 7/10 3035 days 84%
Simeon Manz 10/10 3047 days 92%
Selma Franke 8/10 3054 days 89%
MARK CURPHEY 10/10 3064 days 90%
Sam Taylor 8/10 3065 days 88%
Dave Ellis 8/10 3065 days 88%
tinagermany111 5/10 3084 days 61%
Thomas Le Buzulier 10/10 3278 days 71%
Daniel Idiart 10/10 3283 days 71%
Liam King 9/10 3284 days 70%
Matthew Baker 9/10 3284 days 70%
Karin Karlsson 8/10 3287 days 68%
Hana Rachfalik 10/10 3290 days 70%
Anthony 8/10 3292 days 68%
Ann-Kathrin 8/10 3316 days 66%
Emma Burtscher 2/10 3324 days 15%
Jan 10/10 3327 days 67%
Briony 8/10 3328 days 65%
David Schelensky 10/10 3328 days 67%
Sascha Daub 8/10 3329 days 65%
Richard Starkeq 9/10 3329 days 66%
Robin Ings 6/10 3333 days 53%
Flo and Frieda 7/10 3352 days 58%
Pierre Planchez 9/10 3697 days 33%
Lukas Dost 10/10 3712 days 32%
Greg Little 10/10 3713 days 32%
Iana Pauga 10/10 3723 days 31%
Astrid Egesten 9/10 3762 days 27%
James Russell 8/10 4006 days 5%
Hannah Watt 7/10 4006 days 3%
Jan Legein 9/10 4007 days 5%
Herman Schulz 8/10 4032 days 3%
Rhys Williams 9/10 4054 days 1%
Dan Lawson 10/10 4070 days 0%
Paul Taylor 5/10 4388 days 7%
Cloarec Guillaume 10/10 4390 days 18%
Clodec 9/10 4390 days 18%
Michal 9/10 4399 days 18%
Roshnie 7/10 4495 days 15%
Frederick Neilsen 9/10 4497 days 18%
Frank Claassen 8/10 4756 days 17%
Kimberley Mills 9/10 4776 days 18%
Helen & Laurence 7/10 4858 days 15%
Dave van Bergen 9/10 5089 days 18%
Anika Jedelsky 10/10 5127 days 18%
Kathryn Knipe 6/10 5144 days 12%
Stefan Morris 7/10 5145 days 15%
lindam 10/10 5460 days 18%

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 The Weta Cave experience has plenty of reviews and does not meet the criteria for any adjustment.

Recent Reviews Adjustment

-4.01% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 57 days. However the The Weta Cave 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 The Weta Cave experience has been adjusted for 200 days. Adjustments are according to the following table.

Days Adjustment
197 -3.95%
198 -3.97%
199 -3.99%
200 -4.01%
201 -4.03%
202 -4.05%
203 -4.07%

Balancing Adjustment

2.69% 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

84%

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.