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 Waitomo Adventures Ltd.

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

Waitomo Adventures Ltd

Valid Reviews

93 Valid Reviews

The Waitomo Adventures Ltd experience has a total of 94 reviews. There are 93 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 93 valid reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 32
34%
9/10 22
24%
8/10 23
25%
7/10 8
9%
6/10 5
5%
5/10 2
2%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 1
1%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

86.13% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Waitomo Adventures Ltd valid reviews is 86.13% and is based on 93 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

77 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 93 valid reviews, the experience has 77 face-to-face reviews collected during interviews by our team.

Below is the distribution of ratings for the 77 face-to-face reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 23
30%
9/10 20
26%
8/10 20
26%
7/10 8
10%
6/10 3
4%
5/10 2
3%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 1
1%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

85.32% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Waitomo Adventures Ltd face-to-face reviews is 85.32% and is based on 77 face-to-face reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here for comparison purposes.

Weighted Average

87.82%

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
Dennis 10/10 2812 days 100%
Thomas Klinting 10/10 2866 days 97%
Franz Mesey 9/10 2881 days 95%
Judit Van lanen 10/10 2899 days 94%
Jack Robinson 8/10 2937 days 90%
Mikulas and Dominika 8/10 2959 days 89%
Elizabeth Braidotti 10/10 3009 days 87%
Craig Forsyth 10/10 3126 days 80%
Lea Behnem 10/10 3199 days 75%
Nicolas Justin 7/10 3543 days 50%
Stephanie Piou 8/10 3543 days 52%
Alex 9/10 3571 days 51%
Devan Sheppard 10/10 3640 days 47%
Nina Coopmans 7/10 4252 days 7%
Katherine 10/10 4276 days 6%
Lieven De Vlaminck 9/10 4282 days 6%
Andy 10/10 4373 days 0%
Ron 9/10 4377 days 0%
Bart Slingerland 9/10 4632 days 32%
Birds Tubbs 10/10 4633 days 32%
Malena 10/10 4648 days 32%
Schael 10/10 4652 days 32%
Ryan Pynappels 9/10 4659 days 32%
Tobias Forst 8/10 4740 days 32%
Sarah and Soren 9/10 4745 days 32%
Alberto Redner 10/10 4755 days 32%
Dozza 10/10 4800 days 32%
Sarah James 10/10 4982 days 32%
Nick Taylor 10/10 4982 days 32%
Laurent P 10/10 4986 days 32%
Paap 8/10 5019 days 32%
Wouter Jansen 8/10 5019 days 32%
Luise Jaeger 3/10 5032 days 18%
Steff 9/10 5034 days 32%
wannaraft 10/10 5042 days 32%
elpo 6/10 5287 days 28%
kempt 8/10 5318 days 32%
Andy 8/10 5369 days 32%
Sam Bishop 10/10 5379 days 32%
Kay Beaumont 10/10 5381 days 32%
Johan 10/10 5389 days 32%
Jakob Pedersen 7/10 5389 days 30%
Jens van Evp 9/10 5403 days 32%
Max Van der Zalm 8/10 5403 days 32%
Carolina Gonzalez 8/10 5405 days 32%
Kasper 9/10 5405 days 32%
Chance McGuire 10/10 5407 days 32%
katesc 9/10 5458 days 32%
rosalindm 9/10 5463 days 32%
jennyb 9/10 5467 days 32%
Thomas Willi 10/10 5479 days 32%
Jess Pasos 10/10 5488 days 32%
Nikki Turner 8/10 5634 days 32%
Sejna 8/10 5655 days 32%
michellew 10/10 5661 days 32%
erikholland 8/10 5714 days 32%
mariea 9/10 5725 days 32%
Krapels 9/10 5738 days 32%
Halley 5/10 5744 days 25%
Katie 10/10 5762 days 32%
Ian S 8/10 5763 days 32%
Debbie 7/10 5764 days 30%
Daniel 8/10 5772 days 32%
Kristy825 10/10 5776 days 32%
Limor 6/10 5785 days 28%
Prentner 6/10 5794 days 28%
Sonja 9/10 5818 days 32%
Bronagh Mcartan 9/10 5962 days 32%
Tim 10/10 5986 days 32%
Brent Scanlan 10/10 6055 days 32%
Meike Biel 10/10 6063 days 32%
Hendrik 6/10 6105 days 28%
Sabrina 8/10 6105 days 32%
Peter Aston 5/10 6105 days 25%
helga 9/10 6107 days 32%
Janne 8/10 6117 days 32%
Melissa Steedman 9/10 6152 days 32%
gemma1 6/10 6157 days 28%
Francesco 8/10 6187 days 32%
Jim&Rachel 9/10 6270 days 32%
MarkReid 10/10 6403 days 32%
HalRoberts 8/10 6425 days 32%
David 9/10 6434 days 32%
Justin 8/10 6434 days 32%
Alex 8/10 6441 days 32%
Hilary 7/10 6450 days 30%
Roran 7/10 6460 days 30%
Nina 10/10 6485 days 32%
Inga 9/10 6485 days 32%
Italy 8/10 6485 days 32%
Nina 8/10 6485 days 32%
Helen 7/10 6485 days 30%
JuanPablo 7/10 6502 days 30%

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 Waitomo Adventures Ltd 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 Waitomo Adventures Ltd 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 Waitomo Adventures Ltd 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

2.08% 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

86%

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.