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 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

87.89%

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 2915 days 100%
Thomas Klinting 10/10 2969 days 96%
Franz Mesey 9/10 2983 days 94%
Judit Van lanen 10/10 3002 days 94%
Jack Robinson 8/10 3040 days 90%
Mikulas and Dominika 8/10 3062 days 88%
Elizabeth Braidotti 10/10 3112 days 87%
Craig Forsyth 10/10 3228 days 79%
Lea Behnem 10/10 3302 days 74%
Nicolas Justin 7/10 3646 days 47%
Stephanie Piou 8/10 3646 days 49%
Alex 9/10 3674 days 48%
Devan Sheppard 10/10 3743 days 43%
Nina Coopmans 7/10 4355 days 2%
Katherine 10/10 4379 days 0%
Lieven De Vlaminck 9/10 4385 days 34%
Andy 10/10 4476 days 35%
Ron 9/10 4480 days 34%
Bart Slingerland 9/10 4735 days 34%
Birds Tubbs 10/10 4736 days 35%
Malena 10/10 4751 days 35%
Schael 10/10 4755 days 35%
Ryan Pynappels 9/10 4762 days 34%
Tobias Forst 8/10 4843 days 34%
Sarah and Soren 9/10 4848 days 34%
Alberto Redner 10/10 4858 days 35%
Dozza 10/10 4903 days 35%
Sarah James 10/10 5085 days 35%
Nick Taylor 10/10 5085 days 35%
Laurent P 10/10 5089 days 35%
Paap 8/10 5122 days 34%
Wouter Jansen 8/10 5122 days 34%
Luise Jaeger 3/10 5135 days 19%
Steff 9/10 5137 days 34%
wannaraft 10/10 5145 days 35%
elpo 6/10 5390 days 30%
kempt 8/10 5421 days 34%
Andy 8/10 5472 days 34%
Sam Bishop 10/10 5482 days 35%
Kay Beaumont 10/10 5484 days 35%
Johan 10/10 5492 days 35%
Jakob Pedersen 7/10 5492 days 32%
Jens van Evp 9/10 5506 days 34%
Max Van der Zalm 8/10 5506 days 34%
Carolina Gonzalez 8/10 5508 days 34%
Kasper 9/10 5508 days 34%
Chance McGuire 10/10 5510 days 35%
katesc 9/10 5561 days 34%
rosalindm 9/10 5566 days 34%
jennyb 9/10 5570 days 34%
Thomas Willi 10/10 5582 days 35%
Jess Pasos 10/10 5591 days 35%
Nikki Turner 8/10 5737 days 34%
Sejna 8/10 5758 days 34%
michellew 10/10 5764 days 35%
erikholland 8/10 5816 days 34%
mariea 9/10 5827 days 34%
Krapels 9/10 5840 days 34%
Halley 5/10 5846 days 27%
Katie 10/10 5864 days 35%
Ian S 8/10 5865 days 34%
Debbie 7/10 5866 days 32%
Daniel 8/10 5875 days 34%
Kristy825 10/10 5878 days 35%
Limor 6/10 5887 days 30%
Prentner 6/10 5896 days 30%
Sonja 9/10 5920 days 34%
Bronagh Mcartan 9/10 6064 days 34%
Tim 10/10 6088 days 35%
Brent Scanlan 10/10 6158 days 35%
Meike Biel 10/10 6166 days 35%
Hendrik 6/10 6208 days 30%
Sabrina 8/10 6208 days 34%
Peter Aston 5/10 6208 days 27%
helga 9/10 6209 days 34%
Janne 8/10 6219 days 34%
Melissa Steedman 9/10 6255 days 34%
gemma1 6/10 6259 days 30%
Francesco 8/10 6290 days 34%
Jim&Rachel 9/10 6373 days 34%
MarkReid 10/10 6506 days 35%
HalRoberts 8/10 6528 days 34%
David 9/10 6537 days 34%
Justin 8/10 6537 days 34%
Alex 8/10 6544 days 34%
Hilary 7/10 6553 days 32%
Roran 7/10 6563 days 32%
Nina 10/10 6588 days 35%
Inga 9/10 6588 days 34%
Italy 8/10 6588 days 34%
Nina 8/10 6588 days 34%
Helen 7/10 6588 days 32%
JuanPablo 7/10 6605 days 32%

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

-4.09% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 55 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 -4.03%
198 -4.05%
199 -4.07%
200 -4.09%
201 -4.11%
202 -4.13%
203 -4.15%

Balancing Adjustment

2.07% 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.