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

87.58%

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 3194 days 100%
Thomas Klinting 10/10 3248 days 94%
Franz Mesey 9/10 3262 days 91%
Judit Van lanen 10/10 3281 days 90%
Jack Robinson 8/10 3319 days 84%
Mikulas and Dominika 8/10 3341 days 82%
Elizabeth Braidotti 10/10 3391 days 78%
Craig Forsyth 10/10 3507 days 66%
Lea Behnem 10/10 3581 days 57%
Nicolas Justin 7/10 3925 days 16%
Stephanie Piou 8/10 3925 days 18%
Alex 9/10 3953 days 16%
Devan Sheppard 10/10 4022 days 9%
Nina Coopmans 7/10 4634 days 22%
Katherine 10/10 4658 days 26%
Lieven De Vlaminck 9/10 4664 days 25%
Andy 10/10 4755 days 26%
Ron 9/10 4759 days 25%
Bart Slingerland 9/10 5014 days 25%
Birds Tubbs 10/10 5015 days 26%
Malena 10/10 5030 days 26%
Schael 10/10 5034 days 26%
Ryan Pynappels 9/10 5041 days 25%
Tobias Forst 8/10 5122 days 25%
Sarah and Soren 9/10 5127 days 25%
Alberto Redner 10/10 5137 days 26%
Dozza 10/10 5182 days 26%
Sarah James 10/10 5364 days 26%
Nick Taylor 10/10 5364 days 26%
Laurent P 10/10 5368 days 26%
Paap 8/10 5401 days 25%
Wouter Jansen 8/10 5401 days 25%
Luise Jaeger 3/10 5414 days 0%
Steff 9/10 5416 days 25%
wannaraft 10/10 5424 days 26%
elpo 6/10 5669 days 18%
kempt 8/10 5700 days 25%
Andy 8/10 5751 days 25%
Sam Bishop 10/10 5761 days 26%
Kay Beaumont 10/10 5763 days 26%
Johan 10/10 5771 days 26%
Jakob Pedersen 7/10 5771 days 22%
Jens van Evp 9/10 5785 days 25%
Max Van der Zalm 8/10 5785 days 25%
Carolina Gonzalez 8/10 5787 days 25%
Kasper 9/10 5787 days 25%
Chance McGuire 10/10 5789 days 26%
katesc 9/10 5840 days 25%
rosalindm 9/10 5845 days 25%
jennyb 9/10 5849 days 25%
Thomas Willi 10/10 5861 days 26%
Jess Pasos 10/10 5870 days 26%
Nikki Turner 8/10 6016 days 25%
Sejna 8/10 6037 days 25%
michellew 10/10 6043 days 26%
erikholland 8/10 6095 days 25%
mariea 9/10 6106 days 25%
Krapels 9/10 6119 days 25%
Halley 5/10 6125 days 12%
Katie 10/10 6143 days 26%
Ian S 8/10 6144 days 25%
Debbie 7/10 6145 days 22%
Daniel 8/10 6154 days 25%
Kristy825 10/10 6157 days 26%
Limor 6/10 6166 days 18%
Prentner 6/10 6175 days 18%
Sonja 9/10 6199 days 25%
Bronagh Mcartan 9/10 6343 days 25%
Tim 10/10 6367 days 26%
Brent Scanlan 10/10 6437 days 26%
Meike Biel 10/10 6445 days 26%
Hendrik 6/10 6487 days 18%
Sabrina 8/10 6487 days 25%
Peter Aston 5/10 6487 days 12%
helga 9/10 6488 days 25%
Janne 8/10 6498 days 25%
Melissa Steedman 9/10 6534 days 25%
gemma1 6/10 6538 days 18%
Francesco 8/10 6569 days 25%
Jim&Rachel 9/10 6652 days 25%
MarkReid 10/10 6785 days 26%
HalRoberts 8/10 6807 days 25%
David 9/10 6816 days 25%
Justin 8/10 6816 days 25%
Alex 8/10 6823 days 25%
Hilary 7/10 6832 days 22%
Roran 7/10 6842 days 22%
Nina 10/10 6867 days 26%
Inga 9/10 6867 days 25%
Italy 8/10 6867 days 25%
Nina 8/10 6867 days 25%
Helen 7/10 6867 days 22%
JuanPablo 7/10 6884 days 22%

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

-4.07% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 42 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 -4.01%
198 -4.03%
199 -4.05%
200 -4.07%
201 -4.09%
202 -4.11%
203 -4.13%

Balancing Adjustment

2.13% 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.