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 Akaroa 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.

Cymen Crick's avatar

Cymen Crick

Rankers Owner

Akaroa Dolphins

Valid Reviews

79 Valid Reviews

The Akaroa Dolphins experience has a total of 80 reviews. There are 79 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 79 valid reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 32
41%
9/10 26
33%
8/10 15
19%
7/10 3
4%
6/10 3
4%
5/10 0
0%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

90.25% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Akaroa Dolphins valid reviews is 90.25% and is based on 79 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

59 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 79 valid reviews, the experience has 59 face-to-face reviews collected during interviews by our team.

Below is the distribution of ratings for the 59 face-to-face reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 19
32%
9/10 20
34%
8/10 14
24%
7/10 3
5%
6/10 3
5%
5/10 0
0%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

88.31% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Akaroa Dolphins face-to-face reviews is 88.31% and is based on 59 face-to-face reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here for comparison purposes.

Weighted Average

91.18%

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
Lucy C 9/10 1716 days 100%
Christine 9/10 1775 days 90%
Tracey Cron 9/10 1806 days 88%
Inga Hoffmann 10/10 2506 days 63%
Freddrick Weiser 9/10 2843 days 51%
Mike Dw 9/10 2959 days 46%
Nolwen 9/10 3319 days 33%
The Beans 10/10 3327 days 33%
Ross D 10/10 3333 days 33%
Peter Passlack 10/10 3336 days 33%
Chea Hao Wong 10/10 3388 days 31%
Caroline Shaw 10/10 3558 days 25%
Pierre Mathis 10/10 3569 days 25%
Brenda Oomen 10/10 3572 days 25%
Estelle Daniel 10/10 3576 days 24%
Kim-Lara 8/10 3591 days 23%
Tamara 10/10 3605 days 23%
Sandra P 10/10 3632 days 22%
Marie Schmid 10/10 3960 days 10%
Angie Cairns 10/10 3990 days 9%
Jimmy Shaw 10/10 4243 days 0%
Wendy Hawkins 8/10 4664 days 13%
Roger Hawkins 9/10 4664 days 13%
Tanja Schlagermann 10/10 4671 days 14%
Alexander Mukasa 10/10 4671 days 14%
Erik Muchembled 10/10 4673 days 14%
Andrea Lang 8/10 4675 days 13%
Xtian_P 10/10 4759 days 14%
michellephil 10/10 4820 days 14%
nztintin 10/10 5034 days 14%
mandd 10/10 5034 days 14%
Orlando 9/10 5046 days 13%
Uwe Herrdum 9/10 5050 days 13%
Francis Corrigan 9/10 5064 days 13%
John & Vicki 9/10 5141 days 13%
G Tulloch 9/10 5363 days 13%
Edward Marhi 8/10 5366 days 13%
Robin Adair 9/10 5387 days 13%
Sandra Schulz 9/10 5394 days 13%
Derek Puplett 9/10 5404 days 13%
Martin Current 9/10 5415 days 13%
Hartmut Vogt 10/10 5416 days 14%
allesca 9/10 5520 days 13%
Mary Van 8/10 5581 days 13%
penz 9/10 5643 days 13%
victoriauk 8/10 5673 days 13%
Susanne Strassmann 6/10 5771 days 11%
M Sicard 9/10 5775 days 13%
Lasse Olesen 9/10 5786 days 13%
Keith Wilde 8/10 5788 days 13%
Sarah Goeckener 9/10 5865 days 13%
katharina 10/10 5865 days 14%
Katrin Wennin 8/10 5866 days 13%
Thorben Thede 9/10 5867 days 13%
Roma 10/10 5878 days 14%
HairyHaggis 10/10 5885 days 14%
Ronny 6/10 6104 days 11%
ChristinaV 10/10 6108 days 14%
JudithLehr 6/10 6111 days 11%
Steven 10/10 6115 days 14%
StijnH 8/10 6116 days 13%
FramiskaH 8/10 6117 days 13%
StefanGermany1 8/10 6117 days 13%
JaninaF 10/10 6117 days 14%
Tatjane 9/10 6130 days 13%
XaviG 9/10 6133 days 13%
JesusB 7/10 6133 days 12%
Denk 8/10 6161 days 13%
Katie Mitchell 10/10 6250 days 14%
Ben Ackland 8/10 6486 days 13%
Tessa McCormick 8/10 6496 days 13%
John Beirne 10/10 6853 days 14%
ranker_110 7/10 6857 days 12%
Christine 10/10 6862 days 14%
Helle 9/10 6864 days 13%
John 7/10 6864 days 12%
Reggie 10/10 6865 days 14%
Dave 9/10 6876 days 13%
Beate 8/10 6877 days 13%

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 Akaroa Dolphins experience has plenty of reviews and does not meet the criteria for any adjustment.

Recent Reviews Adjustment

-4.06% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 42 days. However the Akaroa 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 Akaroa Dolphins experience has been adjusted for 200 days. Adjustments are according to the following table.

Days Adjustment
197 -4.00%
198 -4.02%
199 -4.04%
200 -4.06%
201 -4.09%
202 -4.11%
203 -4.13%

Balancing Adjustment

1.44% 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

89%

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.