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 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

91.40%

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 1327 days 100%
Christine 9/10 1386 days 84%
Tracey Cron 9/10 1417 days 76%
Inga Hoffmann 10/10 2117 days 23%
Freddrick Weiser 9/10 2454 days 20%
Mike Dw 9/10 2570 days 18%
Nolwen 9/10 2930 days 15%
The Beans 10/10 2938 days 15%
Ross D 10/10 2944 days 15%
Peter Passlack 10/10 2947 days 15%
Chea Hao Wong 10/10 2999 days 14%
Caroline Shaw 10/10 3169 days 12%
Pierre Mathis 10/10 3180 days 12%
Brenda Oomen 10/10 3183 days 12%
Estelle Daniel 10/10 3187 days 12%
Kim-Lara 8/10 3202 days 12%
Tamara 10/10 3216 days 12%
Sandra P 10/10 3243 days 12%
Marie Schmid 10/10 3571 days 8%
Angie Cairns 10/10 3601 days 8%
Jimmy Shaw 10/10 3854 days 5%
Wendy Hawkins 8/10 4275 days 1%
Roger Hawkins 9/10 4275 days 1%
Tanja Schlagermann 10/10 4282 days 1%
Alexander Mukasa 10/10 4282 days 1%
Erik Muchembled 10/10 4284 days 1%
Andrea Lang 8/10 4286 days 1%
Xtian_P 10/10 4370 days 0%
michellephil 10/10 4431 days 5%
nztintin 10/10 4645 days 5%
mandd 10/10 4645 days 5%
Orlando 9/10 4657 days 5%
Uwe Herrdum 9/10 4661 days 5%
Francis Corrigan 9/10 4675 days 5%
John & Vicki 9/10 4752 days 5%
G Tulloch 9/10 4974 days 5%
Edward Marhi 8/10 4977 days 5%
Robin Adair 9/10 4998 days 5%
Sandra Schulz 9/10 5005 days 5%
Derek Puplett 9/10 5015 days 5%
Martin Current 9/10 5026 days 5%
Hartmut Vogt 10/10 5027 days 5%
allesca 9/10 5131 days 5%
Mary Van 8/10 5192 days 5%
penz 9/10 5254 days 5%
victoriauk 8/10 5284 days 5%
Susanne Strassmann 6/10 5382 days 4%
M Sicard 9/10 5386 days 5%
Lasse Olesen 9/10 5397 days 5%
Keith Wilde 8/10 5399 days 5%
Sarah Goeckener 9/10 5476 days 5%
katharina 10/10 5476 days 5%
Katrin Wennin 8/10 5477 days 5%
Thorben Thede 9/10 5478 days 5%
Roma 10/10 5489 days 5%
HairyHaggis 10/10 5496 days 5%
Ronny 6/10 5715 days 4%
ChristinaV 10/10 5719 days 5%
JudithLehr 6/10 5722 days 4%
Steven 10/10 5726 days 5%
StijnH 8/10 5727 days 5%
FramiskaH 8/10 5728 days 5%
StefanGermany1 8/10 5728 days 5%
JaninaF 10/10 5728 days 5%
Tatjane 9/10 5741 days 5%
XaviG 9/10 5744 days 5%
JesusB 7/10 5744 days 5%
Denk 8/10 5772 days 5%
Katie Mitchell 10/10 5861 days 5%
Ben Ackland 8/10 6097 days 5%
Tessa McCormick 8/10 6107 days 5%
John Beirne 10/10 6464 days 5%
ranker_110 7/10 6468 days 5%
Christine 10/10 6473 days 5%
Helle 9/10 6475 days 5%
John 7/10 6475 days 5%
Reggie 10/10 6476 days 5%
Dave 9/10 6487 days 5%
Beate 8/10 6488 days 5%

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

-4.03% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 44 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 -3.97%
198 -3.99%
199 -4.01%
200 -4.03%
201 -4.05%
202 -4.07%
203 -4.09%

Balancing Adjustment

1.40% 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.