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 Southern Discoveries / Milford Sound Red Boats.

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.

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Cymen Crick

Rankers Owner

Southern Discoveries / Milford Sound Red Boats

Valid Reviews

74 Valid Reviews

The Southern Discoveries / Milford Sound Red Boats experience has a total of 74 valid reviews. There are no invalid reviews 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 74 valid reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 21
28%
9/10 28
38%
8/10 10
14%
7/10 14
19%
6/10 0
0%
5/10 0
0%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 1
1%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

86.89% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Southern Discoveries / Milford Sound Red Boats valid reviews is 86.89% and is based on 74 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

69 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 74 valid reviews, the experience has 69 face-to-face reviews collected during interviews by our team.

Below is the distribution of ratings for the 69 face-to-face reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 17
25%
9/10 27
39%
8/10 10
14%
7/10 14
20%
6/10 0
0%
5/10 0
0%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 1
1%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

86.09% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Southern Discoveries / Milford Sound Red Boats face-to-face reviews is 86.09% and is based on 69 face-to-face reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here for comparison purposes.

Weighted Average

87.77%

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
C Clarke 7/10 2780 days 95%
Alice Ormandy 9/10 2802 days 100%
Manu Liberta 10/10 2847 days 98%
Bram Hoonhout 8/10 2853 days 96%
Sarah 10/10 2874 days 96%
Robertoi 9/10 2892 days 94%
Charly 9/10 3097 days 81%
Liam King 9/10 3109 days 80%
Clare Holden 10/10 3117 days 80%
Oliver Schatz 10/10 3144 days 78%
Nick Young 10/10 3149 days 78%
Lisa 8/10 3163 days 76%
Josephine 7/10 3179 days 71%
Markus Delinsky 8/10 3516 days 53%
Hubert 10/10 3588 days 49%
Anja Weppler 7/10 3822 days 31%
Sandra Frischmann 9/10 3852 days 31%
Simon Galpin 9/10 3853 days 31%
Kletter 9/10 4212 days 8%
Jeanne Moustier 9/10 4261 days 4%
Michael Kretzschmar 10/10 4296 days 2%
Lydia Holleman 9/10 4301 days 2%
John 9/10 4303 days 2%
Jon Barratt 9/10 4316 days 1%
Kali Lohman 8/10 4326 days 0%
Stuart Arrol 9/10 4550 days 30%
melemele 9/10 4554 days 30%
Simon Rawlinson 9/10 4566 days 30%
Jill Homewood 10/10 4578 days 30%
Signe Kaspersen 7/10 4579 days 28%
Robert Steendijk 7/10 4580 days 28%
Jaap & Susanne 7/10 4594 days 28%
Aridne Giraud 8/10 4597 days 30%
Nora 9/10 4598 days 30%
Andy Bridgman 7/10 4599 days 28%
Nikki Bentley 9/10 4600 days 30%
Filsack 8/10 4606 days 30%
Herbert 7/10 4627 days 28%
Stephane Lebel 10/10 4924 days 30%
Florian 9/10 4941 days 30%
Antoine Van Hoovled 9/10 4941 days 30%
K Dahmer 10/10 4944 days 30%
Julia 9/10 4949 days 30%
WeddingMaven 10/10 4951 days 30%
Kasia Robshaw 9/10 4955 days 30%
Roger Lows 9/10 4970 days 30%
Jochen 7/10 4977 days 28%
VisualDelight 10/10 5163 days 30%
John Cox 9/10 5322 days 30%
Susi Schoetzler 10/10 5364 days 30%
Simon Bartholomew 10/10 5418 days 30%
Raewyn 10/10 5647 days 30%
Ger 9/10 5648 days 30%
jjakkeren 7/10 5650 days 28%
PaulC 9/10 5657 days 30%
Dave Ashun 9/10 5657 days 30%
ChristinaV 8/10 5660 days 30%
JanW 3/10 5662 days 15%
KatrinS 8/10 5662 days 30%
Christian Moll 7/10 5666 days 28%
Peter 8/10 5667 days 30%
Charles 8/10 5683 days 30%
JennyD1 7/10 5756 days 28%
bobmcg 10/10 5763 days 30%
Stephanie Schikora 10/10 5793 days 30%
Paul 7/10 5828 days 28%
Suyin 10/10 5848 days 30%
Tom Ben 10/10 6021 days 30%
Anja Kunert 9/10 6047 days 30%
Zurcher Marco 10/10 6077 days 30%
Sandra Gustafson 7/10 6092 days 28%
Julie 9/10 6336 days 30%
Chatin Perrier 10/10 6387 days 30%
Pete 9/10 6404 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 Southern Discoveries / Milford Sound Red Boats experience has plenty of reviews and does not meet the criteria for any adjustment.

Recent Reviews Adjustment

-3.03% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 75 days. However the Southern Discoveries / Milford Sound Red Boats 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 Southern Discoveries / Milford Sound Red Boats experience has been adjusted for 200 days. Adjustments are according to the following table.

Days Adjustment
197 -2.98%
198 -3.00%
199 -3.01%
200 -3.03%
201 -3.04%
202 -3.06%
203 -3.07%

Balancing Adjustment

1.87% 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

87%

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.