Ranking Score Explained

Hey, 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 The Waterworks.

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

The Waterworks

Valid Reviews

47 Valid Reviews

The The Waterworks experience has a total of 49 reviews. There are 47 valid reviews that are included when calculating the ranking score and 2 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 47 valid reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 24
51%
9/10 10
21%
8/10 9
19%
7/10 2
4%
6/10 1
2%
5/10 1
2%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

90.85% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the The Waterworks valid reviews is 90.85% and is based on 47 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

13 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 47 valid reviews, the experience has 13 face-to-face reviews collected during interviews by our team.

Below is the distribution of ratings for the 13 face-to-face reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 3
23%
9/10 3
23%
8/10 5
38%
7/10 1
8%
6/10 1
8%
5/10 0
0%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

84.62% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the The Waterworks face-to-face reviews is 84.62% and is based on 13 face-to-face reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here for comparison purposes.

Weighted Average

91.29%

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
Emma Keegan 7/10 3459 days 96%
Camille Guevel 9/10 3480 days 78%
Naelan Le Borgue 8/10 3480 days 76%
Jonas Nielsen 6/10 3861 days 31%
Leeann Newton 10/10 3881 days 38%
GN100 8/10 3881 days 37%
MichelleG2 10/10 3914 days 46%
William Notcutt 8/10 4279 days 0%
anaelena 10/10 4585 days 52%
Vbeirne 5/10 4645 days 37%
legomobilen 10/10 4706 days 52%
Mary Hamilton 10/10 4706 days 52%
erica130 10/10 4737 days 52%
debs 9/10 4737 days 51%
floflo 10/10 4859 days 52%
Kim652406 10/10 4890 days 52%
AliBe 10/10 4890 days 52%
Jo_harper 10/10 4920 days 52%
Jon_and_Family 9/10 4920 days 51%
bryanhamey 10/10 4920 days 52%
deanmatuka 10/10 4951 days 52%
Mirka Tinterova 9/10 4953 days 39%
Mr and Mrs Scott 8/10 5316 days 51%
Carolina Gonzalez 10/10 5342 days 39%
Ralf Genthe 9/10 5361 days 39%
Numun 9/10 5375 days 51%
kathryngorton 9/10 5406 days 51%
ona74 10/10 5406 days 52%
asiacritics 8/10 5436 days 51%
lizzie 10/10 5436 days 52%
Renee Porter 10/10 5559 days 52%
Jones 10/10 5559 days 52%
Chris Ogilvie 9/10 5559 days 51%
keryhuel patrick 9/10 5559 days 51%
Ben Tee 10/10 5559 days 52%
Lee Hanson 10/10 5620 days 52%
Matene 10/10 5620 days 52%
Charles Lyne 9/10 5620 days 51%
Belinda Muir 8/10 5740 days 51%
xp67 10/10 5752 days 52%
William McFarlanne 10/10 5895 days 52%
Audrey Fairclough 10/10 5912 days 52%
Andria Davis 10/10 6043 days 39%
SueLinsk 8/10 6380 days 38%
beesom 8/10 6416 days 38%
Rolf 8/10 6428 days 38%
Nicole 7/10 6428 days 35%

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 The Waterworks 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 The Waterworks 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 The Waterworks 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

1.25% 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

90%

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.