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 Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruises.

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

Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruises

Valid Reviews

89 Valid Reviews

The Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruises experience has a total of 89 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 89 valid reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 55
62%
9/10 25
28%
8/10 8
9%
7/10 0
0%
6/10 1
1%
5/10 0
0%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

94.94% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruises valid reviews is 94.94% and is based on 89 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

74 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 89 valid reviews, the experience has 74 face-to-face reviews collected during interviews by our team.

Below is the distribution of ratings for the 74 face-to-face reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 44
59%
9/10 22
30%
8/10 8
11%
7/10 0
0%
6/10 0
0%
5/10 0
0%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

94.86% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruises face-to-face reviews is 94.86% and is based on 74 face-to-face reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here for comparison purposes.

Weighted Average

95.28%

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
Jonny Horn 9/10 2961 days 100%
Hazel Norman 10/10 2976 days 100%
James Jackson 10/10 2977 days 100%
Bartlomiej Berger 9/10 3672 days 48%
Ann Wilson 8/10 3928 days 29%
Anne and Steve Bartlett 9/10 3993 days 24%
Abby Rescr 9/10 4307 days 1%
Frederick Dean 8/10 4307 days 1%
Joey Mertzig 10/10 4324 days 0%
Rien 9/10 4664 days 33%
Clausen 9/10 4665 days 33%
kiwifrenchy 10/10 4672 days 34%
Sam 10/10 4676 days 34%
Pete & Pat Etheridge 10/10 4681 days 34%
Mike & Jennie 9/10 4683 days 33%
Stefes Wencke 10/10 4685 days 34%
Uwe Henze 10/10 4686 days 34%
Manuela Weber 10/10 4686 days 34%
Thyg Lingdal 10/10 4700 days 34%
caro 10/10 4732 days 34%
Dean 9/10 4747 days 33%
Anna Bret 8/10 4772 days 33%
Jaime Castells 9/10 4772 days 33%
Gary Koehler 10/10 5029 days 34%
jlgavin 6/10 5038 days 28%
Verheyen 10/10 5042 days 34%
Chris Darlington 10/10 5046 days 34%
Dieter Uhlmann 9/10 5049 days 33%
Angi Otti 10/10 5057 days 34%
Jackie Morris 10/10 5057 days 34%
Samuel Prechel 10/10 5058 days 34%
David Glover 10/10 5060 days 34%
Claus Olsen 10/10 5061 days 34%
H Schepers 9/10 5062 days 33%
georgiarose89 10/10 5097 days 34%
chrissie2011 10/10 5097 days 34%
Chris 10/10 5316 days 34%
Sabine 10/10 5316 days 34%
Kevin & Chris 9/10 5336 days 33%
davidm239 9/10 5342 days 33%
Margie 10/10 5381 days 34%
Agnes 8/10 5382 days 33%
Graeme + Jane Ryan 10/10 5393 days 34%
Westermann 10/10 5394 days 34%
Peter Brown 10/10 5399 days 34%
johnandgin 10/10 5403 days 34%
Angela 10/10 5404 days 34%
T. Timmers 9/10 5417 days 33%
Loleit 10/10 5424 days 34%
David Valentine 10/10 5425 days 34%
Annette Schmitt 9/10 5425 days 33%
Jeremy & Sarah Rind 10/10 5430 days 34%
Jessica 9/10 5436 days 33%
ChristinaO 10/10 5462 days 34%
Simon Jones 9/10 5462 days 33%
Jerry 10/10 5493 days 34%
HairyHaggis 9/10 5523 days 33%
Suzanne 10/10 5554 days 34%
Traveller Girl 10/10 5707 days 34%
Switz 10/10 5721 days 34%
DanielGermany 10/10 5729 days 34%
CornelissenS 9/10 5754 days 33%
Inger 10/10 5754 days 34%
Robert 9/10 5768 days 33%
Theresa 9/10 5774 days 33%
Sue 9/10 5776 days 33%
Inger Skov 10/10 5780 days 34%
Ruben 8/10 5810 days 33%
Claire 10/10 5823 days 34%
C Digby 9/10 5827 days 33%
Adam 10/10 5868 days 34%
Stephanie Schikora 10/10 5880 days 34%
Sue Stewart 10/10 5987 days 34%
James Gibbs 8/10 6079 days 33%
Helen 9/10 6087 days 33%
Menashe 10/10 6107 days 34%
George Jeffs 10/10 6116 days 34%
Paul Weston 9/10 6130 days 33%
Marian Mckinney 10/10 6130 days 34%
Charles Price 8/10 6141 days 33%
Vicky Elliott 10/10 6148 days 34%
Anne Mainwaring 10/10 6156 days 34%
Kilsby 10/10 6165 days 34%
Dupre 8/10 6206 days 33%
dieter 10/10 6224 days 34%
Rene Schotvanger 10/10 6339 days 34%
Pat Brewster 10/10 6339 days 34%
Paul Yacoumis 10/10 6465 days 34%
Sandra 10/10 6474 days 34%

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 Doubtful Sound Overnight Cruises experience has plenty of reviews and does not meet the criteria for any adjustment.

Recent Reviews Adjustment

-4.05% Adjustment

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

Days Adjustment
197 -3.99%
198 -4.01%
199 -4.03%
200 -4.05%
201 -4.08%
202 -4.10%
203 -4.12%

Balancing Adjustment

0.84% 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

92%

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.