Ranking Score Explained

Hi, 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 2965 days 100%
Hazel Norman 10/10 2980 days 100%
James Jackson 10/10 2981 days 100%
Bartlomiej Berger 9/10 3676 days 48%
Ann Wilson 8/10 3932 days 29%
Anne and Steve Bartlett 9/10 3997 days 24%
Abby Rescr 9/10 4311 days 1%
Frederick Dean 8/10 4311 days 1%
Joey Mertzig 10/10 4328 days 0%
Rien 9/10 4668 days 34%
Clausen 9/10 4669 days 34%
kiwifrenchy 10/10 4676 days 34%
Sam 10/10 4680 days 34%
Pete & Pat Etheridge 10/10 4685 days 34%
Mike & Jennie 9/10 4687 days 34%
Stefes Wencke 10/10 4689 days 34%
Uwe Henze 10/10 4690 days 34%
Manuela Weber 10/10 4690 days 34%
Thyg Lingdal 10/10 4704 days 34%
caro 10/10 4736 days 34%
Dean 9/10 4751 days 34%
Anna Bret 8/10 4776 days 33%
Jaime Castells 9/10 4776 days 34%
Gary Koehler 10/10 5033 days 34%
jlgavin 6/10 5042 days 29%
Verheyen 10/10 5046 days 34%
Chris Darlington 10/10 5050 days 34%
Dieter Uhlmann 9/10 5053 days 34%
Angi Otti 10/10 5061 days 34%
Jackie Morris 10/10 5061 days 34%
Samuel Prechel 10/10 5062 days 34%
David Glover 10/10 5064 days 34%
Claus Olsen 10/10 5065 days 34%
H Schepers 9/10 5066 days 34%
georgiarose89 10/10 5101 days 34%
chrissie2011 10/10 5101 days 34%
Chris 10/10 5320 days 34%
Sabine 10/10 5320 days 34%
Kevin & Chris 9/10 5340 days 34%
davidm239 9/10 5346 days 34%
Margie 10/10 5385 days 34%
Agnes 8/10 5386 days 33%
Graeme + Jane Ryan 10/10 5397 days 34%
Westermann 10/10 5398 days 34%
Peter Brown 10/10 5403 days 34%
johnandgin 10/10 5407 days 34%
Angela 10/10 5408 days 34%
T. Timmers 9/10 5421 days 34%
Loleit 10/10 5428 days 34%
David Valentine 10/10 5429 days 34%
Annette Schmitt 9/10 5429 days 34%
Jeremy & Sarah Rind 10/10 5434 days 34%
Jessica 9/10 5440 days 34%
ChristinaO 10/10 5466 days 34%
Simon Jones 9/10 5466 days 34%
Jerry 10/10 5497 days 34%
HairyHaggis 9/10 5527 days 34%
Suzanne 10/10 5558 days 34%
Traveller Girl 10/10 5711 days 34%
Switz 10/10 5725 days 34%
DanielGermany 10/10 5733 days 34%
CornelissenS 9/10 5758 days 34%
Inger 10/10 5758 days 34%
Robert 9/10 5771 days 34%
Theresa 9/10 5777 days 34%
Sue 9/10 5780 days 34%
Inger Skov 10/10 5784 days 34%
Ruben 8/10 5814 days 33%
Claire 10/10 5827 days 34%
C Digby 9/10 5831 days 34%
Adam 10/10 5871 days 34%
Stephanie Schikora 10/10 5884 days 34%
Sue Stewart 10/10 5991 days 34%
James Gibbs 8/10 6083 days 33%
Helen 9/10 6091 days 34%
Menashe 10/10 6111 days 34%
George Jeffs 10/10 6120 days 34%
Paul Weston 9/10 6134 days 34%
Marian Mckinney 10/10 6134 days 34%
Charles Price 8/10 6145 days 33%
Vicky Elliott 10/10 6152 days 34%
Anne Mainwaring 10/10 6160 days 34%
Kilsby 10/10 6169 days 34%
Dupre 8/10 6210 days 33%
dieter 10/10 6228 days 34%
Rene Schotvanger 10/10 6343 days 34%
Pat Brewster 10/10 6343 days 34%
Paul Yacoumis 10/10 6469 days 34%
Sandra 10/10 6478 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

-4.04% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 41 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 -3.98%
198 -4.00%
199 -4.02%
200 -4.04%
201 -4.06%
202 -4.08%
203 -4.10%

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.