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 Sea Kayak Fiordland.

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

Sea Kayak Fiordland

Valid Reviews

35 Valid Reviews

The Sea Kayak Fiordland experience has a total of 36 reviews. There are 35 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 35 valid reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 14
40%
9/10 12
34%
8/10 5
14%
7/10 3
9%
6/10 0
0%
5/10 0
0%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 1
3%
1/10 0
0%

88.86% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Sea Kayak Fiordland valid reviews is 88.86% and is based on 35 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

27 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 35 valid reviews, the experience has 27 face-to-face reviews collected during interviews by our team.

Below is the distribution of ratings for the 27 face-to-face reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 9
33%
9/10 10
37%
8/10 5
19%
7/10 3
11%
6/10 0
0%
5/10 0
0%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 0
0%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

89.26% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Sea Kayak Fiordland face-to-face reviews is 89.26% and is based on 27 face-to-face reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here for comparison purposes.

Weighted Average

89.90%

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
Jonathan 9/10 4004 days 59%
Verena 9/10 4209 days 0%
Anja S 10/10 4209 days 0%
Pete & Pat Etheridge 8/10 4592 days 97%
Marian Stolker 8/10 4599 days 97%
budge69 10/10 4612 days 100%
Julia Edman 10/10 4657 days 100%
Nika 10/10 4918 days 100%
Chrissy Crebas 9/10 4934 days 99%
Ben Akin-Smith 9/10 4943 days 99%
Amanda Wells 8/10 4943 days 97%
Katherine Forward 9/10 4943 days 99%
Brendan Dunn 9/10 4949 days 99%
John Hensman 10/10 4953 days 100%
Sandra Schneifer 10/10 4968 days 100%
MarcyMark 10/10 5283 days 100%
philaus 7/10 5283 days 90%
Elizabeth E 7/10 5358 days 90%
Ray Burkhill 10/10 5373 days 100%
Han Disveld 9/10 5660 days 99%
ramgoldhecht 10/10 5663 days 100%
Gillian 9/10 5668 days 99%
DavidHilton 9/10 5668 days 99%
John 9/10 5689 days 99%
Bronte Koop 9/10 5704 days 99%
Josefine 10/10 5704 days 100%
Temo 9/10 5896 days 99%
Iris 10/10 6049 days 100%
Kelly 10/10 6052 days 100%
Vicky Elliott 8/10 6059 days 97%
Anna 7/10 6060 days 90%
Josh 10/10 6062 days 100%
Christie H 8/10 6132 days 97%
MrsWesley 10/10 6375 days 100%
jessrob 2/10 6530 days 19%

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 Sea Kayak Fiordland experience has plenty of reviews and does not meet the criteria for any adjustment.

Recent Reviews Adjustment

-2.98% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 76 days. However the Sea Kayak Fiordland 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 Sea Kayak Fiordland experience has been adjusted for 200 days. Adjustments are according to the following table.

Days Adjustment
197 -2.94%
198 -2.95%
199 -2.97%
200 -2.98%
201 -3.00%
202 -3.01%
203 -3.03%

Balancing Adjustment

1.47% 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

88%

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.