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 Dolphin Eco Cruise.

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

Dolphin Eco Cruise

Valid Reviews

91 Valid Reviews

The Dolphin Eco Cruise experience has a total of 93 reviews. There are 91 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 91 valid reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 15
16%
9/10 26
29%
8/10 25
27%
7/10 12
13%
6/10 4
4%
5/10 2
2%
4/10 4
4%
3/10 3
3%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

79.89% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Dolphin Eco Cruise valid reviews is 79.89% and is based on 91 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

80 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 91 valid reviews, the experience has 80 face-to-face reviews collected during interviews by our team.

Below is the distribution of ratings for the 80 face-to-face reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 12
15%
9/10 25
31%
8/10 24
30%
7/10 10
13%
6/10 3
4%
5/10 1
1%
4/10 4
5%
3/10 1
1%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

81.13% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Dolphin Eco Cruise face-to-face reviews is 81.13% and is based on 80 face-to-face reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here for comparison purposes.

Weighted Average

81.61%

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
Nadja Guiliani 4/10 3552 days 67%
Ben Blackwell 8/10 3566 days 100%
mathieu boustie 5/10 3663 days 68%
Mattias 7/10 4274 days 10%
Arnaud Memay 7/10 4355 days 0%
Susser 8/10 4355 days 0%
Samuel Fritscher 9/10 4663 days 62%
Fabian and Teresa 10/10 4689 days 63%
Joroen Borkert 7/10 4745 days 58%
Faassen 8/10 4766 days 62%
Ben Simons 9/10 5029 days 62%
Martin Beuker 4/10 5039 days 40%
Romla 8/10 5040 days 62%
Marie Dutron 8/10 5043 days 62%
Preben vil Helmsen 10/10 5045 days 63%
Rick & Suus 8/10 5046 days 62%
Nora 9/10 5046 days 62%
Barry Baily 9/10 5046 days 62%
Christiane & Dirk 8/10 5047 days 62%
Scott Simpson 5/10 5050 days 47%
Wolfgang Beute 8/10 5050 days 62%
batzi 3/10 5154 days 33%
bow 3/10 5307 days 33%
Nick van de Belt 9/10 5376 days 62%
Patrick Gloede 9/10 5382 days 62%
Stoop 9/10 5385 days 62%
Siegfried Tuiel 10/10 5388 days 63%
Laura Leigh 6/10 5392 days 54%
John Taylor 7/10 5398 days 58%
Jon_and_Family 7/10 5399 days 58%
Marjan Van Den Braak 4/10 5400 days 40%
Wouter Teensma 8/10 5403 days 62%
Ann Parry 10/10 5403 days 63%
Rob 8/10 5414 days 62%
Alan & Gill Geach 7/10 5421 days 58%
Sarah Ewing 9/10 5424 days 62%
John N 8/10 5758 days 62%
Elisabeth Egerup 10/10 5771 days 63%
Wielink 8/10 5772 days 62%
Pierre Pilon 9/10 5772 days 62%
Pascal Auber 8/10 5778 days 62%
Lamb 9/10 5791 days 62%
Tonny 8/10 5791 days 62%
Dawn Campbell 10/10 5823 days 63%
guichard 7/10 5843 days 58%
HairyHaggis 10/10 5854 days 63%
katepat 10/10 5854 days 63%
Colin S 10/10 5862 days 63%
Ulyate 6/10 5865 days 54%
Alex D'Souza 7/10 5915 days 58%
Patrick 9/10 5945 days 62%
billdee 10/10 5976 days 63%
EvertG 8/10 6079 days 62%
KatrinK 10/10 6091 days 63%
David 8/10 6098 days 62%
neeltjec 9/10 6098 days 62%
monikav 10/10 6098 days 63%
Martien van Brakel 9/10 6098 days 62%
kymberlyw 9/10 6099 days 62%
Katy1 8/10 6100 days 62%
Anneleen 8/10 6129 days 62%
RosC 6/10 6133 days 54%
Simon 9/10 6147 days 62%
Gunhild 9/10 6162 days 62%
Lars 10/10 6165 days 63%
Miha 7/10 6203 days 58%
Ana 7/10 6211 days 58%
Cindy 9/10 6211 days 62%
Mark 9/10 6229 days 62%
Stephanie Schikora 10/10 6241 days 63%
Rhys Howell 6/10 6432 days 54%
Ben 9/10 6469 days 62%
Vikki 10/10 6474 days 63%
Kelly Noirin 8/10 6485 days 62%
Ohad 9/10 6491 days 62%
Trinkler 9/10 6491 days 62%
Nancy Dol 9/10 6495 days 62%
George Clark 7/10 6495 days 58%
Kathy Hawey 8/10 6497 days 62%
Myrtille de Vries 9/10 6502 days 62%
Buys 9/10 6503 days 62%
Haemnerli 8/10 6503 days 62%
Vaclaf 9/10 6509 days 62%
Jenny Hulsebosch 9/10 6526 days 62%
Willemien 8/10 6590 days 62%
Vern 7/10 6700 days 58%
James 8/10 6700 days 62%
Rietveld 8/10 6856 days 62%
Janne 8/10 6868 days 62%
Nina 3/10 6870 days 33%
Inga 4/10 6870 days 40%

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 Dolphin Eco Cruise experience has plenty of reviews and does not meet the criteria for any adjustment.

Recent Reviews Adjustment

-4.07% Adjustment

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

Days Adjustment
197 -4.01%
198 -4.03%
199 -4.05%
200 -4.07%
201 -4.09%
202 -4.11%
203 -4.13%

Balancing Adjustment

3.74% 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

81%

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.