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 Swim with the Dolphins.

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.

CC
Cymen Crick's avatar

Cymen Crick

Rankers Owner

Swim with the Dolphins

Valid Reviews

91 Valid Reviews

The Swim with the Dolphins 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 Swim with the Dolphins 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 Swim with the Dolphins 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

81.00%

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 3255 days 67%
Ben Blackwell 8/10 3269 days 100%
mathieu boustie 5/10 3366 days 71%
Mattias 7/10 3977 days 34%
Arnaud Memay 7/10 4058 days 27%
Susser 8/10 4058 days 28%
Samuel Fritscher 9/10 4366 days 0%
Fabian and Teresa 10/10 4392 days 46%
Joroen Borkert 7/10 4448 days 43%
Faassen 8/10 4469 days 45%
Ben Simons 9/10 4732 days 46%
Martin Beuker 4/10 4742 days 30%
Romla 8/10 4743 days 45%
Marie Dutron 8/10 4746 days 45%
Preben vil Helmsen 10/10 4748 days 46%
Rick & Suus 8/10 4749 days 45%
Nora 9/10 4749 days 46%
Barry Baily 9/10 4749 days 46%
Christiane & Dirk 8/10 4750 days 45%
Scott Simpson 5/10 4753 days 35%
Wolfgang Beute 8/10 4753 days 45%
batzi 3/10 4857 days 25%
bow 3/10 5010 days 25%
Nick van de Belt 9/10 5079 days 46%
Patrick Gloede 9/10 5085 days 46%
Stoop 9/10 5088 days 46%
Siegfried Tuiel 10/10 5091 days 46%
Laura Leigh 6/10 5095 days 40%
John Taylor 7/10 5101 days 43%
Jon_and_Family 7/10 5102 days 43%
Marjan Van Den Braak 4/10 5103 days 30%
Wouter Teensma 8/10 5106 days 45%
Ann Parry 10/10 5106 days 46%
Rob 8/10 5117 days 45%
Alan & Gill Geach 7/10 5124 days 43%
Sarah Ewing 9/10 5127 days 46%
John N 8/10 5461 days 45%
Elisabeth Egerup 10/10 5474 days 46%
Wielink 8/10 5475 days 45%
Pierre Pilon 9/10 5475 days 46%
Pascal Auber 8/10 5481 days 45%
Lamb 9/10 5494 days 46%
Tonny 8/10 5494 days 45%
Dawn Campbell 10/10 5526 days 46%
guichard 7/10 5546 days 43%
HairyHaggis 10/10 5557 days 46%
katepat 10/10 5557 days 46%
Colin S 10/10 5565 days 46%
Ulyate 6/10 5568 days 40%
Alex D'Souza 7/10 5618 days 43%
Patrick 9/10 5648 days 46%
billdee 10/10 5679 days 46%
EvertG 8/10 5782 days 45%
KatrinK 10/10 5794 days 46%
David 8/10 5801 days 45%
neeltjec 9/10 5801 days 46%
monikav 10/10 5801 days 46%
Martien van Brakel 9/10 5801 days 46%
kymberlyw 9/10 5802 days 46%
Katy1 8/10 5803 days 45%
Anneleen 8/10 5831 days 45%
RosC 6/10 5836 days 40%
Simon 9/10 5850 days 46%
Gunhild 9/10 5865 days 46%
Lars 10/10 5868 days 46%
Miha 7/10 5906 days 43%
Ana 7/10 5913 days 43%
Cindy 9/10 5914 days 46%
Mark 9/10 5932 days 46%
Stephanie Schikora 10/10 5944 days 46%
Rhys Howell 6/10 6135 days 40%
Ben 9/10 6172 days 46%
Vikki 10/10 6177 days 46%
Kelly Noirin 8/10 6188 days 45%
Ohad 9/10 6194 days 46%
Trinkler 9/10 6194 days 46%
Nancy Dol 9/10 6198 days 46%
George Clark 7/10 6198 days 43%
Kathy Hawey 8/10 6200 days 45%
Myrtille de Vries 9/10 6205 days 46%
Buys 9/10 6206 days 46%
Haemnerli 8/10 6206 days 45%
Vaclaf 9/10 6212 days 46%
Jenny Hulsebosch 9/10 6229 days 46%
Willemien 8/10 6293 days 45%
Vern 7/10 6403 days 43%
James 8/10 6403 days 45%
Rietveld 8/10 6559 days 45%
Janne 8/10 6571 days 45%
Nina 3/10 6573 days 25%
Inga 4/10 6573 days 30%

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 Swim with the Dolphins experience has plenty of reviews and does not meet the criteria for any adjustment.

Recent Reviews Adjustment

-4.15% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 53 days. However the Swim with the Dolphins 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 Swim with the Dolphins experience has been adjusted for 200 days. Adjustments are according to the following table.

Days Adjustment
197 -4.09%
198 -4.11%
199 -4.13%
200 -4.15%
201 -4.17%
202 -4.19%
203 -4.21%

Balancing Adjustment

3.97% 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.