Ranking Score Explained

G'day, 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.

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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

80.79%

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 3149 days 67%
Ben Blackwell 8/10 3163 days 100%
mathieu boustie 5/10 3260 days 71%
Mattias 7/10 3871 days 39%
Arnaud Memay 7/10 3952 days 32%
Susser 8/10 3952 days 34%
Samuel Fritscher 9/10 4260 days 9%
Fabian and Teresa 10/10 4286 days 7%
Joroen Borkert 7/10 4342 days 2%
Faassen 8/10 4363 days 0%
Ben Simons 9/10 4626 days 42%
Martin Beuker 4/10 4636 days 27%
Romla 8/10 4637 days 41%
Marie Dutron 8/10 4640 days 41%
Preben vil Helmsen 10/10 4642 days 42%
Rick & Suus 8/10 4643 days 41%
Nora 9/10 4643 days 42%
Barry Baily 9/10 4643 days 42%
Christiane & Dirk 8/10 4644 days 41%
Scott Simpson 5/10 4647 days 32%
Wolfgang Beute 8/10 4647 days 41%
batzi 3/10 4751 days 22%
bow 3/10 4904 days 22%
Nick van de Belt 9/10 4973 days 42%
Patrick Gloede 9/10 4979 days 42%
Stoop 9/10 4982 days 42%
Siegfried Tuiel 10/10 4985 days 42%
Laura Leigh 6/10 4989 days 36%
John Taylor 7/10 4995 days 39%
Jon_and_Family 7/10 4996 days 39%
Marjan Van Den Braak 4/10 4997 days 27%
Wouter Teensma 8/10 5000 days 41%
Ann Parry 10/10 5000 days 42%
Rob 8/10 5011 days 41%
Alan & Gill Geach 7/10 5018 days 39%
Sarah Ewing 9/10 5021 days 42%
John N 8/10 5355 days 41%
Elisabeth Egerup 10/10 5368 days 42%
Wielink 8/10 5369 days 41%
Pierre Pilon 9/10 5369 days 42%
Pascal Auber 8/10 5375 days 41%
Lamb 9/10 5388 days 42%
Tonny 8/10 5388 days 41%
Dawn Campbell 10/10 5420 days 42%
guichard 7/10 5440 days 39%
HairyHaggis 10/10 5451 days 42%
katepat 10/10 5451 days 42%
Colin S 10/10 5459 days 42%
Ulyate 6/10 5462 days 36%
Alex D'Souza 7/10 5512 days 39%
Patrick 9/10 5542 days 42%
billdee 10/10 5573 days 42%
EvertG 8/10 5676 days 41%
KatrinK 10/10 5688 days 42%
David 8/10 5695 days 41%
neeltjec 9/10 5695 days 42%
monikav 10/10 5695 days 42%
Martien van Brakel 9/10 5695 days 42%
kymberlyw 9/10 5696 days 42%
Katy1 8/10 5697 days 41%
Anneleen 8/10 5725 days 41%
RosC 6/10 5730 days 36%
Simon 9/10 5744 days 42%
Gunhild 9/10 5759 days 42%
Lars 10/10 5762 days 42%
Miha 7/10 5799 days 39%
Ana 7/10 5807 days 39%
Cindy 9/10 5808 days 42%
Mark 9/10 5826 days 42%
Stephanie Schikora 10/10 5837 days 42%
Rhys Howell 6/10 6028 days 36%
Ben 9/10 6066 days 42%
Vikki 10/10 6071 days 42%
Kelly Noirin 8/10 6082 days 41%
Ohad 9/10 6088 days 42%
Trinkler 9/10 6088 days 42%
Nancy Dol 9/10 6092 days 42%
George Clark 7/10 6092 days 39%
Kathy Hawey 8/10 6094 days 41%
Myrtille de Vries 9/10 6099 days 42%
Buys 9/10 6100 days 42%
Haemnerli 8/10 6100 days 41%
Vaclaf 9/10 6106 days 42%
Jenny Hulsebosch 9/10 6123 days 42%
Willemien 8/10 6187 days 41%
Vern 7/10 6297 days 39%
James 8/10 6297 days 41%
Rietveld 8/10 6453 days 41%
Janne 8/10 6465 days 41%
Nina 3/10 6467 days 22%
Inga 4/10 6467 days 27%

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

-3.89% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 49 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 -3.84%
198 -3.86%
199 -3.87%
200 -3.89%
201 -3.91%
202 -3.93%
203 -3.95%

Balancing Adjustment

3.95% 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.