Ranking Score Explained

Kia ora, 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

81.14%

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 3279 days 56%
Ben Blackwell 8/10 3293 days 100%
mathieu boustie 5/10 3390 days 61%
Mattias 7/10 4001 days 10%
Arnaud Memay 7/10 4082 days 0%
Susser 8/10 4082 days 2%
Samuel Fritscher 9/10 4390 days 29%
Fabian and Teresa 10/10 4416 days 30%
Joroen Borkert 7/10 4472 days 25%
Faassen 8/10 4493 days 28%
Ben Simons 9/10 4756 days 29%
Martin Beuker 4/10 4766 days 7%
Romla 8/10 4767 days 28%
Marie Dutron 8/10 4770 days 28%
Preben vil Helmsen 10/10 4772 days 30%
Rick & Suus 8/10 4773 days 28%
Nora 9/10 4773 days 29%
Barry Baily 9/10 4773 days 29%
Christiane & Dirk 8/10 4774 days 28%
Scott Simpson 5/10 4777 days 14%
Wolfgang Beute 8/10 4777 days 28%
batzi 3/10 4881 days 0%
bow 3/10 5034 days 0%
Nick van de Belt 9/10 5103 days 29%
Patrick Gloede 9/10 5109 days 29%
Stoop 9/10 5112 days 29%
Siegfried Tuiel 10/10 5115 days 30%
Laura Leigh 6/10 5119 days 21%
John Taylor 7/10 5125 days 25%
Jon_and_Family 7/10 5126 days 25%
Marjan Van Den Braak 4/10 5127 days 7%
Wouter Teensma 8/10 5130 days 28%
Ann Parry 10/10 5130 days 30%
Rob 8/10 5141 days 28%
Alan & Gill Geach 7/10 5148 days 25%
Sarah Ewing 9/10 5151 days 29%
John N 8/10 5485 days 28%
Elisabeth Egerup 10/10 5498 days 30%
Wielink 8/10 5499 days 28%
Pierre Pilon 9/10 5499 days 29%
Pascal Auber 8/10 5505 days 28%
Lamb 9/10 5518 days 29%
Tonny 8/10 5518 days 28%
Dawn Campbell 10/10 5550 days 30%
guichard 7/10 5570 days 25%
HairyHaggis 10/10 5581 days 30%
katepat 10/10 5581 days 30%
Colin S 10/10 5589 days 30%
Ulyate 6/10 5592 days 21%
Alex D'Souza 7/10 5642 days 25%
Patrick 9/10 5672 days 29%
billdee 10/10 5703 days 30%
EvertG 8/10 5806 days 28%
KatrinK 10/10 5818 days 30%
David 8/10 5825 days 28%
neeltjec 9/10 5825 days 29%
monikav 10/10 5825 days 30%
Martien van Brakel 9/10 5825 days 29%
kymberlyw 9/10 5826 days 29%
Katy1 8/10 5827 days 28%
Anneleen 8/10 5855 days 28%
RosC 6/10 5860 days 21%
Simon 9/10 5874 days 29%
Gunhild 9/10 5889 days 29%
Lars 10/10 5892 days 30%
Miha 7/10 5929 days 25%
Ana 7/10 5937 days 25%
Cindy 9/10 5938 days 29%
Mark 9/10 5956 days 29%
Stephanie Schikora 10/10 5968 days 30%
Rhys Howell 6/10 6159 days 21%
Ben 9/10 6196 days 29%
Vikki 10/10 6201 days 30%
Kelly Noirin 8/10 6212 days 28%
Ohad 9/10 6218 days 29%
Trinkler 9/10 6218 days 29%
Nancy Dol 9/10 6222 days 29%
George Clark 7/10 6222 days 25%
Kathy Hawey 8/10 6224 days 28%
Myrtille de Vries 9/10 6229 days 29%
Buys 9/10 6230 days 29%
Haemnerli 8/10 6230 days 28%
Vaclaf 9/10 6236 days 29%
Jenny Hulsebosch 9/10 6253 days 29%
Willemien 8/10 6317 days 28%
Vern 7/10 6427 days 25%
James 8/10 6427 days 28%
Rietveld 8/10 6583 days 28%
Janne 8/10 6595 days 28%
Nina 3/10 6597 days 0%
Inga 4/10 6597 days 7%

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

-4.01% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 57 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 -3.95%
198 -3.97%
199 -3.99%
200 -4.01%
201 -4.03%
202 -4.05%
203 -4.07%

Balancing Adjustment

3.87% 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.