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 Waitomo Adventures Ltd.

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

Waitomo Adventures Ltd

Valid Reviews

93 Valid Reviews

The Waitomo Adventures Ltd experience has a total of 94 reviews. There are 93 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 93 valid reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 32
34%
9/10 22
24%
8/10 23
25%
7/10 8
9%
6/10 5
5%
5/10 2
2%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 1
1%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

86.13% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Waitomo Adventures Ltd valid reviews is 86.13% and is based on 93 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

77 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 93 valid reviews, the experience has 77 face-to-face reviews collected during interviews by our team.

Below is the distribution of ratings for the 77 face-to-face reviews:

Rating Count Percentage
10/10 23
30%
9/10 20
26%
8/10 20
26%
7/10 8
10%
6/10 3
4%
5/10 2
3%
4/10 0
0%
3/10 1
1%
2/10 0
0%
1/10 0
0%

85.32% Average

The raw data average (mean) for all the Waitomo Adventures Ltd face-to-face reviews is 85.32% and is based on 77 face-to-face reviews. This value is not used to calculate the ranking score and it only provided here for comparison purposes.

Weighted Average

87.94%

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
Dennis 10/10 2829 days 100%
Thomas Klinting 10/10 2883 days 96%
Franz Mesey 9/10 2897 days 94%
Judit Van lanen 10/10 2916 days 94%
Jack Robinson 8/10 2954 days 90%
Mikulas and Dominika 8/10 2976 days 88%
Elizabeth Braidotti 10/10 3025 days 87%
Craig Forsyth 10/10 3142 days 79%
Lea Behnem 10/10 3216 days 74%
Nicolas Justin 7/10 3560 days 46%
Stephanie Piou 8/10 3560 days 49%
Alex 9/10 3588 days 48%
Devan Sheppard 10/10 3657 days 44%
Nina Coopmans 7/10 4269 days 2%
Katherine 10/10 4293 days 0%
Lieven De Vlaminck 9/10 4299 days 0%
Andy 10/10 4390 days 29%
Ron 9/10 4394 days 29%
Bart Slingerland 9/10 4649 days 29%
Birds Tubbs 10/10 4650 days 29%
Malena 10/10 4665 days 29%
Schael 10/10 4669 days 29%
Ryan Pynappels 9/10 4676 days 29%
Tobias Forst 8/10 4757 days 29%
Sarah and Soren 9/10 4762 days 29%
Alberto Redner 10/10 4772 days 29%
Dozza 10/10 4817 days 29%
Sarah James 10/10 4999 days 29%
Nick Taylor 10/10 4999 days 29%
Laurent P 10/10 5003 days 29%
Paap 8/10 5036 days 29%
Wouter Jansen 8/10 5036 days 29%
Luise Jaeger 3/10 5049 days 13%
Steff 9/10 5051 days 29%
wannaraft 10/10 5059 days 29%
elpo 6/10 5303 days 24%
kempt 8/10 5334 days 29%
Andy 8/10 5386 days 29%
Sam Bishop 10/10 5396 days 29%
Kay Beaumont 10/10 5398 days 29%
Johan 10/10 5406 days 29%
Jakob Pedersen 7/10 5406 days 27%
Jens van Evp 9/10 5420 days 29%
Max Van der Zalm 8/10 5420 days 29%
Carolina Gonzalez 8/10 5422 days 29%
Kasper 9/10 5422 days 29%
Chance McGuire 10/10 5424 days 29%
katesc 9/10 5475 days 29%
rosalindm 9/10 5480 days 29%
jennyb 9/10 5484 days 29%
Thomas Willi 10/10 5496 days 29%
Jess Pasos 10/10 5505 days 29%
Nikki Turner 8/10 5650 days 29%
Sejna 8/10 5671 days 29%
michellew 10/10 5677 days 29%
erikholland 8/10 5730 days 29%
mariea 9/10 5741 days 29%
Krapels 9/10 5754 days 29%
Halley 5/10 5760 days 21%
Katie 10/10 5778 days 29%
Ian S 8/10 5779 days 29%
Debbie 7/10 5780 days 27%
Daniel 8/10 5789 days 29%
Kristy825 10/10 5792 days 29%
Limor 6/10 5801 days 24%
Prentner 6/10 5810 days 24%
Sonja 9/10 5834 days 29%
Bronagh Mcartan 9/10 5978 days 29%
Tim 10/10 6002 days 29%
Brent Scanlan 10/10 6071 days 29%
Meike Biel 10/10 6079 days 29%
Hendrik 6/10 6122 days 24%
Sabrina 8/10 6122 days 29%
Peter Aston 5/10 6122 days 21%
helga 9/10 6123 days 29%
Janne 8/10 6133 days 29%
Melissa Steedman 9/10 6169 days 29%
gemma1 6/10 6173 days 24%
Francesco 8/10 6204 days 29%
Jim&Rachel 9/10 6286 days 29%
MarkReid 10/10 6419 days 29%
HalRoberts 8/10 6441 days 29%
David 9/10 6450 days 29%
Justin 8/10 6450 days 29%
Alex 8/10 6457 days 29%
Hilary 7/10 6466 days 27%
Roran 7/10 6477 days 27%
Nina 10/10 6502 days 29%
Inga 9/10 6502 days 29%
Italy 8/10 6502 days 29%
Nina 8/10 6502 days 29%
Helen 7/10 6502 days 27%
JuanPablo 7/10 6519 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 Waitomo Adventures Ltd 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 Waitomo Adventures Ltd 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 Waitomo Adventures Ltd 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

2.05% 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

86%

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.