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

87.51%

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 3258 days 100%
Thomas Klinting 10/10 3312 days 94%
Franz Mesey 9/10 3326 days 91%
Judit Van lanen 10/10 3345 days 90%
Jack Robinson 8/10 3383 days 83%
Mikulas and Dominika 8/10 3405 days 80%
Elizabeth Braidotti 10/10 3455 days 77%
Craig Forsyth 10/10 3571 days 63%
Lea Behnem 10/10 3645 days 54%
Nicolas Justin 7/10 3989 days 10%
Stephanie Piou 8/10 3989 days 12%
Alex 9/10 4017 days 10%
Devan Sheppard 10/10 4086 days 2%
Nina Coopmans 7/10 4698 days 23%
Katherine 10/10 4722 days 28%
Lieven De Vlaminck 9/10 4728 days 27%
Andy 10/10 4819 days 28%
Ron 9/10 4823 days 27%
Bart Slingerland 9/10 5078 days 27%
Birds Tubbs 10/10 5079 days 28%
Malena 10/10 5094 days 28%
Schael 10/10 5098 days 28%
Ryan Pynappels 9/10 5105 days 27%
Tobias Forst 8/10 5186 days 26%
Sarah and Soren 9/10 5191 days 27%
Alberto Redner 10/10 5201 days 28%
Dozza 10/10 5246 days 28%
Sarah James 10/10 5428 days 28%
Nick Taylor 10/10 5428 days 28%
Laurent P 10/10 5432 days 28%
Paap 8/10 5465 days 26%
Wouter Jansen 8/10 5465 days 26%
Luise Jaeger 3/10 5478 days 0%
Steff 9/10 5480 days 27%
wannaraft 10/10 5488 days 28%
elpo 6/10 5733 days 19%
kempt 8/10 5764 days 26%
Andy 8/10 5815 days 26%
Sam Bishop 10/10 5825 days 28%
Kay Beaumont 10/10 5827 days 28%
Johan 10/10 5835 days 28%
Jakob Pedersen 7/10 5835 days 23%
Jens van Evp 9/10 5849 days 27%
Max Van der Zalm 8/10 5849 days 26%
Carolina Gonzalez 8/10 5851 days 26%
Kasper 9/10 5851 days 27%
Chance McGuire 10/10 5853 days 28%
katesc 9/10 5904 days 27%
rosalindm 9/10 5909 days 27%
jennyb 9/10 5913 days 27%
Thomas Willi 10/10 5925 days 28%
Jess Pasos 10/10 5934 days 28%
Nikki Turner 8/10 6080 days 26%
Sejna 8/10 6101 days 26%
michellew 10/10 6107 days 28%
erikholland 8/10 6160 days 26%
mariea 9/10 6171 days 27%
Krapels 9/10 6183 days 27%
Halley 5/10 6189 days 13%
Katie 10/10 6207 days 28%
Ian S 8/10 6208 days 26%
Debbie 7/10 6209 days 23%
Daniel 8/10 6218 days 26%
Kristy825 10/10 6222 days 28%
Limor 6/10 6230 days 19%
Prentner 6/10 6239 days 19%
Sonja 9/10 6264 days 27%
Bronagh Mcartan 9/10 6407 days 27%
Tim 10/10 6431 days 28%
Brent Scanlan 10/10 6501 days 28%
Meike Biel 10/10 6509 days 28%
Hendrik 6/10 6551 days 19%
Sabrina 8/10 6551 days 26%
Peter Aston 5/10 6551 days 13%
helga 9/10 6552 days 27%
Janne 8/10 6562 days 26%
Melissa Steedman 9/10 6598 days 27%
gemma1 6/10 6603 days 19%
Francesco 8/10 6633 days 26%
Jim&Rachel 9/10 6716 days 27%
MarkReid 10/10 6849 days 28%
HalRoberts 8/10 6871 days 26%
David 9/10 6880 days 27%
Justin 8/10 6880 days 26%
Alex 8/10 6887 days 26%
Hilary 7/10 6896 days 23%
Roran 7/10 6906 days 23%
Nina 10/10 6931 days 28%
Inga 9/10 6931 days 27%
Italy 8/10 6931 days 26%
Nina 8/10 6931 days 26%
Helen 7/10 6931 days 23%
JuanPablo 7/10 6948 days 23%

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

-4.15% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 51 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 -4.09%
198 -4.11%
199 -4.13%
200 -4.15%
201 -4.18%
202 -4.20%
203 -4.22%

Balancing Adjustment

2.17% 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.