Ranking Score Explained

Hi, 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

87.90%

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 2749 days 100%
Thomas Klinting 10/10 2803 days 97%
Franz Mesey 9/10 2818 days 95%
Judit Van lanen 10/10 2836 days 94%
Jack Robinson 8/10 2874 days 90%
Mikulas and Dominika 8/10 2896 days 89%
Elizabeth Braidotti 10/10 2946 days 87%
Craig Forsyth 10/10 3063 days 80%
Lea Behnem 10/10 3136 days 75%
Nicolas Justin 7/10 3480 days 49%
Stephanie Piou 8/10 3480 days 52%
Alex 9/10 3508 days 51%
Devan Sheppard 10/10 3577 days 47%
Nina Coopmans 7/10 4189 days 7%
Katherine 10/10 4213 days 6%
Lieven De Vlaminck 9/10 4219 days 6%
Andy 10/10 4310 days 0%
Ron 9/10 4314 days 0%
Bart Slingerland 9/10 4569 days 28%
Birds Tubbs 10/10 4570 days 28%
Malena 10/10 4585 days 28%
Schael 10/10 4589 days 28%
Ryan Pynappels 9/10 4596 days 28%
Tobias Forst 8/10 4677 days 28%
Sarah and Soren 9/10 4682 days 28%
Alberto Redner 10/10 4692 days 28%
Dozza 10/10 4737 days 28%
Sarah James 10/10 4919 days 28%
Nick Taylor 10/10 4919 days 28%
Laurent P 10/10 4923 days 28%
Paap 8/10 4956 days 28%
Wouter Jansen 8/10 4956 days 28%
Luise Jaeger 3/10 4969 days 14%
Steff 9/10 4971 days 28%
wannaraft 10/10 4979 days 28%
elpo 6/10 5224 days 24%
kempt 8/10 5255 days 28%
Andy 8/10 5306 days 28%
Sam Bishop 10/10 5316 days 28%
Kay Beaumont 10/10 5318 days 28%
Johan 10/10 5326 days 28%
Jakob Pedersen 7/10 5326 days 26%
Jens van Evp 9/10 5340 days 28%
Max Van der Zalm 8/10 5340 days 28%
Carolina Gonzalez 8/10 5342 days 28%
Kasper 9/10 5342 days 28%
Chance McGuire 10/10 5344 days 28%
katesc 9/10 5395 days 28%
rosalindm 9/10 5400 days 28%
jennyb 9/10 5404 days 28%
Thomas Willi 10/10 5416 days 28%
Jess Pasos 10/10 5425 days 28%
Nikki Turner 8/10 5571 days 28%
Sejna 8/10 5592 days 28%
michellew 10/10 5598 days 28%
erikholland 8/10 5651 days 28%
mariea 9/10 5662 days 28%
Krapels 9/10 5674 days 28%
Halley 5/10 5681 days 21%
Katie 10/10 5699 days 28%
Ian S 8/10 5700 days 28%
Debbie 7/10 5701 days 26%
Daniel 8/10 5709 days 28%
Kristy825 10/10 5713 days 28%
Limor 6/10 5722 days 24%
Prentner 6/10 5731 days 24%
Sonja 9/10 5755 days 28%
Bronagh Mcartan 9/10 5899 days 28%
Tim 10/10 5923 days 28%
Brent Scanlan 10/10 5992 days 28%
Meike Biel 10/10 6000 days 28%
Hendrik 6/10 6042 days 24%
Sabrina 8/10 6042 days 28%
Peter Aston 5/10 6042 days 21%
helga 9/10 6044 days 28%
Janne 8/10 6054 days 28%
Melissa Steedman 9/10 6089 days 28%
gemma1 6/10 6094 days 24%
Francesco 8/10 6124 days 28%
Jim&Rachel 9/10 6207 days 28%
MarkReid 10/10 6340 days 28%
HalRoberts 8/10 6362 days 28%
David 9/10 6371 days 28%
Justin 8/10 6371 days 28%
Alex 8/10 6378 days 28%
Hilary 7/10 6387 days 26%
Roran 7/10 6397 days 26%
Nina 10/10 6422 days 28%
Inga 9/10 6422 days 28%
Italy 8/10 6422 days 28%
Nina 8/10 6422 days 28%
Helen 7/10 6422 days 26%
JuanPablo 7/10 6439 days 26%

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

-3.03% Adjustment

There may be an adjustment if this experience hasn't received any reviews within the last 75 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 -2.98%
198 -3.00%
199 -3.01%
200 -3.03%
201 -3.04%
202 -3.06%
203 -3.07%

Balancing Adjustment

1.85% 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

87%

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.