What are your questions on how Airbnb search works?

[Lizzie]

Hello everyone,

I imagine many of you in the past have explored this detailed Q&A, where we asked the team behind Airbnb Search some of the most popular questions from the Community Center. We would like to go back to the team and ask them some more recent question on how Airbnb's search function works.

We will be including some frequently asked questions we have spotted, but we also wanted to check if you have any general search questions you would like them to answer.  

What do you want to know about how Airbnb's search function works?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,
Lizzie

[Paula920]

Sometimes my listings search for people (friends) who try it, sometimes they don't at all.  Do you have tips for making sure my 4 listings (all in the same house) search well? 

Also, I would rather have my place seen in search for the attractions nearby, not for my postal zip code town, which I am far from.  Is there a way to let people know right in the initial search results (not inside my explanations and descriptions) that I am near the major attraction, not in the town? 

[Anonymous]

@Lizzie  The questions I would like to pose are:

1.  Why can't guests filter a search by Keyword, when so many far less useful Amenity filters are available? There is currently no search function that empowers guests to find listings based on their passions, cultural identity, or a broad range of vital needs - and all it would take is the ability to look up one word to make Airbnb Search so much more usable for them. And in fact it would address many of the questions already posted here.

2. When will Airbnb roll out better search tools for rural listings? The "Search as I move map" tool works great for inner-city locations, but if there's a big city in the middle of your search radius and you just want a quiet cabin in the woods, it's really hard to find a suitable rural property. This is especially noticeable for urban guests looking to use Airbnb for a countryside getaway in their own region. And the many great rural hosts using this forum will surely have some insights into what brings guests their way that perhaps didn't come up in the board meetings in San Francisco!

[Helen427]

@Lizzie @Anonymous @Paula920 @Kaya2 @Lydia94 @everyone-else

Well said in regards to using Keywords!

As an aside, A mature aged Professional Business owner friend & I were scanning through the site over the weekend & he struggled to get his head around the search engine system.

He would prefer to be able to see a better system in place to filter Private Rooms in a home with the number of people one may be sharing with to that of say a group of say younger people who are sharing say mixed flatting/ housemate type of arrangements.

He been more mature said he'd prefer to live with older people because of his persoanl situation - maybe they could include a flexible option of incluidng an age option

[Alon1]

@Anonymous 

re. Keywords.

I recall in the first couple of years I was hosting Keyword was part of the Airbnb search.

I used to give my name as one keyword to find my listing.

I did this predominantly on other websites SpareRoom.& EasyRoommate.

When Keyword was terminated I switched to giving links.

The most recent explanation I can find is in the thread initiated by Lizzie in September 2017.

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Your-top-questions-about-Airbnb-Search/m-p/509644  

I can’t find my listing when I search for its title. Why doesn’t Airbnb have keyword search? Will it be implemented in the future?

Lire plus

Keyword search, and especially free-text search, is extremely technically challenging, but an exciting product to build! Rest assured that we have an excellent team that is always investigating how to improve the search experience, and we hope that changes like these will make it into the product in coming years.

[Anonymous]

@Alon1  Thanks for the link! Yes it's clear that Airbnb's developers find keyword search extremely challenging, because they already have it implemented in the Help Center and Community Center, and it doesn't work very well. But it's telling that they created special search filters like "ski-in / ski out" and  "yurt," while options that don't directly pertain to the physical property aren't available. 

[Lydia94]

Thanks Helen, I never think about the age of a guest in my home in Cleveland with 8 bedrooms, but I try to make sure my guests are match, but Airbnb makes it very difficult for a host because if a host declined a guest, the host has to pay the penalty, because Airbnb is losing money. It is all about airbnb and not the guests or the hosts.  Also if a guest is already in the home and the guest and I as the host wish to change rooms, this is still not  possible, even so I am asking for many years to make it possible. 

With all the computer experts Airbnb has on there payroll. 

Let's hope for the best that someone at Airbnb is waking up soon. 

Lydia 

[Anonymous]

@Lydia94  One feature that could be added to Resolutions without a big overhaul is "Transfer Booking" - if both parties agree, move a reservation from one listing to another, so that the fees and reviews are accurately represented. Seems to me that this is worth a spearate thread, though, since this one is specifically about the Search feature.

[Alon1]

@Anonymous 

re. "Transfer Bookings"

I'm confused by your comment, given the option in 'Change or Cancel Reservation'

The Change option reads:

Change reservation

Change travel dates, number of guests, listing, or price.

I can readily do this between the several rooms listed in my home, and do so whenever the need arises. The Review then is for the new listing chosen following the alteration.

I assume Hosts with multiple properties can do the same.

Therefore, I wonder if you mean something else?

.

.

[Lydia94]

I totally agree and I am asking for it for the last 5 years. I understand it only important for hosts with more than one room and I am sure I am not the only host with more than one room in the home. Last year I had the worst time with my calendar because I had 3 guests haven open heart surgery and the guests where booked for the second floor but needed to be on the first floor with no stairs. I can not explain the hell I went throw with my calendar and the mony I lost. But the comfort of my guests are more important to me than the money. Not like airbnb the money is more important. Let's hope something will be done. 

[Kadir5]

Hello, I want to start to work as Tour Guide in my country, North Macedonia but I couldn’t find an application in the app. Can you help me ?

[Mark116]

@Lizzie   I'd also be interested in a definitive answer on whether cleaning fees and strict cancellation policies negative affect the placement of a listing in the search results.  Also, whether or not smart pricing affects the search results. 

[Lizzie]

Hello @Mark116, @Kadir5, @Anonymous, @Alon1, @Lydia94, @Elena87, @Ann72, @Sarah977, @Alice595, @Julieanna0, @Inna22, @Branka-and-Silvia0, @Helen427, @Anne1036, @Darren61, @Susan17, @Kaya2, @Paula920,

Thank you again for all your search questions. I gathered all of them up and sent them over to the team. I have to say it was quite a list that we had in the end and a great range.

Thanks for spending the time to share them here and I'll let you know when we have some answers back. 🙂

Enjoy your weekend. 

Lizzie

[Lilly28]

@Lizzie 

As I was not marked by you - I dare repeat my question on search. I think it is important to distinguish between Free parking - on the street, in a yard or in a garage cage. When travelers want to keep much luggage in the car or when the car is expensive - it is important for them to know What exactly Free parking means. 

[Fiona243]

My main question on how the Airbnb search works is "how does the Airbnb search work?". I would like to see the search algorithm written out in English, with all the parameters that are taken into consideration, the priority given to each parameter, how parameters are combined, etc. In short, a full specification of the search algorithm (which I assume must exist, otherwise what on earth do the programmers use when writing the code?). Then hosts could understand the impact various parameters have on search ranking and would understand why their listing appears where it does, and which parameters to adjust for SEO.

For example, I can type in the name of my town, max price within £20 of my price, number of guests 3 or 4 (to eliminate listings that only cater to 1 or 2 guests), dates when my listing is available, and my listing is not shown on the map. Instead, listings across the river, in a nearby large city are shown, including some that do not seem to meet the other criteria (in addition to being in the incorrect location). Why this happens is a mystery. A full specification of the search algorithm would help me to understand why the parameters I have input seem to have little or no impact on the values returned.

[Alexandra199]

I keep getting pestered by Airbnb to use price tips. I am wondering if my refusal to use this affects my placings on the search list?