Your top questions about Airbnb Search

Lizzie · ‎21-09-2017

Hello everyone,

One of the most popular discussion topics here in the Community Center is on how Airbnb Search works. We brought your most-asked questions to the Airbnb Search team and have gathered the answers for you.

I really hope you find the responses helpful. To read the responses to each question, please click on the 'Read more' buttons! 🙂

Lizzie

Answers to your top Search questions

You’ve created and published a fabulous listing and now your friends and family want to check it out. How do they find it? And among all the listings out there, how does the Airbnb algorithm decide which ones to show a traveler searching in your area? As we hear questions from hosts, two basic categories of questions emerge: What affects a listing’s ranking, and how can I find my listing online? So we took your most asked questions to the Airbnb Search team and have gathered the answers for you. Let’s dive in.

1. On search ranking, and how to improve yours:

What factors affect my listing’s placement in search results?

That’s a great question. We have an algorithm that looks at over 100 signals to decide how to order listings in search results. Most of those signals have to do with things that guests care about, like positive reviews and great photos. If you think guests might care about it, it probably factors into your ranking! The reason is this: you’re most likely to get a booking request (or be instantly booked) if a traveler finds the type of place they’re looking for right away. We get a lot of information from the traveler about what they want for then show them listings that match their needs most closely.

Not every signal is weighed equally, and you don’t need to have a perfect listing or an unbeatable location for your listing to rank well. But there are some really influential signals that make a difference. Some of those include: how often guests click on your listing in search results, how often guests attempt to contact you from your listing page, how many booking requests you accept, if you use Instant Book, and how competitive your listing price is.

That’s a great question. We have an algorithm that looks at over 100 signals to decide how to order listings in search results. Most of those signals have to do with things that guests care about, like positive reviews and great photos. If you think guests might care about it, it probably factors into your ranking! The reason is this: you’re most likely to get a booking request (or be instantly booked) if a traveler finds the type of place they’re looking for right away. We get a lot of information from the traveler about what they want for then show them listings that match their needs most closely. Not every signal is weighed equally, and you don’t need to have a perfect listing or an unbeatable location for your listing to rank well. But there are some really influential signals that make a difference. Some of those include: how often guests click on your listing in search results, how often guests attempt to contact you from your listing page, how many booking requests you accept, if you use Instant Book, and how competitive your listing price is.

Why are listings with Instant Book prioritised ahead of other listings in the search results?

The main goal of the search algorithm is to facilitate bookings. And if a guest has an excellent experience booking and traveling on Airbnb they’re highly likely to use Airbnb again in the future. This helps travelers and hosts alike. We’ve seen for many years that—all other things being equal—travelers prefer to use Instant Book because they can book quickly, skip the wait time for hosts to respond, and avoid possibly being rejected. Because of the high booking success for hosts and guests, Instant Book gives your listing a boost in searches.

That said, many of you have amazing listings and use a Request to Book approach to hosting. It’s important that you know Instant Book is only one of more than a hundred factors in your listing search ranking. You can absolutely rank really well in searches without being an Instant Book host.

The main goal of the search algorithm is to facilitate bookings. And if a guest has an excellent experience booking and traveling on Airbnb they’re highly likely to use Airbnb again in the future. This helps travelers and hosts alike. We’ve seen for many years that—all other things being equal—travelers prefer to use Instant Book because they can book quickly, skip the wait time for hosts to respond, and avoid possibly being rejected. Because of the high booking success for hosts and guests, Instant Book gives your listing a boost in searches. That said, many of you have amazing listings and use a Request to Book approach to hosting. It’s important that you know Instant Book is only one of more than a hundred factors in your listing search ranking. You can absolutely rank really well in searches without being an Instant Book host.

If I’m a Superhost, will my listing get a boost in search results?

Although we don't give an explicit boost to Superhosts in search, the factors required to become a Superhost do help your listing rank higher. Moreover, we give guests the option to filter their search results to only display Superhosts and occasionally showcase Superhosts on the results page.

How can I improve my listing ranking in search results? Are there any settings I can adopt to help my ranking?

The best way to immediately improve performance in Search is to enable Instant Book. Our research shows that guests prefer the booking experience that Instant Book provides. Even when they don’t filter for Instant Book listings, they often choose them over others because booking a place to stay quickly means they can get on with planning the rest of their trip. Other ways to quickly boost your ranking:

Make a fabulous first impression. Make sure that your first photo is a bright, attractive, high quality, horizontal image of your listing. The more clicks you get from curious travelers, the higher you’ll rank in search results over time. An enticing and realistic photo is the very best way to show off your space in an instant.
Price your listing competitively. Travelers are frequently looking for a great value for their trip, and by using tools like Smart Pricing, or setting your own competitive price, you can get the benefit of well informed pricing recommendations.

The best way to immediately improve performance in Search is to enable Instant Book. Our research shows that guests prefer the booking experience that Instant Book provides. Even when they don’t filter for Instant Book listings, they often choose them over others because booking a place to stay quickly means they can get on with planning the rest of their trip. Other ways to quickly boost your ranking: Make a fabulous first impression. Make sure that your first photo is a bright, attractive, high quality, horizontal image of your listing. The more clicks you get from curious travelers, the higher you’ll rank in search results over time. An enticing and realistic photo is the very best way to show off your space in an instant. Price your listing competitively. Travelers are frequently looking for a great value for their trip, and by using tools like Smart Pricing, or setting your own competitive price, you can get the benefit of well informed pricing recommendations.

Is it true that if guests add my listing to their wishlists, my listing will get a little boost in the search results?

Yes! When travelers add your listing to their wishlist, it does indeed help your search ranking! One individual wishlist may not make a visible difference but over several months, if many guests love your listing and choose to wishlist it, it will rank higher. We also use listings that guests wishlist to better personalize their search experience, so they’ll be likely to see your listing again in future searches.

Is it true that editing and tweaking my listing every day will help boost my listing in Search?

Repeatedly changing or tweaking your listing will neither help nor hurt your Search Ranking. If you’re happy with your photos, price, and description, feel free to leave it as is and wait for booking requests to arrive!

Can I pay to advertise my listing so it appears on more search results?

Airbnb does not offer pay-for-placement in Search. This allows us to generate impartial search results for the best matches between hosts and guests. But you can advertise, if you like. We’ve made it easy for you to find, copy, and paste the information needed to embed your listing on social media and your personal blog or website: On your listing page, you’ll see “Share” on the right hand side of the screen. Underneath that, you’ll see the embed icon. It looks like this: </>. If you click that icon, you’ll see the information you need to easily copy and paste your listings code on your personal blog or website.

Why am I on the last page on search? This way no one will ever book my listing?

It’s important to know that some searches, for example city-level with no dates, are not highly representative of how a traveler looking to book uses the website. Some of those searches can capture many tens of thousands of listings. Travelers that book tend to use specific dates, zoom in on the map, or look for certain amenities using filters. So there will be far fewer listings in the search results than with a general search with no preferences or filters.

If I have to decline a booking because a guest doesn’t meet my House Rules, does this impact my search ranking?

Because being rejected for a booking is one of the worst experiences for our guests, we do factor this into Search Ranking. However, we understand that sometimes you legitimately need to decline a traveler, and we take that into account. We’re most interested in how you compare to other hosts, rather than just counting your rejections.

A single rejection will not significantly hurt your ranking, but over time, rejecting more guests than other hosts in your market will lower your ranking. We find that a large majority of our hosts are able to accept most booking requests, and our best Request-to-Book hosts accept almost all of them. You can help travelers know if they should try to book your space by writing clear, detailed House Rules and keeping your calendar up to date. Make sure your settings and amenities lists also set accurate expectations.

Because being rejected for a booking is one of the worst experiences for our guests, we do factor this into Search Ranking. However, we understand that sometimes you legitimately need to decline a traveler, and we take that into account. We’re most interested in how you compare to other hosts, rather than just counting your rejections. A single rejection will not significantly hurt your ranking, but over time, rejecting more guests than other hosts in your market will lower your ranking. We find that a large majority of our hosts are able to accept most booking requests, and our best Request-to-Book hosts accept almost all of them. You can help travelers know if they should try to book your space by writing clear, detailed House Rules and keeping your calendar up to date. Make sure your settings and amenities lists also set accurate expectations.

2. On finding your listing online

I just created my listing and it appears as published on my profile, but when I search for it I can't find it. If other people search for it, they can't find it either. Why is that?

There is usually a delay of around 6 hours between the time you publish a listing and when it shows up in search results. This gives you time to make final changes to your listing settings before receiving your first booking request. It also gives Airbnb time to ensure every new listing is suitable for the marketplace. If you don’t see your listing within 24 hours, you can contact customer support to find out why.

I haven't received a new booking in awhile, so I searched for my listing and asked a friend to search for it too. Neither of us could find it, and it’s not showing up even when I add specific details and filters. What can I do?

If your listing is in a popular market with numerous listings, it may be necessary to apply several filters to show your listing. Don’t worry, this is how travelers search and they’ll be able to find your listing too! We recommend using dates on your search, and checking that they match your calendar availability and minimum nights settings.

A common reason Instant Book hosts (or their friends) may not see their listing is that they’ve chosen to require a guest have positive reviews in order to make a book their space. If you’ve chosen this requirement, it means your listing will show up as a Request to Book, not an Instant Book, listing for logged out users or new guests if the Instant Book filter is applied. This is because a logged out or new traveler will not be eligible to instantly book your place.

If your listing is in a popular market with numerous listings, it may be necessary to apply several filters to show your listing. Don’t worry, this is how travelers search and they’ll be able to find your listing too! We recommend using dates on your search, and checking that they match your calendar availability and minimum nights settings. A common reason Instant Book hosts (or their friends) may not see their listing is that they’ve chosen to require a guest have positive reviews in order to make a book their space. If you’ve chosen this requirement, it means your listing will show up as a Request to Book, not an Instant Book, listing for logged out users or new guests if the Instant Book filter is applied. This is because a logged out or new traveler will not be eligible to instantly book your place.

I can’t find my listing. Does it make a difference if I’m logged in or logged out?

Most listings on Airbnb should show up in searches regardless of whether you’re logged in or not, although the ranking may appear different. This is because Airbnb search is personalized, and when a traveler logs in we have more information to better match them with listings. One exception to this is for hosts who allow Instant Book but have chosen to require that guests have positive reviews. In this case, if the Instant Book filter is applied, your listing would not show up to travelers who are logged out. This is because we can’t tell if a logged out visitor to the site has reviews.

I can see the listing appearing on the map in the Airbnb app, but when I go to view the same listing (with the same filters) in the desktop version, it isn't appearing. Why is this?

Airbnb Search is personalized to help travelers find the best listings for their trip. Part of that involves looking at the device and location they’re searching from. This means that you may experience a different ranking of listings on different devices.

I have Instant Book activated, but my listing doesn't come up in the results. Isn't Instant Book supposed to boost my listing on search results?

Instant Book does give you a boost, but it sounds like there may be another reason you’re not seeing your listing in the results. Make sure that your search criteria match the settings and requirements you’ve established. Anything from minimum nights requirement to date range, number of guests or not having reviews can hinder you from seeing your listing in a search. And of course, if you require guests have previous ratings, then it may be that you haven’t traveled on Airbnb yourself or that you’re not logged in as a guest.

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?

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.

The most important thing is this: you’re a unique host who offers a one-of-a-kind experience, because you’re you and your space isn’t like any other. We hope these tips and answers help you understand the sometimes complicated nature of matching unique travelers with hosts. Focus on what you do best, play up your strengths, and don’t worry about showing up first in search.

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Elizabeth2308 · ‎24-03-2022

Very helpful Q&A. Thank you for that. One thing that concerns me on Airbnb is when the host is "forced" and potentially penalized for rejecting a trip request that does not meet the requirements for booking in the first place. "A single rejection will not significantly hurt your ranking, but over time, rejecting more guests than other hosts in your market will lower your ranking." I've had many guests without their identity verified or previous reviews, two of my prerequisites for booking, send me a trip request instead of an inquiry. I am then "forced" to decline which over time can and will potentially hurt my ranking. The system should flag guests that do not meet the requirements and have them send an inquiry first before a formal trip request.

Jann3 · ‎16-10-2017

This is a great FAQ @Lizzie, thank you!

HOWEVER, I am really upset by the barrage of tools and bonuses (search placement & extra host filters) given to "Instant Book." AirBnB says - and indeed it may be true - that Instant Book is preferred by guests...but what many hosts have found is that the calibre of those guests are generally much lower than the general AirBnB user.

The more AirBnB tries to be Travelocity/Expedia, etc, the more the guest will require/expect the things that hotels provide - and that helps no one on this service!

Jann

Michelle617 · ‎17-10-2017

I totally agree with Jann and after a few bad experiences with instant booking I have to take a chance on the other approach. I, too, wish that Airbnb doesn't give so much priority to instant booking and push hosts less to use that fiture. Guests suffer as well if they book fast not even realizing they do it and lots of times not getting a chance to read everything and get their additional answers from hosts. Later dealing with the resulting cancelations takes time and lowers host's grades if not getting the guest to cancel herself or himself.

Ocean0 · ‎21-10-2017

I totally agree!!!

Estelle8 · ‎21-10-2017

Thank you for that message. I don't use Instant Book, either. My place is not a hotel; it is a home and sometimes the guests and I are not mutually compatible. Plus, I've noticed that many people don't read the House Rules, so I few e-mails back and forth help create a mutually positive experience.

Tineke1 · ‎22-10-2017

I could not agree more!!!

Tracy131 · ‎22-10-2017

Hi Estelle,

Your are so right, I totally agree. Hotels dont ask questions becasue they dont care who is staying there. We care becasue its our home which is the whole point of Airbnb!

Tracy

Nannette2 · ‎22-10-2017

I agree completely, with regard to Instant Booking! It seems like a great option for some; but I don't want to be pressured to do it. I've been hosting almost 6 years and have never had to cancel a reservation! This despite being a full-time teacher, with several part-time jobs. No, we are not a hotel. I absolutely LOVE hosting, but I need it to work around my life, not vice-versa. There are days when I can accept a very late request, and have the room ready within an hour. But there are some weeks, when I simply can't accept a guest without at least several days notice. Having just started renting an additional space that is self-contained suite with a separate entrance and separate bath, I can see that I may eventually be able to use Instant Booking there, because it doesn't require coordinating with the rest of my house. But even that scenario will require that I am able to pop in and clean (or have someone else pop in and clean), on very short notice. I wish that Instant Booking could be "just another option", like offering breakfast. For the hosts that want to include it? Great! For those of us who need more control of when guest enter our house, we should not be pressured.

Barbara717 · ‎22-10-2017

I'm glad to read that many other hosts do not use Instant Book. I agree with many of the comments. AirBNB, please don't pressure us to use it.

Rebecca4 · ‎23-10-2017

From some of the comments, you may not be aware that you can set your Instant Book requirements to allow up to 7 days notice. So you wouldn't have to worry about Instant Book guests coming the same day and causng stress for you!

I've been doing Instant Book since it came out and have never had a problem with the guests. If you set your requirements to at least one day in advance you can exchange messages. If the guest is unresponsive, you can cancel if you don't want to host someone who is uncommunicative (try to call him/her before canceling, however, as they may not have Internet access).

Air-Plus-Concierge0 · ‎23-10-2017

WHY DOES'NT AIRBNB KICK OFF PEOPLE WHO POST LISTING MULTIPLE TIMES AND THEY CORNER THE MARKET WITH DIFFERENT PRICES??? THIS IS A HUGE PROBLEM FOR ME AND OTHER PEOPLE IN MY AREA......I SUGGEST PEOPLE SHOULD LOOK AT YOUR COMPETITION AND SEE PICS OF SAME POSTING BUT PUT IN DIFFERENT ORDER.........ALSO YOU MIGHT ASK HOW?? I WON'T DIVULGE THAT INFORMATION BUT AIRBNB NOW KNOWS AND THEY BETTER DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT................THERE COULD BE LEGAL RAMIFICATIONS!!

Solange22 · ‎24-10-2017

I totally agree with Rebecca, I have been using instant booking for a year now and clearly show in my calendar that there are days between the bookings for preparing the space. The instant booking helps me get more stays/guests. I like it.

Milena78 · ‎26-10-2017

I have an impression that Rebecca missed the key point in the other comments.

This is not the prospect of the guest coming in on short notice.
The biggest issue of the concern from us being hosts is the match of the personality between the host and the guest.

If this is separate property when there is no interaction - no problem I guess.
But the real issue is that many of us run the Airbnb hosting in inseparable part of our house/apartment etc.

And the early communication before making the booking is crucial for the great experience on both sides.

For me, the Airbnb is not only about the income but in huge part about the interaction.

So AIRBNB, please, change the search algorithms and use "Instant Booking" just as another filter option without giving it so high priority.

Happy hosting and happy travelling to all involved

Milena

Kaye17 · ‎28-10-2017

When I joined Airbnb, they suggested blocking out the day either side ofmthe actual booking, which gives you time to get the house or room prepared, and looking good without the stress. It works for me as I have to get in cleaners who need the extra day to do everything. And also time to get all the laundry done.v

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