Just a heads up...just noticed this change on the Photo Tour...
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Just a heads up...just noticed this change on the Photo Tour. For those Hosts who don't want to use the photo tour, suggest y...
Latest reply
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.
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.
If I’m a Superhost, will my listing get a boost in search results?
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:
Is it true that if guests add my listing to their wishlists, my listing will get a little boost in the search results?
Is it true that editing and tweaking my listing every day will help boost my listing in Search?
Can I pay to advertise my listing so it appears on more search results?
Why am I on the last page on search? This way no one will ever book my listing?
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.
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?
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.
I can’t find my listing. Does it make a difference if I’m logged in or logged out?
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?
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?
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?
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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I agree... I respond (and my AirBnB SHOWS I do) within the hour...My search result priority should be listed the same as InstaBook
Jann
I also respond within the hour. I don't know why some hosts think there is a lot of 'to and fro' going on. When I get a request, if I am open and they state why they are coming and already have established reviews, I confirm immmediately, only a few minutes more than an 'Instant Book' would. Even for first timers, if they are verified and give me basic information like number of guests and reason for wanting to stay with me, I confirm immediately. I am not looking to be fully booked all of the time so I have plenty of requests without Instant Book. All of my guests have been delightful. I provide snacks suited to their tastes that feature my 'foodie' city and greet them when they arrive and walk them through their suite. It is attached to my home but we share no common spaces. I am their Host and they are my Guest, this is NOT a purely business deal and I don't ever want it to be. All my feedback is excellent and I am a SuperHost. I greatly dislike the pressure to provide Instant Booking.
Excellent comment - I respond immediately to guest requests and therefore should come up highly in searches, even if I don't do Instant book
I agree truth is that is seems clear that air bnb does not value host that do not do instant book. It makes no sense that we all don’t get to use the tools provided fir instant book . If it’s true instant book gets more bookings let that be their bonus but don’t penalize us for wanting to not use instant book !
I had a guest this summer who booked a week or so at my house. As we spoke I immideatly realized that he had booked the wrong country. He was from India going to Europe starting in Copenhagen. I live in Malmö Sweden 30 minutes by train from Copenhagen city centre. [please note that my headline on facebook is; Close to city centre and beaches] Well so he wanted to cancel. He told me that it would cost him and begged me to cancel instead. We talked back and forth and finally I agreed to cancel his reservation. Now I have a warning saying that I'm in danger that my listing might be removed. Although he reassured that he asked me to cancel. And I have lots of 5-star reviews. I don't get it. Christina
@Christina94, if all the conversation happened on airbnb, you could ask customer service to ask them have a look at it and remove the penalties. you were clearly duped into cancelling for him, which you never should. I don't know, if booking the wrong country falls into extenuating circumstances (maybe as a medical emergency for extraordinary failure of thought for 5 minutes), but in such cases it is always best to call them before you do anything. They can cancel from their side. They can also cancel the reservation on behalf of the guest and would do so gladly, if you waive your rent and let them refund everything. He wold loose the service fee at most, probably not even that, if he rebooks elsewhere.
You will not be banned, that"s just a nagging mail. But you cannot rebook the days and the automatic posting is there, to scare guests. Your search rank dropped. Next time you will be charged a fine.
Therefore call them, to get a fresh start.
Never ever cancel.
Thxs for your advice Helga
When a situation like this arises, you call Airbnb which I have done in the past.
Explain that the guest doesn't want the booking.
They will cancel for them and you don't get penalized.
They will also help them find something more appropriate.
USE the Airbnb hotline number fo Super Hosts - it will save you a lot of aggrevation.
Same thing happened to me earlier this year. I had someone wanting to check in at 1:00 in the morning they had instant booked, I spoke with them via B&B communication came to the agreement that my place was not appropriate and agreed that I would cancel them. Then I got the notification that I would be banned for cancelling a visit. I eventually contacted Air B&B and they took the cancellation off my rating. Contact B&B and they will fix it. I use instant booking all the time we are booked as much as I want and I block a lot of days when my son comes over
Re finding your listing online the easiest way to refer family and friends is to give them your unique number (click on the url when you are on your airbnb listing page and you will find it). I just tell people to google Airbnb and the number and my listing shows up!
Thank you!
All guests are total **bleep**s ..the only reason I have left a spot open is hoping Airbnb will offer us hard working hosts first dibs on worldwide IPO. Worth trillions of dollars
Concerning instant book. I felt a bit arm twisted into it. It is absolutely a benefit to guests and not hosts. I saw bookings immediately decrease after heavy marketing of this filter. For my type of home and hosting style I prefer to communicate with my guest prior to booking so I can dispell any misgivings.... but without instant book I get 0 bookings. I have been an Airbnb host since 2010 and have maintained superhost status for quite some time. I suppose it is time to diversify. Happy Day! Jennifer
Totally agree Jennifer - the same has happened to me
I don’t like the push toward Instant Book. Instant Book takes away all the features that are most valuable to me as a host. 1) Checking reviews first. 2) Making sure I know excactly how many are coming 3) Making sure guests understand our parking limitations 4) Making sure our guests know we have two flights of stairs. I don’t want any guest to show up and be dissatisfied.
Tracy