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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Helga0 · ‎25-10-2017

@Jann3, in reality you do get a bonus from answering very fast.

Over the last weeks, I had a few new members, some of whom I should have avoided, but most were great guests. I asked those, why they booked my place, as I was rewriting my listing and I wanted to enforce what attracts nice guests and maybe deterr the others.

The decisive factor named always first was the speed of my answer. As I'm mostly on the phone, computer or watching films on a tablet, a phone close even when cleaning the room, I can answer very fast. Of those in contact with me, I get most of them, but if I try to scare them away deliberately - and even of those many book ;-(

That means, being fast, efficient and friendly, if your answers correspond to the expactations they formed reading your listing, you will get many bookings. Many bookings mean you get you a better search place, especially if the guests are satisfied.

It's not said here, but I think the algorithm would need a bit of fine tuning. It's working like a self fulfilling prophecy. Get a lot of bookings and you are up, have no bookings for a while and you are deep down. I see that every time, I have to block the main listing for a while, for illness or for a long absence, even whilst the place is rented on airbnb via another listing. (I hope the linked calendars will remove that problem). After a period of no activity, bookings come in very sluggishly. Get the bookings up and you drown in guests.

Knowing that effect, in a black hole period, I put IB on and never switched it off. The experienced guests are just so much easier.

The other advantages are less important then you imagine. We get to see the stars now, for a few weeks, but only if the booking is made. If a guest, who could IB, decides to chat first, we see no stars. The moment he books, they appear. It's a done deal then.

"Uncomfortable with a guest" is very vague. Probably deliberately so. If IB hosts, who are probably a bit less stressed about the idea, what unvetted strangers could do in their place, abuse the feature, the rules will be defined. If we start routinely cancelling bookings because the guest has four stars average on his few trips, the stars will disappear or the definition of "uncomfortable" will exclude that.

I had an 5 stars average on 60 bookings guest yesterday and I believe my current guest is on 4 stars for 3 trips. Very correct guest yesterday, nice. Sweet young man today, very interesting and funny. So what. Probably, I will not even check the stars by Christmas.

Life is to short to be burdened by the prejudices of others.

Kay1 · ‎27-10-2017

Yikes. I turned on InstaBook this week because my booking have been non existent. I'm getting bookings now---just got one an hour ago FOR TONIGHT!! Fortunately, I'm always ready, BUT they are smokers and asked if they could. Well, that means they will. Last time this happened, they ONLY smoked in the master bathroom. I had to disinfect the WALLS, EXHAUST FAN and disinfect the house. I had to call in help, because the next guest was expected hours after the smokers checked out.

After these smoking guests, I have new guests coming for 3 nights. A bonaza for me. If they say the place stinks, I'll have to refund them. Boo. I'm turning off Instabook. I don't think guests understand they CAN AND SHOULD do an INQUIRY first. They are stuck with us and we with them. Double Boo. ~k

Lizzie · ‎27-10-2017

Hello @Jann3,

Thanks so much for your feedback and I want to hear your 2 cents or 2 pence, this way we know where we are!

I will certainly pass you feedback over to the different teams as I am sure they too would like to see it.

Thanks again,

Lizzie

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Thank you for the last 7 years, find out more in my Personal Update.

Looking to contact our Support Team, for details...take a look at the Community Help Guides.

Simone288 · ‎27-10-2017

Thank you Lizzie for trying to help us. I am one of those hosts who in spite of my guests ' wonderful appreciations with zero refusals , I have to admit that Airbnb seems liketo not like me a lot. I think the fact I can't find myself in an easy manner and I had only one or two guests in 2017 these two facts show I am right. It's true that I prefer my guests to stay more than one or two nights, do think that after every guest the house needs a lot of cleaning and refreshing, even it is one night , two nights or 7 nights , our work is the same. Hard and difficult. But the money is not the same money.

I consider that Airbnb has to think how to improve the host's well being , we are also important not only the guests who are getting from Airbnb a VIP care and love.

John351 · ‎26-10-2017

Lizzie -- I think you really have missed the mark with your explanation about 'key word' search and the frustration we feel when we search for our own listings by name and cannot find them. First, key word search is not a new technology and is in wide use ... maybe you've heard of Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. Yet, when I type in the name of my listing (Jungle Tree House) and the location (Melbourne Beach, Florida), I should get exactly one 'hit': my listing. Instead, I get 20 'hits', NONE of which are my listing. Further, when I remove the name of the listing, and simply search Melbourne Beach, Florida, I get 83 'hits' and again none of them are mine. Nor is my neighbor's listing (Casa Playa) one of the 83. There is no common denominator for the 83 listings that would lead to their inclusion or my exclusion. Even more bizzarre, when I added the words 'United States' after the word, 'Florida' in the above search the number of 'hits' went from 83 to 155 ... and still no mention of my listing or my neighbor's, even though 'United States' should be implicit in 'Florida.'

Is it any wonder that you have frustrated owners? When I can't even speak to someone and give them the name and location of my listing, how can I ever expect to get great bookings? I implore you to go go back to your development and search teams and get real answers to these key questions, not just babble about filters and the difficulty of implementing an old technology like key word search. Remember: the purpose of filters is to narrow search, not broaden it, so the widest range of 'hits' should come from the least number of filters in use. If I'm not listed in 155 'hits' in a search of my small town, use of filters should not suddenly find me. And, please, act like a reporter and not a PR person when talking to these people. We're all looking to make airbnb better (and make more money!, but that is really difficult to do when the basic functions of the site are so flawed.

Simone288 · ‎26-10-2017

You are completely right. When I am searching for my listing,

I can only get the cheapest properties, no matter if they are far away of my place, in some others cities. I am sorry, I can drop the price of a three rooms apartment to the price of one room furnished by Ikeea.

Simone288 · ‎26-10-2017

I made a major mistake in my last message: instead of" I can drop the price of a good place to stay" please read: "I wouldn't drop the price " and it's also not fair that Airbnb does oblige us for doing it.

Simone288 · ‎26-10-2017

John878 · ‎26-10-2017

BRAVO JOHN ! Well said : "... I implore you to go go back to your development and search teams and get real answers to these key questions, not just babble about filters... ".

INDEED , and John is very right Lizzie. This is not a simple, "oh well, it'll be OK issue" for us customers.

Something's awry with the searches, and because it seems that this forum is treating this as a PR exercise, we fear nothing will come of this forum, and that the hundreds of people who've taken the time to write here will have done so in vain. Why do I say that ? Because as John pointed out this aint PR, and I agree.

My fear that you aren't experienced enough yet in the workplace, or trained well enough, or are not managed properly by someone who is, or old enough (judging by your lovely profile photo...) to understand that we don't need our ego stroked with a nice little Q&A PR blog, which achieves nout because it's not designed to achieve anything.

We fear that you are likely to do doing nothing - because your bosses haven't told you that your job is anything other than PR.

But WE the customers are the ones suffering.

So, if you are perchance perusing these comments Lizzie, (and we hope you are, otherwise we're really only just all playing with ourselves while you and your colleagues there in PR for airbnb are all probably laughing at our cries for help, or worse still shoving us further down the search lists, for being "stirrers") .

Please realize that you dear Lizzie, have now got a lot more important stuff to deal with having opened pandora's box.

You actually need to get on and alert management, or airbnb's IT's management, of a problem, well discussed and apparently commonly perceived, and get it attended to !

As John said ... "We're all looking to make airbnb better (and make more money!, but that is really difficult to do when the basic functions of the site are so flawed."

Clarissa7 · ‎27-10-2017

Hotels often leave forms for comments in the room for guests to fill in, as they know that if someone is annoyed, having written out the complaint once they are much less likely to take it any further.

I believe this forum serves that purpose for Airbnb - it makes hosts feel that they are empowered: once they have voiced their complaint or opinion, they have done their bit, feel better, and get on with adapting to the conditions provided by Airbnb. Airbnb is motivated by the bottom line, if hosts or guests stop using them they will change but they know there is little major alternative so they continue unchanged while staff make friendly soothing noises. This is the way business works.

Lizzie · ‎27-10-2017

Hello @John878,

Welcome to the Community Center.

Here in the Community Center nearly on a daily basis we see questions from hosts regarding how search works. My aim of creating this post was to go directly to the brains behind how Airbnb Search works and get responses which would hopefully help hosts here in the Community Center. This way we can provide further insight into the process, clear up any confusion and generally provide a information point for anyone looking for answers to search here in the CC. With this in mind, the purpose is to help get answers for the community here, rather than as you state a 'PR exercise'.

I am really sorry you have not found the information useful, I am keen to provide more content like this from specific teams with Airbnb here in the Community Center in the future, especially around key topics that are raised frequently here. Therefore, constructive feedback on this process is always useful.

I am passing any feedback over to the team, plus if you have any ideas of improvements please do share, it is always fantastic to have further discussion on this.

I hope this background to why I created this post is helpful and I do hope to speak with you again.

Lizzie

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Thank you for the last 7 years, find out more in my Personal Update.

Looking to contact our Support Team, for details...take a look at the Community Help Guides.

Isabel54 · ‎27-10-2017

Well written John, of Melbourne Beach, FL. and to the point. Exactly what is happening to me when I try to find MY listing! It is absurd and frustrating.

Lizzie · ‎27-10-2017

Hello @John351,

Nice to meet you and welcome to the Community Center.

I am sorry to hear you are disappointed with the response regarding keyword search, I know it is a functionality many hosts would like, so you are not alone. As the Search Team mentioned they are working hard to continue to improve the search capabilites available on the site and so honestly I believe if it were as easy as it sounds it would be already implemented.

As I mention in my post above, the idea behind creating this post is to provide a little more insight for hosts like yourself, around how the Search process works, based on regular questions that are asked here in the Community Center. I know you are frustrated that the process doesn't work exactly how you need it to at the moment, but hopefully you will have found this information useful as it is intented to be. It is fantastic to hear your feedback and I thank you for sharing more about the difficulties you are facing when speaking to others about your listing (perhaps as keyword search isn't available at the moment, you have any ideas of better ways you could share your listing information?)

I have already been back to the team following some of the questions asked earlier in this discussion and will post their responses as soon as I can. I will also certainly pass on your feedback about keyword search to them.

I look forward to speaking with you more.

Thanks,

Lizzie

--------------------

Thank you for the last 7 years, find out more in my Personal Update.

Looking to contact our Support Team, for details...take a look at the Community Help Guides.

John351 · ‎27-10-2017

Thanks for acknowledging my questions about why Airbnb search does not work well. As I assumed would happen, your reply was very PR-oriented and shed absolutely no light on the questions I raised. I was also glad to see when Linda chimed in with questions about why a search for Santa Monica would yield results all over the L.A. area, without prioritizing or, more appropriately, limiting results to the actual city requested. I can assure you that when I go to L.A., I too am looking for Santa Monica, not Los Feliz, West Hollywood or Compton. Try this test: go to HomeDepot.com and search for "Cordless Drills." What do you get? Results for cordless drills, not plants, hammers or dry wall. This type of search is ubiquitous across the Internet, yet somehow is beyond the 'smart people' of airbnb, who according to your original story may have this nailed down "in coming years." So, actually, 'frustrating' doesn't really sum up or feelings about airbnb search; 'astonishment' at its pervasive inefficiency is the more accurate description.

But while I have your attention, I'd like to ask you an equally puzzling question. Through airbnb I can now book 'experiences' in places as far flung as Osaka, Cape Town, Seoul or Orange County. But try Orlando and airbnb comes up empty. One of the planet's most visited locations and airbnb has not set-up experiences in a region that offers everything from wild boar hunting and airboat rides to rocket launches and surf lessons. Really? If you can locate the right people at airbnb and ask them when we might be able to actually list experiences on your platform for this region, that would be very helpful.

So here's my dilemma as an airbnb host and owner of a retail operation in the Orlando region. When someone walks into my business and asks about places to stay, I can't simply tell them to go to airbnb and search 'Junge Tree House, Melbourne Beach, Florida,' because they will never find it. And I can't list the experiences my business offers because airbnb hasn't gotten around to launching one of the world's leading travel destinations. Now that's frustration! I am trying to be a good airbnb citizen and help contribute to your vast revenues as well as my meager ones, but I find myself blocked at every turn.

I look forward to your response in the expectation it may bring a glimmer of hope. Thank you.

Isabel54 · ‎28-02-2018

Hoping with you, John. Well written, accurate and to the point.

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