How search ranking works

When you search, we show homes in an order that helps you find a good match quickly. Here is exactly what decides it.

What decides the order

• How well the home matches your search: place, dates that are free, number of guests and any filters you set.
• The total price for the stay. Every price includes our service fee, so you can compare stays fairly.
• Listing quality: clear photos, a full description and licences on file for the home.
• Guest reviews: homes with more helpful recent reviews rank higher than similar homes without them.
• Reliability: hosts who cancel confirmed bookings move down, so guests see homes that are likely to go ahead.

Sponsored places

• Hosts can choose to pay us a higher commission on their bookings for a chance to appear in the top places of a search. These homes are always labelled "Sponsored".
• There are at most 2 Sponsored places on a search page. They must still match your search: free on your dates, enough room for your guests and in the right place.
• A host can choose to show Sponsored places only to guests browsing from certain countries. The price is the same for everyone.
• The rest of the results keep their normal order. Paying never changes where a home sits in that order.

What does not decide the order

• There are no hidden commissions or "preferred partner" deals. Any paid place is labelled "Sponsored".
• Prices are the same whatever device you use or what country you book from. You will never see a different price for the same stay.

Adverts

• Some banners are adverts, for example for a destination or a company. They are always labelled "Sponsored" and never mixed into the order of real results.

For hosts

• You can see your listing quality score and tips to improve it in the host workspace. Fixing weak spots, such as adding photos or keeping your calendar up to date, helps you rank higher.
• Company owners can switch on a visibility boost under Settings → Visibility.

Questions?

• If something about your ranking looks wrong, contact support@bookalizer.com and we will take a look.