I remember someone saying that one can boost the listing rankings just by simply turning the instant book feature off, and then on again. Do you guys have any experience with this? I could’ve sworn I read that on this forum, but I cannot remember whose advice it was. 
I really doubt that it works. There may be a host or two who has turned IB on, then off, then found that they are doing better in the search results than before but if that’s the case then there will have been many other factors involved.
Hosts often claim that various ‘tricks’ help their listing but I don’t think this is the case. Coincidence, more than likely.
I do think however that having Instant Book on - permanently - will help hosts. After all, the criteria Airbnb is looking for is ‘ease of booking’. Just clicking the button to book is a lot easier than going through the approval rigmarole.
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Ha ha ha I tried turning IB off the other day to see what happened and I had to go through four screens and tick boxes telling me I would never get another booking ever again etc if I did. They win, I gave up since I didn’t really want to turn it off. They really, really don’t want people turning off IB! 
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I tried switching IB on and off, with instant book on my listing instantly went up in the search results. As soon as I turned if off I was back in the abyss.
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Yes instant book listings are ranked above those that are not. But what @Inna is asking is if you turn it off and turn it back on does it go up? For example: Let’s say I am 24th in the listings with IB on. I turn it off and back on right now and check again and now I am 5th in the search results.
Does it work that way? No one posting so far knows.
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My guess would be that if you turn it off and on, you get a temporary small boost but it’s likely not lasting. It probably registers you as a “new” instant book host when you do so but then once other factors are considered in the algorithm, you’ll go back down again. If only we had an Airbnb employee or ex employee to answer all our hosting questions!
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I’m not sure an Airbnb employee would even know. LOL. There are many variables and how they interact is different with each host. And limited spots at the top.
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What we really have to do is use common sense.
All search systems have a single goal - to provide the best service to the ‘customer’, the searcher. This is why if I search Google for ‘pizza delivery’ the results are local and I’m not shown pizza delivery services in New York, Mumbai or Paris.
Airbnb has no problem in declaring that their search system is biased towards hosts who make it easy to book. So Instant Book, yes.
There are so many other factors, probably hundreds. (Dates, bed numbers, guest numbers, parking available, bed size, pets allowed … and on and on and on…)
Reviews will be part of the algorithm. Sorry, but if I’ve got more reviews than you, I’ll probably be higher. Superhost too. It’s nothing weird, it’s not favouritism, it’s simply a computer algorithm trying to make the most of matching a potential guest with a host that’s right for them.
Exactly, that’s what I’m asking. 
I already have an Instant booking on but since I opened my calendar for this season I didn’t have much bookings.
However, since I posted the question, I got 4 bookings in less then 24 hours for one apartment, but not for the other one. Actually, I cannot even find the other one in the search, and I am both Superhost and have Instant booking! All of the four bookings that I mentioned are for the other, visible apartment. I guess I will call Airbnb tomorrow and ask for an explanation. There is no way I cannot find my apartment even when I search for a very specific location, not even on the 10th page, while the other one is on the top of the page one.
Right now it doesn’t bother me that much as the apartments are almost the same, and if one gets totally booked before the other one it is not a big deal. But in a week or two when one is sold out, this Airbnb bug will start costing me a lot…
I don’t know if it’s a bug and don’t depend on Airbnb to help you or tell you anything. I just had a quiet week due to the room being blocked off most of the week. Today I got three bookings.
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Sure, but this is not a quiet week. One apartment simply does not show up in the search at all! Both apartments calendars were open on the same day with the same prices.
I talked with a very helpful Airbnb representative about this issue. She told me that she can see the apartment in question when she uses certain filters. My statistics also says that the apartment which is not getting booked has only 30 views less in the past 30 days. I really don’t understand what seems to be the issue. Both apartments have exactly the same price, discounts and almost the same layout.
One is getting booked like crazy and for the other one I didn’t get a single booking this season. One was always getting booked slightly better, but there was never such a disparity. I hope the representative is right and that it is really just a really odd coincidence. I’m thinking of snoozing it and then turn it on again. Will that diminish my ranking?
Did anyone else have such an experience?
I think that anything that makes your listing unavailable (snoozing, blocking, etc.) ‘tells’ Airbnb that you’re not available to host at all times and therefore it’s definitely going to lose you a few points in the search hit parade.
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You might be right. I won’t experiment with snoozing then! Well, I got an inquiry for the non-booked apartment yesterday, although for a month long stay, so it probably popped out in the search as I have a weekly and monthly discount. Maybe this inquiry will give it a boost, especially if it works out and these ppl actually book.
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