How we rank

Site operator

bookotil.com is operated by:

What decides the order of results

When you search on bookotil.com, the “Recommended” tab orders properties in two steps: first by how far each one is from the place you searched, grouped into distance bands; then, within a band, by an internal score we calculate ourselves. This page states exactly what goes into each of them, and what never does.

The other tabs ignore it: “Price” sorts cheapest first, “Rating” sorts on traveller reviews, “Distance” on how far the property is from the place you searched. You take back control as soon as you sort or filter.

Distance, and why we band it

When you search for a place — a city, a district, an airport, a landmark — we measure how far each property is from THAT place, and group the results into bands: the first kilometres, then the next ones.

We do not rank to the metre. Within a band, the internal score described below decides: a property slightly further away but clearly better can therefore rank above one that is very close but less well rated.

If the first band holds fewer than two properties, it is widened until it holds two — the first results are always properties close to what you searched for.

At equal internal score, a property located IN the place you searched ranks above a neighbouring one that proximity pulled into the list.

When no destination is given — on the home page, for instance — there is nothing to measure from: distance then enters no calculation at all.

The two criteria that move a property up

Rate. We compare the public price shown on bookotil.com with the public price of the same property, for the same night, on other booking platforms. A property that offers you a better rate here moves up; one that is more expensive here moves down. These readings are taken by hand and dated; a reading that gets too old stops counting rather than counting wrongly.

Availability. We look at the share of rooms the property actually opens for booking on bookotil.com, against its capacity. The more it opens to you, the higher it goes.

The two criteria that move a property down

Bookings cancelled by the property itself. A traveller whose confirmed booking is cancelled by the hotel has to find another room: it is the worst thing that can happen to you here, and it weighs more than any price advantage.

Requests left unanswered. When a property stops replying to a message and we have to take the conversation over, that counts against it.

In both cases a new or rarely booked property is never penalised: below a sufficient number of stays, these criteria are not applied at all.

What never enters the ranking

The commission we earn, the net rate paid to the property, and the revenue it brings us enter no ranking calculation, in any form.

No property can buy its position, and first place is not for sale — including to us. An automated check verifies this rule on every change to our software.

Nor do we alter the ranking based on your identity, your history or your device.

Distance is measured from the place you typed, never from where you are.

Featured placements

We sometimes fund the promotion of a property ourselves: we buy advertising for it, and for a limited period we move it up the results list. That position is always the second one — never the first — and only one of the visible positions can be used this way.

Every result concerned carries the “Featured” label and the sentence that goes with it. The property pays us nothing for that position: we pay for the advertising. A featured placement does not change the property’s internal score, and it disappears as soon as you sort or filter the results. A featured placement does not jump over distance: the property moved up must sit in the leading band or the next one.

Ties and rotation

Many properties end up with the same score. Rather than freeze the order between them — which would mean the same properties are always seen and the others never — we draw that order at random, within a single distance band and never across bands. The draw is stable for your whole visit, so the list does not move under your eyes from one page to the next, and it differs from one visitor to another.

This page describes how the ranking works today. For any question, write to us at the address shown at the top of this page.