Explain the new search?

How can I ask this simple If I were to do a search for beach rentals. There are pages and pages. Does anyone know what priorities are given on whos rental is listed first? I see some have classified ads and some do not. What do the icons on the left mean? If one pays for a classified ad what advantage is that? I cant seem to find any information. thanks!

I think that you can't find an answer because no one really knows exactly how the new search works. The icons on the left indicate whether the listing is for a person, a place, a classified, or an event. There are other threads in here arguing whether it's worthwhile to place a classified anymore, since people see their effectiveness declining with the new search. You might want to check that out.

The search priories can be complicated. It is a mix of traffic, keywords, items for sale... loads of stuff that i don't understand.
The icon on the left tell you what it is that you have found. If you are searching in the all search it means that it is a group or a person or a place or an ad etc. The little house icon is a place for example whereas a person shows as a head and shoulders silhouette.
Im not sure what a classified ad is, i think it just means that you will appear in the classified searches.

There are tons of people who will know more than me but i hope this helps even a little bit

Here's the thread pertaining to how classified appear to work on the new search:
/142/fc/226678/1.html

You may also find some of the Linden blog posts useful:
http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/12/27/certain-places-residents-not-found-in-%e2%80%9call%e2%80%9d-search/#more-1504

http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/12/21/new-all-search-classified-change-coming-soon/

http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/11/29/tip-of-the-week-13-how-to-show-your-stuff-in-our-new-search/

http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/11/13/tip-of-the-week-10-how-to-use-the-new-search-2/