Airbnb 2022 Summer Release: What you need to know

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Airbnb 2022 Summer Release: What you need to know

Our 2022 Summer Release represents the biggest change to Airbnb in a decade. We’re introducing:

 

  • Airbnb Categories: A new way to search that makes it easy for guests to discover millions of homes they never knew existed

  • Split Stays: An innovative feature that pairs two listings when a guest searches for a longer stay

  • AirCover: The most comprehensive protection in travel, included for free with every stay

 

Get all the details on the Resource Center, and tell us: Will you be updating your listing for Airbnb Categories and Split Stays? How will you update it?

1,048 Replies 1,048

This is not helpful.  Not all hosts have "vacation" properties.  Our Lead In banner with the comments is what attracts our guests and now you cannot see that.  We need that back please.  Also, if you want to continue with this option, along with keeping the lead in verbiage visible, you will need to add a category for business travel or medical travel.  Not everyone is staying for a vacation. 

Exactly! 96% of our guests are performing at or attending events, going to funerals and memorial services, divorcees regularly visiting their children, family reunions, IT and other contractors on work trips, electricians on jobs, house hunters doing property viewings, and so on. They are coming for 3-4-5 days and they are not on holiday.

Susan1188
Level 10
Marbella, Spain

When a guest searches by geographical area;
and then taps a critera;
The search engine enlarges the area to propose hundreds of listings that are not in the area the guest designated!
Does Airbnb think they know better than the user, what to propose?
"Beachfront" or "Seaview" properties in less desirable areas will of course be cheaper, but will not be the same experience for guests - your new algorithm will mislead people into booking the wrong holiday.

 

Susan1188
Level 10
Marbella, Spain

Same for pools.
I have 4 properties in the same building, even with the same pool pictures as some of my neighbors.
When I click "amazing pools", my properties disappear!  Neighbors stay visible!
Screenshot 2022-05-14 at 14.30.40.pngScreenshot 2022-05-14 at 14.30.29.png

Susan1188
Level 10
Marbella, Spain

Some of my listings don't even appear on the map anymore, even when "all properties" and no dates are selected!!!

3 of my listings appear at the top of "All Properties" 
But when I click "beach" or "amazing pools", my properties disappear.
And neighbors in the SAME COMMUNITY are proposed.
Or properties that are 40 km away (even if the guest chose the area specifically on the map).

Kevin129
Level 6
Hove, United Kingdom

I can't really understand why our original listing titles have been replaced with homogenous ones. My listing just says "Room in Brighton & Hove". Although very short the title allowed hosts to flag any differentiating aspects of our listings. Along with the photo and price that is how we encouraged a potential guest to click on our listings to find out more. Was this a decision or just a release that wasn't tested properly? 

Susan1188
Level 10
Marbella, Spain

There are way too many categories scrolling across the top, this is going to confuse people.

Not everyone wants to stay in a tree house or yellow submarine.  Some people just want a good honest property with a great host.

When you take the power away from the guest to choose what he wants, I don't think it's a good thing.

A search by a geographical area with set criteria should show the best properties in that area, not 40km away.

Susan1188
Level 10
Marbella, Spain

After several emotional responses I've distilled my frustration down to this basic concept:

- Properties are now given "Categories" which the host cannot see or easily impact
- Hosts are not told which Categories they are in, there is no clear guide of things to do to be in a certain category
- Complete lack of transparency as to how the algorithm sorts through properties to list them in a category
- Hosts have nowhere to make a claim, if their category was not assigned to them
- Hosts can see competing properties that appear in a category for no clear reason (not better photos, better description, better reviews)

Lack of transparency, lack of any straightforward possibility to take clear action by the host (beyond "just improve everything), lack of communication with hosts.  It all seems very unfair and inconsiderate to me.

 

@Susan1188 Great summary!!

 

and thanks for going beyond your emotions as I was unable …

 

 

 

 

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Annie
John5097
Level 10
Charleston, SC

I've also distilled my reaction down a bit also. After experimenting a bit more, my listing did appear in the top 4 for "Amazing Views" if 2 guest are selected. Although, today I couldn't get it to duplicate amazing views for local area and 2 guest selected, and it only zooms  back out to the entire state with super expensive options. So hopefully it will show amazing views in the area guest enter.. All my guest mention amazing views, and my listing does well with Airbnb algorithms that pick up on guest reviews. 


Airbnb is also an amazing platform. However, my biggest concern is the change to prioritizing week long stays. Charleston, where I live, gets 7.3 million visitors a year in 2018, and I'm managed to maintain one of the most popular. That being said, some of Airbnb policies can cause great anxiety such as the cancellation policy, that is constantly changing, and host are at a disadvantage and risk potential retaliatory guest. So I've adopted shorter stays so that I can rebook more easily and offer guest more flexibility. Charleston is like Disneyland with tens of thousands of tourist wondering around, not paying attention, and average stay is 3-4 nights. Its not an entire house in the mountains where people would stay longer. They also like to stay a few days as a part of a multi stay trip and come from all over the country and all over the world. 

So if I choose maximum 5 nights which works much better for everyone and I can be extremely flexible with cancellations I may not be able to rebook it on short notice. But will have to waIt and see. I've mentioned several times in a number of threads that I don't like the refund policy where host can offer refund. I would rather the selected refund and cancelation policy to apply. 

But that's ok. I've created another account on a different platform. Unfortunately its also very "corporate" and doesn't even allow host to limit the maximum number of nights, but no matter what, I'm sure Airbnb will do just fine, and I may have to find the right company with the policy thats more compatible with my listing, or use both. That's a big change for me for sure and a reason I'm kind of emotional because its been great so far even with all the adjustments. I've had honeymooners every month and special events every week. 

For me I only need to make a certain amount each year and its really surprising how much other host with similar listings are charging right now, but then cut rates over 50% when covid wave hits.  So I'd rather just be sustainable and stress free, and not greedy, as its just an way to supplement income and want to limit risk exposure.  

But I've made a lot of adjustments that always start off with changes out of my control. I also prefer the younger guest, so Airbnb is a good fit for the kind of guest for my place, and will just have to see how it all plays out. 


I just realize that I'll be the one making changes and adjustments. I didn't check but maybe 1,000 people have viewed this topic? I don't have any allusions of grandeur and think I can control so many other millions of listings and host. Airbnb has been a great option for me and I'll defiantly try and keep up with the updates and develop strategies that work for me. 

I hope it works out for everyone as well! But think its better for the algorithms to choose some of the categories and just apply them to the area the guest chooses.

The default week view only shows the next available week available and the review rating, and not number of individual views, so the search filters is also drifting away from the review process, and my listing very much thrives on guest reviews. So far in 211 reviews I've never even gotten below a 5 star review. So my guest have loved my listing so far. I know its only a one bedroom apartment but I hope it keeps working out and if not everyone finds the right place for them! 


I did a bit more research. 

Orlando gets a whopping 75 million visitors a year and the average length of stay is 4.5 days. 

Compare that to Maine that gets 22 million visitors a year, and South Carolina that gets 30 million visitors a year. 

Hopefully Airbnb has their algorithms in order. I'm preparing for a this to have significant impact next year for rebooking cancelations. 

My guest love the apartment so much. Its so meaningful to feel appreciated. If I have to go up in my rates it would price so many out of it. 

Screen Shot 2022-05-14 at 7.16.43 PM.png



Mark4150
Level 4
Chapel Hill, NC

This is an absolute disaster. All the bookings dried up last month which makes it seem that the search algorithm was changed some weeks back. Search is biased against unique properties and distant properties even when one wants to stay within a certain area. This is not how you ought to treat the hand that feeds you. Shameful. We are converting back to long-term if this doesn't get corrected. 

James3167
Level 2
Gold Coast, Australia

The split stays concept is a fantastic idea but like others on this thread, I’m not a fan of how the categories are currently organised. I am a Superhost with two Airbnbs (a beachside house and a farm). The beachside house is not listed in any of the categories and the farm is not listed in the ‘countryside’ category despite many substandard properties being listed in both. Hosts should have the option to select the relevant categories on their listing page as the algorithm is clearly not doing its job properly. This could potentially have a significant impact on booking volume and may force me to list my properties on other platforms if it is not quickly resolved. 

It should be a FILTER not a vague artificial intelligence "category" classification.

As far as I can see it is still not possible to select a geographic area and FILTER for : beachfront + amazing views.

@Airbnb

Very disappointed by these 2022 changes. 

1) the highlighted categories are, for most of them, nonsense! When I want to spend a week-end in Paris I am not looking for a tree house or a designer house. I am just looking for a centrally located place, that is fitting to my budget. So, if you want to use artificial intelligence in your search engine, invest some money that fits to the travellers profile... bearing the risk that many of us are not do easy to "profile"...

2) you organized on the CC a sustainability festival. I do not see any feature on the new Airbnb platform related to sustainability. This festival (and all your nice words about climate change) is just green washing.

3) when hosts complain that their listing don't appear in a related category, they are being told to update their listing so that the algorithm will categorize them correctly. Is it really the job of the hosts to fit in the Airbnb algorithm? We spend a lot of time to write an attractive listing for guests. Now, we have to write it for the algorithm? Nonsense.

All in all, I am afraid Airbnb will loose many guests... who will use more user-friendly and up-to-the point platforms...