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!