@Jennifer2672 @Gigi169
Only showing availability in 2023 doesn't mean that that exactly. What happens when you do a search for 'any weekend', 'any week' or 'any month', is that it will show what appears to be random dates on each listing that have nothing to do with the earliest availability. Of course, most guests are not going to know that and will just assume those are the first available dates, which would be a logical conclusion. They are not to know that the new search algorithm is illogical (or, as you suggest, designed to direct them away from certain listings and encourage them to book others).
I wanted to book an Airbnb but didn't know the exact dates, so searched for 'any weekend'. It took me a while to find one I liked, but that one was showing dates in November and I wanted to go in the summer. Most guests would think, "Oh well, what a shame, that one isn't available." Luckily, I thought to go to the listing anyway, scroll back on the calendar, where I could see there was weekend availability for every month from July to November, manually adjust the dates and book for August, but how many guests are going to know to do that?
Your friend not being able to book specific dates that are available and CS not being able to give any answers is even more worrying...