Host questions answered: Airbnb’s Summer Release

Stephanie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Host questions answered: Airbnb’s Summer Release

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Updated Jun 19, 2022

 

Just to share a quick update that we have created the promised Resource Center guidelines for listing descriptions has been published and you can read it here.

 

Hi Hosting Community, 

 

A month ago, we introduced the Airbnb 2022 Summer Release with a new way to search designed around Airbnb Categories

 

Since then, we’ve gathered feedback from thousands of Hosts through our Community Center, Host Clubs, emails, and in workshops with the Host Advisory Board and Host leaders. Thank you for your valuable comments and suggestions. 

 

Today, we want to share an update on some of the important feedback you’ve shared.  More updates will follow. 

 

You can read about them here.

 

Please continue to share your ideas and feedback as it directly assists in how we evolve our platform. 

 

Your continued support, feedback and constructive thoughts on this and many of our release features is incredibly valuable and I encourage you to continue sharing here.

 

Thanks,

Stephanie

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Please follow the Community Guidelines 

258 Replies 258
Dee208
Level 2
North Miami Beach, FL

Since this update, I get no bookings unless I slash my prices to 80% below market rates.

Nancy1633
Level 10
Hoboken, NJ

@Catherine-Powell  Are you reading these posts?

 

Please let your Host community know if your company will revert back to your (old) accurate, reliable, intuitive booking platform, or if the new search employing error-ridden IA and default weeks is the 'new normal.'  

 

The 'new normal' isn't working, and it's only FAIR to advise your loyal Host partners whether you recognize that fact and plan to fix it.  

 

Thank you. 

Hi @Nancy1633,

 

I'm sorry for not getting back to you sooner. I am reading. Thank you for being so passionate about hosting on Airbnb and for the additional feedback. Please trust that we are gathering all of this feedback and actively exploring ways to improve the experience.

 

Warmly,

Catherine

Jamie206
Level 10
Pooler, GA

Dear Airbnb Management,

All of your new "summer updates" are absolutely useless and sending us all down the drain. Hope you sold your stock before the company tanks due to your inability to keep the business going. Great job! NOT!

1. Main landing pages are ridiculously difficult and confusing to use. So most people just give up and go elsewhere.

2. Host property names must be the actual property title not some generic nonsense. If you want some additional generic title, put it in the subtext, not the other way around. The current state of this is moronic.

3. The categories, what in the all that's unholy hell are you thinking! Apparently, no thought whatsoever. If you want all these options, what's wrong with a simple filter? 

 

I didn't want to drop your platform, I thought we had a decent relationship most of the time. However, I guess you don't like us anymore, so you decided to kick us to the curb. Well good luck to you. Are you going to start some other new business after the short term rental thing fails? Cause you are driving it all straight into the ground right now. 

 

Geoffrey-And-Donna0
Level 2
Joshua Tree, CA

The new categories are a big time fail. Not just because of the strategy of what they are trying to do, but simply put the categories are human-curated and there are still LOADS of listings in each area that are not connected to any category. Categories use "machine learning"?? Complete nonsense. Why anyone from Airbnb thought it a good idea to FILTER listings (thus, ensuring 100s of listings vanish from the app that would otherwise show) is just insane. Airbnb worked because they were inclusive to all hosts, while giving guests tools to gently filter down by what they want. 

 

Categories are also designed to take the location out of the equation. "I want to go to Joshua Tree desert" turns into a search of ANY desert property in a loose 200-400 mile radius. I'm sorry guys, people booking a property don't book like that. They choose a location first, then a property. Maybe the other way around is an interesting edge case? Sure, I'll give them that. But they built their entire interface around an edge case. Absolutely insane. 

 

Another point, in my area the top 5-10 listings in any category are all ultra high end properties, most charging $5k a night or more - and many of them with no bookings yet. Who thought that was a great idea? It's like showing someone a Ferrari when the customer can only afford a Nissan.

It literally makes no sense. 

@Geoffrey-And-Donna0 

 

You nailed it. "Inclusive" is the word. 

 

AirBnb's new platform is no longer inclusive, meaning open to all and offering all.  The landing page says it all: a cherry-picked showcase of unaffordable properties to the average traveler on a budget.  The search  says it all: it takes you far from where you want to go, omits available properties where you wanted to go, shows "available" weeks when you don't want to go. 

 

AirBnb may reply, "we don't want the average traveler!" or "we are showing you where WE think you should go and when WE think you should go!"

 

Excuse me, but all of this reeks of elitism, exclusivity, and condescension to users.  It is literally alienating them from your platform and so go our bookings. 

 

AirBnb just doesn't get it. 

Celestina11
Level 2
Flagstaff, AZ

@Stephanie @Emilie @

I am a host of 3 properties in Northern Arizona.  Our bookings this summer since the release are way down compared to the past few years. My husband and I have put our life savings into our properties and we are hard working hosts who give guests a great experience. Here are two obvious problems I see with the new release in regards to our area.
1. Flagstaff is a lively college town with great restaurants, a mueseum and hiking options. Flagstaff has long been a popular place for Grand Canyon travelers to stay. When I search national parks it looks like places in Williams and Tusaysan much smaller and honestly not as nice of a towns are prioritized. This needs to be changed Flagstaff needs to be included in a prominent way in national parks for a good Grand Canyon guest experience.

2. I host a historic property in Clarkdale/Jerome a historic mining area in Northern Arizona. People come to this area for the history and are searching for historic places to stay. When search in the historic historic homes tab in Arizona all that comes up are château's in France. Mining towns and other places with historical significance in the West need to be included in historic homes. I am worried about the future of Air Bnb and worried for hard working  hosts like us. I am going to try listing on VRBO so that all of the high season in this area is not lost.

Celestina11
Level 2
Flagstaff, AZ

Where have all the guests gone? My bookings are way down and it seems like many other hosts are having the same experience in our area. Are they booking on other platforms or hotels or are they just booking a different kind of listing? Has anyone's bookings gone up with this new release? Curious. Thanks.

Jessie-Rose0
Level 3
London, United Kingdom

I’m so confused with these updates but I’ve not had one booking since and I don’t understand why! Are they planning on reversing these changes? Surely air bnb are losing money too?!

Lisa34
Level 10
Murphysboro, IL

In our region, the mid-south USA, these changes have largely reverted back to the way it used to be. Our views are finally going back up! In the last 24 hours we have gotten two bookings from completely new guests. I am hopeful 🙂

Yay! Things are a little better for us too,  although I am getting a ton of cancellations which I don’t normally get. Rather odd and probably not related to the changes. Did you hear anything about the July 6 supposed update?

That's great- you're giving me hope! No change here yet, upstate NY.  Everything the same. 

 

Please tell me that the insane default weeks are gone... is the booking calendar back to normal?  

The default to random weird weeks in the future has not gone away but when you click on a property it doesn’t act like you’re actually booking those dates which I think it’s a little less frightening to potential guests.

 

I do hope they remove that feature because I think it’s confusing at best and frustrating at worst. Fingers crossed!

 

The bookings we are getting are for fall and are new guests for us not repeats. We still have a fair amount of air at one property in the calendar for August and September but those dates tend to book more last minute for us. I am hopeful we can recuperate some of our losses from late spring. maybe things will break open this weekend?!?!

Emilie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

@Lisa34 That's great news, thanks for sharing! 

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Jessie-Rose0
Level 3
London, United Kingdom

Is there someone from air bnb monitoring this conversation? Can they give us an update? What will be changed back and when? The title of my listing is now so grim, I wouldn’t click on it! I need to list elsewhere if it stays as is so I can pay my mortgage! Please can someone from air bnb reply?