Airbnb 2022 Summer Release: What you need to know

[Airbnb]

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?

[Susan1188]

@Molly396 exactly, all the time spent on this is time taken away from us providing a great experience for our guests.  whomp, whomp.

[Kimberly718]

agree and I did already. Suggest everyone do the same

[Kimberly718]

Have other hosts found this massive change to the homepage of Airbnb has stopped bookings? I have not had a single booking since this was launched. We are a farm stay that has now been relegated to the end of the category list. And now that hosts can't categorize their own listing and we have to rely on Ai (like Facebook), I can't add my listing to other categories to enhance my visibility i.e.,  countryside stay,  mountain stay and farm stay. I like the idea of categories and I bet this is going to work great for Airbnb but not so much for hosts who have worked hard to establish visibility via the old algorithm. I wish they could have added categories as a new slider feature and search feature without losing the one that was working so well. I now have summer availability that should be completely booked out. I am very worried.   

[Tony-And-Una0]

Same here.

No bookings since the day it changed

We've never had this happen before.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

same here, no bookings since the day it changed even though I have 4 available nights in a row and Zagreb is almost full

[Cecilia997]

We have the same Problem in Tulum, Mexico !!! 

[Roni14]

Where is the "private guest suite" category now? It's in between a whole house and shared house. These are very common in Los Angeles. However,  most of the new categories listed now are illegal here. Now, I'm not getting views and my place doesn't show up in the search. I even did a teat and dropped my rate for 3 nights, still no views. 

[Zojka0]

No category for a city, urban home? Near university, hispital? Are you forgetting the people who are not using airbnb to go on vacation? 

[Huma0]

@Zojka0 

I host long term guests so most of mine are booking not for a vacation, but to be near to work, study, internships or because they are relocating to London/in the process of moving homes. None of the categories are at all relevant to them. It is relevant, as you rightly point out, that I am within easy access of major universities and hospitals etc.

That wouldn't have made a difference if this Summer Release had not messed up the WHOLE search function, not just the categories. At first, I thought it would not affect me because my target audience would not be using categories but using the traditional search method as always. But... my listings have disappeared off the map, whether a guest searches categories or not.

Perhaps I cater to a niche market, but London is one of the most visited cities and Airbnb claims that long term stays are on a very rapid rise, so why have they not taken this into account?

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

I talked to my friend and her listing now has "Dedicated workspace" as the feature right at the top. She does not have a photo of the dedicated workspace, she doesn't cater to digital nomads and makes it clear in her listing that while the Wifi is good most of the time, it's not something for guests to rely on. Nor has any of her guests ever mentioned it in a review.

So, we wonder what if some digital nomad books her place based on this categorization, arrives and then cancels because there is no dedicated workspace and fast wifi? Will Airbnb refund her guest and remove his bad review and low accuracy rating???

we doubt.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

One apartment in Zagreb is featured in the category "amazing pools" just because it has a picture of the PUBLIC SWIMING POOL owned by the city (along with pictures of some other tourist attractions like the cathedral, the main square etc...)

Airbnb, it is clear that this is not gonna work 😄 😄 😄

[Tony-And-Una0]

You couldn't  make it up.

[Sybe]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 It looks like the AI made a mistake for both the dedicated workspace and the amazing pool! Thanks for letting us know, we'll make sure the team is aware so they can look into what's causing this. 🙂

[Kimberly718]

Sybe, This isn't an isolated situation this is systemic. The system is not working.

Why would Airbnb go from empowering and encouraging hosts to manage their listings to removing all power to properly list one's own stay? It seems to me that this needs to be raised right up to the CEO. Ai should be used to enhance and learn behaviors but NOT replace humans. And it's arrogant of Airbnb to think that they can "take it from here" when it comes to listing details on millions of host stays around the world. As a Superhost with a 5 star rating I pride myself on creating an experience that is unique, luxurious, and memorable. The photos I use to advertise the experience I created and define are what got me great reviews, visibility, saves, and bookings. All have STOPPED!!!! since this change was implemented.  I CAN NOT be replaced by artificial intelligence, your Ai will never know my property the way I do. I am shocked that this is happening. The balance between Airbnb-Host-Traveler was a symbiotic Win-Win-Win to which Airbnb has just taken the cards, the chips and the money and run. 

[Louise1097]

We also got listed as having a dedicated workspace behind a door. ie a separate office. Not true. I would never have put that. I had to find how to undo it.