@Sybe @Airbnb @Stephanie This new update has been terrible. I have a listing that’s been constantly booked since I went live with even gas prices being up, flights being up, etc… I’ve maintained a 86%-100% occupancy each month. I’m a super host and one of the few in my area with 20+ plus reviews and still a 5.0 star rating.
Before the update, I used to get trip requests every 2-3 days like clock work. I’m constantly updating my listing, moving pictures, changing prices, have rule sets in place and offer discounts for certain lengths of stay. Since the update went live, I literally have received zero requests and not even an inquiry. I’m at zero bookings for June . Upon doing some research, here’s what I found. Airbnb is now pushing and telling guests about how awesome the new category search is and how everyone should use it. So I went to verify in what category was my listing and to my surprise, I’m not in a single category. I have a pool and to be honest is one of the nicest one in the area but I’m not in the “amazing pool” category. I’m also just minutes from the beach but I don’t come out on the “beach” or “surfing” category but other listings that are more far away from are showing up in those categories. So how does that make sense? One of the main reasons guests book my place is because of my pool and/or how close I am to the beach.
Now with this new category search, guests are going to use those categories when searching for a place because that’s what they are looking for like “beach” or “amazing pool” and they would think that all the properties that show up in those categories are all the properties that have those things they are looking for right? But no, because my listing has all those things but I’m not in any of those categories, just in the “all homes” categories. Obviously this will affect my listing because why will guests go through the “all homes” categories when there is a category that has what they are looking for. This has affect my views tremendously which have slowed down my bookings. I called and not even the agent could understand why I wasn’t showing ip in any of those categories when my listing matches everything to be in them. On top of this, add the fact that they removed the title which helped you stand out from other listings a little bit.