Host questions answered: Airbnb’s Summer Release

[Stephanie]

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

[Blaž-and-Patricija0]

Hi @Stephanie365, not sure what you meant with the image above, but I’m happy to say that after @Emilie reached out to us, we actually got a reply from CS and they were helpful - after a week they included our place in a category that we sent proof (additional photos and descriptions) of.

Since then we have been getting some bookings, but not as many as last year for this time. We are very seasonal though and visitors wanting to visit the area usually book well in advance, so it’s most likely too late now unfortunately.

Regarding the update, what I’m missing the most are clear guidelines on what Airbnb is looking for in different categories! It would be illusional to imagine Airbnb will ever roll back the update, so better adapt to the new system - that’s why they should give us the tools and information to do so. At the same time, I totally agree that it cannot be up to hosts to decide in which category their property fits.

As much as I see the value of the categories (differentiation both for guests and hosts), this whole update was introduced really untransparently for everyone - guests didn’t get any instructions on how to use the new system and hosts didn’t get any instructions on what to do to emphasize the category they feel they fit in or what to do to maybe transition to others. All this under pretense of “mAcHiNe LeArNiNg”, which clearly doesn’t work (yet?).

All my best,

Blaz

[Emilie]

@Blaž-and-Patricija0 Great to hear that it got resolved!

I understand you'd find more guidance on the Categories useful and that's definitely a suggestion I can share with the team. 🙏

Emilie

[Ann10]

@Emilie- My listing is in the desert and has a water view. However, when I look under desert, it's no where to be found. The are other water views besides lake and ocean. Ours faces a marsh. What can be done about this?

[Emilie]

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@Ann10 wrote:

@Emilie- My listing is in the desert and has a water view. However, when I look under desert, it's no where to be found. The are other water views besides lake and ocean. Ours faces a marsh. What can be done about this?

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@Ann10 Did you contact Customer Service to ask them about this already? As I mentioned further up the process evolved over the last few weeks and if you share this with them now they should be able to assist. 🙂

[Jamie206]

While we have actually managed to get a hand full of new bookings in the last couple weeks. I'm afraid that it may be too little too late for our business. Even loading up on all the other platforms we are not able to survive the airbnb nonsense storm.... 

The summer update is still hampering everyone's business, I just don't understand the stalwart denial that they totally screwed up. 

Is anyone out there getting even remotely similar booking levels to the spring levels?

[Lisa34]

A month or so ago we started getting views and bookings again more like normal for some of our properties. 2 are still struggling (Southern Illinois), but doing a little better. I am not sure what changed exactly, but one weekend we got several bookings all at once. 

[Ann10]

@Jamie206- I'm usually booked almost everyday despite having a strict cancellation policy. Now for August, I've only got 2 bookings. Nothing for September and only 1 in October.

[Ana2038]

Just this week our views and bookings have taken off. Some for next month and the rest for the remainder of the year.  As long as the income is enough to cover our 2nd property we’re pleased. Not sure what happened; did Airbnb fix the search engines/algorithms/AI, was it the new/refreshing look of our listing ( we just completed a mini renovation of our listing and posted updated pictures), or is it just luck….

[Kyle325]

We're not.... at the end of July/early Aug, we had a flutter of bookings come in, I think it was 5 in 3 days, but crickets since then.... Summer Release is a bust for hosts - there's no doubt in my mind.....

[Huma0]

@Jamie206 

Sadly, no. Since the Summer release, I have had only ONE new booking across three listings and one booking from a repeat guest. Normally I am turning people away because I have more demand than capacity. 

Like @Stephanie365 , I had more enquiries and bookings in 2020 and 2021, despite being in lockdown and shut for business for months and months of those two years. The few months prior to the Summer Release, things were looking good, i.e. back to the fully booked days pre-COVID. I have never had so few views/enquiries/bookings since I started hosting several years ago. My listings were popular from day 1.

Other that two previous guests that were thinking of returning (but won't work out due to dates etc.) I've had zero enquiries since mid-July and wasn't getting many before that.

[Stephanie365]

My calendar is as empty as can be. I've been hosting 5 years. This year has been the worst year for bookings and income.

It's a truly telling story as to how truly, astronomically AWFUL the "update" has been when I did better when the country was on lockdown for COVID and I closed my calendar for 6 months than I've done so far this year. The rollout hit and my bookings and views stopped. This is not a coincidence.

And we keep getting the same corporate babble-speak platitudes. "We'll pass it along."  No, don't pass it along. Fix It.

[Joanna41]

I complain every day with no success.... 😞 

[Stephen1004]

Same.

[Bee149]

What do we do ? This is awful . Everyone is saying the same and there is no response from air b&b?? 

[Stephanie365]

I literally have not had a booking for the entire month of August. This has never happened since I started 5 years ago. While my home is never 100% booked, my weekends are ALWAYS booked in June, July and August. And I always have a few longer stays thrown in.  

I have had three 1-night stays since July 1, all of them in July. Something is seriously wrong.