How can Hosts benefit from Airbnb’s redesign?

[Quincy]

As people start to feel comfortable traveling again, they’re not always sure where to go first—or when. So we just introduced a whole new way for guests to explore listings and discover great places like yours.

The new features can help you reach more guests in the earliest stages of trip planning. For example, we’ve added 21 Airbnb Categories, from Camping to Iconic Cities, to highlight great stays that guests can browse. Your listing could pop up in someone’s feed as soon as they open the app.

As a Host, you can improve your chances of getting noticed by making sure your listing details are as current and complete as possible—and complemented by attractive photos of your space. You can find out more on the Resource Center. 

What’s one thing you’ve done recently to make your listing really shine?

[Anonymous]

Some aspects of the new search are  actually exactly what I suggested in 2019 https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/What-are-your-questions-on-how-Airbnb-search-works/td-p/...

And in 2020 https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/What-would-you-wish-on-your-Airbnb-shooting-stars/m-p/13190...

And in 2021 https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/how-to-become-a-host-in-rural-areas/m-p/1401201

On one hand, it's nice to see features several of us asked for actually getting implemented! But the devil's in the details, and now I wish I'd been more specific. What I'd imagined was hosts being able to choose how their listings were targeted, rather than an algorithm cutting them out of it.

  What was the thinking behind the decision that hosts shouldn't be allowed to choose the categories? Believe it or not, we know things about our homes, locations, and optimal clientele that your algorithm doesn't, but Airbnb seems to think we're all just flailing in the dark.

[Quincy]

Hi @Anonymous, glad to see that the feedback you mentioned has been implemented (in some way). What specifics would you have mentioned if I may ask?  

[Anonymous]

@Quincy  To put it another way, imagine you're running a marketing campaign for KFC. You want to buy some TV airtime that reaches your key demographics, but the network won't let you choose which shows it will air your ad on. They assure you that the algorithm knows how to target fried chicken better than you do. As a result, this happens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RUHB2JaXmM

The typical AIrbnb host is advertising to a much narrower niche than fast food, so it's even more important to get this right. It would be very simple to give hosts a tickbox menu of Flexible Search targets to customize which categories and features lead to their listings - and, just as importantly, which ones don't. This kind of thing makes the difference between treating hosts like respected partners and treating us like livestock. 

[Yvonne759]

@Anonymous 

Wow, this is the most succinct distillation of the host role @Airbnb  

Many thanks for putting it out there and leading forward.

[Louise1097]

This is a pretty natural consequence of Air considering all these properties theirs, rather than belonging to the hosts, who have carefully curated all listing info. All the curated info has been dumped in search.

[Susan1188]

@Quincy 

I had also suggested that people wanted flexible holiday proposals.

Never imagining it would take on the form that you have now implemented.

My idea was more like, a "flexible" zone, separate from the standard search engine, where you could research and get ideas.  But kept separate from the actual booking engine!  

And my idea was also to propose the proven, superhost properties where guest are sure to get a great experience.  Not to propose random areas just based on the cheapest price due to the novice host who got his parameters wrong and will regret it as soon as the guest books.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Quincy In answer to the question posed in the title to this thread:

I don't think it is relevant how Hosts benefit directly from the redesign. It is clearly a redesign for guests and an attempt to stimulate demand. If guests find the site better and/or demand goes up then hosts will, by definition, benefit.

Perhaps Airbnb could be persuaded to do a similar upgrade to correct all the irritating and wrong things on the host interface next. Again this would benefit all as if hosts find the interface better there will be less errors and better host/guest satisfaction.

[Mark116]

@Quincy @Mike-And-Jane0  As far as I can tell, this new update doesn't benefit the vast majority of guests either.  The search functions are now very complicated and the design is cluttered, that turns off guests, especially if they happen to be looking for something in a specific location and are not open to a place a few hundred miles away.  We know from this forum that many properties are missing from their proper category or miscategorized.  Some categories like cottage, inexplicably disappeared.

It may benefit Airbnb board members, senior managers and wealthy instagram influencers.  Now, very expensive unique properties are apparently easier to find, but beyond that, it seems like this update only makes booking and listing on Airbnb more difficult, more error prone and less accurate.

Like most of Airbnb's initiatives, it makes for a great news release, but the lived experience, not so much.

[Quincy]

Hi @Mark116, I appreciate your feedback on this. I've been informed that the Categories are curated roughly every 2 weeks, and we will be looking to Hosts to help inform the future iterations of additional categories. I'd still recommended updating everything as mentioned in the article if you can.

[Mark116]

@Quincy  I'm sure you can see that 'curating' the categories every two weeks is fundamentally, kind of nutty. 

A listing is either lakefront or it isn't, has a windmill or it doesn't, is a villa or it isn't, a farm stay or isn't, in the countryside or it isn't. 

How does Airbnb expect hosts to run a business when their category may change every two weeks?

And, I don't blame you guys, because I'm sure you're only posting the messaging you've been given, but the reality is that telling long time hosts they need good photos and accurate text and up to date amenities is quite condescending.

[Susan1188]

@Mark116  I agree you are right the guests are not benefitting! They are going to jump to the platforms that are simpler and *let them stay in control of their search!!!*

On behalf of the 2 guests I recently had to refuse... to give you a NJ analogy... they had probably searched for "Wildwood NJ" and landed on a property in Avalon, because they clicked on the "amazing view"  I had a 2 night gap in my calendar I was promoting.

No, I do not accept groups of 20 something kids coming for the nightlife in my family oriented property in a luxury zone.  So : lose lose.  They got a bad first refusal on Airbnb, and I got a lower conversion rate thanks to that.

[Huma0]

@Mark116 

Yes, the guest I showed it to this evening said that it would just make her give up because it's too complicated and also that it was designed only for "super rich people". The previous guest I showed it to just laughed... a lot.

[Quincy]

Hi @Mike-And-Jane0, thanks for sharing your thoughts here. We're reading all your comments, collecting all your suggestions, and passing on the entirety of your feedback to the team. If we get more info on some of the points you and others have raised here. we'll let you know.

[Helen609]

There is now no way to search for Shepherds Huts in Cornwall. The category exists, but not when I add Cornwall or Polperro to the location.

I have had no bookings for 3 weeks because unbeknownst to me you had removed shepherds huts from the Unique Stays search function.

So far your new updates have cost me quite a bit of money and caused stress.

[Mark4222]

Horrible update. Utter lack of concern for hosts, without whom there would be no airbnb!