Making reviews more relevant and useful for our community

[Airbnb]

Many of you rely on reviews to grow your business—they highlight your amazing hospitality. They’re also a helpful way to get specific feedback on what you’re doing well as a host and where you can improve. But there are times when you feel like a review may be misleading or irrelevant to future guests, and we know that can be painful both personally and professionally.

It’s tricky. Guests and hosts need to be able to share what they feel is important about their experience, so we don’t want to limit what people can and can’t say on the platform. However, it’s also essential that reviews reflect a guest’s stay and that they provide useful information to future hosts and guests. As part of our ongoing journey to get this balance right, here are some of the changes we’re making:

Introducing our updated Review Policy

With our updated Review Policy—effective December 11, 2019—we’ve addressed two types of reviews that we know can be frustrating: irrelevant reviews and biased reviews. The updated policy clarifies our expectations and ensures our customer support agents are equipped to remove these types of reviews.

By updating our policy to cover irrelevant and biased reviews, we’re strengthening our commitment to building a community of trust. These review updates build upon our existing Content Policy (which outlines the kind of content that is never allowed on Airbnb) and our new Guest Standards Policy, which will introduce a system for tracking bad guests. Under our updated Review Policy, guests and hosts who repeatedly leave certain kinds of biased reviews may be removed from the platform.

Let’s look at irrelevant reviews and biased reviews in a little more detail:

Reviews that are irrelevant

This policy covers situations where a review contains information that’s irrelevant to you as a host or your listing—and isn’t useful to future guests.

Here are a few examples:

• A guest accidentally leaves a review on your profile that was meant for another host
• A guest never checks into your space (for a documented reason unrelated to you as the host or your listing) and leaves an irrelevant review about their experience. For example, a guest never shows up, due to a canceled flight, but leaves you a review that complains about a dirty couch.

Under the updated policy, both of those reviews would be removed because they contain only irrelevant info.

There are also times when a guest comments on issues outside of your control, or unrelated to the service you provided. Those types of reviews may be removed if they only contain irrelevant content that isn’t useful to future guests. Here are a few examples of irrelevant content that could result in the removal of a review:

• A guest leaves a comment about your appearance
• A guest leaves you a bad review because they were frustrated by public transit in your city
• A guest leaves a review about the type of people in your neighborhood

These comments have nothing to do with your listing or the service you provide as a host and aren’t useful to future guests. So, under our updated Review Policy, our customer support agents would be empowered to remove both the review content and star rating.

Reviews with biased information

Our community benefits most when reviews share an unbiased view of the member’s experience. Our updated Review Policy covers the removal of reviews with inappropriate bias—this may include situations where the reviewer is attempting to extort the person being reviewed, has a conflict of interest, or competes with the person being reviewed. Here’s a closer look at three types of biased reviews that will be removed under our updated policy:

• Extortion: This is when a guest tries to use reviews to get something they want—for example, if they threaten to leave you a bad review unless you give them late checkout. Any attempt to use reviews or review responses to force a person to do something they aren’t obligated to do is a misuse of reviews, and we don’t allow it. People who use Airbnb also aren’t allowed to tie positive reviews to promises of compensation.
• Conflict of interest: We appreciate how much hard work goes into earning a positive review. As a result, we will not allow hosts to unfairly boost their ratings by accepting fake reservations in exchange for a positive review, using a second account to review their own listing, or providing something of value (like cash or a late checkout) in exchange for positive reviews.
• Competition: We’ll remove reviews written by hosts of competing listings or experiences where that person (acting as a guest) leaves negative reviews for competitive listings, or where we determine the content is intended to dissuade others from booking those listings or drive business to other listings.

Guests and hosts who repeatedly violate our updated Review Policy may face consequences, including account suspension and removal from the platform. We’ve also invested in retraining our customer support agents and improving our workflows, so hosts will receive better support in instances when irrelevant or biased reviews happen. As with our new Guest Standards Policy that tracks bad guests, our updated Review Policy includes warnings and education that can lead to suspension or removal of people who repeatedly leave biased reviews.

Updating our Review Policy is another important step in our journey of supporting guests and hosts like you who rely on relevant, useful reviews.

Your top questions, answered

What kinds of reviews will be removed by this updated Review Policy?

A healthy review system is one that respects and protects our community’s genuine feedback. For that reason, we take the removal of any review very seriously and only remove reviews that clearly violate Airbnb’s Review Policy. You can read the updated Review Policy in full, but, in short, this means a review is only removed if:

• The review is in violation of Airbnb’s Content Policy,
• The review is biased, or
• The review is irrelevant to the author’s experience on Airbnb

Guests and hosts who repeatedly violate our updated Review Policy may face consequences, including account suspension and removal from the platform.

What kind of documentation should I have under the updated Review Policy?

We can’t emphasize this enough: Always aim to communicate with guests through the Airbnb platform. If conversations happen off-platform, be sure to keep a record of those conversations too. That way, if you ever need to report a review to our agents, they’ll have—at their fingertips—the information they need to make the right decision. That said, even when you don’t have this preferred documentation, we encourage you to report any reviews that violate our Review Policy because we may be able to identify other evidence or patterns of behavior regarding that guest. 

Will all irrelevant review content be removed?

If Airbnb determines that the review contains no relevant information about a host or guest or listing, the review will be removed. Reviews that contain mostly irrelevant information are also subject to removal, but only where the relevant information does not meaningfully inform community members.

Where a review contains information that is unrelated to an experience as a host or guest, or is focused on something beyond the control of the person being reviewed, our team will determine the relevance of the review by considering how useful it is to our community of hosts and guests. To do this, we’ll look at two things:

• Does the review recount the reviewer’s experience and provide their personal perspective?
• Is the review helpful to other members of the Airbnb community? Does it provide essential information about a host or guest, listing, or experience that would help others make more informed booking decisions?

What’s the difference between extortionary and retaliatory reviews?

It’s considered extortion if a guest attempts to use reviews (or review responses) to force a host to do something they aren’t obligated to do. So, for example, if a guest threatens to leave a bad review if you don’t allow them to bring additional guests, that review would be extortionary and would be removed under the updated policy.

Then there are times when a host may feel that a negative review is made in retaliation. This is when, for example, a host doesn’t allow the guest to bring additional guests, and the guest goes on to leave a review about how inflexible their host was, or even writes a negative review about cleanliness or location. However, without evidence of a threat to leave a negative review, this would not be considered extortionary and would not be removed under the updated policy. If this happens, we encourage hosts to use their public response to politely address the issue.

Why aren’t you removing all retaliatory reviews?

While we understand how frustrating it can be when you receive a review that feels retaliatory, we don’t have a crystal ball to tell us what a person’s true motivations are. So, without a documented threat to leave a negative review or other evidence of a biased review, Airbnb won’t intervene. Here’s why:

• As a marketplace, we often don’t know the truth about what took place, and our review system is a critical feedback mechanism for our hosts and guests. That means we want as many reviews as possible to remain intact—so our community can put them to good use.
• Most guest reviews contain honest feedback about their experience and useful information for hosts and guests.

To reiterate, as outlined in our updated Review Policy, Airbnb can—and will—intervene where there’s evidence of a threat, promise of action that’s dependent on the review, or other conflict of interest and/or competition. Additionally, we will continue to intervene when a guest leaves a review that violates our content policies—including discriminatory content or a violent threat.

For more information, read the updated Review Policy or learn more about how we moderate disputes of our Review Policy in our Help Center.

How we’re tackling inconsistent reviews

Sometimes, a negative review is less about the guest’s experience in your space and more about them not understanding how reviews or the platform work—they can even be the result of an honest mistake. Earlier this year, we built a tool to help address these types of reviews by automatically detecting inconsistencies, and then interrupting the flow to give guests a chance to correct them. So, for example, if a guest gives you 4 or 5 stars in every category (cleanliness, accuracy, and so on) but then a 1-, 2-, or 3-star rating overall, a pop-up will ask if they’re sure about their overall rating.

Similarly, if a guest leaves a low rating for something like location or value—two categories we know can be interpreted differently by guests—a clarifying question will appear.

• For location, we’ll ask if the location was accurately described in the listing
• For value, we’ll ask what would’ve made the stay a better value

These interruptions force guests to think a little more about the rating they’re giving, which they can then go back and correct. As a result, we’re already seeing more consistency between the category scores and overall scores. Improvements like these help ensure that guests’ ratings align with their experience—better ratings are more useful to guests and reward the hard work of hosts.

There’s still more to come

Reviews are the backbone of our community—they help hosts grow their businesses, and they help guests gain the confidence they need to make the booking. We have a dedicated team doing lots of thinking around how to make our entire review experience better for hosts and guests. We’ll continue to improve the review system over time—please keep sending us your feedback about improvements that you’d like to see. In the meantime, we’re excited about these changes and hope you are too.

[Daniel1831]

Great input.  As a host, it is very saddening that guest hold our check in and check out time against us.  Early check in and late check outs are always requested by guests but not always possible.  You would never question the Holiday Inns policy but somehow as an Airbnb host we are somehow have some special magic to turn our properties over in 30 minutes or less.  

Extortion - The only 4 star review our property has received was a guest that I wasn't able to accommodate late check out.  subsequesntly she complained about a smell in our home.  Complete BS, as cleaning crews, property manager and myself reviewed the property the morning of her arrival and the home was sparkling clean.  Not a truthfull review and recourse for not allowing her to stay longer.  

its about Times Airbnb starts supporting hosts.  Guests may have a vaction at risk when using Airbnb, owners have a 30 year asset and livelihood at risk to use Airbnb.  

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@Donna240 wrote:

I have one question that stands out for me in particular. It's about the idea that if a host offers a checkout that is later than stated, it represents a bribe for a good review. I have a check in time listed as "by agreement", because I personally hate being forced to sit around for hours after arrival in a city to finally be allowed into my room. I want my guests to feel welcomed by being flexible, so they can come straight from the airport. However, because some people book months ahead and others only days ahead, I realized that I could have a problem with enough cleaning time before the 2nd booking if I didn't put a time limit on the departure for my guests. When I know that in advance, I can accept the next booking without hesitation or having to ask the 2nd guest to arrive later in the day, when it may be inconvenient for their schedule.

Even though I have set my listing to allow one day ahead and one day after each booking to be blocked for the cleaning process, Airbnb has, on a regular basis, allowed booking requests to come through for dates when prior booked guests are scheduled to leave. To my point, I regularly allow guests to name their preferred checkout time also, upon arrival, if I have a few days before the next guests arrive. I do this because I want to, in terms of offering excellent hospitality, not because I am attempting to tip the scales for a better review. I also offer guests free entrance to the museums in which I have a membership privilege allowing me to bring guests in for free. It is my choice made in the name of hospitality, not bribery. 

I try to treat guests like friends I have invited into my home, so generosity and flexibility levels may exceed a standard business model. That does not mean I'm bribing for a good review or to ace out the competition, but does mean that I want to be an exceptional host. My question is, will you scuttle a good review if I continue to treat my guests to these benefits? 

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[Manasui0]

@Daniel1831 

I don't think Holliday inn care too much about 4 star review as much as majority of host does..

they have 100s rooms .. a 4 star is like a mosquito bites.. and a on star does not effect until 50 claims are made.. we only need one 1 star to mess every thing upside down..

as much as perfection and professionalism is an ace on this business models.. a precision is also needed.. meaning just right.. not to much, not less.. 

It allows us to make mistake and improve when we are inexperience.. 

we are not a hotel we are home.. each room are attended differently with different ways and vision.. it's Airbnb

I think we can be at least better than Holliday Inn in most part, even though it has a different style of running things.. I watch a villa once run almost close to a diamond star hotel.. still have 4 star.

it can happen because their tooth brush snap or other things

we can never satisfied every one.. 

[Anonymous]

Agree. Airbnb needs to support the hosts more. My very first booking through Airbnb left a 2 star review! I was mortified, as were my experienced cleaners who look after other holiday rental properties, including luxury ones, and my previous guests (not through Airbnb) could not believe what he wrote! The property was exactly as photographed and described, yet he complained about a new standard sized vanity with a deep bowl saying it was not big enough to wash ones hands and clean one's teeth, yet it is shown in the photos and bigger than what you find in most motels and many other Airbnb properties!
He complained that there was no airconditioning , even though it was clearly stated in two places that the rooms had ceiling fans. If he wanted airconditioning, he could have booked somewhere else. My lower rates take that into account.
He said things that were simply not true - said it was like "indoor camping"  even though is new and absolutely spotless and it has fridge with freezer, mini oven, microwave, kettle, toaster, iron and board, hairdryer, quality crockery, cutlery and utensils and extra dishes for baking and storing left-overs etc., very comfortable bed and lounge room, complimentary wi-fi and USB charging and plenty of powerpoints, a generous selection of quality teas, coffee and top quality hot chocolate, range of sweeteners, shampoos, conditioners, soap, good biscuits, complimentary chocolates, comprehensive guide to local attractions and house information manual etc etc!
He even complained about the space between one side of the QS bed and the window, which is shown in the photo and which is 700mm with clear spacious access on the other side and at the foot. He had clearly not read the description or looked at the photos and he turned up an hour early and checked out an hour late.
I had given  him a good review saying he was polite and quiet as I spoke to him the day before he left and asked him if everything was satisfactory and he said yes.
After seeing the review, I looked up his history and he had only joined Airbnb recently and this was the first property he had stayed at. Sounds like he was expecting something totally different to how my property is clearly shown and described.
And I had no way of defending myself other than to publicly and politely reply, which looks bad anyway, publicly contradicting a guest. I did say an Airbnb representative is welcome to check my property at any time and they will find it spotless, comfortable and exactly as photographed and described in the listing. So of course, this has cost me bookings. I wouldn't book my property if what he said was true. I have no idea why he booked my property, and why he wrote such a vindictive review. Wondering if, even though he is supposedly from overseas, maybe he is a friend of another local rental property owner perhaps? Can't think of any other reason, other than it was a record temperature heatwave in South Australia during his stay, but I cannot control that.
Then got an email from Airbnb about the low rating. I am very disappointed with the lack of support for hosts by Airbnb. I have had good ratings from my listing elsewhere. But Airbnb is an important one, and this nasty review has severely impacted my earning potential given that this was my first rating with them, as that review will always be seen by potential future guests.

[Mark66]

We get reviews constantly that degrade us for location, based on airbnb software preventing us from accurately placing our caret, as we live in a rural area, on a Stateline.  Our zip code is 25 miles away, and where we are at the border, 5 miles which is the airbnb limit, is on the other side of the border.  Not only does airbnb submit the tax to the wrong state and municipality, but they further add in that I as a host magically "waive" my objection to the incorrectness, and that I am liable for it.  And I get dinged on a daily. basis for their placement of the caret which is not accurately portrayed in the search results.  

However, most of our area listings are in the exact same pickle, so I'm not the only one affected.  You would think that airbnb would listen to the hosts in our area, as we live in a sovereign economy, so our agreement with airbnb should be like any island or territory that has special arrangements for just such problems.  Or the famous specialist, who never got back to us.  

We have a rash of guests who purposely book stays, with hosts, who do not have certain features.  To exact a complaint that you do not have the feature that they are expecting.  

The most frequent is booking for weather, and then when the weather isn't perfect they want a stay and a refund.  

[Rosabeth0]

Where I have my place, Airbnb does not collect bed taxes. It makes hosting very difficult and I've even had guests not pay their taxes! So it takes a LOT of extra time on my end! I am wondering when the local city/ county will either make Airbnb pay taxes, or prevent them from doing business in the area!  Once, due to a typo, I had to pay $250- $300 for a guests taxes and Airbnb did NOT back me up! That is a HUGE chunk of money to be out! 

[Veronica440]

Re: Mark66 comments 🙂

I am the same as you with this, I am also rural and clearly state to guests in the information about my room that 'it is 7 kilometres from the centre of the town, you need to have a vehicle to get here' and detailed directions on how to get to the property, this is to further enhance the small map on my page. Still they drive past the driveway entrance, stop 10 metres up the road and ring me to say they can't find the house! without a word of a lie, they are directly in front of the house, looking at my house while talking to me and I am waving my arms to show that its me they are talking to.. The trouble is only 1 out 5 guests bother to read any of the extra info that I put up there for them, even the bit where I ask of their bread preference so that I can supply the one they like to eat, honestly out of 100 guests only 5 guests have asked for what they would like for their stay..

Another thing that I don't understand with reviews is when they give 5 stars for everything, say how great and wonderful it is and then give a '4 star overall' rating at the end.. it really doesn't make sense or correspond with the written review...BUT its the stars that affect out ratings..

Sorry for the whinge on my reply to you..lol..

[Anonymous]

"We have a rash of guests who purposely book stays, with hosts, who do not have certain features.  To exact a complaint that you do not have the feature that they are expecting. "

Wow, I wonder if my guest who gave such a nasty unwarranted review was one of those types of people, as my property was described and photographed exactly as it is, and yet he complained about features I did not have and things that were clearly shown and described.
Can't imagine why they would do such a thing, but it certainly has a severe impact on the host's potential earnings when one is dishonestly criticised and rated!

[Ildi32]

Great ideas, thank you for sharing! 

[Vieve219]

Is this policy going to be applied retroactively? 

[Fred-and-Kathi0]

That would be nice. i have great reviews but one I got a few years ago rated me 5 stars on everything but a 1 overall. Based on the guests comments, it clearly was a mistake yet it lowered my overall rating. Would like to have that thrown out to improve my rating!

[Kathleen-M1]

I totally agree with your operating model.

[Kathleen301]

I put in my listing, that if we don't have guests coming or going, we will do our best to accommodate their schedule, just ask. Then I offer luggage drop off, so they can go hang out without their luggage while they wait for us to get the place ready or if they have time to kill before an evening flight. I never promise anything ahead of time unless I actually have the day before or after blocked off for some reason, and I'm upfront about it. They know we have people coming and going, they understand. I always go on to tell them that the worst case scenario will be dropping off or leaving luggage with us. Every single guest I've had so far has been very happy with that response, because really they just don't want to be stuck carrying around luggage all day. If it's in your listing, that you try to accommodate schedules, I can't imagine it could never be misconstrued as a bribe, when you actually do. 

[Lesley340]

I do exactly the same with our listings and have always found guests appreciate our flexibility and effort do whatever is possible to accommodate their needs whilst considering those of incoming guests. Never had a negative comment about check-in or check-out arrangements.

[Darryl86]

I lost my Superhost Status because of one bad review where a woman who booked my home and did not set for on the property slammed me because the people were unhappy with stairs, no airconditioning and a 'so-called smell' in the carpets. I fell from 4.9 to 4.6 and had to fight a whole year to try to get this review removed. NO GO BY AIRBNB. Such crap really. Who is wrong here? Me? No. Everything those people complained about was stated in the listing. 24 stairs, no air conditioning, but because a friend booked it they had no idea what exactly there was getting until they arrived. They complained to her and she tried to destroy me. Why in hell AirBnB does not automatically drop the two worst reviews is beyond me. If a homeowner has 20 plus reviews and an established Superhost status the fools at the top of Airbnb (you would think) would put such a mechanism in place to protect the top performers. Rather they subject us to 20 somethings who likely still live at home with mom and dad and have no real-world experience and we as the ones supplying the superior product suffer. I urge Airbnb executives to use some sense and make this standard for those who achieve Superhost status. The two lowest reviews are automatically not counted in the numbers to maintain Superhost status, they will save people like me from being crapped on by fake reviews.

[Eric199]

Hosts should be allowed to list 2 or 3 recent reviews (within the past 6 months) to appear at the top of the review list.    This will give a more balanced picture when a guest leaves a dishonest review.