***Check Your Cover Photos!!

[Joan2709]

I just happened to be checking some listings I work with in private window browsing to see search position and Airbnb was displaying an old photo as the cover photo! This was NOT the cover photo I had chosen in the Photo Tour and that was displaying in View Mode either in the Listing Editor. Good thing I checked. No idea how long it has been like that! 😠

The only way for me to get it corrected was to actually delete the bogus cover photo entirely from the photo tour. C'mon Airbnb! This is a big deal going into spring break and our busy summer season and could have hurt this listing because the wrong cover photo was showing in guest searches.

Could one of the moderators please forward this to the appropriate Team at Airbnb? This is a big deal, as the cover photo is crucial to a listing's success. Having the wrong one showing to guests and a completely different one shown to a Host in the Listing Editor is not good! Who knows how many Hosts are not aware this is happening.

@Rebecca @Bhumika @Paula 

@Shelley159 - I think you mentioned recently some difficulty in choosing a cover photo for your listing? Wonder if this is related? 

@Joelle43

@Helen3 

@Lorina14 

@Frances3408 

@Guy991 

 - can you check your listings in private window browsing and see if you are having a similar issue?

[Joelle43]

Good morning @Joan2709 

Well I never!! I went to check in private mode my listing and you're absolutely right - it's not the one I've chosen and not the one I see via the "Preview" button!

It's the old cover photo but also the first photo that starts the Photo tour via the Lounge area if the two are related??

I agree with you that it's a big deal with the spring/summer season coming up.  Airbnb still no do not allow guests to filter listings that provide an outside space/balcony/terrace so the only way I can promote this great feature is by having a photo of the balcony as my 1st page.  I have been very disappointed with the stats lately for my listing and was wondering why,  especially as I changed the cover photo to the balcony taken by a professional photographer.  It makes more sense now I guess

You mention you had to delete the photo entirely - but were you able to put it back as the photo in question for my listing is the winter cover photo so an important one for my listing!!

Thanks again for bringing this to our attention Joan and let's hope this gets fixed quickly.  Are we not due for another release soon?  Just pray that guests will have the ability to tick more filters to find a listing that suits their needs rather than plough through endless pages of listings that don't apply🙏 Seems such a simple fix and would make for a greater user experience but we've been saying this for years with no results.

[Joan2709]

@Joelle43 

Mornin' to you and thanks for confirming the issue.

In our case this was an exterior, daytime photo and we prefer to use a twilight exterior photo as the cover. We would have liked to keep the daytime photo in the tour, but not if Airbnb is going to force that to be the cover photo. 😠

Yet again, another example of poor use of an AI tool tool (I'm assuming not a bug).

This is what happened to homeshare hosts renting rooms. Airbnb forces the bedroom photo to be the cover photo, whilst the Host has no idea and thinks the cover they have chosen is being used to display to guest in searches.

[Shelley159]

@Joan2709 are you also seeing 2 different cover photos like me, depending on whether you're logged in or out?

[Joan2709]

@Shelley159 

I can't really verify that, as I was forced to delete the cover photo Airbnb was using as it was overriding my choice of cover photo. Couldn't allow that to continue as it would potentially have a negative affect on clicks. Homeshare hosts deleted the photo Airbnb was using (bedroom photo) and selected the correct one as the cover. If they still wanted to use the photo in their photo tour, they added it back later. However, Hosts discovered that the AI simply added back the "chosen" cover photo in about 10 days, so assuming this is an AI thing....oh brother 🙄 

Can you post a screen shot of the two different views of your listing? One with you logged in and searching and one with you logged out when using private window browsing?

[Guy991]

Hello @Joan2709 

Thank you for sharing this. I checked and found out all my pictures are in place.

However, I would like to share that recently I needed to make a small change in the photo gallery in one of the listings, and the app involuntarily decided to reshuffle everything and rearrange them differently in the rooms. AI is running the show and it is running wild. I had to manually start over and rearrange them all again. This bad experience leaves me with the impression that customer service is now also responsible for app development.

[Andrea6232]

Ciao @Joan2709 , my cover photo is okay, but thanks for the advise 😉 Andrea

[Shelley159]

Yes @Joan2709 @Joelle43 

Since that post of mine, I'm still seeing a different photo in private mode from what I see when I look at my own listing while logged in.

I wouldn't be surprised if the search bot is perhaps now intentionally choosing the cover photo that it feels is appropriate for the person looking? Does anyone know if this is the case?

[Joan2709]

@Shelley159 

Thanks for confirming and this makes me very, very angry. The Airbnb overreach is getting out of control and this takes the cake. 😠

We already don't have control over how photos are presented to guests. The only ones we could control were the first 5 photos and now it seems we don't even have that?

This is akin to what Rooms, Home Share Hosts experienced as Airbnb was overriding the Host cover photo choice and making the bedroom photo the cover photo - cause according to Airbnb that's what it should be?

[Tara0]

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@Joan2709 wrote:

@Shelley159 

Thanks for confirming and this makes me very, very angry. The Airbnb overreach is getting out of control and this takes the cake. 😠

We already don't have control over how photos are presented to guests. The only ones we could control were the first 5 photos and now it seems we don't even have that?

This is akin to what Rooms, Home Share Hosts experienced as Airbnb was overriding the Host cover photo choice and making the bedroom photo the cover photo - cause according to Airbnb that's what it should be?

---

@Joan2709 My photo order is unchanged. I think it might be because I don't use Photo Tour. I did this deliberately as I don't like the display of Photo Tour. I recall the workaround is not to upload photos in one of the categories; every time I go to edit, it asks me to upload living room photos - the living room photos are there, but they're under 'additional photos'. I can select any order I like. 

[Joan2709]

@Tara0 

Yes...not a fan of the photo tour since introduced.

I also suggested some of my clients not use the tour for the reasons you mention. However, in the last year I am hearing that not using the photo tour could negatively affect search position, as Airbnb is putting emphasis on some features of the tour (amenities, accessibility) for each room. "Tasks" callouts started appearing (callouts never a good thing on Airbnb) asking Hosts to add photos to rooms etc.

For Hosts with unique features or amenities, I still suggested not using the photo tour. Others moved to using the tour and it has been fine.

The problem with the Cover Photo was a known issue for Rooms Hosts since that feature was introduced. Only in the last week or so did it appear for Homes Hosts (as far as I can tell). If the Cover Photo problem persists, I will advise clients to again remove the photo tour and return to the grid style to avoid the issue. This will force more Hosts to stop using the tour if Airbnb persists on forcing a particular photo for the cover - not what they want I'm sure. Ironic isn't it?

[Tara0]

@Joan2709 I honestly don't understand what the supposed advantages are, to guests, with the Photo Tour (or why Airbnb wants this?). The amenities are all listed regardless, and given that you're lucky if guests read the description, it's unlikely they look at Photo Tour info in any great detail. 

Anyway, I've not noticed any downturn in bookings, and I imagine every host is nagged with 'tasks' (though they seem to have stopped suggesting I add aircon in a country where less than 5% of residences has it). 

[Joan2709]

@Tara0

No idea why Airbnb seems fixated on the Photo Tour.  🤷‍♀️

If the photos are poor quality, it doesn't matter how they are arranged. Airbnb does have the AI "put your best photos first" but doubtful that helps the success of the listing if the "best" photos are also poor quality. 

The way to improve bookings is to get professional photos done. It doesn't matter if they are arranged in a photo tour, or the old grid system. Airbnb tried the Professional Photographer deal with Hosts with mixed results and Hosts are not permitted to use the photos outside of Airbnb.

[Tara0]

@Joan2709 I'm not entirely convinced about professional photography. It can, of course, certainly help if the host is clueless/terrible at photography. But we all have sophisticated phone cameras these days.

I think the danger with the professional shots is that it all looks too slick, too contrived therefore less personal, (and too many details of a coffee maker or a bottle of shower gel), so it doesn't look like a real home - which, to me, is the whole point of Airbnb, that it feels genuinely real. 

Good phone photos show the reality, - guests see exactly what they're getting, not a glossy fantasy version. 

[Joan2709]

@Tara0 

Well...that depends on the photographer 😊

If you tell the photographer you want realistic, lifestyle photos without embellishments, no special filters or wide angle lenses, they will do accordingly.

Have to disagree on the iPhone photos - just because you have the latest iphone doesn't mean you know how to properly use it to take quality photos for the listing (most don't know how to use their iPhone camera correctly) and don't understand the requirements for listing photos. 

For example, most phones are set to compress photos taken to save storage space (HEIC) format. This greatly reduces the quality of the photo (pixels). The minimum suggested is 1024x683 - HEIC will not do that for you. The suggestion is up to 2Mb is the best pixel size. 

Another example, Airbnb crops photos and prefers landscape over portrait in a 3:2 ratio. Most iPhone users don't know that and end up with chopped off photos that can't be used; especially not as a cover photo that is always in landscape format.

Another example - one of my pet peeves - blurry photos taken at eye level. A tripod is necessary to prevent blurry photos. Even a small amount of movement when holding the phone introduces blur to the photos. 

The cost of professional photos will pay for itself very quickly and can usually be written off as a business expense.