Cover Photo I have chosen is not being used as the cover photo. Why?

[Elizabeth2874]

I chose a cover photo but when I look up the listing as a traveler, a different photo is presented first. Why?

[Joelle43 · Accepted solution]

Hello @Elizabeth2874 

You are not the only person posting about this problem on the CC.  You find yourself in the new "room category" that Airbnb has promoted this month and from what I can gather, it is AI that chooses which photo to put forward for your listing which is creating quite a lot of frustration amongst hosts.

You should have a feedback button so feel free to use and any other means to give your view.  

You could try deleting the photo you don't want as your cover photo and see if that changes something and then if AI chooses one you do like, put it back on!  Trying to think of a way to fool AI but am not a techie person!!

Good luck and let us know if it works!

All the best

Joëlle

[Elizabeth2874]

@Joelle43 Thank you! I had no idea this was happening to others and why so I appreciate your advice. I deleted the picture, and it was replaced with the one I wanted. Then I added it back. All is well now. I appreciate the help.

Best, 

Liz

[Joelle43]

Hello again @Elizabeth2874 

Thank you for giving your feedback and I'm glad the technique worked so that others can use it!

All the best

Joëlle

[Barbara83]

Thank you! I have been so frustrated about this... But I'm going to try to to delete and add it back...

I don't think Airbnb should let AI choose the cover photo... We should be the ones choosing...

-Barbara

[Julia4807]

Same here! no matter what I do - the cover photo is chosen by Airbnb..

[Dana184]

@Joelle43 I’m having the same problem and yes, my listing is considered a “room” even though there are many rooms.  When I deleted one picture, it chose a new picture, still not the cover photo I have chosen.  I don’t know how many times I’ll have to do this, but it is a problem, and we shouldn’t have to spend hours on their glitches.  Hope they sort it out soon.  

[Joan2709]

Hi @Dana184 , @Julia4807 , @Barbara83 

I think you need to delete the photo tour first. Then you can try @Joelle43's idea. You may also be able to move the photos around the way you want as well. 

Delete Photo Tour 

The Photo Tour will not work if there is not at least one photo in each room. If you move all the photos say out of the living room to addl photos, the tour is "deleted."  However, DO NOT remove photos from the bedroom(s) Room. This is because the system uses the "sleeping arrangements" and type of bed to populate your subtitle that shows the number of bedrooms. The system also uses the Bedroom Room to populate the "where you'll sleep" photos on the listing. You can also delete all the rooms except the bedroom(s). 

Then click the "All photos" at the top of the page and all your photos will appear in a grid. Simply drag and drop the photos where you want them to appear on the listing and in what order. I was able to do this on a recent new listing and it works. As long as you leave your bedroom photos in the Bedroom "Room". The only small issue is that one of the bedroom photos will appear on the listing in a random location, but all the other photos appeared where I put them in the grid.

@Stephanie1288 pointed out you will still see the words "Photo Tour" on the left side of the Listing Editor, but the photos are no longer arranged in a "Tour" in guest view and you'll see your photos in a grid instead of in each "room" icon when clicking the "All Photos" button as a Host. Simply add photos and move around as you wish. Photos added will appear at the bottom of the photo grid. You can move them around after that as needed and place them where you want. 

Hopefully Airbnb will make a change that allows Hosts to simply select one button do decide if they want the photo tour or not. Until then, this is the only way I can see to go back to allowing the Host to decide in what order the photos will be shown to a guest.

Let us know if this works for you here, as it may help other Hosts with the same problem.