From terrible to completely ridiculous.

[Robin4]

Having just read the 'Summer Release' update link I thought I would check out how much feedback had been taken on board from the first month of the changes to search criteria.  I wish I hadn't....searching for a listing is now complete chaos!

When I bring up a search page now, this morning 12/06/2022 I can't even search my country of Australia any more, let alone a specific area.

Here are my search options..........

The only search box I am faced with is 'Where',  and clicking that brings up 6 general region boxes.

and clicking on the area boxes does absolutely nothing but at least now brings up a destination option. But it took me a while to find that option....guests are going to find this hard to tolerate, particularly those who have used the booking process before.

My bookings have fallen away to zero over the past few weeks and I can't see that there will be any improvement until we get back to the situation where a guest could simply search an area, availability, nightly price without having to jump through all these hoops.

Cheers........Rob

[JJ48]

@Nancy1633 

All I am saying is that there is just as likely a different reason. It's hard to say for your listing since you don't have one listed. However, looking at your reviews it looks like you started in January so I suspect it was the loss of the new listing boost that may have affected your bookings.  

For January and February, you had 3-4 bookings each month and then in March you dropped down to only 2-3 bookings each month. And then nothing since the 2 bookings in May but I'm assuming you must've removed your listing after that since it's not showing. 

I understand that maybe some guests don't leave a review so the numbers might be off but the difference between 3-4 and 2-3 isn't large anyway.  And I think it's easily attributed to losing the "new listing boost". It lasts about 2-3 months and your listing is pushed to the top and has increased search rank during that time but then it goes away and your listing loses that boost. 

Could you maybe show a screenshot of your stats? The views? I'm curious whether you stopped getting views or if you just stopped getting bookings.

And the only reason I mentioned covid is that they announced at the same time as the update that covid would no longer be considered an extenuating circumstance. So I believe that may be discouraging guests from booking too far in advance and that they are considering the cancelation policy more than in the past. That combined with the economy. 

If a host is used to booking far in advance then they would feel that effect more than a host like myself that usually books 1-3 weeks before the stay.  I can't imagine having bookings in Aug and Sep while still in June so maybe that's why I haven't noticed a difference. But some hosts who say they aren't booking have filled up Sept already. I don't know, just my perspective. 

[Heather1086]

@JJ48  Something happened with the new release... at least on my end. I ended up opening my summer calendar a bit late this year because I wanted the AC to be installed before advertising it and pricing the house accordingly.  Prior to the new release I opened my summer calendar and got 5 bookings very quickly (which was typical and expected) after the new release I have 0 and only 1 inquiry. 

This morning I went on a different device to do a search and couldn't even find my listing (flexible week in September) ... had almost a thought that I had been delisted for some random reason. Then did a different search (flexible week in July) and it came up. 

I am pretty frustrated and don't know what to do at this point because the summer income from my house historically pays all expenses for the year. We do have slow months (November & May) but the rest of the year is typically really busy.  I had way more bookings with COVID in full swing here since March 2022.

[Heather1086]

Meant March of 2020... 

[Nancy1633]

@JJ48 

Are you extrapolating my monthly bookings from past reviews?  That is not accurate.  Roughly 75% left reviews, all signed our guest book. 

To address your (creepy) research on me: I launched in January, got weekends booked steadily except for when we (owners) came up to use/work on the cabin. Sorry to disappoint you, but my newly-listed property attracted interest right away, at the HEIGHT of Delta, followed by Omicron. 

Your theory about my "listing boost" is nonsense. My bookings were flowing in at the same pace, some booked far ahead, others shortly before their travel dates. After the launch, *crickets*.  

Correct, my original listing was frozen, because my new Host/property manager has listed it on her AirBnb account. She is finishing off my old bookings.  Does that satisfy your curiosity?  Want to know my favorite flavor of ice cream?  Or my favorite day of the week? 

This is not about ME, it is a systemic problem affecting many, many Hosts, globally. 

The problem IS the new release. 

[Suzanne302]

@JJ48 

The search function is most definitely NOT like before. you cannot search without putting in exact dates, or, it defaults to a week or weekend, which is not helpful to guests with flexible dates. And don't come at us saying you can choose "I'm flexible." That is when it defaults to one week. And the only other option is to put in dates and then search within 1-2 days. Still not helpful.

The collective experiences of hosts with zero views and decreased (or no new) bookings corresponding precisely with the summer release is not a coincidence, and to dismiss all the hosts in this forum experiencing this is simply being obtuse.

Not to mention the number of hosts new to the forum (not new to Airbnb, just the CC) coming out in droves to try and figure out what is going on with their bookings.

[JJ48]

@Suzanne302  I understand that you can't search without dates, that you must either put in dates or choose any weekend or it goes to any week.

But what would be the point of searching without dates? Do you search without dates when you're looking for a stay?   When guests search without dates they don't see the total price and then complain about that. And they also don't get the accurate nightly price and then complain about that.  If they do not care for a week in next January then they will have to put in their own dates (which is better for all involved). And at least everything they see is accurate and not some pretend price that's an average of the last 30 days or whatever. 

I think it is the best part of the update, that guests are now forced to pick dates. It seems brilliant to me as there's no benefit to anyone involved for someone to search without dates. 

"to dismiss all the hosts in this forum experiencing this is simply being obtuse".  I did not dismiss anyone much less all hosts in this forum, that's not fair. I only suggested that there may be other reasons that some hosts are not booking.

I am having a different experience. My entire city is having a different experience and I am trying to make sense of it. I understand you're having your own experience but how does it serve you to reject conflicting experiences?  If it were the other way around, I'd want to know if it was different elsewhere and why. It's not just me, my entire area is booking the same as usual.

Can you possibly give a screenshot of your views graph from the stats? I'd just like to see what that looks like.

[Suzanne302]

@JJ48 

My stats are my business. I'm not rejecting conflicting experiences. I'm telling you that YOU are in the minority with YOUR experiences based on feedback here in the CC but you are commenting as though the MAJORITY of us hosts are wrong in our experiences.

And yes, people most certainly DO search without dates in mind. That's usually how I search before deciding on vacation dates. I was going to take 4-5 days of vacation in September or October. I knew my destination, but was going to adjust my dates based on the best accommodations available. This was right after the summer release. I tried searching on Airbnb, but got frustrated because it kept defaulting to either dates way in the future (2023) or it zoomed out to places 4-5 hours away from where I wanted to stay. My only options were a weekend stay or a weeklong stay, neither of which I was interested in. Sure, I could have popped in dates, but that would have taken hours to search all possible date combinations.

I went to VRBO. Their search function is perfect. I put in my destination and my price range and it showed me ALL possible rentals and their availability calendars. I booked a place I found on VRBO.

You are commenting based on your experience and think everything should be fine, because it's fine with you and how you think. And I also can't believe you speak for your "entire city" because you can't possibly know what's going on with every single host in your city.

Honestly, I'm not interested in conversing with you anymore. You're not a familiar face here in the CC and it's curious you are popping up now with so many comments telling hosts who are complaining about the summer release that there must be some other reason they are getting fewer views and fewer bookings. Have a good night.

[Debra300]

@JJ48,

We usually search with dates, but we are planning to return to our Atlanta home in November for 1.5 months, and during that period we want to take a holiday abroad.  I've not taken any time off from work thus far this year, and when we are in St. Lucia we rarely travel for more than a getaway weekend.  So, I will likely have about 5 weeks of R&R available.  Since we have a large window to travel within, we want to search locations without specific dates, and then look at the availability of any listing that interest us.  The current search doesn't allow for this, and even when choosing I'm Flexible its defaults are for durations of weekend, week and a month.  We aren't sure if we want to stay in one place for a whole week, but it's the closest to our desired length of stay.  If we select it the search results will not return listings that may have six nights available.  So, both guests and hosts are missing out on booking opportunities.

[JJ48]

Thank you @Debra300  This was the missing piece for me.

The “any week” search is dumb at best, it doesn’t make any sense. No one is traveling by picking out a random exactly 7-day stay 8.5 months from now. And anyone that is that flexible isn’t looking for exactly a week. It’s terribly inflexible and very old-fashioned for something that is touted as a “new way to travel”.  It’s not new, it’s how people traveled 60 years ago, it’s a step backward. I’m surprised it’s not only Sat to Sat weeks. So, I understood the frustration with it but I couldn’t see how it was affecting bookings until now.

But you’ve enlightened me and I appreciate you taking the time to explain it. I guess I’ve always searched with dates. And I’ve spent a lot of time encouraging guests to search with dates because when they don’t search with dates they don’t see the real price, the cleaning fee or service fee and then complain that there are hidden fees. 

I suspect that that is why it is no longer possible to search without dates.  And it’s very Airbnb to overcomplicate it. They could just show “Average price” if no dates are entered like every other similar website does to avoid the hidden fees accusation. In their effort to reinvent the wheel they’ve created a useless square one. 

And what you’re saying about searching without dates also explains the question that was bothering me the most:  If the update is affecting bookings then why are some hosts and some places booking as usual?  

And now I think it’s because some hosts get their bookings from people who search without dates, for certain types of trips that totally makes sense and now they aren’t being seen because it’s not possible to search without dates and the any week doesn't work. However, in my city, most guests come for things that have a date attached:  weddings, conferences, festivals, work, etc so we’re booking as usual. 

I like the idea of the categories, so I hope they fix that so that they work. I would use them but not until they are reliable, not until every listing with a view comes up under views. But they need to give the search without dates option back, it's the option that is actually flexible. That is clear now. 

For your trip, as a workaround, you could use dates with the +/- option which I find very useful.  For instance, I just did a test in a random place for Aug 7-14 and ticked the +/- 7 days and tripled the number of listings I was shown compared to not using the +/- option. Even if the actual dates don’t work for you, it will help you find more listings in the area you want to travel to than you’ll get with the other options. 

[Sheila262]

I have often searched without dates just to get a feel of what listings are out there. You can also see when rates are higher or lower. Or you used be able to do this. I am frustrated as a super host that it my listing is now buried on the 3rd or 4th page which means 45 listings are shown before mine. Why can't we just search the location and see what is out there? I have a private room. Now Privates rooms come after "Containers" and "Caves" What is up with that!!!*$&##*%*!!

[Rebecca181]

I just did a search, and I was not 'forced' to choose dates. Am I missing something?

[Matthew1608]

"But what would be the point of searching without dates? Do you search without dates when you're looking for a stay?"

The point of searching without dates is to see what types of listings are generally available.  There is a subset of Airbnb users that are looking to stay in unique places and search to see what is out there and then schedule their stays based on availability.  I get the sense based on your comment and Airbnb's that this is a missed opportunity that was available to users when the keyword search was available.  The category search is now the available option and as many have reported it is not working....

[JJ48]

@Nancy1633  It's not creepy to look at your profile. It would be dumb not to look because there are so many trolls here.  Besides, there's a big button under your photo that literally says, "View Profile", lol. I'd advise everyone to click on the "view profile" to make sure that they're talking to an actual host and/or guest.  A lot of folks on here are just pushing an agenda and you don't want to waste your time. 

Anyway, I thought you were trying to solve a problem so I tried to help. I really thought the new listing boost might have been a factor but it sounds like your reviews don't reflect the actual situation, which I suspected and noted in my post, so no worries, it was just a suggestion.  Hope they fix that update for you soon! 

[Helen744]

@JJ48 Hello  I looked at your reviews and it appears that you have none that are current so I am wondering how you can judge as you seem to have been either not taking bookings or not getting them ?I currently have ground to a halt on bookings as well . not sure why . Our current covid situation is that australians are now recording all tests taken that return positive and most schools and workplaces require these very odd d. so consequently the ures can ile times .a ourpopu the highest rates of vaccination in the world acompanied by influenza free shot roll out . Most people with an ordinairy immune system seem to be coping fine including both children and aged persons. Statistics are good if used correctly and i would prefer Airbnb to actually metion any acknowledgemen of a fall in booking rate or a shift and the deduced reasons. hosts are pretty sure they know why and since they are from all over the world then i think the covid issue is no longer a player but maybe as you say it is a spot between removing cancellation of covid refunds and activating travellers insurance. Mayb and we can only hope guests have realised that the free ride is over'H

[JJ48]

@Helen744  Hello. Well, you must have looked at the 2-bedroom units. I have nurses in there on monthly leases right now, but I won't do monthly stays on Airbnb so I use a different website for those. But if you're really keen on seeing our recent reviews you can have a look at the 3rd listing, the studio, the one with the bay window in the top photo. 

You'll easily see current reviews from May but the most current, from June will be towards the bottom so you'll need to scroll down because she's from the UK and they sort international reviews that way.  I'm also sitting on one review until the 14th day but should have another soon from the guest who left yesterday. Our minimum is 4-days and most guests stay at least 6-8 so we don't have as many reviews as hosts with shorter stays would. But thank you for your interest 🙂

The only reason I mentioned covid in Australia is that I have a friend there who is on all the platforms and her bookings have decreased across the board, not only on Airbnb.  And the timing is right but mostly it was because of the removal of covid as an extenuating circumstance. But of course, I really don't know, I was just exploring what other reasons there may be because the decrease in bookings is not universal. There are individual hosts and even entire cities that are booking as usual and I was having a hard time reconciling that.

But I am now convinced that it is just plainly because they screwed up the search options and that the reason it is not affecting every place the same is because of different booking styles that may tend to be location-dependent, even listing-type dependent. Hopefully, it's sorted sooner than later. Have a good day Helen!