Star Rating

[Naomi141]

My question deals with star ratings for hosts as I have noted over time that the more reviews with stars for specific areas such as cleanliness, value etc. the more one runs the risk of going from a 5 to 4.97 to 4.8 and potentially downwards which seems rather unfair. Someone starting out may consistently receive five stars in all categories and the ranking changes due to 4s. The more times one hosts the greater the probability that one's status will diminish. How does AirBnB propose to handle this inequity in the future? It appears to me that one is stuck in a downward spiral. The fact that there is no rebalancing of star ratings for successful, long term super hosts through recalculations seems rather unfair.

As an aside, and one can only laugh at this situation. The irony for me was that I was given a 4 star rating by a guest who said "my condo was not as expected and had exceeded his expectations". I have the philosophy of under promise and over deliver.  

Naomi Fowlie

Mont Tremblant, Quebec, Canada

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Naomi141 It is only the overall rating that contributes to your star rating. All the sub categories are interesting but less relevant.

[Naomi141]

Thanks for your comment and clarification. I am looking at trends in postings.

If you look at new listings they invariably have a full 5 rating. As AirBnB hosts are on the platform longer and with more guests their rate drops as it only takes a few guests to not provide a full five star rating. This is where I believe there should be some form of rebalancing through perhaps dropping low scores at a prescribed point by AirBnB. It could be based on a time frame, number of  reviews etc. as a suggestion. It would be particularly helpful for those who have guests who are vindictive or just report incorrectly. 

I suspect for those hosts in highly competitive markets, where residences are very similar/same, the few points can make a difference.

Naomi

[Lisa723]

@Naomi141 why do you think first ratings are likely to be highest? In my experience the opposite has been true, as new listings often have break-in glitches and also do not necessarily attract the most appreciative guests.

[Corine120]

I agree 💯. I just had a vindictive guests whose only ploy was to get a refund. She complained about everything!!!! One thing to the next +just to get me to roll over. If they hate it so much why stay the 2nd night????

Air bnb closed the case and found her complaints unfounded. However air bnb left her review  still up for public View and my rating went down a point. I am now at 4.8

hey need to recognize that air bnb s are extensions of our homes and not the Hilton 

[Naomi141]

This was my observation for my particular area in Quebec as well as viewing a specific community in Southern Ontario. In thinking about your comment, it may be that the areas I chose to research tend to be hosts who themselves are travellers and have specific expectations which they account for when setting up their places for guests. You bring up a good point that this may not be true if one were to do an in-depth survey. I was also looking at Super Hosts who have high ratings and what was happening to them as the number of reviews increased. 

[Anonymous]

@Naomi141  The more stays you host, the less likely it is that you'll have a completely unblemished star rating, that's true. But on the other hand, every new rating lessens the impact that a subsequent rating will have on your average. 

There is a case to be made for phasing out old reviews after a certain amount of time has passed. No home is the same today as it was 5 years ago, so the relevance of a review is proportional to how recent it is. But I think there would be a huge outcry from hosts if their old ratings dropped out of the average, because then they'd lose their firewall against the impact of a single low rating.

I doubt there are many guests out there who would only consider booking a place that has 100% 5 star ratings. That would be like refusing to see a movie unless it has a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Absolute perfection is a worthy goal in some professions - you wouldn't want to fly with a pilot who only landed the plane 99% of the time - but it doesn't map onto the spirit of hospitality. If you'd told me 20 years ago that one day people would be giving star ratings to other people's houses, I'd have thought you were looney tunes.

[Lisa723]

@Anonymous @Naomi141 yes the more you host the less likely you are to have a pure 5-star rating, but also the more you host the less likely you are to have a pure 1-star rating-- well, for most of us.

[Emilia42 · Accepted solution]

This has everything to do with averages and nothing to do with inequity. 

If you are a host with 10 five-star reviews and your 11th review is a 1 star it will drop your average overall rating to 4.64.

If you are a host with 100 5 star reviews and your 101st review is a 1 star it will drop your average overall rating 4.96.

[Naomi141]

I believe people will thank you for the explanation. 

[Fariba7]

I agree. This is pure math and has nothing to do with equity and that’s where the problem is. 
Long time super host should be more valued by AirBnB than guests with low ratings or those who rarely use the platform. If this all has to do with numbers, than it should be considered that super hosts generate more revenue for AirBnB than low rating guests.  

[Fariba7]

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[Helen744]

Emilia42 I think that is incorrect Emilia as these calculations only take into account the last twelve months . .... H

[Sandra856]

@Helen744When it comes to the superhost status only ratings giving within the last year counts and a host can see the average from the last year on the host’s private dashboard. The overall rating shown on the listing for guests to see is an average from every single overall rating given since the host began hosting. 

[Marg11]

Why do 5 x 5 star ratings result in a 4? No, it it not an average as we had many 5 star ratings in a row and 2 resulted in a 4.