OMG I finally got a booking!

[Huma0]

So, the Summer Release rolled out back in early May. Since then, my views have dived and I've barely gotten any enquiries, let alone booking requests, and I've had no bookings at all except for a couple from returning guests.

I have recently been in contact with CS about this. After a bit of back and forth, I was told that there was an engineering team working on fixing some of the glitches related to the Summer Release (this was vague, so I don't know which specific glitches they were referring to) but there was really nothing they could do in the meantime to help me. I am not knocking the CS Rep who, as it happens, was pretty decent compared to most I've dealt with in the last couple of years. It just wasn't within his control to do anything to help me.

Then, all of a sudden, I get an enquiry. No big deal, I hear you say, but it's the first one in a month and for a listing that used to be my most popular but that seemed to drop off the map completely after the Summer Release. Then, today, I got a booking request for that same room and, after a bit of back and forth, accepted it. That is literally the first booing in two months.

Maybe it's a complete coincidence, or maybe something has happened.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Huma0 we now list on Cottages.com. Recently had 2 bookings for August from them vs Zero from Airbnb. I truly believe it is the screwed up search engine rather than a drop in traffic but, of course, only Airbnb know what is really going on!

[Huma0]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

Good to hear you are getting bookings elsewhere. 

The search engine is screwed up and I do believe Airbnb is working to fix some of the glitches, as it's in their interest to do so. Whether they will significantly change the format, I don't know. I get the impression that categories are not going to go away, at least for the time being.

At some point, there will be some media coverage of Airbnb's profits, or losses and then maybe we'll see what has been going on. I don't believe that they are idiots and there must be a reason that they launched this in early summer, especially a summer where travel was finally picking up significantly. 

What I do know is that, in the fashion industry (and others), the high end of the market suffers least during crisis. Perhaps the goal was always to focus on less bookings but those that bring in fat chances of commission and it's going well for them. Time will tell.

[Tony-And-Una0]

It definitely isn't COVID, the economy etc.

It's the Airbnb summer release that caused the drop in bookings.

We are fully booked up almost to end of September via other platforms.

Normally we would be 70% booked through Airbnb.

Hope Airbnb is enjoying the loss of revenue.

[Sue853]

Hi guys I'm in exactly the same position (but in Spain), after the summer release it was like someone turned off the tap. I'm getting plenty of business from Booking.com who I HATE dealing with so I'm not actually down on revenue, but my calendar is nowhere near as full as 2021.
Last year I had 53 stays from ABB and this year 35 (so far) but only 3! from ABB in my shoulder season - late June to early Sept - and hardly any enquiries since the summer release.

I would add that my prices are more expensive on BDC - purely to cover off the obnoxious factor of dealing with them so the lack of bookings with ABB is not price driven. I'm in touch with CS to see what they can do to help - so far received only generic stuff which I already do / did. Really unhappy right now

[Huma0]

Just an update to say that all three of my listings are now in the shared homes, iconic cities and historical homes categories, but I have to pretty much zoom over my house when in map view to actually see them. Also, annoyingly, on the map view, one is showing right on top of the other, hiding it, so you a guest wouldn't notice the one underneath at all.

RE the lead photo thing, for iconic cities, the lead photo appears to be the one that I chose, which is a photo of the bedroom. For shared homes, it is a photo of a communal space, but as the communal spaces are the same for my three private room listings, that kind of makes it look like they are the same listing, so perhaps guests will think it's a duplicate. Meanwhile, for historical homes, it shows the same photo of the exterior of the house for all three listings. If I was a guest, for sure I would think that was the SAME listing and not bother to check out more than one of them.

Not ideal. 

Anyway, it's too early to tell if being added to those categories will make any difference. The bookings haven't started flooding in yet! 

[Amanda660]

@Huma0  I’ve not had any overseas visitors for 2 years but the folks that left yesterday were from Canada over fir the Open Golf Championships and over the next few weeks we’ll be hosting folks from Italy, Spain, USA and France including some attending weddings.

After the summer launch I didn’t have a single new booking or enquiry for 6 weeks (getting by on existing bookings).   Then suddenly last week I had a real boost of activity including 3 bookings on Sunday.

Coincidentally (or not) last week I did quite a bit of tinkering with the listing including:

Adding new photos and swapping the order 

Changing the pricing.  I had previously charged for the first 2 guests then £25 after that.  I upped the nightly rate by £20/30 and moved it to 4 guests, then £30 per guest thereafter.

Heres hoping things pick up for everyone.

[Huma0]

@Amanda660 

That's really interesting. No bookings or enquiries at all for six weeks and then suddenly a bunch of bookings...

Can't say that's happened here. I had that one enquiry and one booking a few days ago and no activity since. Although views have gone up for one of listings (a tiny bit but at least the number is now green rather than red), not for the other two and, overall, are still very, very low.

I wonder if your tweaking did indeed have an effect. A few years ago, Airbnb posted an article here on the CC about how the search algorithms work and, in that, they dispelled the myth that regularly tweaking your listings makes any difference.

However, who is to know what is going on now? We were told that, in order to get into categories, we should include key words in the listing and also that we needed 'front page worthy photos', but I am not convinced about the latter at all. 

But, perhaps the algorithm picked up something when you made those changes. Have you noticed a difference in your views and your position in the search results since you did the tweaking? Have you been added to any categories. 

[David8879]

Getting tired here - no bookings.

Anyone can recommend OTA for Portugal lets? VRBO is dead for whatever reason, and any OTA that do not offer "on request" bookings are a no go. TYIA

[Huma0]

@David8879 

Sorry to hear that. Yes, apart from the one booking that I probably got over excited about, there is no activity on my end either.

Afraid I don't know about OTA for Portugal, but maybe others can advise.

[David8879]

Apparently everyone has died and they forgot to inform me. This is beyond ridiculous. I need to get outside and see if I am the only survivor. 

[Huma0]

Well, clearly, I got over excited. Since I posted this thread nearly two weeks ago, I've not had a single enquiry, let alone a booking. The guest who booked isn't due to stay for a while, but I will ask her when she arrives how she found me, i.e. what criteria she used to search or if she spent a lot of time searching before coming across my listing.

Being added to the categories was really straightforward, but I can't see that it's made much difference as my listings are really buried in the map view for those categories. 

My views did go up a bit for two of the rooms compared to the previous month, but down for the third, and are still pathetically low.

One listing is still showing a bit higher in searches and getting more views and I still can't figure out why. I had thought maybe it was because that was the one to most recently get a review, but since then another listing has a review and that's made no difference. In fact, the one with the most recent review is the one that is down on views compared to last month.

There seems to be no rhyme nor reason to any of it and no light at the end of the tunnel.

Has anyone noticed a positive change in their views and bookings or is it still looking dire?

[Mark116]

@Huma0  Dire.  We've gotten two reservations since the new roll-out.  My guess is those guests were searching on price.  We have only gotten a bump in views when someone has cancelled.  But it immediately goes back to 5 or fewer views a day after 1 or 2 days from the time of the cancellation.  

At this point, I don't expect Airbnb will do anything more to mitigate the damage.  They would know by now if bookings are down or not.  Airbnb's take away is probably going to be that people will book whatever is shown to them, whether that is comprehensive or even accurate.

It's too bad.  I will say again that we cannot continue with Airbnb getting 2 views a day, because that is not going to translate to any bookings going forward.  

@Catherine-Powell 

@Airbnb 

@Stephanie 

[Huma0]

@Mark116 

Yep, it's now coming up to close to two months since the release, so Airbnb must have a clue how this is affecting business. At some point they are going to have to announce figures publicly though I assume, so then we will see...

In the meantime, many of us will need to find alternatives to Airbnb. My views are up a little compared to the previous month (where I got 0 views for one listing for the entire month) but are also only 2-3 per day if averaged out over the listings. 

I have three listings and have only gotten one booking from a new guest (not counting repeat guests) in almost two months. If it wasn't for repeat guests, I'd be totally screwed, but even with the repeat guests, this is not sustainable.

[Mark116]

@Huma0   Did you get your listings in the 'design' category?  That might help.  Unfortunately, we don't fit in any categories, we're just a nice budget friendly apartment that is close to NYC.  The fact that your listings, which are really beautifully put together, have also been decimated is a really bad sign for the majority of hosts whose offerings are more similar to ours...nice, clean places that are a good value in a tough economy.  But, Airbnb doesn't care about that anymore.

[Huma0]

@Mark116 

Thanks for your nice words about my listings.

No, I didn't ask about the design category because (even though Airbnb has featured my home in an article about interior design), I don't think they fit. Apparently, that category is for homes that have been designed by a notable architect or featured in architecture and design magazines. Having browsed that category shortly after the roll out and then again a few weeks later, I didn't see any traditional properties like mine. There were not a lot of listings showing up in London in general in that category. Maybe I should have another look...

I always felt that my listings did stand out due to their aesthetic as, despite there being thousands of listings in London, there were few within that price range that offered anything a bit 'special'. Guests who book with me often do so because they love the idea of staying in a 'Victorian' property while in London. It adds to the romance of their trip. Add to that a super convenient location. Many guests have told me that it was a no brainer when they saw my listings because they were the nicest places they could find within their budget.

Whatever I was doing before seemed to work just fine. Well, more than fine. So, how does one fix something that wasn't broken? And what's the point anyway if no one can see your listings?

For hosts like you who offer nice, clean, good value places, sure you could try to do something to the listing to make it stand out, as far as budget allows, which is really tough right now alway, but again, what's the point if no one is finding you?