Where do we go from here!

[Robin4]

I have been away for the best part of a month so my knowledge of current events is somewhat lacking but, I have been puzzled during my time away that my listing views have dropped from  30-50 per day to less than 10, some days just 2 or 3! On doing some checking I have come across a thing called 'Summer 2022 release search filters' which seems to answer my observations. The programming geniuses have tampered with the search page yet again.

For the life of me I will never understand why Airbnb go out of their way to upset their long term experienced, profitable hosts. Every time they tinker with the program they lose sight of the fact that we hosts have to adapt what we do and say to accommodate their changes and work with them. They don't reward us, they punish us for putting in the time and effort to make it work and be successful.

Because I don't automatically fit one of their tidy little nebulous search boxes, my listing has dropped from  page 1 down to page 5 in a search of our area.

A guest used to be able to search for a listing they liked the look of and could afford, now they can only search by its availability. Not every guest wants to stay in a listing for one week which now appears to be the default criteria.......80% of mine only want to stay for one or two nights! Listings with less than a handful of reviews are given preferential search placement specifically because of some quirky feature. I believe after reading the new TOS Airbnb have actually revived that old chestnut where hosts could buy their search placement as per this, direct from the current TOS......

Whereas, with my previously full monthly booking calendar, my 6 years of loyalty and 500+ Airbnb reviews sees me in a situation where my bookings are drying up. The search page no longer says how many reviews I have, it doesn't mention I am a Superhost, it removes all the hard work I have put into making a desirable Airbnb listing for guests to book. For goodness sake what **[Inappropriate content removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines] keep coming up with these ideas.....Airbnb are actively trying to destroy my business and the good rapport I have built up with Airbnb in this local community of mine!!'

I don't know where I go from here........I am sick and tired of trying to re-invent the wheel every time Airbnb let their programmers loose on some aspect of the platform. I don't want to but, I am going to have to look for other hosting options.....Airbnb, I have been good to you but, you have worn me down! 

Cheers........Rob

[Suzanne302]

@Robin4 

I've seen you complain over the years, but I've never seen you as fervent as this! I agree. I just wish as a homeshare host I had an alternative platform.

My views have gone from an average of 30/day down to less than 10. The past few days I've had 8 or less each day. I've had 1 booking since the "new" Airbnb launch. And notice how many NEW faces have popped up in the CC expressing the same complaints? I've never seen so many new contributors in such a short time.

The sad thing for me is that I had just started hosting again since the pandemic and realized how much I missed it.

And this is not me bragging, but my reviews aren't just "good," my guests RAVE about me and my listing. I superserve them in every way possible. My reviews tell my story. I will miss bringing that level of service to my guests, because there aren't any more to serve...

Airbnb has lost it's mojo.

[Robin4]

@Suzanne302 

Yeah, I have done my share of complaining over the years but I have also done my fair share of praising Airbnb along the way......I have said what a wonderful lot of guests Airbnb have introduced to me and how this hosting has been a lovely part of my life.

Suzanne, I knew nothing about hosting when I started out but, I have always been a 'people' person.

Ade and I have a huge circle of friends, in my working life I made my mechanical services business grow to employ 27 staff and a number of subcontractors, and I brought my people skills to my hosting.......I am a professional host. In the space of 6 years I have gone from nothing to a 582 review host (504 of them here on Airbnb) and I would have thought Airbnb's desire and duty would have been to keep hosts like me happy and productive.......remembering it's hosts like us that got Airbnb where they are!

They tell us we are important.....but they kick us in the teeth, it happens every year. They come out with rubbish like 'Select', 'Plus' and 'Luxe' which has no effect on the casual host who might put up 15 guests a year in a spare bedroom, but it has us full time productive hosts fighting against each other to keep their properties full.

Suzanne, I have only been back here for 5 days from a short break but the backlash here on the CC against this 'Summer 2022 release search filters' has been overwhelming....and we must be just the very tip of the iceberg. Airbnb are going to seriously hemorrhage over this!

There comes a time when every rational person will say, 'Enough is enough' .....I am not going to stop hosting, I enjoy it too much, but I am not going to continue to be abused by the arm that is supposed to be feeding me and looking after me.

There must be a bit of panicking setting in because the statistics are starting to get fudged!

My views tell me I have had 10 new bookings in the last 30 days.....I normally get 3-4 per week, I have actually had 6 new bookings in the last 5 weeks,

I hope that this is a wake-up call for Airbnb, it's all very well to have a dream but, like I have said before...."Beware of the toes you tread on on the way up, they may very well be connected to that ar*e you have to kiss on the way down!"

Cheers........Rob.

[Mariann4]

This is horrendous @Robin4 ! I just got back to normal speed here up north after two years of nothing (who wants to share a bathroom during a pandemic?). And now it went silent. Airbnb is shooting their own foot with this...

Mariann 🙂

[Robin4]

@Mariann4 

Hey, where have you been girl, I thought we had lost you, it's so lovely to hear from you again.

A lot has happened in the world since we last talked and most of it hasn't been great.

You said something to me back in the middle of 2017 that I have always remembered....

"If you don't try, you can't say you can't do"!

I specifically remembered that Mariann because it helped me where Ade is concerned. With her progressing MS she was starting to drop the ball and give up on life. Many times when she would say "can you do that for me" I would say to her "If you don't try, you.........." and through that statement you helped her enormously. 

Obviously all the willpower in the world won't solve her issues, and every second day since 1994 she injects herself with Betaferon. She doesn't know if it is helping or not but as the MS is progressing she does say..."If I don't do it I can't say I have given this disease my best shot"!

How are things going in Bergen, I would bet that garden of yours looks great now with summer coming on.

It looks like we have a battle on our hands here, on a personal level we have been doing great, we have been fully booked month after month for a few years now, the listing has changed considerably since you and I last spoke but, all of a sudden our traditional business has been pushed aside for a bit of naval gazing on the part of the leadership and I don't know how long I will continue to keep myself aligned with Airbnb. I have already accepted a 6 week booking off platform from a previous Airbnb guest because trying to facilitate it through Airbnb was just too hard, too many roadblocks......it's not as easy for a guest to book as it was a few years ago and I believe from comments by @Inna22 that it is now even harder after the last round of program changes.

When our hosting business picked up I had to put that Nothern Lights cruise on hold Mariann and then Covid intervened but, with the anticipated downturn we are going to see with Airbnb I might still get the chance to get up that way, you never know.....

 "If you don't try, you can't say you can't do"

All the best mate.

Cheers.........Rob.

[Mariann4]

Oh wow, @Robin4 ... I'm humbled by your words! Thank you! Now it's time for me to live up to my own words. It's amazing how something said by one person as a sentence from a conversation makes a difference with someone else. And now you reminded me of an important "rule" of life. If I don't try, I can't say I can't do. I'm glad I made an impact in a good way with someone I appreciate.

I'm not lost. But life... You know... I find it time consuming writing in English when I need to put much more effort into all the sentences than in my native tongue. Time I didn't have. Time I still don't have every day. And you guys are holding the fort very well! Except I see Ute and this lady from Mexico (I believe) suddenly are kicked off... Times sure are changing.

My rooms are not filling up like your shed. I have my season and few people understand the concept of homesharing. I like the income, but it is not much to lose with this new regime. Still I think the new standard is ridiculous. I will never show up in the default searches due to the nature of my listing, 5 days max, mostly one-nighters. So we'll see. But I think Airbnb will turn as the protests are massive. Even in my local Norwegian Facebook-group new members open their mouth to complain. New listings are promoted over mine. I had finally reached first page of my city prior to this. Without being in the city center, AND being a homeshare. Now I believe Airbnb CS will be overwhelmed with cases due to new hosts being targeted by experienced guests. And that way the reputation will go down on Airbnb's part. BDC and the rest is not for me. If not Airbnb I quit. But I really don't want to. Not yet at least 🙂

Today I had French leaving and Maltese are arriving shortly. I'm renovating the bathroom in the dowstairs apartment for the steady tenants. So I have been bringing 1000 kilos of gravel (the small stones that hurts like h*** to get into your shoe) home today for the new floor in there. Had to back into my parking with a trailer. Not good at it. Tried to tell my father that I wanted to drive in, empty the trailer and than unhatch it from the car, turn the car and trailer around manually and hook it back onto the car. Because I can't back with a trailer. And what did my father respond, do you think? 😉

Mariann 🙂

[Peggy137]

I cannot believe Airbnb has screwed me in this way. I now have no income from my beautiful and clean house in Sedona that was always full. (I am a superhost with great reviews.) My bookings fell off a cliff a few weeks ago. My airbnb income is my only income and I based my expenses on that. I am now looking at NO income for the next months.

Yeah, I'll get it together with VRBO and apts.com but it'll take a few months. This absolute screwing from Airbnb is unreal. What kind of game are these people playing with our lives? 

Oh and yeah, you can PAY to boost your listing... it's all about the money isn't it Airbnb?

[Stephanie365]

**[Image removed - Community Center Guidelines]

They're one step above **[Inappropriate content removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines].

[Jenny]

Hi everyone, 

Thanks again for all your feedback here, and in other places on the CC. I understand you feel very strongly about the recent platform changes and we’ve collected all your comments and fed those back to the Product team.

While I hear your concerns, I’d like to ask you to please remain respectful and refrain from making personal comments about Airbnb staff, particularly their Support staff.

They’re real people, just like you, and while we always allow criticism of the platform, you know we ask you all to be respectful here on the Community Center. Please refer to the Community Guidelines here.

Thanks again for being so pro-active and open about sharing your thoughts on how the changes have impacted you.

Jenny

[Peggy137]

Ah Jenny, 

What's your suggestion for those of us who are literally looking at bankruptcy while your team messes around with the algorithms?

Particularly those of us who are super hosts, who've not just supported but essentially built airbnb into what it is today?

[Robin4]

@Peggy137  @Stephanie365 

Peggy and Steph, many of us are being impacted negatively by recent changes within the company but, we do have to realise that we have allies here fighting for us in the CC.

The Community Centre is not Airbnb, the company these guys work for is based in London and are subcontracted to Airbnb as an initial level of support. The moderators have no control over company decision making, they can put forward suggestions and statistical data which may influence the company, but they are not responsible for the outcomes of this company's policy making.

We need to be a strong united voice in our displeasure because the more of us that are impacted and complain, the more likely the company will listen and take action. They have done it in the past and they will do it again!

But please guys treat the moderators with the respect they deserve and lets keep them on our side, hey! I would not like to see this thread shut down because of a few heated unnecessary words, I would like to see it grow with more affected hosts having their say.

That way we stand more chance of getting some positive action.

Cheers........Rob

[Peggy137]

I didn't know that Rob, I thought they were Airbnb. Thanks for the heads up, I'll put down the gloves. 😄

[Robin4]

@Jenny  @Catherine-Powell 

Jenny, thanks for your comments and the help and effort I am sure you are putting into this.

It is not just the effect this programming alteration is having on us, we are just a minute fraction of the Airbnb hosting community but, if what we are seeing on a number of threads here is indicative of what is happening in the wider hosting community, Airbnb have really shot themselves in the foot here. They have effectively hurt the cream of their hosting pool.

Can I tell you a story Jenny? A great uncle of mine born in 1906 joined the Royal Australian Naval college as a 14 year old in 1920. One of the questions on his entrance exam was....

"If you are faced with the moving of a 20 ton boulder, how would you go about it?"

His answer was....

"If it doesn't need to be moved, leave it where it is"!

His name was George Carmichael Oldham and he went on to be  Rear Admiral George Oldham in the RAN. In 1958 he was also made an Aide-de-camp to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

He did things that needed to be done after proper research and consultation, not what somebody woke up one morning and thought might be a good idea at the time.

You will see from this thread and others, we are broken, and didn't need to be. We all had full calendars and we were all bringing in Airbnb business and money! Now our bookings are drying up, our views are going through the floor and many great Airbnb hosts are going to be lost through this ill conceived search preferences platform change.

There is anger here, try to understand it is not directed at you, it's frustration that our businesses are being pulled away from us by nothing we have done wrong. Please put the weight of the CC behind you and lobby as much as you can to get some sensible order back into the Airbnb listing search process!

Good on you Jenny @Sybe  @Emilie  @Stephanie  @Quincy  I know you guys will do the best you can!

Cheers........Rob

[Jenny]

I hear you @Robin4 - and thank you for your input and support.  We do appreciate it a lot.

Thanks also for sharing a story and a smashing photo.

Jenny

[Robin129]

@Robin4 you said, "if what we are seeing on a number of threads here is indicative of what is happening in the wider hosting community,"

I once worked for a local radio station. I was told that every phone call that came in represented 1000 listeners for our market. Not being a statistical person I took the engineer's word for it. I wonder how many hosts each of our comments on this subject represent? 

[Aj119]

We should get a petition going