decline in bookings

[Kimberly873]

Is anyone else having a huge and I mean huge decline in bookings. I have been doing this for 3 years and have always stayed booked. Out of 30 days I am booked 29 of them at least. Over the past month my bookings have dropped so dramatically that I am starting to panic. Anyone else dealing with this issue? Please help

[Laura2592]

@Kimberly873 do you think its because of the summer roll out with the categories? ABB seems to be emphasizing spaces that fit in one of the categories and look great on the first page. I have heard from other hosts that this has been detrimental to spaces that are more "normal" and skewed toward a yurt or a castle. 

[Kimberly873]

Thanks for the info and your time to address my question. How do I find out what category I am in and how can I fix this?

[Huma0]

@Kimberly873 

It's a bit of a pain in the backside to find out which category/categories you are in and you might not be in any of them.

You need to do a search by clicking on the individual category and zooming the map in on your area. You might need to zoom in very, very close to see it as not all the listings in the category automatically show up on the map. The whole thing is very badly designed.

If you find that you are either not in a category that you think you should be or are in a category you don't want to be in, you can call customer services and ask for them to change it. They will review the listings and decide and they won't necessarily agree with you, but they are supposed to get back to you within seven days.

I did this and the whole thing only took a couple of days. They put my listings in the relevant categories. I can't say that it's made any difference yet though, because you pretty much have to zoom in over my house to see my listings.

[Huma0]

@Kimberly873 

I think it is almost certain that it is due to the Summer Release. My listings were doing very nicely right up until the release was rolled out in early May. Since then, my views have dived dramatically and I've barely had any enquiries and bookings are at an all time low. Many, many other hosts have reported the same.

[Gordon0]

This is the view I get once the (now very sluggish) page opens. It makes no sense whatsoever. I've never stayed in (or yearned for) barns, so have no idea what the game is. Still, as long as the whooping and high-fives are flying in Head Office, it'll drown out the reality of what's happening at the sharp end, right?

[Huma0]

@Gordon0 

It seems that (for the UK anyway, as a host in another country reported a different result), the homepage view automatically shows the first category, which is now barns. I am seeing the same. Before that, it was islands. 

When you do a category search for any other category and then try to enter in a location or some other filter, it often jumps back to that first category. It's annoying in the extreme.

I wonder if this is one of the 'glitches' that Airbnb is working to fix. Time will tell.

[David8879]

My listing as ABNB "copy and paste" creatures informed me does NOT belong to ANY category.

My listing is just a pigment of my imagination.

WHAT
THE
HELL

[Huma0]

@David8879 

What, not even 'beaches'? Which categories did you ask to be added to?

[Steven973]

I noticed a decline in bookings for my properties and I had to decrease prices to receive a normal amount of bookings. I think this might, unfortunately, be the key to sustain the level of bookings with the interface changes that took place. 

[David8879]

@Huma0 

NONE

AirBNB reps "checked" it - can't find in ANY of categories.

They keep insulting my intelligence and patrinizing me reposting  meamingless copy and paste replies.
They don't even bother to read thread. 

this is the latest - opnce again pointless - reply:

"You don't need to worry about that since the system will automatically assign it to the correct category.

Upon reviewing your listing, since you already have set up the title of the listing, description, and photos, I assure you that it will be categorized correctly based on the information you've provided on Airbnb. And just so you know, your listing might appear in multiple categories if they meet the criteria, that would be great since it can attract more guest to your place."

Lord have mercy on us

@Lizzie - can you look into that nonsense please?

[Huma0]

@David8879 

When was this? If it was very recently, then this rep doesn't know what they are talking about. I know for a fact that there is now a team assigned specifically to look at requests from hosts to be added/removed from categories. There is no guarantee that they will agree with you, but I found it very straightforward.

Here is what CS told me:

"You're absolutely right, we have launched a specialized team which is dedicated to helping Hosts who feel like their listings are categorized incorrectly on the Airbnb platform.

I’ve sent your category request that each of your three listings be included under "Shared homes, Iconic cities, and Historical Homes" to our specialized team who’ll review it. The review process may take up to a week. You’ll receive a message from that team in your inbox once the review has been completed.

In the next 48 hours, you might receive an automated email which advises you that your case has been closed—that’s in reference to this specific message thread. Rest assured that your case is still under review and that the specialized team will be reaching out to you through a new message thread.

Please note that submitting a listing does not guarantee inclusion in any category, and a number of factors are used to determine whether a listing qualifies for inclusion in a given Airbnb Category. Categories offered, their eligibility criteria, factors considered, and listings included in them may change at any time without notice.

For Categories based on proximity to a location or activity, listings will only be included if they're sufficiently close to select points of interest, and not all points of interest are currently included. We plan to continue adding new points of interest to our categorization system over time, so, if your listing isn't eligible now, it may be in the future.

Our specialized team will now be taking over your categories request, but please let me know if you have any further questions."

And, about two days later, all three of my listings were added to those three categories.

[David8879]

@Huma0 when I mention "specialized team" to robots in CS they say "we have no such"

Quality of "support" went down the drain with the warp speed.

My other 5 properties doing just fine without ABNB (LTR) - will most likely remove my lisining after high season ends.

And I am not alone - you you going to follow some profiles of hosts who were raising questions - most of them a no longer hosting.

ABNB cut the branch it is sitting on...going DIS way

[Huma0]

@David8879 

Yes, I am also going to probably have to find an alternative to Airbnb if things don't improve soon. I do have upcoming bookings but, apart from one, they were either made before the summer release or they are from repeat guests. If it wasn't for the repeat guests, I'd be totally screwed.

[Mary419]

@Kimberly873 Tons of hosts are talking about this. I even had a host from Texas reach out to me to ask if I know why. My theory was the home page/search change but she seemed to disagree because she was still finding that search page to be functional. She sure wants more bookings though. I think the other sites are actually doing fine it is really mostly Airbnb. The issue is so many hosts feel their listing is too Airbnb specific (private room) to do well on other sites. And they may be right but I am not sure what to suggest for them.