How does new airbnb rating system works?

[JooHo0]

Hello,

I've been an Airbnb guest since 2016 and also a grad student who is interested in online platform reviews and ratings related research.

It's been a long time since I haven't used Airbnb because I didn't have a chance to travel but seems like the reivew system has been changed.

I don't exactly remember but when I gave my reivews and rating to the hosts, I didn't have to rate 6 different categories (accuracy, location, cleanliness, communication, check-in, value).

(I just captured one listing's rating randomly for the reference.)

I'm not sure these types of questions are proper ones to ask here. If not, I apologize in advance and will delete this post.

My questions are:

1. Do guests have to leave a rating for each 6 differnet category and for an overall rating (so, 7 different ratings in total)?

2. or is the overall rating, (4 stars here), the (weighted) average value of all 6 categories? 

(I assume that this might not be the case since calculating average of all 6 comes out to 4.42 and if this is going to be rounded up/down, then it's going to be 4.5 whereas the actual value is 4 here. But just wanted to confirm. )

It would be greatly appreciated if any host could tell me how it works.

Thank you so much.

[Helen3]

@JooHo0 

Have a look at Airbnb Help Centre and search for guest ratings/reviews.

It will explain to you how the system works.

[JooHo0]

@Helen3  

Thank you, Helen.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1257/how-do-star-ratings-work

From this link, I just found that there is a question asking overall rating other than 6 sub categories.

In this post, it says:

...

The number of stars displayed at the top of a listing page is an aggregate of the primary scores guests have given for that listing. At the bottom of a listing page there's an aggregate for each category rating. A host needs to receive star ratings from at least 3 guests before their aggregate score appears.

...

May I ask what 'primary scores' means?

Is this just another name for overall rating ?

[Sandra856]

Hi @JooHo0  🙂

We are rated in 7 different categories. The over all rating is not a product of the 6 under categories.

To be a superhost a host has to have at least 4,8 and to stay a host, a host has to have at least 4,7,

A 5 star rating in any category just means that everything was as described in the listing and has nothing to do with luxury, being centrally located, having a sea view etc. 

Airbnb's rating system is a part of the new American "sharing economy" rating system. Uber has the same rating system. 4,7 or delisted/or constant passive-aggressive messages from the company.

The big problem is that many guests or users do not know that.

My guess is that in 10 years time it will be the normal way to rate. 5 = as described/ as expected.

Take a look at this article 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/sethporges/2016/06/29/the-one-issue-with-airbnb-reviews-that-causes-hos...

Best, Sandra

[Sarah977]

@JooHo0  The overall rating is not an average, it's a separate category and one that hosts are heavily rated on by Airbnb. It's a big problem for hosts that Airbnb doesn't let guests know how the star ratings affect hosts. Most guests would think that a 4* star rating would mean good, but on the host's end, Airbnb considers it a fail, which is absurd.

If a host has several listings, or quick turnover and pretty much full occupancy, a 4* rating, as long as they have a slew of 5*s, won't affect them that much, but for those who just list a private room in their home and are cautious about which guests they accept, a 4* rating can be devastating and could get them delisted from the platform.

Another big problem is that some guests totally lie in their reviews, usually because they got their knickers in a knot about being asked to please follow the house rules, or were demanding things the host doesn't say they provide, but the guest just wanted, or they got caught out trying to sneak in an extra guests without paying. Even if a host has 100 glowing 5* reviews, and then one 1* review saying the place was filthy, there were no towels, etc, etc (all lies, all other guests said it was immaculate and well- stocked) Airbnb won't remove the review, even though it's obvious that it's total BS.

So it would be nice if guests were aware of how the system works for hosts, so guests didn't inadvertently tank a host's ratings or even get them delisted when they were actually pleased with the accomodation and the host. When I told one of my guests how the system works on the host's end, she was horrified, saying she had left 4*s overall for her 2 previous hosts, thinking that was a good rating- she liked the places and would book there again.

Another host just reported here yesterday that a guest gave her 4* on Accuracy because he said the place was actually better than the photos! 

As a host, I really appreciate a guest taking the time to ask this question, Joohoo.

As far as whether you can skip some of the ratings or other questions, I'm not sure- I've never travelled as a guest. I know Airbnb just made the guest review quite long about 9 months ago, which seems like a step in the wrong direction, as it discourages some people from bothering to leave a review.

By the way, we are also rated on the % of guests who leave us reviews, as if we have control over that. If less than 50% of my guests fail to leave a review (which has zero to do with my hosting abilities), I'll lose my Superhost status.