If IB is inevitable, consider 2 vital refinements

If IB is inevitable, consider 2 vital refinements

As discussed in other posts, it seems clear that Instant Book is inevitable based on how Airbnb is driving guests toward it, with hosts expected to follow along.

It’s unfortunate, but there it is. As hosts, I don’t think we can boycott our way out of this mess. So maybe there’s a way to make IB more workable.  I propose two refinements.

 

No. 1: MORE OPTIONS IN THE INSTANT BOOK POP-UP WINDOW.

If you examine the “funnel” through which guests searching for properties now pass, you’ll note that before long, they see a pop-up window about the Instant Book feature. 2016-12-09.pngThe language used in that pop-up suggests that unless you press the red button that says “Show Me Instant Book Listings,” you won’t get to see those easy-to-book listings. Which of course isn’t true. At the same time, the language also suggests that by pressing that button, you’ll still see non-IB listings. This also isn’t true. Press that red button—the only option given to guests – and you’ll only see IB listings. All other listings disappear. I propose that guests see two options in that window.

"Show Me Only Instant Book Listings"

"Show All Listings That Meet My Criteria"

It's a simple software change. But it will make a big difference to hosts like us who'd rather not have IB imposed on us and are trying to live with it. Though frankly, a far better solution is to show all listings, but to list IB listings first for those who have selected the IB option: “Show Me Instant Book Listings First.” That way, if they don’t spot anything they feel fits their needs in the IB listings, they can scroll on to non-IB properties.

 

No. 2: GIVE INSTANT BOOK GUESTS A CHANCE TO SEE AND QUERY LISTINGS WITH ADDITIONAL VERIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.

Currently, hosts willing to activate Instant Book have the option to require guests have a "Government-issued ID" and "Recommendation from other hosts." This returns a little bit of the trust and safety elements that are lost when you go with generic IB. But if a host checks one or both of those boxes, then any guest who doesn't meet either of those checked criteria will not even see the listing in searches. In other words, if you check “Recommendations from other hosts,” then any newbie guest who selects the Instant Book filter will never see your listing. They just won't even know it exists.

Let me illustrate the impact of this: The other day we ran some rudimentary analytics on our own guest booking history and discovered that if we had both of those boxes checked since the day we first started hosting, then 75 percent of the guests who've stayed with us would never have seen our listing because they failed to meet one or both of those criteria.

If Instant Book is the way forward, just a couple of tweaks to the current search process could make a world of difference to hosts.

  1. Allow guests who have selected the Instant Book filter (but who don't meet one or both of those additional requirements) to still see those listings that require it. When they select the "Book" button, you can deliver a pop-up window that says, "To book this property instantly, this host requires additional information about guests. But you can still Request to Book now and the host will have 24 hours to reply to your booking request."
  2. Then offer two buttons: "Yes, I'll Send A Booking Request Now" and "No Thanks, I'll Keep Looking"

This allows guests to still book the property they were all set to book, but they'll simply do it through the more traditional Airbnb process. And if they're not interested, they can just continue their search. It also allows guests who want to retain some control over who occupies their guest space a chance to secure bookings that would have been wiped out by the shortcomings of the IB system as it exists.

PLEASE consider implementing these refinements. If Airbnb hosts are going to have to live with IB, these small adjustments could make a world of difference.

 



Response from Airbnb

Being able to book instantly, without waiting for the host to review your request, is a better guest experience and reduces discrimination on our platform. For these reasons we will continue to encourage guests to look for instantly bookable properties. If the listings displayed do not meet the needs of a guest, they can always view additional listings that are not instantly bookable.

 

In response to the first point: guests can simply dismiss this popup to see all listings. The message is only shown once, to new guests. We tested this with guests and found that they were not confused about the message, and they appreciated having a better understanding of Instant Book. We will continue to explore ways to educate guests about Instant Book, while giving them a path to find listings that are not instantly bookable.

 

Regarding the visibility of your listing: your listing is visible to all guests, even if you have one of the Instant Book controls enabled. If a guest does not have a recommendation from a past host, or does not want to provide a government ID, they will see your listing, and can send you a reservation request.


We are working hard to make sure hosts have the control they need so that using Instant Book will be a successful experience for different types of hosts. We find hosts that use Instant Book are more successful and get more bookings. Please see our landing page for more information on all of the improvements that we’ve made in the past year, and send us feedback on what additional controls you need in order to give Instant Book a shot.

78 Comments
Debi1
Level 10

After a long conversation with one of the data people at the Open, it was very clear that Airbnb is not getting rid of Instant Book.  In fact, he told us that Instant Book is the best way to compete with Booking.com, and that this is one of the only ways they know of to diminish the problem with discrimination.  We were told that Airbnb received A LOT of hate mail after the new mandatory statement was released.   Honestly, we were very surprised, but of course Airbnb now spans the globe, and there are pockets of discrimination everywhere.

 

Personally, I have not used IB because I don't want to give that much control to any company.  I use other listing platforms and book through my own website as well.  I have double-booked guests because of non-syncing calendar issues, and it is a nightmare.  I don't ever want to do that again!  So far, I've not found a way to Instant Book on Airbnb and Book-It-Now without having issues, and that doesn't include addressing the party-crowd situations.

Inna6
Level 2

I totally support this post. It makes total sense both for guests and for hosts.

Current settings are indeed confusing for guests. As a result they don't see all listings and leave without making a booking. One of the reasons for that is that instant booking is mostly used by agencies who have dozens of apartments. Real owners of apartments prefer to get to know people whom they invite. And real owners for the same reason would chose to have ID and/or revies So results of IB-only would usually have higher prices mostly from agencies.

Bets0
Level 2

It's really great that you're offering alternative solutions. 🙂

 

I like your suggested changes in #2 - they're needed. 

 

Your proposed language change in #1 is still problematic, however. The choice could be construed as between "listings that match criteria" and "all instant book listings." Changing the first button to "Show me only instant book listings that meet my criteria" fixes that ambiguity.

 

That's a bit wordy for a button, though (they both are).

 

I propose that there be a simple checkbox on the filter selection page: "Limit results to instant book listings," or some such. 

 

As someone who doesn't do IB on my listing, I'm not too keen on your "show IB listings first" idea. I reply quickly (within minutes) to inquiries, as I'm online almost all the time. (I need a life, I know 😉 )

 

To remedy this issue, I propose a simple check box on the results page (after the filters are applied): "Limit results to instant book listings." This checkbox would appear selected if the person had selected this as a filter. If the checkbox is cleared, the results would appear using Airbnb's default sort order. 

 

 

 

Darlene11
Level 1

Thank you for this. I really prefer to have a conversation with my prospective guests to make sure it is a good fit. Very few guests read entire listings so expect parking or something that I don't offer. I've had more than one instance of locals wanting to use my place for the weekend as a shagging pad! No joke! 

CarlandDiane0
Level 10

Thanks everyone for your excellent input. I'm glad this topic is getting traction. Like @Debi1, I'm doubtful that Airbnb would rescind IB without some kind of large-scale action against it, legal or otherwise. And because the Airbnb host community is fairly far-flung with no single coalescing point (other than this corporate-sponsored community), a large-scale action seems unlikely.

And @Bets0, I agree that my suggested wording could use some work. I also share your distaste for listing Instant Book listings first, though if given the choice between that and making non-IB listings invisible (which is how it works now for guests to select the IB filter), I'll take the former.

I think we can all agree that we're just trying to make some chicken salad here. But again, I'm grateful that so many are signing on to this idea, and I'm hopeful the folks at Airbnb seriously consider these refinements.

ChuckandCarole0
Level 7

I'm just floored! i did not realize that even if we op for the IB, not an option, as we are being herded into doing....the majority of prospective guests do not even see my listing, if i have any filters on IB.....wtf!!

Debi1
Level 10

I would like to add, that the data management person at the Open was very interested in receiving input from hosts.  He says they have not gotten a lot of reaction (which shocks me!) and Airbnb welcomes our comments.  It's a grest idea to comment here, and pass this community link along to fellow hosts.  I am hoping to arrange to have one of their reps speak to our host group here in Portland about this.

ChuckandCarole0
Level 7

I called airbnb immediately, in response to the posting. here is the link the customer service rep sent me.  They need our feedback!!!

 

We’re truly passionate about providing our community of hosts and guests with the best Airbnb experience. Just know that we’re always working to improve our products and policies, and even when we aren’t able to accommodate requests, we absolutely value our users’ feedback. As a customer of Airbnb, your voice is both powerful and essential. Below you will find the link to give any suggestions you may have that will help us to improve.

https://www.airbnb.com/locations/home/feedback

 

ChuckandCarole0
Level 7

Be careful using the feedback link....i typed twice...spent 45 minutes, and both times, an error message that erased everything i typed....don't forget to save your comments on Pages or somewhere you can copy and paste, if this feedback link ever works..

Bets0
Level 2

That happened to me, too. Thank goodness I'd saved my text!

 

Use this link, instead:

 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/feedback