Listings with Free Cancellation getting top preference in searches

Listings with Free Cancellation getting top preference in searches

IN looking for my listing, the airbnb rep could not find it at all....we finally realized it is because the listings that get preference in the search engines, are those that opted for "Free Cancellation"
 Although i am a superhost and have opted into Instant Book, when i realized that was the default setting on the computers of most perspective guests,  i certainly have never had any problems getting bookings over 290 a year with my strict policy….but now, i and many other hosts that don’t have a free, or flexible cancellation policy, seem to be not even showing up in a search. 
 what made airbnb special in the first place, was the unique quality of the listings, and the personalities of the hosts. We are losing this to the big corporate standards and the algorhythms that set us last.  
2 Comments
Property2
Level 10

I am afraid, I can join this crowd. We are superhosts and have 4 properties listed with Airbnb with excellent reviews. All of a sudden, we noticed that if we are not logged into our account, NONE of our 4 properties show up in the search results. After going back-and-forth with Airbnb, their tech team finally admitted that they can duplicate the issue and our properties don't show up in search on any of the 17 pages of results. However, they consider this a normal behavior stating that their "smart" algorithm knows better which properties to show based on the search patterns of the guest. Essentially, if the users are new to the site, our 4 properties are simply not shown to them. This practice on the Airbnb part can hardly be called acceptable and fair. What is the point of listing on Airbnb if new users can't even see your properties? If Airbnb arbitrarily makes a decision discriminating against hosts that don't have certain settings like free cancellation, do they deserve to be our hosts? I would encourage everyone to validate if their properties are visible in the search results with no filters applied and while they are logged out of their own accounts...

ChuckandCarole0
Level 7

you may also have to go to the library, or use someone else's computer to do the search, as my computer just recognizes the site or the other way around i guess it would be....yes....it's so hard, so many prospective guests don't enter any filters, and then of course the instant book default filter that is on so many computers when we don't even realize it.....what a bummer....airbnb started out to be such a very good thing...now that corporate ethic is doing what it always does....