Commercial promotion on this site

[Linda108]

I need a reality check.  It seems to me that I am seeing more postings on this site about promoting a business.  Am I alone in finding the posts about either co-hosting or other services to be inappropriate to the site?  If there is a need for "classified ads", perhaps we need another way for this type of posting.  I spend a number of hours per week on this site hoping to help another host.  I am not looking to promote or use the services that many other hosts are promoting.  Your thoughts?

[Sabine42]

my thoughts are the same. i wish there were three large buttons on top of the forum, 1. can't find your listing? click here  2. how to get in contact with airbnb, click here, 3. have services to offer? doing a research study? click here. 

[Dunny0]

@Sabine42@Linda108

Good topic. Nice idea, Sabine. Appropriate and helpful. I've danced in and out of these categories, sometimes in a grey area

of 'service possibilities and suggestions', while actually wishing to have an idea in its proper place so as not to disturb readers 

desperately seeking aid or an answer or something else. Made me squirm, and I bet I did disrupt some. Sorry. That quote of an analytics service does seem to be totally foreign, though, as if by a company not hosting at any time past, present or future, not really discussing, but just plain marketing, spamming.

[Jeanine21]

I received this today along with a request to book.  Has anyone else received this?  Is this just a promotional/advertising sheme??

I'm Dean. Our data team wrote reports on top Airbnbs in Asheville and came across your listing to be in the top 14% in Asheville! I must say that your listing is one of the most professional I've seen. Of course, you know your region best, so I would love to get your thoughts. Here's a copy of your report and analytics I wanted to share this with you as it's based on your Airbnb and listings in your area. If there's any other analytics that are unanswered for you - I would be happy to have our data team run some reports for you! As part of our Clear Capital program, our vision is to help entrepreneurs achieve their goals. Our algorithm examines occupancy and reviews across your 19 reviews to predict potential revenue and growth among Airbnbs in Asheville. We've seen entrepreneurs on our platform struggle with growing, which is why we decided to provide flexible capital for businesses who are looking to scale their Airbnb You can copy this link into your browser to see your report: jeanine99908.host.vacations Cheers, Dean

Today at 6:14 PM via the Airbnb Android App

[Regina38]

if this came in as a booking inquiry you should flag it and report them via email

[Rachael26]

@Linda108

Agreed! It seems that some people think this is Facebook and others just think it's a chat room.

@Sabine42 I like the idea of the tabs - and I would also like to see a 'thumbs down' option for all posts as well as the thumbs up.

Best Wishes.

[Susan514]

I haven't personally run across what you are mentioning but I wanted to share a similar experience.  What is happening to me is that people are sending a request for booking in order to contact me and try to sell me their services.  It's very frustrating and it would be amazing if there was a way to make this stop.  Like many others, the amount of time it takes to get a rep on the phone to help is exhausting.  Once you get one, getting them to listen to what you are saying (they seem to focus on key words and reply with the most common answers instead of listening to the problem) is another story.  

I'd like to report this to someone but I don't have the time it takes to get a live person, not to mention the patience it takes when their responses do not seem to be related to your questions to figure this out.  There should be some sort of a penalty or loss of their user ID for the AirBNB site.  

[Lawrene0]

@Susan514, you can flag the seller's profile. It won't make the practice stop, but it is the way to report it without having to phone anyone.

[Linda108]

@Susan514  If someone is using their profile to promote a commercial enterprise, please go to the flag under the name and report the inappropriate contact.  Doesn't take much time to do this and you are contributing to the host community.  Thank you!!