Inaccuracy of AIRBNB searches

[Penelope14]

Hi,

Has anyone else noticed there has been a change in how the system works?  I have been a Superhost for several years, and my listing always showed up on the first page of a search for listings in my town.   Now, if you do a search for places to stay in my town, the first listing is in a neighboring town!   One has to wade through pages of listings in other towns to get to mine.   This is new.   Anyone else have this issue?   A guest complained to me as well about this.

Thanks!

[Steve143]

Hello @Penelope14,

I searched for "entire place" accommodation in Rockport and your listing came up about 1/2 way down on the first of 17 pages.

Steve.

[Penelope14]

Thanks Steve!   There has been a change since I phoned AIRBNB support this morning.   I am fascinated by this.    When I was on the phone with support, she kept putting in different search options.   The results were that the listing came up on the 3rd or 4th page.   I wonder if just doing searches changes the results.   I appreciate your taking the time to address this issue with me.

All the best to you!

[Patricia55]

Hi @Penelope14 Yes, how often guests click on your listing in search results, does have an effect (along with many other factors!) - so maybe Steve and I have bumped you up the rankings a bit 😉  I also did a search on your place, narrowing it down a bit by price (which presumably guests do) and it appeared about 7th of 40-odd.

[Penelope14]

Thank you!   The fact that the customer service rep and I searched several times this morning also may have added to the 'rank' in listings.   I wondered about what factors increase one's visibility.    Do you know other factors specifically?

[Patricia55]

@Penelope14I don't know many of the specifics but I gather there's over 100 factors - see this article:

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Your-top-questions-about-Airbnb-Search/m-p/509644

Things like using Instant Book will bump you up, but I refuse to use that and when I've done anonymous searches for our area, we are pretty often near the top, so obviously other factors have pushed us up.

From what I've learned, I understand that 'optimisation' of searches for prospective guests is the main aim of the algorithm - so this means that what YOU see on your screen isn't going to be the same as what guests see on their screen when they search.

Also: cookies and caches!!  Sorry, I'm using terminology here of which I only have a hazy understanding - hope I'm making some sense 🙂

[Penelope14]

Thank you Patricia!   I am sure another factor in all this is that listings have increased dramatically in my area, with everyone jumping on the AIRBNB bandwagon and new listings are offered at great deals to attract guests.   I am doing well this summer, but it does annoy me that other towns still come up before my listing, even though the search is for "Rockport."    I refuse to do Instant Book, and of course that is a factor.   Appreciate your support and thoughtfulness!    I forgot that I pulled the plug on my TV last fall, although hopefully that is balanced out with my offering air conditioning, which is not mainstream in my area.    Again your input is wonderful!

[Penelope14]

What makes no sense to me is that if I type in my town and state in a search and also another search with town state and ZIP code I get different results.

[Matthew285]

@Penelope14 the search results are always based on what the map shows (even if the map is not visible).

If your search for Town and State results in the map being in a different position than the map is when you search for Town, State, and Zip Code, that explains why the results are different.

Listings that are on the map are potentially included.

Listings that are NOT on the map are never included.

The map position is key.

[Penelope14]

Thank you Matthew.   It still is 'a puzzlement' as the King of Siam would say!    Appreciate your taking the time to respond!

[Naomi132]

I test it multiple times a day from different computers to ensure my IP address isn't somehow dictating the information that appears.  Sometimes, I know for a fact I have the only available rooms in my entire town and my listing does not appear at all.  I check again 15 minutes later and it comes up. 

Unfortunately, Airbnb has cornered the marketplace, the competetion has either dissolved OR has changed their model to exactly mirror Airbnb.  Without HOSTS, Airbnb would cease to exist and yet somehow, we are still beholden to their bull**bleep** algoriths, and I call bull**bleep**.  How did we all arrive at this place where Airbnb controls everything, including my financial situation?!

[Penelope14]

Fascinating Naomi.   I agree the way searches are done is mind boggling!   I appreciate your taking the time to share your own experience.  A customer rep told me that if folks mark your space as a "favorite" it changes the results of searches.   She also told me that the searches are deterimed by the past history of the guest doing the searches.  Many factors beyond our control.

Over the years I have seen a bias towards guests, not hosts.   I call customer service several times if I have an issue because the operators' responses vary so much.   I get the feeling the kids answering the phone are not well trained, although they do their best.   

My space is on a huge hill and difficult to access in winter, so the seasonal rental is a wonderful way to generate extra income that helps me stay independent in my home.   We are all in a situation where AIRBNB has a monopoly, and controls the dice.   If 'greed' is an issue with any of the players, my vote is that AIRBNB is the greedy one!

Thank you for taking the time to respond.  All the best!

[Emiel1]

Hello @Naomi132 ,

If Airbnb controls your financial situation, i think it's time to stop using the platform.

Hosting primary for income will lead to disappointment or to greed.

Hope this helps,

Emiel

[Naomi132]

It is a business, so income is essential, it is not about greed, so NO, your comments do not help.

[Mike1034]

Definitely AirBnb search has big issues. What they did in their search is to zoom out to a much larger area on the map so that more listings could be included. This makes them look better to attract more people looking. However, this adds a lot of overhead for potential guests to screen out those properties not in the city they travel to. A search I did returned 9 out of 18 properties not in the city where I travel to on the first page. Some of the listing returned on the first page are 50-60 miles away. In the meantime, there are a lot of properties in the destination city are pushed back to the second page and third page or even further down.

I would strongly suggest that AirBnb provides a distance (city name) on the display page of searched results summary for each listing. Current search results from AirBnb seems to zoom to a much larger area and returned results are not easy for guests to choose the ones close the where they want to stay without clicking into the listing and find the map. This slows the process for guests to find out what they want to book. Location and dates are definitely two most important factors for guests to find where they want to stay before they want to dig more in depth.

One search results on the first page displays only 50% of properties in the city where I want to stay while the rest properties are between 15 to 60 miles away even though there are more properties in the city. If AirBnb search results contain so many irrelevant results without indicating the distance or city where the listings are, it definitely takes guests more time to just find out where the property is and if it is close enough to their destination.