My listing has disappeared! :-(

Laura543
Level 3
Watertown, MA

My listing has disappeared! :-(

I have noticed over the past few months that I was getting very few inquiries regarding my listing.  I contacted airbnb last week about it.  Sure enough, when I was averaging close to 300 views this time last year, this year I am lucky if I get 80.  So, I did a search for myself.  I was only able to see my listing when I zoomed to within a 10 block radius of my home.  I called airbnb again and they suggested I make a few changes to my description and pricing.  I did that last week.  Today my listing has completely disappeared.  I called airbnb again and was put on hold for 14 minutes before I was disconnected.  I'm not sure what to do now.  Have any of you experienced this?  Any and all advice is appreciated.

9 Replies 9
Branka-and-Silvia0
Level 10
Zagreb, Croatia

Hi @Laura543 your listing is active but you don't have instant book turned on. Airbnb prefer instant booking and if there are lot of competitors in your area  I am affraid you will have to turn it on to be shown in search

Alexandra316
Level 10
Lincoln, Canada

@Laura543 I was able to find your listing, but it was at the very bottom of the search results. Yes to instant book, but it could also be that you're taking longer reservations: the less likely you are to be available, the lower in the search results you will be. Have you declined a lot of requests, or cancelled on anyone?

 

Basically, the easier it is for someone to book with you, the higher your listing will be displayed.

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Laura543

Hi Laura, you do show up but, one has to be very specific to find your listing. In a general search nobody would ever come across your listing. It is not until you focus the search map in your specific area that your property will appear in search results.

It is there, I judt did a specific search for it.......

Watertown MA.png

 

 

I was caned here a week or so ago by another contributor waving a rule book around which says that 'Activity' has no baring on search placement! And it is a pity that some contributors will do that and spout out from a rule book rather than looking at the cold hard reality of how the platform works because what is happening to you Laura is classically what happens when your property slips in visibility due to inactivity!

You need to lift the profile of your property Laura, you need to get some activity going on to trigger the algorithm that governs search placement. Using Instant Book is certainly going to shoot you back up the rankings and you can put in safeguards by requiring Gov ID and positive reviews from other hosts in order to IB your listing. Get some friends to ask a question of you through the 'Contact Host' field on your profile page. Put your price down a dollar one day and up a couple of days later. Add a House Rule or change a few photos around.....get some activity going.

Despite what some less experienced people will say, the most visible properties in an Airbnb search are those with the most activity happening. 

 

My property was averaging around 16-20 bookings per month for 7 to 8 months because I was sitting at the top of the search rankings for my area. In Airbnb's eyes I had the most succesful listing in my area.

But that can only go on for so long....the calendar fills up for months ahead with just odd days here or there available, so when people can't book, they look elswhere and although the views are still there the activity drops and so does the property visibility. I am now not even on the first page for my area any more and I haven't had one booking in 3 weeks, but that doesn't worry me. Once I get into March 2019 my availability will come back and my bookings will take off again.

 

Don't let anyone tell you here that activity does not affect where you show up and who can see you....Laura, it does! Get some activity going on your site, turn on IB and you will be off and running again. 

Cheers......Rob

Rob, thank you so much for taking the time to share all of that info!!!  I think I had a good run at the top in my area for a couple of years.  I was receiving email inquiries a few times each week.  I miss them!  Hahaha  I will follow your advice and hope for better results going forward. 

Laura

Laura543
Level 3
Watertown, MA

Thank you for the responses!  Do you mind if I ask what you used as search criteria?  I have been searching for 1/1-1/31 in Watertown to narrow the results.  Out of the few that show, my listing is nowhere to be seen. 

 

I just switched to longer stays today.  I don't think that was the problem.  I did that so the price would come up lower in the search.  The majority of my guests stay a few months at a time visiting local universities and hospitals.  Instead of offering all kinds of discounts, I thought this would be more straightforward.   I hesitate to use instant book because I've had problems with people booking for other people.  Also, I live here by myself.  Even a very brief exchange puts my mind at ease.

 

I was declining quite a few requests over the summer.  My space is not airconditioned.  Installing a/c would block a fire exit.  Even though I'm upfront with that in the listing, people still complain about the heat.  I was declining guests for the super hot weeks not realizing it would be an entire summer of super hot weeks here in New England this summer.  Does that affect how often my listing will appear in searches?!!!  Is there any way to fix that?  I had no idea it was a no-no.  Darn!  I bet that's the problem.  😞

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Laura543

 

Laura I can't speak about what might make prospective guests book your property or not. It could well be that the lack of a/c made a difference it may have been something else.

The fact is that, people are not booking or enquiring, and that is because lack of traffic on your site has progresively removed your property from realistic viewing!

When I did a general search of Waterton MA your property did not show up in the 300+ listings so I looked at your map location and then went back to my general search page and focused the Waltham area and narrowed the price down  to within a $60 range.

All of a sudden the number of properties dropped to 26 available of which yours was the 3rd on the search page. In general Laura,  searchers are not going to be this specific with a search. You need to get yourself back up on the main Watertown MA ranking pages

You are not being penalised as such by Airbnb, you haven't done anything wrong Laura, you just have not been active enough for Airbnb to give you a higher profile.

 

Cheers......Rob 

Clara116
Level 10
Pensacola, FL

@Laura543 are you calling the Superhost phone line???    I have NEVER had to wait more than 15 seconds when calling it.   1 888 326 5753  hope you have this number that helps.  best of luck, happy hosting, clara

I did not know there was such a thing.  Thanks!!

I am a co-host to a friend's account, so he is considered is a host.  My host  listing is  . Not showing on the search engine.  (they cal it account nowadays and not listing) Nobody can tell me why.   

I called the US help line, and they were not able to help, then I called again and the UK help line started looking into this, but nothing happened, and the last person from the US help line searched and tried several solutions, but nothing helped.  I called today and it is in the hands of another division.  But this is taking so long, so I thought I approach my hosting community for ideas.  

I suggested that perhaps - yes, this might sound silly, but sillier things turned to be a solution - that perhaps we should disconnect my host from my co-hosting account.  

Did this happen to anyone else? Any ideas?