Ok this is going to be a little long but I think those who read it will recognize the dilemma. I put this post into a reply to another post about the pricing and position one gets in a Traveler's search. How to get on the top of the list. I thought I would share this with the whole community as I've spent a lot of time testing searches and talking to the folks at Airbnb - to no avail. So I am putting out a kind of summary of four weeks of regular work on this issue. I'm writing this as of May 2019.
I did a number of Airbnb searches from a position of traveler coming to Airbnb for the first time who knows or doesn't know about Plus, Superhost etc. So I would search no plus, no super host, basic amenities, thinking if someone is looking for something other than a hotel experience they would want a kitchen, wifi, TV, a/c, heating, a private bathroom, and a bedroom - this is a whole house I'm talking about - very very centrally located in LA - a total house for guests only. I did this kind of search with and without dates. I also did a deeper amenities search (Superhost, instant booking, price range, dates, almost all amenities - smoke detector, hair dryer etc).
I found my place (I am a Superhost with over a dozen reviews (all 5+), came up only when I asked for specific days I had available - only those days. Here's a second hit to that: if I had a five-day block open and listed all five days in the search, I came up. If I listed only three of those five days, I didn't. I called Airbnb and got into a circle dance that of course lead nowhere. I also changed the price up and down. Down seems to have an effect but not as drastic as I was hoping - I'm talking going way down. So I can't figure it out really. And lastly, why is it I see other places popping up on page one, three, five and seven, when I don't show up on any of the 17 pages of 300 homes? I see these folks are double listing their places with little tweaks here and there (price, length of stay etc) to make it seem like it's a different place. (I can't imagine Airbnb can't figure out it is the same place and do something about it - in essence giving the same place a number of hits on a search). One thing I think might be affecting getting on a search is the amount of positive reviews. If you have a lot of great reviews it seems to help get you on the first page. (if it's not a plus or superhost filtered search). But not getting on at all unless you have a specific block of dates sandwiched between booked dates and it has to be all those days requested in the search to get your place a hit. One day less, no hit. Sorry to repeat but I see no rhyme or reason to the algorithm. All comments, suggestions, and commiseration welcome.
Thomas
