So we know that every 5 minutes something changes in the platform, about rules and regulations, about bookings, about reviews, about everything! And then comes the protest wave.....and then we all get used to it.... by now, I am just amused by it all and don't take it that seriously anymore. Lets all lighten up, realize that we simply don't have much input, but that the whole Airbnb experience is fun, that we are in it along for the ride, and that we benefit from it!
@Branka-and-Silvia0 have said somewhere that there are probably a bunch of young programmers busy all the time to test their ideas, not so much with any consideration as to how new things affect hosts and guests, but oh well, time to jump onto the next fun thing to try out, so we are left to cope tand to figure it out.
The uproar about IB has subsided, and many people have figured out that having it in place or not not does not make a dramatic difference in bookings after all, or that the "old" style of booking doesn't really give us more security anyways...so now, aside from the fixation on needing 5 star reviews at all times, one of the new issues is the choice guests now have of looking at highest ratings and lowest ratings, rolled out in some test markets- well, that will also subside, guests are just not that thorough, they glance at the image of stars, it all looks good, then it's down to price, pictures, description and availability.
The only thing we hosts have control over is our own listing: if it is impeccable, the guests will come, no matter of IB, stars for location, or where exactly in the Airbnb page of offerings it is placed. As long as we all focus on that, we are good to go! I have seen plenty of crummy listings, with bad pictures, confusing descriptions, etc - and I have seen awsome listings as well!
One last thing, about platform changes here in the forum, that happened a while ago, with the new "top", recent, and unanswered format: first the discontent, me included, then seeing that it now actually facilitates conversations much better than before, and the dreaded "how do I reach Airbnb" has mostly disappeared. Hallelujah!
Cheers, and happy hosting,
Annette
PS : one thing I would like is to be able to highlight other Airbnb peeps here at all times, not just when they have contributed to a specific post - like I was not able to highlight Branka and Silvia above....but I now see that it actually highlighted the wrong Branka. Help Airbnb!
[Mention updated] 🙂