We have had two years of good experiences overall - small is...
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We have had two years of good experiences overall - small issues here and there. A recent guest left such a mess that we left...
Latest reply
Just a heads up there is a bug with the "New" category filter for all listings in the State of Washington. When choosing the "New" Category filter, the results page doesn't show any listings even if there ARE new listings. This has been reported to Airbnb and with much difficulty I have finally conveyed this is a bug. The agent kept insisting a Host needs to request the "New" Category and I kept explaining this is auto-generated by Airbnb and Hosts cannot request the "New" Category. I forwarded a screen shot of the New category greyed out and the wording "Auto-generated by Airbnb". Although not many guests search using Categories, not sure how much this will impact bookings? They have now escalated to engineering (thanks to the Support Ambassador I worked with) and I will report back if there are any updates.
It seems like other States in USA the New Category Filter is working as it should. If you have a new listing in Washington State, you might check this and if you discover the same thing I have, contact Airbnb CS. I did check numerous cities in Washington, and they all had this issue. Not sure if every city in Washington is affected, as I stopped checking after 4 or 5 cities had the same issue.
The search results map for the New Category Filter for listings in Washington just says "No Exact Matches" even if there are new listings:
****UPDATE****
So....after some lengthy discussions with Airbnb about the topic...here is what I was told:
Creating a New Listing
I haven't created a new listing in several months, but apparently you can ask to be placed in a category when creating the listing. If your request is approved, then Airbnb automatically removes the listing from the "New" Category Filter in searches, even though the listing is still considered "New" by Airbnb for about 12 weeks and "New" still appears on the listing thumbnail photo and on the listing itself.
I pointed out to the CS Agent this should not happen. The New Category Filter should apply until Airbnb removes the New Callout on the listing thumbnail photo...usually about 12 weeks. It should not automatically be removed if the listing is awarded another category. Hosts might have to consider whether they want to stay in the "New" Category or lose that designation in favor of another like "National Parks". If you elect not to seek another Category when creating the listing, the algorithm will automatically assign one after the 12 weeks if the Listing qualifies. Alternatively, A Host can request a category through Elevate, but I think if you try that in the first 12 weeks, the New Category Filter will be removed. Sigh. So apparently this applies to any new listing created, not just in Washington State. I was only looking in Washington and Georgia.
I mentioned to the Agent this should be corrected, but the usual "provide feedback" link was provided, so not sure this is going to change anytime soon.
