"Guest favorite" concept: what for?

[Fausto106]

I struggle to understand the purpose of this new badge.

It could be to highlight the best of the best (rating >4,90), but I already saw it assigned to an evaluation of 4,77!

What does airbnb mean with its creation?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Fausto106 It turns out that listings have to have an average of 4.9+ to qualify. Did the 4.77 listing host have other properties as well?

It all seems very odd to me 

[Mary-Kay14]

I have 2 listings and only one "earned" to Guest Favorite badge.  The other property that did not has a 5.0 average rating (26 reviews) and no quality or other issues.  I have tried to get insight from Airbnb to no avail.  There are other properties in my location that have an average rating well under the 4.9 required average but have the Guest Favorite badge.  So, clearly does not make an sense.  All they can tell me is that it is updated daily and I may "earn" the badge in the future.

[Nick3074]

Terrible. Crazy!

I don't understand it either. As a community we need to keep calling and complaining

No way to check the status from host view. ridiculous

[Sara-And-Rob0]

We are living this scenario right now!

[Bhumika · Accepted solution]

Hi @Fausto106 ! Guest Favorites are a collection of the 2 million most loved homes on Airbnb based on ratings, reviews, and reliability data from over half a billion trips. 

Guest Favorites have a history of positive reviews and are rated above 4.9 stars on average. They have a superb record of reliability, with Host cancellations and quality-related customer service issues of 1% on average. And nearly two-thirds of them are hosted by Superhosts today. 

For Guest Favorites, Airbnb focuses on the signals that have the loudest guest voice. A mix of factors are considered in determining whether a listing qualifies as a Guest Favorite, including: overall and subcategory ratings, feedback left in guest reviews, Host cancellations, and the number of quality-related customer service issues. All of those combined create a score that will determine whether the listing qualifies as a Guest Favorite.

I also wanted to share this article that gives an overview of the new Guest Favourites: Most-loved homes according to guests badge.

Regarding your concerns mentioning seeing it for other listings regardless of 4.9 ratings, also clarifying that the average rating for all Guest Favorite listings is 4.9. While these listings generally have very high overall ratings, please note some may be above 4.9 and some may be below.

I hope this helps!

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Bhumika I wonder if whomever in Airbnb gave you the above information knows just how stupid it sounds. The soundbites are great but the line 'the average rating for all Guest Favorite listings is 4.9' is palpably daft. What this means, if it is correct, its that (assuming a normal distribution) there will be an equal number of Guest Favourite listings rated below 4.9 as there are above 4.9. This then begs the question who chooses the lower rated properties (I assume all higher rated properties make it as Guest Favourites but maybe not). This whole concept really stinks of Airbnb just manipulating the tags on listings to its own benefit.

I would love it if someone could answer the question 'What parameter is used to differentiate low rated Guest Favourites from their peers' but I suspect it will never get answered.

[Adriano78]

@Mike-And-Jane0   Airbnb, if one day answers, will undoubtedly tell us that it is the AI that chooses the "guest favorite".

Between the guest favorite badge that almost all the hosts have and some superhost badges that continue to be displayed (super host badge with a deficient score, how Airbnb   can display a super host badge on an apartment with a 4.62?!)

 

@Mike-And-Jane0

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Adriano78 Actually a superhost with a 4.62 makes sense as the Superhost stats only look at the last 12 months and are an average over all a hosts listings.

[Nick3074]

terrible!

[Ryan3422]

I have asked support to explain to me how my property does not qualify as a guest favorite, despite meeting the "parameters".  I have had four different reps, and each rep immediately want to settle the issue over the phone rather than in writing.  After I say I want a written response, I get radio silence.  It baffles me that as most hosts are entering their slowest months, a new filter gets introduced for guests to filter my property out for what seems to be reasons unknown to Airbnb.  At least I get a laugh out of the articles they send me to answer my questions.  The last rep sent me a link for an article on "how to make a wishlist as a guest" to answer my guest favorite parameters question.  

[Nick3074]

I second this. No support on a HUGE change   

No ability to monitor the status from host view.

Terrible just terrible

[Fausto106]

Thx Bhumika for your thorough answer! I still struggle to understand the logic and coherence of it. And if I do, I'm afraid all customers will, so it will fail to attain its potential objectives.

[Ryan3422]

@Bhumika - I think everyone would appreciate a case study for how this new algorithm works.  Feel free to use my property as an example to explain how it would not qualify as a "Guest Favorite".

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/605669673879860817?check_in=2024-01-03&check_out=2024-01-08&guests=1&ad...

[Cody265]

I'm curious if they limit the number of guests favorites in a given area. I looked at the ones near you, and a couple of differences stood out. One is that they tended to have a lot more reviews overall. Also, they appear to be using more dynamic pricing. Of the waterfront listings in your area, yours appeared to be significantly more expensive this time of year. Other listings appear to be adjusting their prices more through the seasons and by the day of the week.

Of course, there is no transparency in how GF works, so I can only guess at some possibilities based on how yours compares to the GF listings in your area. Things like your restrictive cancellation policy, high prices, and minimum stay would have lowered your listing on search pages even before GF, so the new badge is probably just marketing the factors that were already used to rank search results.