From terrible to completely ridiculous.

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

From terrible to completely ridiculous.

 

Having just read the 'Summer Release' update link I thought I would check out how much feedback had been taken on board from the first month of the changes to search criteria.  I wish I hadn't....searching for a listing is now complete chaos!

 

When I bring up a search page now, this morning 12/06/2022 I can't even search my country of Australia any more, let alone a specific area.

Here are my search options..........

The only search box I am faced with is 'Where',  and clicking that brings up 6 general region boxes.

 

Search options.png

 

and clicking on the area boxes does absolutely nothing but at least now brings up a destination option. But it took me a while to find that option....guests are going to find this hard to tolerate, particularly those who have used the booking process before.

 

My bookings have fallen away to zero over the past few weeks and I can't see that there will be any improvement until we get back to the situation where a guest could simply search an area, availability, nightly price without having to jump through all these hoops.

 

Cheers........Rob

106 Replies 106
Elaine328
Level 3
Alaska, United States

@Fred13 

Thanks for your work on finding a way around the new search parameters.  Are you using this method on a computer or on the app? I am looking for a way to avoid a date-based search, but am having trouble following your directions. I don't see a choice labeled Edit Dates. Is this on the search page or on the page for a specific listing?

Page of specific listing. Example..

 

Page #1, execute page:

Screen-2022-06-18_20-39-35.jpg

**********************************************************************************************************

Page #2 - left hand side:

Screen-2022-06-18_20-40-41.jpg

*********************************************************************************************************

Page #3:

 

Screen-2022-06-18_20-42-18.jpg

***********************************************************************************************************

 

Note that it started in Page #1 with the infamous '1-week' search, but while the 'Calendar' label changes to 'Reserve' on Page #2, at least now an 'Edit' option appears on the left under Confirm & Pay; hit it and Page #3 will appear - the old beloved calendar page!

 

If my customer does not know about this 'Edit Dates' move than they would assume the only next availability date is December 25th-30th, yet note 4 days are available in November (my minimum days), but were trumped by Airbnb's 'weekly' filter and thus didn't appear because it wasn't 5 days, which is what the jumpy 'weekly' filter requires.  

 

The general map gets worse, in that mode the 'weekly' is a true 7 days, so that means in that view my next available dates are: May 4-11, 2023.

 

 

 

 

 

Addendum: on Page #2 could also hit the date entry spot and that will also go to old calendar format. Getting smoother. Filters remain the last hurdle.

@Fred13...That still sounds like a pain and a lot of trouble for a guest, I'm guessing they'll go elsewhere once they've had enough.  I still think the categories are a killer.  I'm the closest to a huge wildlife refuge, and the Harriet Tubman Museum, both considered National parks.  I gave up looking in that category, 3 - 4 pgs full of Virginia, which is next door to me, in Maryland.  Looked at the countryside category and seen some 90 mins away, I'm going to look into getting in both, as well as VRBO.

I been on VRBO and also rent Direct for the last 7 years...It makes sense.

Stephanie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hi @Fred13 ,

 

I just wanted to let you know that this is one of the newer updates to the summer release following all of the valuable feedback Hosts have shared. This is detailed as follows:

 

"Though many guests are browsing Airbnb Categories for inspiration and booking, the majority continue to book stays by entering a specific destination and travel dates in search. Once guests enter a location, they are using the “All homes” tab – just as they did previously – to view all stays available in a particular location and book a listing that’s right for them. We’re now looking at ways to make the “All homes” tab more prominent when guests search a location.

 

We’re also exploring updates to the booking experience, including the display of categories, further refinements to map searches and how to best show your review counts. We’ll continue working with Host advisors and come back to you in July with more details."

 

We've updated the Resource Centre article to reflect the updates we have made since I first shared the FAQ over a week ago - you can check them out here:

 

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/resources/hosting-homes/a/host-questions-answered-airbnbs-summer-release-53...

 

Whenever we update the article again, I'll be sure to pop back and let you all know!

 

Thanks,

Stephanie

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Please follow the Community Guidelines 

@Stephanie But the problem isn't the "categories," it's that you cannot search without dates. The search defaults to any week and only displays listings that have a random week available.

@Emilia42 

 

I feel like we're shouting into the air and no one is listening! The true definition of banging our heads against the wall! I don't know how to explain it any clearer. Do you??!!

 

@Stephanie 

 

The problem isn't finding all properties available on specific dates. The problem is finding all properties WITHOUT NEEDING TO PUT IN SPECIFIC DATES AND WITHOUT FORCING GUESTS TO PICK A WEEKEND, WEEK, OR MONTH.

 

As a guest planning a vacation without specific dates in mind, I want to see everything available to me, and then I will pick dates based on a listing's availability. People don't always just vacation for a weekend or a week, some take 3, 4, or 5 days instead.

 

Quite honestly, I don't mind the slowdown in guests because my goal isn't to be booked solid. But I do feel for hosts who are now having trouble filling in empty days between bookings because their listing will not show up in search results due to the inability to truly search ANYTIME.

Stephanie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hi @Suzanne302 @Emilia42 ,

 

There are still more updates and changes to come, this is just the first ones though I can't give any more specifics atm. I don't want to sound like a broken record (and I'm sure you're sick of hearing me say it!) but literally, every single comment is read, broken down and fed back to the teams - this is also done in the Host clubs, social media, feedback and customer support.

 

I'm looking forward to sharing more with you in the near future.

 

Thanks,

Stephanie

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Please follow the Community Guidelines 

There is more coming? God help us lol

Please advise as to how your programmers or marketing folks determined that the search needed to be changed?  I showed the Airbnb page to my 60+ brother and sister-in-law.  I asked them to find and rent one of the 5 airbnbs/Vxxx that are within 1 block of my daughter. 

They could not navigate Airbnb at all.

 

They went to Vxxx and booked in 10 minutes.

 

They have never booked online before.  Therefore they have no preconceptions as to how an OTA should work. 

@Lorna170 

 

AirBnb has become a boutique travel agency for that tiny fraction of millionaires/ billionaires who CAN book 'anywhere" at $35K/night,  travel ANYTIME so don't mind Big Brother selecting travel weeks for them, AND the masses searching for a tree house, potato, or Arctic igloo.

 

Contrary to the "new" business model, our Guests book specific locations on specific dates to attend weddings, festivals, concerts, funerals, sports events, etc. OR to enjoy personal celebrations (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.), to ski or hike specific areas, for couples/ family vacations.

 

THAT is why we aren't getting bookings. AirBnb has let machines curate our listings, assign weird weeks, make us disappear on their map, and make searching specific areas on specific dates chaotic. 

 

The "new" AirBnb has been soundly rejected by users. Hosts have been grievously hurt.  I can imagine the handful of highly paid programmers on a Zoom call with Chesky that went something like this: "Wouldn't it be COOL...!"

 

Not cool to play with the livelihoods of people whose investment and hard work made this company successful.  You really threw us under the bus. Good luck with booking the giant potato. Hey, wouldn't it be COOL to put a giant potato in a treehouse in the Arctic?  That's my $100K idea. 

 

Fred13
Level 10
Placencia, Belize

@Stephanie  That is awesome. I know it takes a while, why didn't get too bummed out right off the bat. 

 

Moving the new filters in parallel (not in series) with the old search path would do the trick. The rest than is cosmetics. I could see they added some new 'hot links' lately. Nice touch.

 

Thanks for the update, it is encouraging; especially for folks clobbered financially by this change.

 

 

The reason for bookings falling off the cliff is most likely that now, when one searches for specific city - entire region is popping up on the map. So, unless the one who searches knows exactly where to zoom in the map area presuming one is familiar with the region) - there is no chance of snowball in hell that your listing will be found.

Just like any other company airbnb is in the business of making money  - to airbnb.

I still hope that someone in IT department of ABNB screwed up, but I suspect that was intentional.

Hey - in T&C we all agreed on there was nothing that ABNB obligated to do for us - right?

 

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@David8879 

 

Just did an incognito search of my area and things are almost back to where they should be. They have now dropped the 'I am Flexible' stuff.....in the destination search box just type in your general required city or area and a broad selection of properties will now be displayed without any further filtering. You can refine your area search by putting in dates and using other filters just as has always been the case.

 

The only thing missing now is the profile hosts past history.......from the area search page, searchers have no idea whether they are looking at a first time host or a 1,000 stay professional! A very strange bit of information to discard as it took up no space and was a constructive tool for guests to assess the competence of a host. 

Hopefully next time I do a search that information will be restored again, and you might start getting some views and bookings back again David. Mine are pretty much back to normal again, I have had 3 bookings in the past week, which is not bad considering I have blocked a large chunk of my upcoming booking calendar when this problem appeared, and much of that has been taken up with other off platform bookings now!

All the best David.

 

Cheers........Rob

 

@Stephanie