Search by categories changes main photo shown in results

[Emiel1]

I noticed in "search by categories" the results are not always showing the main photo of the listing, but another photo is taken from the listing, probably the one the AI-robot used to determine the category (?). So when a host removes that photo, then the listing is (soon) removed from the assigned category ?

[Gillian19]

@Emiel1 I'm also wondering that if I include some local area shots of the ocean what it will do then? Add me to a beachside category?

[Debra300]

@Emiel1,

I don't know, but you raised a good point that deserves further investigation.  My guesthouse listings appear in both the All homes and Tropical categories, and the primary photo is displayed in search results every time.  This is true for other listings in my area that I am familiar with.

[Emiel1]

@Debra300 

I saw it in some listings.

This thread is an example of such a "photo change":

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/When-can-we-expect-AI-to-be-trained/m-p/1631764#M370698

"All homes" is not really a category, it is the "default" for all listings.

I checked your listings, at least on one listing (nr 22266814) the photo shown in "categorie mode" is not the main photo:

Then i noticed someting else:

When clicking on a listing from "category mode" the photo's are not in same order as in the original listing (In this case first two photo's are swapped)

Original listing:

Why is AIrbnb messing up with our listings ?

[Debra300]

@Emiel1,

You are too cool with digging into this stuff.  I used the tip you shared before that showed hosts how they can see which, if any, categories their listings were placed:  https://www.airbnb.com/s/homes?host_id=161342432&map_toggle=true.  This is where I saw that the primary photos appeared in both All homes and Tropical.  I just re-did the search in a private window, and again I am seeing the primary photos.  The one example you highlighted about different primary photos is a listing where I recently changed the primary photo, which pushed the prior primary photo to the second position.  The original listing is the top screenshot.  So, it appears that a primary photo is cached in one of the categories.

Yes, I know that All homes is supposed to be the default for all listings that fit the search criteria, but it is a button on the category ribbon..

[Emiel1]

@Debra300 

Hmm.. as i never visited your listings before there can not be cached stuff in my browser.

I cleared all cache and when using the mentioned URL: it presents me with same results as described by me. But as you recently manually changed photos, the  conditions for this listing to test are not reliable.

The other thread mentioned did show Airbnb is fiddling with listing photo's when it comes to categories.

Also on some other listings i noticed when using categories, the photo in search results differs from the main photo (and most likely it is that photo the AI used to determine the  assigned category).

Which also opens oppertunities to manipulate the AI...

[Debra300]

@Emiel1,

Thanks for the follow up.  I meant to imply that the Airbnb systems have the former primary photo cached in the Tropical category, not that your browser has it cached.

[Katja202]

@Emiel1  Jij boefje 🤣🤣

[Pat271]

I’m sure there’s an algorithm that finds the best match for a category deemed important for the search. This algorithm is probably run every time the page is loaded. So, removing a photo would simply result in the next best match photo being loaded.