Here it is in a nutshell.They seemed to have changed the way they list ;or they are simply really glitched w their listings, I dont know…I punch in a city to see where my listing comes up in the city it is in.They normally start w all the listings in that city you are in and then start to move to other cities as you run out of listings in your area. No.NOW when you punch in your city your listing is in, listings from neighboring cities come up first!I tried to point out the obvious flaw in this to them but they just made lame excuses. So now if someone is searching my city, my city doesnt even come up until like the 30th listing! Instead of Vista, which is what you are searching for, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Leucadia come up first?! They said this is the new way they are doing it to give OTHERS a chance.Really.How inconvenient is that for the guest who is looking for a place in Vista to NOT have places in Vista not come up, they have to sort through the other cities first.And thats not good for my business either. Which I dont really care because I am planning to quit hopefully next January if my plan goes through but its going to screw you guys.Anyone else notice this?Maybe you should all check on your listing as a traveler and see how you come up…
As I posted on another thread, it looks like AirBnB has copied Homeaway. Homeaway has been doing that for about a year now.
It’s about selection and big data. If your town isn’t as popular as the other town, and people look at your town but then book in the other town, AirBnB thinks there is a better chance they will book if they get shown the other town than yours.
It’s all about getting people to book.
I am not finding that behavior to be true for me (in Chrome incognito mode, too) and I am in a small town in the Catskills near Woodstock, which is far more popular. Maybe it is one of those things that is in limited rollout.
Oh yeah - I’ve noticed it too! Very frustrating when I type in my town, there are only perhaps 3 or 4 airbnb rooms in my actual town - but none of show up at least until the 3rd or 4th page listing - they are showing listings of rooms which are 30-40 miles away! It’s a hugh effort to find anything listed in my town now. URGHHH
It is frustrating. People searching for El Paso get listings in Juarez which is in Mexico and not even a sensible option. At least they still have the map. When I choose an airbnb the map is my main tool because I know the area where I want to stay. In the rare cases I’m just looking for the coolest place and the location doesn’t matter then I’m going to like the way airbnb sets it up. Also remember that people are mostly searching with specific dates and amenities so hopefully they will narrow it down to your place and you’ll get better guests.
Or maybe I’m too optimistic.
When you search for my city another city comes up and I don’t come up until the 18th listing the next listing in my area is number 68 I believe everybody in my syste when you search for my city another city comes up and I don’t come up until the 18th listing the next listing in my area is number 68 .this means everybody in my city their listing is simply going to get buried and people will get pushed to the coastal area. I think in about 30 days you’re going to see a lot of these hosts drop off of the Airbnb and put an ad on craigslist to rent The whole unit out on a long-term basis since Airbnb will not give them anywhere near the bookings they were getting before this change. I’m just glad I had already planned to leave Airbnb in January so I’m not that affected by it. This is the problem when you’re held hostage to one website they change the rules suddenly you get screwed .
Good luck! The one constant is change so we always have to be ready to change course. If someone had told me 6 years ago that I’d be retired, out of teaching and letting strangers and stranger’s dogs stay in my house I would have thought they were lunatics. I went back to school in spring 2013 because I thought my future was going to be teaching at the community college down the street. By summer 2015 I was done teaching and doing my work from home.
I wonder if guests will complain to Airbnb as well, must be frustrating for them
I hope they do!!!Its a PIA for the guest.
I had someone book that commented she was looking forward to visiting a city **3 1/2 ** hours from where I live! I immediately messaged her and told her she could cancel with e a no charge and I suggested she call Air to get their fees waived. She was grateful for my response and was able to get all fees refunded. Crazy that we even showed up in the search.
She should have figured it out but like many people who have never been to the American west she just wasn’t aware of the large distances between places.
Yes they have tons of glitches. For example
Right now it’s says in results 1-18 out of 5. What is it even?
And that’s true about showing completely different town first
SO…after totally steering all of the guests request for a specific city and steering them instead 10 miles away…it seems they have actually changed it back. Now when you punch in my city, the listings in my actual city come up,Im not getting random beach cities first 10 miles away…I don’t know why they changed it…maybe the guest complained? I hope they don’t change it again.
Try again - I made the BIGGEST stink to Airbnb - kept getting emails back with lame excuses trying to explain the algorithm and I kept debunking any excuse they made - the excuses were so lame! This went on for a few days - NOW when I put in my town - MY listing comes up on the first page. Albeit a listing from the NEXT town may come up before mine but I think they are correcting this. Perhaps enough people are complaining - if it’s not better in your area - KEEP COMPLAINING.