I like the new ABB categories and the Air Cover for Guests

@Giorgi - this host isn’t wrong. See my avatar? That’s the view from our house. Yes, our pool has that view, but the pool is a standard rectangle. We should be in amazing views and not in amazing pools.

That’s what the CC mod told me. I might be able to get my place into the “Amazing Views” category instead of “Amazing Pools” if I play with the order of the photos, but the best bet is to remove the pool as an amenity. Great advice, huh?

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I agree with @muddy. But we don’t cater to that group, so, hopefully, this doesn’t scare off the typical vacation traveler that figures out when and where they want to go, and THEN finds a property for their stay.

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In-home listing with private bath.

My cover photo has been changed to the washer and dryer. I called the help desk and pointed out in the settings I have designated a different photo for the cover. The agent said he had to escalate it to “the proper department” and someone will get back to me today.

I’m not holding my breath! Will remove that photo if it doesn’t get changed today. Hoping the algorithm doesn’t “choose” the photo of the shower as the next cover. Great double-headed shower that often gets mentioned in reviews but not the image I want to lead off with.

Despite my comment in my description “we prefer guests who are out and about during the day” my listing now states misleadingly “Great for remote work
Fast wifi at 357 Mbps, plus a dedicated workspace in a private room.”.

Just the kind of guests that will not be happy, nor will I.

I compare this to the boss who comes back from the convention enjoying a salad bar, and decides to make the salad bar a replacement for the company cafeteria.

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Right on! Not easily discouraged here :grin:

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I’m not sure if it had to do with Airbnb messing with their system but I got a ridiculous inquiry today. I am in the western part of Massachusetts. I got an inquiry asking how far I was from the Martha’s VIneyard airport and if I was close to all the quaint little shops. When I pointed out that I was not anywhere near Martha’s Vineyard the guest said that my listing popped up when she put in Martha’s Vineyard. We are a very long drive and ferry ride away! I know that Massachusetts is small but this is crazy.

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I’m not happy with the new “no dates” search function when combined with map view. Not all listings display in an area.

To give feedback to Airbnb about the changes, here are two Airbnb feedback tools.

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Remember back when Covid hit, Airbnb cancelled all bookings, hosts worldwide screamed loudly, and Chesky put out that grovelling, crocodile tears video apologizing profusely for springing it on hosts, how sorry he was not to have given hosts any warning and promising such a thing would never happen again, that hosts would be kept in the loop?

Well, apparently Chesky doesn’t remember. He’s no different from the politicians who can’t seem to recall whether they had a telephone call with the POTUS before or during a violent insurrection, or what the content of said phone call might have been.

Who is this “everyone”? Even a six-year old can grasp the concept that all 8 children at the bithday party can’t have the first piece of cake. (I used to hand the first piece, after the birthday girl, to the child that was quietly waiting their turn in the background, not clamoring around loudly, trying to be first) You do what you can to stand out from the crowd, with your photos or amenities, price or uniqueness, and hope for the best. And I personally know lots of hosts, none of whom have the attitude that their place is the “best”.

Consider yourself lucky. When I click on my little touristy beach town, it shows listings in Guadalajara, the second largest city in Mexico, 5 hours from here, (inland, no beach)with thousands of listings, and Puerto Vallarta, an hour away, with also thousands of listings. It’s akin to showing Washington DC listings when you input Myrtle Beach.

The algorithm was obviously programmed to pick up what would be most wanted by the digital nomad demographic, which is who Chesky and Co. see as the wave of the future and are actively courting on all fronts, with long stays, etc. And with the new 72 hr. window for guests to lodge a complaint, coupled with the Air Cover assurance for guests (which I have little doubt will come out of hosts’s pocket) they will easily get a full refund if the internet is a little slow for a couple hours on their 3rd day, or the desk chair isn’t comfy, using their refund to prance off to their next “live anywhere” destination, leaving their take-out containers, make-up and hair dye stained towels and bedding, and high electric bills in their wake.

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I read on the CC that this is on purpose - they are deliberately trying to limit the number of bookings in busy locations to reduce the bad press they are getting. New Airbnb feature aims to 'redistribute' tourists from oversold venues

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I am so sick of all these ridiculous changes that they do for no good reason.

I do remember the older days when it was so much simpler. Why creative upheaval and mayhem on the rental booking sight. You keep it simple.

Do any of the powers that be ever do trial runs, consult with thousands of hosts before putting out a scam like this?

Oh yes, just be patient and the algorithm will have you located on Mars, but it will include a pool and a fabulous view.

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@PitonView I’ve been reading on that site too and all the posters are distressed by this with the staff giving one lame excuse after another to pretend like they’re answering questions.

Both my places are on a lake, it says Lake Front but when you go to the drop downs they told me to get listed by the new links. There are no Lakeview options. And you can’t see their new links on a cell, app. Anybody else having difficulty?

Sigh, I always react to news of Airbnb “improvements,” “releases,” etc. with fear and loathing.

For example, I have a number of reviews effusively praising how quiet the neighborhood is, which I dread other guests relying upon. I have a noise warning in my description!

Those guests were there on a holiday weekend when the elementary school playground that abuts my property wasn’t full of screaming children at recess. Or in the winter when the group rental house nearby wasn’t having a kegger, or that other rental wasn’t having a live rock music concert in the backyard. Or when the police weren’t chasing the nearby highway bandits who break into cars in the neighborhood and saw off catalytic converters. Or when the military wasn’t doing helicopter training exercises overhead.

Hosts really need to have the final word on how their property is presented. Algorithms I guess are nice if they work, but when they’re stupid, they’re really stupid.

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There has been a big change over there in the past few months. The moderators used to be pretty hands off, just doing a moderator’s job of removing spam and personal attacks, attending to forum tech glitches reported, keeping the forum running smoothly.

Recently they have clearly been tasked to counter bad PR by telling every host who reports being suspended, having 5 months of missing payments, or has any other issue that involves Airbnb’s unfair treatment of hosts, “XX, I’m so sorry to hear you haven’t been paid, that must be so frustrating. I’ve pinged this over to the team and you should be getting a response soon.”

As if the issues are individual rather than systemic.

The mods there actually used to sound like humans, now they sound like the clueless CS reps. The difference is that the CS reps actually are clueless- the mods are strategically playing dumb.

Their responses to the thread about the updates are so syncophantic and pointless, continuing to post links to the same articles hosts are saying do not answer their questions at all.

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are you a shill being paid to spin?

It MIGHT be corrected but at the same time - Guest may not give a sh… about that view since every other listing on that location will have same view and prefer pool. See - look at it from this view point. You might actually be wrong.

Anecdotical evidence does not matter, what matters is who pays the money and money comes from guests. Aa a hosts we are sellers on highly competitive and overcrowded and oversaturated market. Surely we sometimes get blinded by our own “expertise” of where our listing should be but then again - it’s clients who dictate the rules.

Then they filter for the pool as an amenity.
Oh, wait! I had to delete it because the computer algorithm won’t let me have “amazing view” if I have a pool. :rage:

@Giorgi - the discussion isn’t about amenities. It’s about how our outstanding features are categorized.

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Ive just checked our listing and it has

PARK FOR FREE …

what the hell is that all about? we are a detached house with a large drive … we offer our home for those attending weddings at a wedding venue about 500 yards away and only accept 5 or 6 bookings per year (to keep under the UK threshold for paying tax - we declare it on our tax returns) - we would quickly fall into the 40% tax bracket if we did more!

but to suggest that parking for free is a major attraction for guests is just ludicrous.

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Activity = Productivity in the option of some people. I think activity for the sake of activity is not meaningful

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Huh. I simply got listed under Iconic Cities (bummed how we missed out on Design listing). Who would ever search under Iconic Cities? and how could you cross-search San Francisco and Iconic Cities, in the same way that you could cross-search France and Vineyards. So it’s useless to me. The free professional photography came in handy though.