URLs in Airbnb messaging

Sometimes it’s useful to direct guests to a service, like public transport for example, and it seems that sometimes a URL links to a website ok and other times a message appears along the lines of ‘link has been deleted or similar’.

Do we know if there is a protocol for including URLs in messages? I just messaged one of our guests who had asked about shuttle buses and the link seems to be working OK. This is the link that I included in a message: https://felan.com.au/downloads/airbnb/shuttle-bus_international.jpg

Not sure what makes that link acceptable to Air and others not.

I’m pretty sure that you can’t send links (other than links to Airbnb pages) until after a booking is confirmed. Before that, they are censored by Airbnb.

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Yes, but Airbnb url links will show up before bookings. I sometimes spell out a link into separate works and explain to the guest why and then leave off the .extension but tell them further in the sentence. I mostly use this for googling resources and locations.

That explains it. I have been trying to include URLs in my listing. OK thank you.

This is true. Sometimes I get someone who is bringing cats and even though we are dog friendly we can’t accommodate cats because of allergies. There is a nice and comparable listing in my neighborhood that does accept cats so I will send the guest the link to that listing. Also, I have some friends who are super family friendly with lots of amenities and I send a link to their listings when I get people asking about bringing kids even though we’re not kid-friendly. I’ve also sent links to one of my other listings for one reason or another, so Airbnb links only prior to booking. After booking, you can send anything.

Airbnb’s algorithms are quite indiscriminate. They block the county permit and state business license numbers in my listing as not-permitted telephone numbers.