Fellow Hosts: I have two separate units in the same building. Oddly enough, one of the units consistently has 6-10 times the number of views that the other unit has (i.e. one has views in the hundreds and the other in the thousands). I think that the only main difference between the two units is the property type. I have asked Airbnb to eliminate the property types and I finally was able to get the “beaches” eliminated since I’m not within the immediate beach area. Can I ask Airbnb to use the same property type as the unit that gets more views? Your input is much appreciated. Thank you.
What you are referring to are the categories, rather than the property type. The categories are just found in your listing editor under “Property Type”, but the actual property type is something hosts set themselves-i.e. entire home, apartment, room, etc.
As far as I’m aware, the categories your listing is placed in can only be changed by asking Airbnb to do so. You might confuse them if you refer to property type rather than categories.
I am in 4 categories and one of them really shouldn’t be there, but I just don’t feel it’s worth my time to try to get them to eliminate it.
It’s the National Park category and I was like “What?, there’s no national park around here.”
But then I realized that the Marietta Islands, are a national park. However, Airbnb’s national park wording is “Within an hour’s drive”. You definitely can’t drive to those islands- it’s a boat trip. Too bad Airbnb can’t think outside the box or program their bots to read a map.
@muddy actually, it says “property type” in my listings. Do you think that the property type is the reason why one of my properties gets more views the other?
I’m sorry, I don’t know what you mean. Yes, the property type is on the listing. Both your property types are the same- Entire place, Apartment.
The categories don’t appear on your listing itself, at least they don’t on mine. Guests just click on a category they are interested in on the main page and if you are in that category, they will see your listing.
What doesn’t make sense is if both your listings are apartments in the same building, they should both be in exactly the same categories. That’s what you need to ask Airbnb about.
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You should contact Airbnb. My place was listed as lakefront and it’s not. I sent them a message and a few days later I noticed it had been changed. The host doesn’t have the ability to classify the property so it has to be done through their customer service reps.
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And mine was listed as cabin in the woods when it is a Victorian brick terrace in the centre of town!
Did the message, took 2 weeks to change and now I note it is country side 
@muddy I have certainly contacted Airbnb months ago to explain that the two units are in the same building, and yet one of them gets hundreds of views and the other thousands of views. Very odd.
Airbnb doesn’t care about one of your listings getting far more views than the other. That isn’t what you should waste your time talking to them about. The main point is that both your listings, being apartments in the same building, with, I assume, similar amenities and decor, should have exactly the same categories attached to them.
But of course, talking to Airbnb is sometimes like talking to a brick wall.
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@Ritz3 naturally, I have contacted Airbnb and asked them to change, which they did by eliminating a reference to the beach. I was afraid a guest would cancel the stay once the guest found out there is no beach within walking distance. However, now that I think of it, I think the property type is identified by guests’ reviews and key words that the guests have used. However, I still don’t understand why one apartment gets hundreds of views and the other apartment gets thousands of views…
I don’t know why you keep referring to the categories as “property type”. The property type is Entire home, Apartment.
Just because the categories appear under Property Type in your listing editor doesn’t mean the categories are the same thing as “property type”. That’s just where a host can find what categories they are in. I’m not sure what all goes into the algorithm of categories- I do recall reading that it does take key words from reviews, so you are correct about that. It also relies heavily on your listing photos. But one of the categories my listing is in is “National Park”, and none of my photos, and none of my reviews mention National Park. So the AI bot must also use maps.
It does seem odd that one apartment would get so many more views than the other, but it’s hard to know why that would be. Do they both for the same number of guests? is there anything different between the two of them aside from having different categories listed.
Why don’t you message Airbnb, listing the categories that are correct for your listings and tell them that the categories should be exactly the same for both listings?
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@muddy
Unit with most views: only allows up to two guests, no terrace, no view
Unit with less views: allows up to three guests, terrace with water view
I have not pushed the issue about making the two units identical in “property type” because things can go south if Airbnb chooses to change things that will detrimentally impact the unit with most views.
Okay, well the units aren’t the same. It would seem to me the one with the terrace and water view would be more popular. Is it more expensive? If so,that could be the difference, even though it holds more people and has the terrace.
You still do not understand, though, and it seems I just can’t explain it to you, that it isn’t the property type that needs to be changed- both your properties are correctly listed as to property type.
It is the categories that are not correct.
Categories are not property type!
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Maybe it’s the amount of guests. The one with more views allows two guests so most folks looking are couples. The unit for three guests doesn’t work for most families that may have two or more children. I would change that unit to two guests on a trial basis to see if you notice a difference. Perhaps it’s best to cater to just couples for both units.
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I have the same issue! Mine is a large historic brick house in a small town (32k pop), 4 blocks from the main street in town, overlooking the town. AirBnB has it in the “Countryside” category. The title for the listing (that I wrote) is “Historic Dasher House—urban oasis near downtown”
They still haven’t corrected that?
I’d be interested to know what percentage of guests even use those categories to filter for properties.
I’m sure pretty much everyone who books a stay in my Mexican touristy beach town, or any other beach town knows where they want to go and knows it’s at the beach. I can’t imagine any of them start out by clicking on the “Beach” category.
Out of curiosity I checked our category and saw this for both of our listings:
We’re superhosts and Guest Favorites (top 5% and 10%) with regular bookings since 3 years. 
How important are the categories?
They are now pushing experiences staying at an Airbnb, which is why listings are being categorised. I asked it my 150 year old properties could be listed under “Historic” and was informed that that category isn’t available in Australia……
…….who decides this BS?
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I agree and I always imagine that people search the same way I do. (Not necessarily the case, I know, but some will).
I know which town / village / city I want to stay in and I search for listings in that area and as long as they are a) available for my dates and b) suitable for a couple, that’s all I care about.
I then look at most of the listings in that area that are within my price range - a quick look at first. I save promising ones to a wishlist. That done, I then select from that list this time reading reviews and looking in more detail.
Guests I’ve discussed this with seem to search in the same (or similar) way. Very few guests, including me, are particularly concerned about superhost status, category, guest favorite or even the number of stars (unless the star rating is really bad).
I think that we really have to assume that the mysterious species, the ‘guest’ searches in the same way we do. 
Just to add: I cannot also imagine anyone decides on their stay based on the ‘cleaning fee’ info…
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