We were in a metro on the way to the Nice station to catch a train to Paris when we got a call from Airbnb stating that the host had cancelled our booking. Some unexplained last-minute plumbing repairs. Anyway, so now we were on the way to Paris with no place to live. Thankfully we had around 8 hours to find new accommodation.
Thus began our search for another Airbnb – in a moving train with patchy internet, our power banks being put to full use. There was a lot of back and forth between the chat section and the property listings. Airbnb policy mandates that they only send links to available listings and drop a referral message to the owner after we have reserved.
While searching, I tried to recall the filters I had applied while booking the cancelled property so that we could at least get the same location and amenities. My first instinct though was to go to the original booking’s details page expecting to see similar listings there. To my surprise, I didn’t find any.
Fast forward a few months, and we are looking at Airbnbs in Mahabaleshwar. I was very happy because this time I had bookmarked a really good one I had been dying to stay at.
As my luck would have it, it wasn’t available on our dates. Heartbroken, I scrolled down to see if something similar was available. But again, there were no similar listings on the property details page.
Was I the only one looking for similar property suggestions? 🤔
How do we search?
There are 2 ways to search on Airbnb,
1. Apply filters and use the map to visually locate. We intentionally select all these filters – budget, property type, amenities, no. of rooms, accessibility features, etc. There is also the map that adds the extra layer to focus on an area – is it near the station, or is it too close to the centre?
2. Thumbnails, which aid our exploratory mode.
We are going to focus on point 1.
What determines the search results?
On Airbnb, it is up to the host to make their listing competitive. The host controls,
- The number of details
- The description
- Unique amenities
- Quality of photos
- Pricing, Seasonal discounts
- Communication with potential guests
All the above influence how high the property appears in the search results.
These are variables and are subjective to how they appeal to the guest.
Additionally, the results also depend on our previous bookings – the general budget, amenities and location type that we usually go for.
What happens after the search results?
All the results follow the filters and so my main requirements are met by them. I click on a listing which looks most attractive. If the property falls short somewhere, I then go back to the results page and click on another.
What if there are suggestions on the property details page?
I scroll down on a property details page and spot something called ‘You may also like’ or ‘Similar Properties’ (hypothetically). I click on one to see more details. This flow takes me away from the results page. The suggestions, at some point, start moving away from one of the filters I had applied initially since that is how there will be new suggestions at every point. Result? I lose track of what I was looking for and abandon this altogether.
drumroll 🥁
Reasons why Airbnb may not be showing suggestions for similar properties on the property details page:
1. Preserve the initial intention – Airbnb wants you to remember what you were searching for first because we put in the time and effort while setting up the filters. We are forced to go back to the search results page.
2. Making the choice easier – Too many options will confuse us even more leading us to abandon the whole process.
3. Every property is unique, unlike hotel rooms which more or less appear the same. That’s why it’s not logical to group a few as suggestions.
4. The property listing appearing at the top of the results is a combination of many factors like photos, owner responsiveness, seasonal offers, etc. These factors are subjective and can change.
5. Airbnb tried doing this and found that it did not help, so removed it.
🤷🏻♀️
I know I have not found a conclusive reason here. These are some points that I think may have contributed? Maybe I have missed something out completely. But this is definitely something I wonder about whenever I use Airbnb.
Thank you Aditya Kolhatkar for sharing your views with me on this 🙂
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