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Who's Confused - Lodging Newsletter January 31, 2024

By Wm, May
Published: 01/31/24 Topics: AirBnB, Booking.com, Channels, Expedia, Online Travel Agents (OTAs), VRBO.com Comments: 0

Five years ago, we last visited the question - how can I find my listing on all those giant vacation rental websites?
 
As usual, those websites continue to change at lightning speed.
  • Can there be anyone in the country who doesn’t use the internet?   
  • But who of us truly understands how the internet really works?
For two decades, our engineers have been working to keep our vacation rentals dominant on hundreds of websites. That is because advertising on websites continues to become more convoluted.
 
Invisible: Property owners love to see their listings on those giant websites and are needlessly worried when their property seems to be missing.
 
But there is good news - your listing is not gone, it has just been intentionally hidden from you by those same websites you might presume are there to help you gain bookings.
 
The reason - how can those massive websites show millions of listings on itsy bitsy screens?
 
The answer is they cannot. SO they use algorithms, filters, variables and even Artificial Intelligence (AI) to guesstimate, predict, estimate and display listings in some order (and on maps) to generate the highest possible revenue for themselves - not for property owners.
 
Try this exercise - open up a website and look at the map. There you may see maybe 20 "push pins", one per home. Then zoom in to still show 20 pins while some of the original pins fall off the side of the map. Zoom in again and you’ll still see 20 but not the same properties as on the first screen.
 
The websites cannot display all the push pins or the entire map would be covered. So which units are displayed? Those that the software guesses are most likely to sell, but not necessarily yours.
 
This month’s newsletter summarizes more about searching, how we work within that maze and what owners can also do to improve visibility.

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Lodging Newsletter
by Wm. May, for January 31, 2024
 
Visibility of VRBO, AirBnB, Booking.com, Expedia and other vacation rental websites are affected by three main categories - (1) Technical (2) Editorial (3) Product.
 
Technical - Advertisers have no control over the hundreds of variables that channels use to rank listings, nor their algorithm or AI. The websites are very vague in describing their systems and they change it frequently for fear someone will figure it out.
 
For example: In general the website looks for location (country, state, city, neighborhood and even resort), quality, popularity and price. (They admit they want listings to be cheap.) How about waterfront, ski-in and close to restaurants? Good reviews and preferred status help, but they look for words like "love", "perfect", "charming" in reviews guests leave.
 
Homes fitting popular filters do better, such as having hot tubs, fire pits, fireplaces, gourmet kitchens, parking, dog-friendly, child-friendly. AI looks at how often the home is saved to "wish lists", but drops priority if those guests never book.
 
Channels love dynamic pricing that ebbs and flows with the market, presuming you are trying to be less than competitors. (Not good for you, but good for the channel.) They like it when guests stay longer, making you more visible for new bookings.
 
Editorial - Overtime, we have proven that certain techniques help make a home more visible. Here are some we feature: High quality photos and lots of them. Well written descriptions with valid content. Rapid response to guest inquiries and questions (during the stay).
 
We list every possible amenity and remove any if they are no longer there. We include tags in descriptions, such as mountain, riverfront, close to pool. We maintain high hospitality-grade cleaning.
 
AI loves "instant booking", which we always use and we do then talk with guests to assess their qualifications. Conversely, the algorithm hates cancellations (even if for valid reasons). We use catchy headlines (some channels disallow headlines).
 
Homes get points for rapid customer service and professional messaging. (We do all of that.) And we include specifics of the location and benefits. We don’t presume the guest has been to the area previously.
 
Product - While admitting that the channels care only about themselves, logic does say there are things owners can do to improve their odds of being seen and of being booked.
 
Adding bedrooms, beds or occupancy are sure winners. (Remember families of 4 often rent a home that sleeps 8 with 4 beds.) More bathrooms means more bookings. Upgrade amenities regularly - linens, towels, pots and pans, etc. Nothing lasts forever.
 
SUMMARY: Owners can help make their homes more popular and we as managers are using every tool to boost visibility. In the end, the house itself is part of a very large system in which an unknown algorithm decides how visible a property is and when.

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Author: Wm, May, Vortex VIP
Blog #: 0980 – 01/31/24

Sponsor: Vortex VIP – – VortexVIP.com

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