Did my listing become less visible because I declined may guests?

[Tewodaj0]

Hi, I used to receive many guest requests but I have had to decline many times given my intense travel schedule, and at other times already visiting guests (non-airbnb). My travel schedule is much easier now and I won't have family staying over for the forseeable future, and thus I am now ready to actively host airbnb. But now I don't get any requests anymore.

Nothing else changed (reviews I have continue to be all very positive; I continue to respond at a very fast rate).

Does the airbnb system automatically make hosts less visible to potential guests searching the airbnb site, if the hosts have had a high rate of declining? If so, what I can I do to become more visible? I can't accept hosts if I don't get any requests, and I haven't received a request in ages.

Thanks in advance for any reply.

Tewodaj

[Sandra126]

Yes, that is correct. You will have slipped down in search rankings, sorry. When you go away again, block the calendar, snooze your listing, anything not to have to do repeated declines and no-answers!

[James1]

Yes, a pattern of frequent declines will lower your search ranking. Pre approve everyone and if you are not going to be there on specific dates block or snooze your listing.

[David126]

Has anybody stayed, I see no reviews?

[Deborah1]

When I visit a friend of mine, I book through airbnb. She gives me the special rate of $10. It shows up as an accepted booking and we both leave reviews for each other. Don't know if it is completely kosher but it helps her and she is a great host!

[Sandra126]

Not really kosher, no. I saw the reviews of two rather bad guests who had left girlfriend/boyfriend reviews for each other to make up for the horrid reviews they just received. It works right up to the point when someone goes into the guests/hosts and backtracks a little.

[Momi0]

@Deborah1   Might I suggest that you write her a PERSONAL reference instead?  All she has to do is log into her account, go to the dashboard of her account, click on REFERENCES, and type in your email address, and Airbnb will send you an email allowing you to write her a great reference as a friend which will  be posted on her account along side the reviews she has earned from guests travelling on the Airbnb platform.  I am so incredibly grateful for the 3 clients of mine (Not Airbnb) who wrote professional and personal references about how well they know me, how long they've known me, and why they continue to now call me their friend.  Its a great idea for hosts to do this.  Not sure why more don't use this option.  

@Sandra126  right?  (can't wait to host YOU!)

Aloha, 

Momi

Superhost

#LiveAloha

[Chris786]

I feel your pain!  Similar situation. I've declined the last three. I have a five night minimum marked clearly. So people mark their requests for 5 nights but ask in their message if they can just stay one or two nights. 😞  How can I decline without hurting my visibility???

[David126]

@Chris786

If it was an enquiry I would just pre approve and  re mention the minimum.

If it was a booking request it would have to be for 5 days so you can accept.

[Matthew285]

@Chris786, if what they sent was just an Inquiry, you don't have pre-approve or decline it.

Just respond via an AirBnB message and you have fulfilled your obligation as a host.

If the guest sent an actual Booking Request, then you do have to approve or decline,

but for Inquiries a message is considered an completely adequate response.

Yes, the Notification hangs around asking you to respond, but if you already sent a message, you can ignore that.

[Chris786]

Still wonder if since I DID decline (even though I now realize I didn't need to). Bummer.

[Matthew285]

@Chris786, AirBnB does say that declining requests can negatively affect your ranking, but that it would take a number of declines to do so.

Let me find the language they used...

"Because being rejected for a booking is one of the worst experiences for our guests, we do factor this into Search Ranking. However, we understand that sometimes you legitimately need to decline a traveler, and we take that into account. We’re most interested in how you compare to other hosts, rather than just counting your rejections.

A single rejection will not significantly hurt your ranking, but over time, rejecting more guests than other hosts in your market will lower your ranking."