In Case You Missed It: 3 product updates to catch up on

You’ve told us that we need to do a better job of keeping you in the loop about the changes we’re making to features, tools, and policies that impact your hosting experience. We agree! Check out our new In Case You Missed It series, a regular update that helps hosts like you better understand the improvements that our product and engineering teams are making at Airbnb. This includes changes to the host and guest experience because we know both impact your hosting business. Read on to see what our teams have been working on this month.

You might have noticed that we’re testing a new view of ratings in place of the star-based system that guests currently rely on. Guests will now see your overall rating measured by a number with two decimal places (for example, 3.82 or 4.79). This new view doesn’t affect your rating or the overall rating system at all—we’re just updating how your rating appears to guests.

Why the change? Our research showed it was difficult for guests to tell the difference between listings rated with stars. For example, we found that 75% of listings fell between 4.6 and 5 stars. With a star rating that rounded to the nearest half point, guests saw all of those listings as having either 4.5 or 5 stars, which they felt was too vague and left them wanting more details before booking. With our new numeric rating view, guests now have a more accurate way to compare listings—which gives them more confidence to click that “book” button!

Last year, we launched the Work and Family Collections, groups of listings to attract business travelers and families. To meet travelers’ needs, we asked you to include specific amenities, like self check-in and a laptop-friendly workspace for business travelers, and a TV and kitchen for families. Many of you have since told us that you don’t understand or agree with some of the eligibility criteria for being featured in these collections.

We heard you, and instead of asking you to add amenities that enable you to “join” the collections, we’re now relying on ratings by vetted business travelers to let us know which listings are a good fit. We’re then surfacing top-rated listings based on that feedback. For example, guests can now search for a place to stay when traveling for business by selecting the “Work trip” toggle—results display places with high ratings from other business travelers who were searching for similar criteria. We’re still thinking about how we can highlight the best listings for families, so stay tuned.

The bottom line: Less work for you and no more subjective amenity checklists, but our smarter algorithms will make sure your listing is still getting in front of the right types of guests for your space.

We’re always working to make your dashboard a place that can help you manage your hosting business, coordinate and communicate with your guests, and grow as a host.

Based on your recent feedback, we’re refreshing your dashboard with four key updates:

• Easier-to-find info: Important information, like guest inquiries and requests, will now always appear at the top of your dashboard, so it’s simpler and quicker to find.
• Eye-catching updates: The latest on Airbnb’s new tools and updates will now always be displayed up top to help you stay in the know.
• Clear performance data: A snapshot of your performance (overall rating, reviews, response rate, earnings, and more) is now bigger and more obvious.
• More relevant tips: You now have the option to dismiss the tips we share if they’re not helpful to you. You’ll then only find our tips that matter to you.

These changes are rolling out gradually so not all hosts will be able to access them right away, and hosts using professional hosting tools won't get these dashboard updates at all. We hope these improvements continue to help make hosting easier for you. Happy hosting!

Information contained in this article may have changed since publication.