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How Airbnb measures listing lifetime value

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Re: How Airbnb measures listing lifetime value

#81

Post by BrenBarn »

avidiax wrote: post #45
maxrmk wrote: post #6

I feel like this is missing a really important factor: how likely are guests to use airbnb again after staying at a listing? A listing could look great online and receive a lot of bookings (so high LTV), but ultimately drive users away from the platform. A certain ad platform I worked on cared a lot about this - offensive ads could get you to quit the site altogether. You might want to count every ad as positive for…

> A listing could look great online and receive a lot of bookings (so high LTV), but ultimately drive users away from the platform. I am precisely this kind of churned customer. I have personally booked maybe 3 AirBNB stays, and stayed with family in them on other occasions. The units I pick are always well-reviewed. But in the cities I've stayed in (LA, SF, Rome), the price is really no cheaper than a hotel, and the…

> If I were going to disrupt AirBNB, I'd offer hosts a better percentage with the requirement that the experience is standardized and high-quality.

I've noticed more and more apartment rentals appearing on booking.com. I haven't used any of them but I wonder what the tradeoffs are. My impression is overall booking.com is more guest-friendly as their userbase has grown from people staying at hotels, who expect stuff like being able to cancel and complain about cleanliness.

Re: How Airbnb measures listing lifetime value

#82

Post by BrenBarn »

maxrmk wrote: post #6

I feel like this is missing a really important factor: how likely are guests to use airbnb again after staying at a listing? A listing could look great online and receive a lot of bookings (so high LTV), but ultimately drive users away from the platform. A certain ad platform I worked on cared a lot about this - offensive ads could get you to quit the site altogether. You might want to count every ad as positive for…

An interesting distinction is between staying at a listing vs booking it. I booked an AirBnB in Texas for the eclipse last year. The booking was made months ahead of time. Minutes before I left for the airport, the host canceled with no communication and didn't respond to messages. I got a refund, but I wasn't able to leave a review because the stay hadn't begun.

I had only used AirBnB once or twice before and was leery of it, but after this experience I'm unlikely to use it again. The inability to review the host in such a situation is pretty much a dealbreaker. (Note that I want to review the host --- not the property, but the person who decided to cancel the booking at the last minute.)

Re: How Airbnb measures listing lifetime value

#83

Post by physicsguy »

soared wrote: post #77
gruez wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>And you feel pressured not to leave a negative review, as that would negatively impact your ability to book in the future, since the hosts (I have heard) can see your average review score. Source? I did a quick search and couldn't find anything to confirm this. Various airbnb screenshots geared towards hosts also don't show anything about guests' average rating.[1] [1] https://www.airbnb.co.za/resources/hosting-home…

Different than OP, but I’ve left 2 negative reviews that were purely factual - they were simply just deleted.

I left a negative review about mould all over the property and got an abusive message from the host!

Re: How Airbnb measures listing lifetime value

#84

Post by j4coh »

maxrmk wrote: post #6

I feel like this is missing a really important factor: how likely are guests to use airbnb again after staying at a listing? A listing could look great online and receive a lot of bookings (so high LTV), but ultimately drive users away from the platform. A certain ad platform I worked on cared a lot about this - offensive ads could get you to quit the site altogether. You might want to count every ad as positive for…

AirBnBs are as expensive as hotels now, except you have to clean it yourself and deal with an often insane host and their random rules. I am back to hotels and resorts all the time now, you at least know what you’re going to get.

Re: How Airbnb measures listing lifetime value

#85

Post by YouWhy »

csomar wrote: post #75
listenallyall wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My impression has been that AirBNB's customers are actually the hosts Yes for sure. Avg # of transactions per host dwarfs avg # of transactions per guest. Same with revenue. A frustrated host who pulls a unit (often, multiple units) off the platform is much more detrimental than an individual customer leaving the platform.

This could also be played the other way around if the customers are completely churned. (ie: airbnb will lose a full unit with XX bookings but can also loose XX customers multiplied by XX Life Time Value).

The duty cycle (number of business days per year) is less than 1% for typical guests but around 100% for a sizeable chuck of hosts, and in the 20-80% range for a lot of the rest.

Hence I expect the host LTV to be a couple of orders of magnitude greater to that of guests.

Re: How Airbnb measures listing lifetime value

#86

Post by Winsaucerer »

BrenBarn wrote: post #82
maxrmk wrote: post #6

I feel like this is missing a really important factor: how likely are guests to use airbnb again after staying at a listing? A listing could look great online and receive a lot of bookings (so high LTV), but ultimately drive users away from the platform. A certain ad platform I worked on cared a lot about this - offensive ads could get you to quit the site altogether. You might want to count every ad as positive for…

An interesting distinction is between staying at a listing vs booking it. I booked an AirBnB in Texas for the eclipse last year. The booking was made months ahead of time. Minutes before I left for the airport, the host canceled with no communication and didn't respond to messages. I got a refund, but I wasn't able to leave a review because the stay hadn't begun. I had only used AirBnB once or twice before and was le…

We had an experience not as bad as that, but cancelling on us a week or two before we were due to fly (and had booked everything else). They wanted US to cancel, but I saw no advantage to us in doing so. I assume it was to maintain some reputation on their side. We declined.

Re: How Airbnb measures listing lifetime value

#87

Post by renewiltord »

avidiax wrote: post #45
maxrmk wrote: post #6

I feel like this is missing a really important factor: how likely are guests to use airbnb again after staying at a listing? A listing could look great online and receive a lot of bookings (so high LTV), but ultimately drive users away from the platform. A certain ad platform I worked on cared a lot about this - offensive ads could get you to quit the site altogether. You might want to count every ad as positive for…

> A listing could look great online and receive a lot of bookings (so high LTV), but ultimately drive users away from the platform. I am precisely this kind of churned customer. I have personally booked maybe 3 AirBNB stays, and stayed with family in them on other occasions. The units I pick are always well-reviewed. But in the cities I've stayed in (LA, SF, Rome), the price is really no cheaper than a hotel, and the…

Many people try this. I think Sonder was most recent but they pivoted. Blueground will do corporate apartments short term. I think these aren’t effective against Airbnb customers tbh. It’s not a perfect platform but the others are not as good because availability is key.

Re: How Airbnb measures listing lifetime value

#88

Post by ghaff »

thefounder wrote: post #54
secabeen wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If I were going to disrupt AirBNB, I'd offer hosts a better percentage with the requirement that the experience is standardized and high-quality. This is an interesting idea, but it puts the quality level way above what I want to pay for. Hotels are anti-septic and cold. I like staying in an apartment that feels like someone actually lives there. I don't mind a few dust-bunnies under the couch, nor a little dirt be…

I think that's more common in other parts of the world. (i.e. getting places that people actually live in).In Europe most/all of the apartments I've stayed in are basically business apartments (more or less). You don't feel that someone lives there because nobody actually lives there. It's like a long term rental apartment that in best case scenario someone is using as a savings/investment vehicle but on short term.…

It's not so much for a Hilton-like feeling. In most cases, it's because I'm looking for a predictable place to stay with, often, a 24 hour desk. I just don't care about the room most of the time so long as it's clean and comfortable. I'm generally not traveling for the purpose of staying in a hotel room. I do stay in more traditional B&Bs/inns though very rarely somewhere that's solely an Airbnb.

Re: How Airbnb measures listing lifetime value

#89

Post by ghaff »

seany wrote: post #64
secabeen wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A large fraction of families traveling value the kitchens (leftovers, kid breakfasts, not having to eat restaurant food for every meal, when all the kids want is Kraft Mac&Cheese, etc.) and the common living spaces (kids go to bed early). I hate traveling with my family and being stuck in a hotel room (or two!). When I'm traveling alone or with just adults, I can be out all day and only use my hotel room for sleeping…

This is the primary reason I use Airbnb and it's equivalents. My typical traveling party is 4 adults, 3 kids, and 1-2 dogs most of those people have a preference to cook rather than eat out. Accommodating that in a hotel is a disaster unless you get an ultra low price of a double suite or something.

That's really the sweet spot for Airbnb (and Vrbo). Very few conventional hotels accommodate large groups well. If you're just trying to save a few bucks as a couple or solo traveler I'm not sure it usually pencils out given other tradeoffs.

Re: How Airbnb measures listing lifetime value

#90

Post by 123pie123 »

philipwhiuk wrote: post #34
kreyenborgi wrote: post #7

Man I'm so sick of trying to find something on Airbnb only to discover by the time I order that the price has doubled. Airbnb these last years went from feeling fresh and adventurous to scammy and dubious

Worse is when your booking is confirmed but then cancelled a week before you go, at which point all the prices are much higher

It was sometime ago (2018), but my host cancelled with 3hours to go

I will never use AirBnB again

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