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The problem with the Airbnb review system is that very few people are willing to leave a candid review because (1) it seems like bad manners when renting from a

The problem with the Airbnb review system is that very few people are willing to leave a candid review because (1) it seems like bad manners when renting from an individual (as opposed to a large corporation like Hilton), (2) future Airbnb hosts can see your reviews and they might decide that you're a troublemaker and not want to rent to you, (3) the host might leave a response to your review that makes you look petty, or demanding, or exaggerating, or just silly. So what you get is a hundred 5-star reviews where "everything was lovely" and one 5-star review that sheepishly says that "everything was lovely though it was a little noisy at night but I brought my earplugs so it was no problem after all". But as an upside, I think it's much harder to game or manipulate Airbnb reviews than Amazon reviews. It's just that hardly anyone will list all the negatives; every property has some negatives even if you loved your stay. Many negatives won't even matter to other renters: some might care about low ceilings, cluttered cabinets, low water pressure, or too few electrical outlets. Others couldn't care less. But at least you could make selections based on things that would matter to you. I don't know what solution to propose. Maybe if Airbnb had unannounced professional reviewers stay a night at every property and do very comprehensive critiques? (I know, this would be costly.)

nebulousthree 3y ago
The system is a little more nuanced than that because there is a "private review" portion of reviewing where you send a final message to the host specifically about the things they can improve about the space they are renting. The review isn't posted publicly. The host can also send an equivalent review to the guest. This presents a more honor-based opportunity to leave a review that doesn't risk reputation but still gets a message across. It's honor-based because the host and guests have little pressure to improve from the reviews they receive privately. You don't always need to publicly humiliate people if you have an experience that isn't 100% perfect.
- mysterypie 3y ago
  > there is a "private review" portion What can a host do about low ceilings for example? It's something that matters greatly to tall people or people that feel claustrophobic. But this is the kind of thing that practically no one will mention in a public review and it might not be discerned from the photos. It's not about humilating anybody. It's candidly stating the positives and negatives so you can make better choices.
  - wiredfool 3y ago
    AirBNBs, in France at least, invariably have a place where I hit my head.
blitzar 3y ago
Airbnb frequently / often seems to remove negative reviews; it has happened to me before - it has happened to others I know even for positive reviews with a caveat in them. https://web.archive.org/web/20210526111150/https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-05-26/airbnb-took-down-my-negative-review-why https://web.archive.org/web/20210526111150/https://www.bloom...
- dropofwill 3y ago
  Yep, I’ve had multiple reviews removed for being ‘off-topic’. No recourse there, I tried debating airbnb support for a while on it, but eventually gave up.
  - lostmsu 3y ago
    How did you notice the removal?
golergka 3y ago
> Maybe if Airbnb had unannounced professional reviewers stay a night at every property and do very comprehensive critiques? Isn't that what they do with Airbnb plus and lux options?
martindbp 3y ago
Why not show reviews anonymously and time-delayed?
- fatfingerd 3y ago
  Yes, some review systems wait until there are enough reviewers to try to keep things anonymous.. I think the problem with AirBNB is that their entire site collectively functions as one hotel chain that may collect a higher percentage of the take to corporate than a normal chain does. They are not actually more interested than Sheraton in having a lot of truth on their site causing listings to go unrented or not collect what they would have per night.
  - martindbp 3y ago
    Fair enough, that is one misaligned incentive, but also if bad reviews don't pressure hosts to do better, people will just book a hotel instead where the quality is more consistent. It does seems like many businesses don't/can't optimize for anything other than the first-order effects.
bilsbie 3y ago
This is huge problem. I just stayed at a “lakefront” cabin and I had to drive to the lake. How did 30 reviews not mention that.
JohnFen 3y ago
> But as an upside, I think it's much harder to game or manipulate Airbnb reviews than Amazon reviews But if what you say is right, nobody has to game them. The reviews are already worthless.
flashgordon 3y ago
Times like this I wish there was an airbnbreviews.com site (yelp?). Ofcourse DMCA and frivolous defamation suits will kill this before arrival! Plus how do you prevent malicious contnet (like so-and-so lives here and here are the plans).
Madmallard 3y ago
reviews should be anonymous and that’s all there is to it

nebulousthree 3y ago

The system is a little more nuanced than that because there is a "private review" portion of reviewing where you send a final message to the host specifically about the things they can improve about the space they are renting. The review isn't posted publicly. The host can also send an equivalent review to the guest. This presents a more honor-based opportunity to leave a review that doesn't risk reputation but still gets a message across. It's honor-based because the host and guests have little pressure to improve from the reviews they receive privately. You don't always need to publicly humiliate people if you have an experience that isn't 100% perfect.

mysterypie 3y ago
> there is a "private review" portion What can a host do about low ceilings for example? It's something that matters greatly to tall people or people that feel claustrophobic. But this is the kind of thing that practically no one will mention in a public review and it might not be discerned from the photos. It's not about humilating anybody. It's candidly stating the positives and negatives so you can make better choices.
- wiredfool 3y ago
  AirBNBs, in France at least, invariably have a place where I hit my head.

blitzar 3y ago

Airbnb frequently / often seems to remove negative reviews; it has happened to me before - it has happened to others I know even for positive reviews with a caveat in them. https://web.archive.org/web/20210526111150/https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-05-26/airbnb-took-down-my-negative-review-why https://web.archive.org/web/20210526111150/https://www.bloom...

dropofwill 3y ago
Yep, I’ve had multiple reviews removed for being ‘off-topic’. No recourse there, I tried debating airbnb support for a while on it, but eventually gave up.
- lostmsu 3y ago
  How did you notice the removal?

golergka 3y ago

> Maybe if Airbnb had unannounced professional reviewers stay a night at every property and do very comprehensive critiques? Isn't that what they do with Airbnb plus and lux options?

martindbp 3y ago

Why not show reviews anonymously and time-delayed?

fatfingerd 3y ago
Yes, some review systems wait until there are enough reviewers to try to keep things anonymous.. I think the problem with AirBNB is that their entire site collectively functions as one hotel chain that may collect a higher percentage of the take to corporate than a normal chain does. They are not actually more interested than Sheraton in having a lot of truth on their site causing listings to go unrented or not collect what they would have per night.
- martindbp 3y ago
  Fair enough, that is one misaligned incentive, but also if bad reviews don't pressure hosts to do better, people will just book a hotel instead where the quality is more consistent. It does seems like many businesses don't/can't optimize for anything other than the first-order effects.

bilsbie 3y ago

This is huge problem. I just stayed at a “lakefront” cabin and I had to drive to the lake. How did 30 reviews not mention that.

JohnFen 3y ago

> But as an upside, I think it's much harder to game or manipulate Airbnb reviews than Amazon reviews But if what you say is right, nobody has to game them. The reviews are already worthless.

flashgordon 3y ago

Times like this I wish there was an airbnbreviews.com site (yelp?). Ofcourse DMCA and frivolous defamation suits will kill this before arrival! Plus how do you prevent malicious contnet (like so-and-so lives here and here are the plans).

Madmallard 3y ago

reviews should be anonymous and that’s all there is to it