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AI works just fine for trip planning. I use it to scrape Airbnb apartments descriptions and reviews. Common problems such cockroaches or slow internet, are not

by throw098320923 2y ago

AI works just fine for trip planning. I use it to scrape Airbnb apartments descriptions and reviews. Common problems such cockroaches or slow internet, are not usually mentioned directly, but with indirect special wording, and LLM can find those very well. Also scraping newest social posts and Tiktok videos is great way to find cool stuff.

rainonmoon 2y ago
This is very interesting, can you share a bit more about your methodology/setup?
- throw098320923 2y ago
  Android app, USB dongle with HDMI capture card. Screenshot goes to OCR and LLM. There is a virtual USB HID mouse build on Arduino that clicks on links.
  - nycdatasci 2y ago
    For more on this setup, see “Web Scraping Fundamentals” by Rube Goldberg.
  - eudhxhdhsb32 2y ago
    Wouldn't it be easier to just interact directly with their web interface through an automated browser?
    - throw098320923 2y ago
      I prefer to scrape their Android app.
    - stogot 2y ago
      I tried this on another site and got blocked. You need to be aware of how bot detection works
suddenlybananas 2y ago
I find it hard to see the advantage of scraping reviews versus just looking at the actual score.
- throw098320923 2y ago
  Score is rigged, description does not match reality, negative reviews are deleted. AI is perfect to answer questions like: - is there a big table on pictures (proper workspace) - is there a direct sea view - any mentions of drain issues...
  - CharlieDigital 2y ago
    Only if you know what to ask. You'll miss all the things you didn't ask about -- good and bad.
- foldr 2y ago
  I find that the only thing that works with Airnbnb is just to read all the reviews after excluding anything that isn't close to a 5.0 rating. Some kinds of negative comments in reviews can safely be ignored (e.g. the people who rented an apartment in the middle of downtown and were surprised that it's noisy), but almost any substantial negative comment in any review should be a red flag, no matter how many positive reviews there are.
  - troupo 2y ago
    for both Booking and AirBnB make sure to read recent reviews. Booking especially likes to default to "relevant" reviews (which are always glowing reviews from five years ago)
greatgib 2y ago
In my opinion, the issue when using Airbnb is not really to find the good one despite rigged scores, but more that there is usually no interesting offer at the good moment for interesting locations. Reasonable ok ones are really expensive, overly expensive compared to going to a hotel, and affordable ones are all really crappy and so overly over expensive for their value.

rainonmoon 2y ago

This is very interesting, can you share a bit more about your methodology/setup?

throw098320923 2y ago
Android app, USB dongle with HDMI capture card. Screenshot goes to OCR and LLM. There is a virtual USB HID mouse build on Arduino that clicks on links.
- nycdatasci 2y ago
  For more on this setup, see “Web Scraping Fundamentals” by Rube Goldberg.
- eudhxhdhsb32 2y ago
  Wouldn't it be easier to just interact directly with their web interface through an automated browser?
  - throw098320923 2y ago
    I prefer to scrape their Android app.
  - stogot 2y ago
    I tried this on another site and got blocked. You need to be aware of how bot detection works

suddenlybananas 2y ago

I find it hard to see the advantage of scraping reviews versus just looking at the actual score.

throw098320923 2y ago
Score is rigged, description does not match reality, negative reviews are deleted. AI is perfect to answer questions like: - is there a big table on pictures (proper workspace) - is there a direct sea view - any mentions of drain issues...
- CharlieDigital 2y ago
  Only if you know what to ask. You'll miss all the things you didn't ask about -- good and bad.
foldr 2y ago
I find that the only thing that works with Airnbnb is just to read all the reviews after excluding anything that isn't close to a 5.0 rating. Some kinds of negative comments in reviews can safely be ignored (e.g. the people who rented an apartment in the middle of downtown and were surprised that it's noisy), but almost any substantial negative comment in any review should be a red flag, no matter how many positive reviews there are.
- troupo 2y ago
  for both Booking and AirBnB make sure to read recent reviews. Booking especially likes to default to "relevant" reviews (which are always glowing reviews from five years ago)

greatgib 2y ago

In my opinion, the issue when using Airbnb is not really to find the good one despite rigged scores, but more that there is usually no interesting offer at the good moment for interesting locations. Reasonable ok ones are really expensive, overly expensive compared to going to a hotel, and affordable ones are all really crappy and so overly over expensive for their value.