Bill's Bountiful Blog

May I keep you posted on my thoughts, ideas, observations, and silliness?. Am I serious? Is it relevant?. Does anyone care? Probably not much.

But in today's age of everyone has something to say, why not me? And who can blame me for jumping into to the pool? For speaking up For laying it out?

"Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one." - Thomas Wiley, Journalist


Who's Confused - Lodging Newsletter January 31, 2024

By Wm, May
Published: 01/31/24 Topics: AirBnB, Booking.com, Channels, Expedia, Online Travel Agents (OTAs), VRBO.com Comments: 0

Five years ago, we last visited the question - how can I find my listing on all those giant vacation rental websites?
 
As usual, those websites continue to change at lightning speed.
  • Can there be anyone in the country who doesn't use the internet?   
  • But who of us truly understands how the internet really works?
For two decades, our engineers have been working to keep our vacation rentals dominant on hundreds of websites. That is because advertising on websites continues to become more convoluted.
 
INVISIBLE: Property owners love to see their listings on those giant websites and are needlessly worried when their property seems to be missing.
 
But there is good news - your listing is not gone, it has just been intentionally hidden from you by those same websites you might presume are there to help you gain bookings.
 
The reason - how can those massive websites show millions of listings on itsy bitsy screens?
 
The answer is they cannot. SO they use algorithms, filters, variables and even Artificial Intelligence (AI) to guesstimate, predict, estimate and display listings in some order (and on maps) to generate the highest possible revenue for themselves - not for property owners.
 
Try this exercise - open up a website and look at the map. There you may see maybe 20 "push pins", one per home. Then zoom in to still show 20 pins while some of the original pins fall off the side of the map. Zoom in again and you'll still see 20 but not the same properties as on the first screen.
 
The websites cannot display all the push pins or the entire map would be covered. So which units are displayed? Those that the software guesses are most likely to sell, but not necessarily yours.
 
This month's newsletter summarizes more about searching, how we work within that maze and what owners can also do to improve visibility.

- - - - - -

Lodging Newsletter
by Wm. May, for January 31, 2024
 
Visibility of VRBO, AirBnB, Booking.com, Expedia and other vacation rental websites are affected by three main categories - (1) Technical (2) Editorial (3) Product.
 
Technical - Advertisers have no control over the hundreds of variables that channels use to rank listings, nor their algorithm or AI. The websites are very vague in describing their systems and they change it frequently for fear someone will figure it out.
 
For example: In general the website looks for location (country, state, city, neighborhood and even resort), quality, popularity and price. (They admit they want listings to be cheap.) How about waterfront, ski-in and close to restaurants? Good reviews and preferred status help, but they look for words like "love", "perfect", "charming" in reviews guests leave.
 
Homes fitting popular filters do better, such as having hot tubs, fire pits, fireplaces, gourmet kitchens, parking, dog-friendly, child-friendly. AI looks at how often the home is saved to "wish lists", but drops priority if those guests never book.
 
Channels love dynamic pricing that ebbs and flows with the market, presuming you are trying to be less than competitors. (Not good for you, but good for the channel.) They like it when guests stay longer, making you more visible for new bookings.
 
Editorial - Overtime, we have proven that certain techniques help make a home more visible. Here are some we feature: High quality photos and lots of them. Well written descriptions with valid content. Rapid response to guest inquiries and questions (during the stay).
 
We list every possible amenity and remove any if they are no longer there. We include tags in descriptions, such as mountain, riverfront, close to pool. We maintain high hospitality-grade cleaning.
 
AI loves "instant booking", which we always use and we do then talk with guests to assess their qualifications. Conversely, the algorithm hates cancellations (even if for valid reasons). We use catchy headlines (some channels disallow headlines).
 
Homes get points for rapid customer service and professional messaging. (We do all of that.) And we include specifics of the location and benefits. We don’t presume the guest has been to the area previously.
 
Product - While admitting that the channels care only about themselves, logic does say there are things owners can do to improve their odds of being seen and of being booked.
 
Adding bedrooms, beds or occupancy are sure winners. (Remember families of 4 often rent a home that sleeps 8 with 4 beds.) More bathrooms means more bookings. Upgrade amenities regularly - linens, towels, pots and pans, etc. Nothing lasts forever.
 
SUMMARY: Owners can help make their homes more popular and we as managers are using every tool to boost visibility. In the end, the house itself is part of a very large system in which an unknown algorithm decides how visible a property is and when.

Read more

Author: Wm, May, Vortex VIP
Blog #: 0980 – 01/31/24

Sponsor: Vortex VIP – – VortexVIP.com

AirBnB Lists Anything Everywhere All at Once

By Ron Lee
Published: 02/25/23 Topics: Advertising, AirBnB, Booking.com, Expedia, Online Travel Agents (OTAs), TripAdvisor, Vacation Rental Association, Vacation Rentals, VRBO.com Comments: 0

AirBnB’s quest to make every home in the world into a "shared’ living space shows their appetite for growth and profitability even at the expense of those they serve.

AirBnB and others are really nothing more than an easily distributed list of classified ads. Albeit with the ability to print more quickly, include more information, display pretty pictures and allow consumers to instantly buy the product.

Because the Internet has simply remove the burden of mechanically compiling, editing and printing a media, like many Internet businesses in most industries, companies like AirBnB entice investors that they can "Scale" without limitation.

Other than governmental intervention, there really is no obstruction to listing every space, everywhere in the world all at once. (My apologies to the movie of similar name)

A close look at comments made by AirBnB’s immature CEO Brian Chesky reveal a fatal flaw in the company’s vision. As the economy has stalled and consumers are traveling less, which means a flattening or downturn in travel expenditures in total.

Some vacation home owners are squealing about dropping rental income which can be directly attributed to negative economic news. These investors are the ones who jumped on the AirBnB gravy train that was running fast and furious during Covid.

But now that demand is lower, what dose the CEO do? He runs a campaign to entice far more people to put their homes into rental. He foists grandiose projects about AirBnB’s income which misleads home owners into thinking they will follow in his footsteps.

It seems as if AirBnB will list any kind of "Lodging" in any kind of area and do so willingly. AirBnB’s argument must be that they have become so much the "Darling" of the lodging industry that they can attract enough new guests to fill every property.

Unfortunately that has never been the case. Smart lodging managers have always used all other possible media - such as VRBO, Expedia, Booking.com, TripAdvisor and many more. But even with heavy use of all possible advertising websites, supply can outstrip demand.

Chesky’s ploy will hurt existing AirBnB properties and short-change those he misleads into listing. But why should he care? The more inventory he gets the better for AirBnB, even if all the "Vendors" make less.

Read more

Author: Ron Lee – Volunteer, Vacation Rental Association
Blog #: 0948 – 02/25/23

Surprising Internet - Lodging Newsletter June 30th, 2019

By Wm, May
Published: 06/30/19 Topics: Lodging Newsletter, Online Travel Agents (OTAs), Search Engines (Google, Bing, Safari), Vacation Rentals, Vortex VIP Comments: 0

Could there possibly be anyone in the world who does not use the Internet? It has everywhere. Has become everything.
 
As prominent as the technology is in our lives, it is still surprising how little consumers know about the secret interactions deep inside the world wide web. Of course, we would not profess to be experts on all things Internet.
 
However, in our little corner of the web there are mysteries we like to share with clients, so they can have an idea of the world wide war that our engineers fight everyday on their behalf.
 
Ok, that rhetoric is a bit strong, but most owners would be surprised to know some of what we have learned about some unexplainable behavior. Such as these:
 
  • How come I can't see my property on the VRBO map?
  • My property shows not available tonight, but I know it's not booked.
  • Why is my property so far down the list on Airbnb?
  • How can a friend find my house on Booking.com?
 
It would be easy to presume that some kind of mistake has been made, but you might be surprised to learn that the lodging listing websites; as well as Google, Bing, and others are manipulating everything you see online. Especially for lodging.
 
- - - - - - - -
We have now spent almost 20 years building software used for many reasons, but one is just to fight the war for more advertising visibility. Here are just a few challenges we work on every day.
 
Algorithms - Google, Bing, and smaller search engines use mathematical formulas to rank websites. So we use "white hat" search engine optimization techniques to work within their system.
 
Even within the "Available" results which you might be served, it is personalization that overrides the precise listings you see. That is why some people will see your listing easily and others will not. New businesses are not listed immediately.
 
The results you see differ based on who you are, where you are, how often you search, what your viewing habits have been, and even the time of day.
 
For example, type in "Mount Rainier Hotel" and what you see looks different than what others see.
 
Maps - Google's goal to list every business in the world on their maps pages, which is no small feat. After years of messy results, today businesses can be listed within days or weeks, unless the Google computers demand verification which is done the old fashioned way.
 
They mail a post card with a secret code used to activate the listings.  However, Google only allows individual homes to be listed in some areas, not all.
 
Pap Per Click (PPC) - Google prints money by charging advertisers for each click on their listings. "Pay Per Click" advertising is expensive even if no booking results. We use this at certain times during the day.
 
Hotel -  After experimenting for years, Google created a carousel of hotel listings on map and other pages, for which they extract a commission.
 
Luckily our channel partner was one of the first allowed to submit vacation rental listings, but listings do not appear if one of the guests preferred dates is not available.
 
Listing Websites - Mammoth advertising websites like Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com, and others have a big problem. They have too many listings. They can not make hundreds or thousands of listings be easily visible, especially on maps.
 
So you may notice that a certain area has only 10-20 push pins, but as you zoom in more push pins appear.
 
Research shows that they divvy up visibility to give all advertisers some space, but they give more visibility to expensive homes because they make higher commissions.
 
Filters - As listing websites advance, they offer filters so guests can choose dates, amenities, and more, It is easy to inadvertently filter results without trying to do so.
 
That can make your homes listing seem invisible because it is already booked, or does not have a hot tub. Be careful when looking
 
Cache - You may be surprised to learn that the Internet is not instant. To improve page speed, a great deal of data is "Cached"  on your local computer such as graphics and photos.
 
Should you revisit a website, old photos may appear even if new ones have been published. To double check, refresh your browser and look again, or close your browser and restart your computer.
 
You may find your listing mysteriously appears.
 
Look Before Leap - The next time you are researching your advertising, please don't presume we have made a mistake. If you don't think you see what should be there, follow the steps above. If those do not resolve a potential error, please give us a call.
 
We publish better websites, brilliant photos, accurate rates and dates, and we do that on hundreds of websites. We are happy to show you where it all is happening.

Read more

Author: Wm, May, Vortex VIP
Blog #: 0676 – 06/30/19

Sponsor: Vortex VIP – – VortexVIP.com

Its Always something - Lodging Newsletter November 30th, 2018

By Wm. May
Published: 12/24/18 Topics: Advertising, Dynamic Rates, Government, Lodging Newsletter, Online Travel Agents (OTAs) Comments: 0

In 1977 Gilda Radner, one of the original cast members from the first years of the "Saturday Live" television sow, invented a character that made her famous.

Her "Roseanne Roseannadan" was a recurring character on their "Weekend Update" feature offering consumer reporting by reading a letter from a "Mr. Richard Feder, " form New Jersey, with a series of questions to which Roseannadanna then made derogatory comments.

In later shows, for some inexplicable reason Mr. Feder moved to Mt. Saint Helens, Washington State in our neck of the woods.

Invariably while answering the questions, Roseannadanna digressed, launching into stories having to do subjects which had nothing to do with the questions until - and finally - the news co-anchor Jane Curtin would intercept her saying with the catch phrase "Roseanne, you're making me sick"

Roseannadann would smirk and then pause and then conclude, "Well, Jane, it just goes to show you, it's always something - if its not one thing, then its another."

It does seem odd now however, that forty years later, in business in general and our micro world of vacation rentals and lodging we still spend most every day deal within one thing or another.

This is an industry that continues to grow and morph and change and yes "It s always something."

=============================================================================

Yes, in this industry it really is always something. Something unexpected, something unknown, something new..

REGUATIONS - After decades of operating alternative lodging for guests, cites and towns have begun to restrict, regulate and even prohibit vacation rentals ostensibly because they take away affordable housing. It is silly to think that people with expensive second homes are going to rent them out long term for low rates. Its always something out of the blue..

 

OTAS - Online travel agents like Expedia, HomeAway, AirBnB and so many others are a great way to advertise but make no mistake they are all out to beat out each other. to guest by restricting communications by requiring guests to communicate using their closed-walled messaging systems. That means dozens of new systems to track and master. Its always something more complicated.

EXPECTATIONS - It is rumored that, decades ago, vacation rental customer service consisted of these words, "Here are the keys, good luck." Today guests want quality furnishings, high speed internet, hot tubs, hotel grade mattresses and much more. Its always something, so we provide it.

GUEST SERVICES -

GOOGLE HOTELS - Wanting to dominate the world, Google is rolling out advertising where lodging operators can display their wares directly on Google pages, possibly by passing those pesky OTA's. Its always something jiving.

ODD ADVERTISING - Ever heard of Glamping? Or Camping? And why would they have anything to do with vacation rentals. We'll websites with odd goals are becoming just another place for guests to find us. We must be diligently looking for the whatever is the new way that consumers are shopping. Its always something innovative.

RATES RACE - As use of dynamic pricing, and automated supply demand response, rent by owners and insufficiently distributed lodging operators rush to lower rates in a dangerous race to the bottom price. Wide adverting, creative imagery, instant service and more allow us to stay ahead of the pack. Its always something innovative.

LOCALIZE - Venture Capitalists are rushing into the vacation rental industry, but allow want to build global brands that reject the local hospitality that guests have come to prefer from vacation rentals. We use local brands, local partners and local tourism to provide more fun and more happiness Its always something local that is better.

FLEXIBILITY _ Unlike other managers with a "one-size fits all" approach we offer flexible programs from full-service Do-It-Yourself assistance and extra bookings. Its always something that must fit what property owner clients want.

Read more

Author: Wm. May, Vortex VIP
Blog #: 0628 – 12/24/18

Sponsor: Vortex VIP – – VortexVIP.com

DETAILS: Newsletters are published for the benefit of readers. Because information changes rapidly, content may be dated by the time it arrives and further out of date over time. Reviewing old newsletters should be done understanding when it was published. Authors are invited to submit news, articles and opinions by clicking on the Submit articles link. By doing so, submitters authorize the editor to publish such submissions additional news items on this and other websites without compensation, with and without credit to and naming of the author. Once submitted articles may can not be withdrawn. The publisher accepts no responsibility for mis-information or errors submitted to it. Please report inappropriate or undesirable linked news by emailing the website.