Pricelabs finds 88 per cent of Airbnb listings fall short on standards

US: Dynamic pricing tool PriceLabs studied over 10,000 listings in nine cities worldwide, finding only 12 per cent could be classified as ‘good’ by industry standards.

The PriceLabs Listing Optimization Report suggests a significant majority of Airbnb listings have room to grow, focusing on factors like photo quality and completeness, title and description clarity, amenity data and consistency.

The report states that almost 70 per cent of short-term rentals on the site include poor images — blurry photos, improper lighting and suboptimal ordering were among the issues identified. Meanwhile, 54 per cent had unclear or incomplete descriptions, and the same figure had inconsistencies between photos and written descriptions.

Pricelabs said that 88 per cent of listings underperform on online travel agency rankings, where results are largely driven by properties with consistent descriptions and professional-quality photography. Amid growing reliance on OTAs, more than 60 per cent of hosts told the company they are concerned about their rankings.

According to its statistics, PriceLabs said there is ample room for growth with clear rewards — ‘good’ listings were 35 per cent more likely to outperform their local market.

While pricing remains important, the company argues that clean, comprehensive and cohesive listings play an increasingly important role in driving performance.

Highlights:

• According to PriceLabs, most Airbnb listings fall short of ‘good’ optimisation standards, highlighting an opportunity for hosts to improve performance.
• Nearly 70 per cent of listings were found to have poor-quality photography, including issues with lighting, blurriness and image order.
• More than half of listings had unclear or incomplete descriptions, with the same proportion showing inconsistencies between text and images.
• PriceLabs said listings meeting its ‘good’ criteria were 35 per cent more likely to outperform their local market.
• The report suggests that beyond pricing, listing quality is an increasingly important factor in visibility and bookings.