Fewer homes on the map, more bookings

transcript

Airbnb shows you fewer homes on the map. And more people book. Here's why.

In a list, attention falls from the top down. So you sort by how likely each home is to be booked. Easy. But on a map, there's no top. Attention is spread across the pins. Every pin competes for the same eyes.

And Airbnb found 95 percent of searchers click 12 pins or fewer. So every weak pin steals a click from a good one.

So it drops pins far less likely to be booked than the best one. Then tests it on 34 million searchers per side. Uncancelled bookings rose 1 point 9 percent.

But here's the catch. On desktop, every card in the list needs a pin. So the strong ones get full pins, with prices. Rohan sees 11. The weaker 7 become mini-pins. No price. They get about 8 times fewer clicks.

Maps aren't lists. Attention isn't top-down. So show fewer, likelier pins.

Full breakdown in the lecture.