An old listing of your property is hanging around the internet and lying. How to find it

Where listings you never created come from

A listing can reach services where you never set it up. For example, properties on Nocowanie.pl in the reservation model are also presented on Hungary's Szallas.hu, Romania's Travelminit.ro and the Czech Hotel.cz, because they belong to one group. After a few years nobody remembers where the first version of the entry came from. Sometimes someone added the property to help, and forgot about it after one season.

It also happens that the listing was set up by the previous owner or by a family member. The account stayed with an old email address, phone number or a name you no longer use. The entry still appears in results, even though nobody in your house looks after it.

I run two properties of my own and found entries for them that I did not remember. I was not looking for new advertising. I was looking for a name I know, and I saw that the internet keeps more versions than I do.

Why an old listing hurts more than it looks

The entry can carry a price from several years ago, an out-of-date phone number and a description of a room that no longer exists. It can give the property's former name, equipment that is not there, or a season when you do not take guests.

A guest who calls a dead number usually does not try a second time. You do not know they called at all, so you have no way to explain the mistake. You only see that someone chose another place.

The worst thing about an old listing is that it lies without your involvement, and the guest blames you for the lie.

Find it by the property's name

1. Type the name in quotation marks. Search for the exact wording, then check the variant without diacritics as well.
2. Add the town. Search for the name together with the town, because the name alone can lead to other properties.
3. Go through the first two pages of results. Note every entry that has your photo, name or an old description.
4. Search for your own phone number. An old number leads to places you will not find by name.
5. Check the maps. Look at the map entries and see whether the name, address and phone lead to you.

This usually takes ten to fifteen minutes if the property has one name and one number. If someone ran it before you, or the name changed, allow another fifteen minutes for the old variants. That is still shorter than waiting for a guest to discover the mistake on their own.

Do not trust the first result

The first result can be your current website, and the second an entry from years ago. It can be the other way round. The owner sees their own website and assumes the rest of the internet looks the same. The guest sees the search engine's order and opens what is at hand.

Open every entry you find as a person who knows nothing about you. Check the price, the phone, the address, the description, the photos, the times and the season information. Write down separately what is true, what is old and what cannot be confirmed.

What to do with what you find

There are three situations. Each needs different action, so do not waste time looking for one method for all the entries.

1. You have access. Log in and fix the name, the phone, the address, the description, the photos, the prices and the season. Then open the entry without logging in and check whether the guest sees the change.
2. You do not have access. Write to the portal asking for the entry to be updated or removed. Give the listing's address and list exactly what is untrue. Attach a link to the current website if it helps confirm the details.
3. The entry cannot be removed. Fix everything that can be fixed, and make sure your current website is easy to find. You do not control every directory, but you do influence what the guest sees next to it.

Do not set up more places without a plan

Every new listing looks like another way to reach a guest, but it is also one more place to update. If you do not intend to keep an eye on the price, the phone, the photos and the messages, the entry will quickly become the next old listing.

It is better to have a smaller presence and know what the guest sees in it than to build a long list of places you are losing control over.

The short answer

Old listings arise when one listing spreads to further services and directories, or when someone added the property long ago and stopped looking after it. You will find them by name, number, town and maps. If you have access, fix them. If you do not, report what is untrue or make sure the current sources are in order. Do not add more places you will not check.