Airbnb launches ‘anti-party’ tech to spot potential violators at time of booking • TechCrunch

After permanently ban parties and events across all Airbnb listings in June, the company is toughening its anti-party stance by launching new screening tools in the US and Canada.

The company’s ‘anti-party’ technology is an algorithm to identify potential rule violators by looking at signals such as positive review history, length of time the user has been on the platform , travel time, distance to the list and day of the week. vs weekend booking.

Airbnb said the technology is designed to prevent bookings that could turn into unauthorized parties. For example, it will prevent potential violators from booking an entire property, instead presenting them with options to book a single room on listings where hosts are physically present on site, making it harder for guests to get started. a party without permission. This new technology represents an extension of the company’s existing know-how under 25 systemwhich prevents people under 25 with less than three positive reviews from booking entire properties.

The company said it had been testing the party prevention algorithm in Australia since last year, with positive results.

“A similar variant of this system has been tested in Australia since October 2021, where it has been very successful,” Airbnb wrote in a blog post. “We have seen a 35% drop in unauthorized party incidents in areas of Australia where this pilot has been in effect.”

In 2019, after several people were killed at different parties hosted in Airbnb properties, the company has banned party homes – properties listed only for hosting events – and introduced a neighborhood helpline to report loud and disruptive parties. In August 2020, the company launched an indefinite no-party policy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A survey published by smart home company Vivint last month suggested one in five tenants violated the no-party rule, despite Airbnb’s attempts to curb such occurrences.

In its second quarter 2022 results, Airbnb said it recorded a record number of bookings in the quarter with 103 million nights bookedwhile he also said that he expects to achieve record revenue figures despite the economic downturn. This despite growing consumer dismay in recent years, with complaints about higher cleaning costs and other hidden fees, making Airbnb reservations more expensive than they appear.

The company obediently defended these charges last year, saying it provides transparency on fees when users book a property. He added that he provides tips for landlords to keep cleaning fees reasonable, but does not enforce any hard and fast rules on this.

A report published by the Globe and Mail Suggested Airbnb booking prices were similar to hotel costs per night in Toronto. Data collected by nerdwallet in June for 1,000 U.S. rental properties on Airbnb noted that 34% of listings had offset fees between 20 and 30% of the base fee.