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US / Canada: Airbnb has announced the introduction of new “anti-party” tools in the United States and Canada to help identify potentially high-risk reservations and prevent those users from acting irresponsibly on the platform.
The system will look at factors such as a history of positive – or lack of – reviews, length of time the guest has been on Airbnb, length of the trip, distance to the listing, weekend v weekday, and more, in order to reduce the ability of “bad actors” to organise unauthorised parties that have a negative impact on Airbnb’s communities.
According to Airbnb, the rollout of the new tools has been inspired by the success of a similar variation of the system that has been piloted in Australia since last October. Since then, the company says that there has been a 35 per cent drop in incidents of unauthorised parties in the areas where the pilot has been in effect, and as a result, the product is to be codified nationwide.
The anti-party technology is designed to prevent a reservation attempt from going through. Guests who are unable to make entire home bookings due to the system will still be able to book a private room [where the host is more likely to be physically on site and prevent a party] or a hotel room on Airbnb.
It is also described as a “more robust and sophisticated version” of the “under-25” system that has been in effect since 2020, which focuses primarily on guests under the age of 25 without positive reviews who are booking locally. Airbnb says that the updated systems have been built to have less of a “blunt” impact on guests who are not trying to throw a party and that its goal is to make them as “precise and fair as possible” to support hosts and guests, following earlier outcry from hosts and guests in that age group who act responsibly within the guidelines.
After announcing that it would make its ban on parties at its listings a permanent policy in June, Airbnb added that it was continuing to take measures to eliminate unauthorised parties from its platform, as well as working with experts and communities to complement their safety efforts, and investing in its Neighborhood Support Line to facilitate direct communication with neighbours and address their concerns.
It follows Airbnb’s appointment of Jay Carney, a senior vice president of global corporate affairs at Amazon and former White House press secretary for President Barack Obama, as its new global head of policy and communications last month. Reporting directly to CEO Brian Chesky, Carney will be responsible for leading on policy, enhancing communications and addressing regulatory concerns in his new role.
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