Airbnb is continuing to try to crack down on unauthorized parties by introducing new anti-party technology. This is in addition to the announcement in June that the temporary ban on parties will become codified policy.
“The primary objective is attempting to reduce the ability of bad actors to throw unauthorized parties which negatively impact our Hosts, neighbors, and the communities we serve,” Airbnb said in a press release.
This anti-party technology will help identify potentially high-risk reservations and prevent those users from taking advantage of our platform.
Anti-Party Tools
Airbnb has been under pressure since 2019 to get unauthorized parties under control. It came after a Halloween house party in a San Francisco suburb ended with five people dead in a shooting. Since then, it has implemented a worldwide party ban and other restrictions.
This new anti-party system will look at a number of factors including:
- History of positive reviews, or lack of positive reviews
- Length of time the guest has been on Airbnb
- Length of trip
- Distance to the listing
- Weekend versus weekday stay
This anti-party technology is designed to prevent a reservation attempt from going through. Guests who are unable to make entire home bookings because of this new system will still be able to book a private room either where the host is more likely to be physically on-site or at a hotel room through Airbnb.
Going Beyond “Under-25” System
The “Under-25” system was put in place in North America in 2020. It focuses on guests under the age of 25 without positive reviews who are booking locally.
Here’s how it works:
- Those with fewer than three positive reviews are not able to book entire home listings that are close to where they live. They can book outside their local area.
- All guests under 25 can book private rooms and hotel rooms through Airbnb.
- Younger guests with at least three positive reviews and no negative reviews are not subject to this restriction.
Airbnb says this new anti-party system “will help prevent more bad actors on our platform while having less of a blunt impact on guests who are not trying to throw a party. While we are consistently willing to make trade-offs in the interests of building trust, our goal is to make these systems as precise and fair as possible to support our Hosts and guests.”
System Success In Australia
Since October 2020, a similar variation of this system has been piloted in Australia. It has been very effective with a 35 percent drop in incidents of unauthorized parties. Airbnb is now codifying the product nationwide. It hopes to see similar success in the U.S. and Canada.
Partnering With Communities
While Airbnb is optimistic this technology will have a positive impact on its hosts and communities, it understands no system is perfect. That’s why it says it will continue to partner with experts and communities and invest in its Neighborhood Support Line to maintain communication with neighbors about parties that are taking place, or concerns about listings. It says, “we will communicate with transparency about the results of this testing phase and the next steps of our ban on parties.”
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