Airbnb Answers: Guest profile photos

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Airbnb Answers: Guest profile photos

Update: January, 2019

 

A few months ago, we told you about some changes Airbnb was making to the way guest profile photos are displayed. You can read the original post, below.

 

Now that those changes are being introduced gradually, we want to make sure you have all the information you need. Here’s a recap of what will be changing, along with some tips.

 

 

New photo process

Moving forward, rather than displaying a potential guest’s profile photo before the booking is accepted, you’ll receive a guest’s photo after you’ve accepted the booking request. If you have Instant Book turned on, you won’t notice a change to the booking process.

 

Airbnb does not require guests to have profile photos. Although most guests provide a photo, some have told us they don’t want to share a picture of themselves when booking, and we listened.

 

At the same time, many of you told us that you value guest profile photos, and we listened to you, too. That’s why we’ve introduced a new option for hosts to be able to customize their own booking requirements.

 

New host control

You now have the option to require that your guests provide a profile photo. Again, the photo will be visible to you only after you accept the booking request. If you’d like to require your guests to provide a profile photo, you’ll need to turn on the control option in your settings for each of your listings, either on mobile or on web. Specifically:

 

On mobile:

  1. Go to the listing you’d like to require profile photos for
  2. Tap Booking settings
  3. Tap Guest requirements
  4. Look for the Profile photo section and tap Edit
  5. Tap Require a profile photo
  6. Tap Save


On web:

  1. From your host dashboard, click Listings
  2. Click Booking settings
  3. Next to Guest requirements, click Edit
  4. Check the box next to Profile photo
  5. Click Save

 

If you take this step and a potential guest doesn’t already have a profile photo, they’ll be prompted to upload one before they can request to book your space. A guest’s profile photo will not be available to you until after you accept the booking request. If the guest doesn’t want to provide a photo, then they won’t be able to book your space. 

 

Additional support

If you choose to require that your guests have a profile photo and one of your potential guests uploads an image that doesn’t show their face—a photo of a sunset or their dog, for instance—then you can call Airbnb’s Community Support. They’ll work with you to address the issue, and if you feel uncomfortable hosting someone without a photo that shows their face, you can request to cancel the reservation penalty-free.

 

As a reminder, Airbnb’s nondiscrimination policy prohibits hosts from making booking decisions or canceling reservations based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status. 

 

As an extra step, as always, you can require guests to provide a government ID to Airbnb in order to be able to book your space. You can read more about that process here.

 

Why these changes are important

We talked with lots of hosts and guests about profile photos, and we think these changes satisfy the core concerns and feedback we heard. We’ll be paying close attention to how these changes to profile photos affect our community, and will continue working to improve and simplify the process to ensure you feel comfortable hosting. We hope you’ll share your feedback with us so we can continue to build a community where everyone can belong. Thank you for hosting.

 

 

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October, 2018

 

You've been asking a lot about guest profile photos, and Airbnb has been working on new policies to address your concerns. Here is an update from Airbnb:

 

Today, we’re announcing some changes we will be making to the way we display guest profile photos.

 

Moving forward, rather than displaying a potential guest’s profile photo before the booking is accepted, hosts will receive a guest’s photo in the booking process only after they’ve accepted the booking request. Airbnb does not require all guests to provide a photo. Instead, we’ll be giving hosts the option to ask their guests to provide a profile photo, which will only be presented to hosts after they accept the booking. We have discussed some of this work in the past and we want you to know more about the changes we will be making in the coming months.

 

We have participated in a number of conversations with hosts and guests regarding this topic. We have listened to our community, and while most guests provide a photo, some guests told us they don’t want to share a picture of themselves when booking. We also recognize that concerns have been raised about the potential for photos to be misused in a way that violates our nondiscrimination policy.

 

At the same time, hosts have told us that they value profile photos because they can help hosts and guests get to know one another before a trip begins and help hosts recognize guests when they check in. Additionally, we’ve seen how photos can be a useful tool for enhancing trust and promoting community.

 

We want to balance these concerns. Airbnb does not require guests to provide a profile photo when booking a listing and, as we discussed earlier this summer with our hosts, we will be implementing a series of changes in the months ahead:

 

  • If a guest chooses to provide a profile photo, that profile photo won’t be displayed to the host as part of the booking process until after the booking is confirmed.
  • Because some hosts value profile photos and want to be able to know who they can expect at their front door, we will give hosts the option to ask that guests provide a profile photo prior to booking, which will only be presented to the host after the host accepts the booking request. This new option comes with important safeguards that are designed to ensure our community is fair and open to everyone:
    • Hosts must turn on this feature for each of their listings proactively, before they receive a reservation request.
    • If a host asks for a profile photo, we’ll prompt guests to upload one to their Airbnb profile before they can request to book that host’s particular listing; however, the photo will not be presented to the host until after the booking is confirmed.

 

If a host cancels a reservation after they see a guest’s photo, the guest will have an easy way to contact Airbnb and report any concerns about potential discrimination by the host in violation of our nondiscrimination policy and Community Commitment. If any guest believes he or she has been discriminated against and notifies our team, we’ll immediately help them book an alternative listing consistent with our Open Doors Policy, investigate the report, and take appropriate action. Any host who violates our nondiscrimination policy may be permanently banned from using Airbnb.

 

This announcement follows the commitment we made in 2016 to evaluate how we display guest profile photos in the booking process. As we implement these changes in the coming months, we hope you’ll share your feedback with us so we can continue to make thoughtful changes that make the Airbnb community a place where everyone can belong.

 

1,229 Replies 1,229
Jay382
Level 1
New York, NY

I understand discrimination is a real problem, but this is completely the wrong way to go about it. Airbnb works because it is a strong community that allows hosts to be comfortable letting strangers into their home. The profile picture fosters that community by letting you feel like you’re interacting with a real human. And as many people have said, it matters how that person presents themself to you in that photo (there’s a reason doors have peepholes!) 

 

What’s  really the bigger issue here? That someone might unjustly have to look for another rental or that someone’s home and lifetime of belongings is destroyed? Maybe if you’re running an apartment solely for Airbnb and filling it with cheap ikea furnishing you’re fine just collecting on the the insurance. But for those of who have our whole lives in our space money won’t matter if something goes wrong. If someone is frequently rejecting based on race Airbnb can easily see that and and ban them. But let everyone else have a modicum of comfort over who they’re trusting the keys to their home to. 

Michelle1361
Level 2
Albany, Australia

I disagree with this new system. It is so important on many levels to be able to see your guests  that are a making a booking to be staying at your home.

Regards

Michelle

Mary1355
Level 2
Pittsburgh, PA

I live as a native New Yorker, (Coney Island born & raised in both Brooklyn/NYC) I accept and deeply appreciate our earths many beautiful different cultures, skin tones, customs and my ultimate favorite, FOOD. 

My father, (a Cuban immigrant from the late 50’s and a cousin to Castro) always instilled in me never to judge by appearances, but instead to judge by character or simply by the way they treat you. I don’t judge anyone by appearance ever. Prejudice has no place in my life for any reason, EVER.

 

That being said, I am a new “host”. Started hosting in December 26th, 2018. I am however a three year cleaning lady for a dear friend and Superhost of an Airbnb. So I was familiar with cleaning and judging of how a guest left my friend’s Airbnb so that he may review. I also have been a landlord of my rental property (now Airbnb) since 2000. 

I would like to see the faces of both guests as well as hosts for the first and formost reason of I want to know ahead of time who I am to expect to be in my home. I would like to be able to recognize at least one person dwelling on my property.

You see, in my case I live only 5 houses away. I lived in my neighborhood 30 years. My immediate neighbor across the street from my rental property is the local magistrate for goodness sakes. Everyone who is a land owner knows everyone else in our neighborhood.  In my case, it be hooves me to know my guests, or at least ONE of them. Know them by sight and know their reason for their stay. I don’t need much more. 

I like to offer total privacy, but I am very close by. 

All I wanted to say was I like the picture. I think we all should have photos at least just to recognize each other.

I really like Airbnb. 

Jason706
Level 2
Edmonton, Canada

I'm a fairly new host, and to me, if I can't see their profile photo before I accept, then they shouldn't be able to see my face or my profile before they book. It's a two way street and they should trust me as much as I trust them. We're both vetting each other. It's my home, and it's a foreign place for them. Why do they get to pick and choose, and I have to show a kind up front face?

When I vet someone, I look at their picture for a second and give the same questions to everyone. Ensure they've read my policies and understand that I don't put up with parties, loud guests, or messy guests. It's a home share, not a hotel.

Joe352
Level 2
Oshawa, Canada

Hello all. 

 

I am am deeply concerned about this new rule. AIRBNB needs to figure out this picture problem. I’ve been an Airbnb super host for 2.5 years and had a very bad experience with a guest (the only one so far). He came through as an instant book with a pic of a baby displayed. He told me he was flying in from the other side of the country to see his son. All sounded good to me and he booked without any positive identification of who he was. He used my self checkin lockbox option. He arrived In the middle of the night with an unknown second person and my tenants reported that they were arguing all night ( 1 out of 3 units is an Airbnb ) i called him directly in the morning and was met with verbal aggression and insulting remarks. I asked him to leave immediately and advised him that his verbal violence was not acceptable and that he had clearly disrespected the house rules. I was prepared to have him removed by the police. The biggest issue here is that I could not positively identify him. I had no idea what he looked like! Fortunately for me, he left before I arrived. Unfortunately he damaged a few things that were minor and left the building non secured with all doors wide open. 

I turned off instant booking and now ask everyone to request a booking to make sure they have their account set up properly. This being said, I am still asking people to post pics or post real pics. Pics of animals and indecipherable pics etc. are still coming through the system. For my own safety and security and that of my tenants, I need to be able to positively identify who is in my apartment. The more insecure I feel about offering my place on Airbnb, the more I think renting my 3rd unit would give me better peace of mind. I don’t have an issue with a pic being revealed of a guest after the booking. However Airbnb needs to ensure that the pics that are posted are of the actual person checking in and can be positively identified. Please don’t make this complicated.  I enjoy being a host and love meeting people from all over the world. If I or my tenants can’t feel safe and secure than what’s the point ?

The other issue here @Joe352 is that we won't be able to tell if the person who is at your property legitimately booked your place and is the owner of the account by only having the ID verification process which is securely stored by airbnb, if we have nothing to compare to when they arrive. You don't know their faces so it doesn't matter if the account have a verified ID. We will start getting 3rd party bookings  (friends booking for friends, companies, managers booking for employees )and not even know about it. 3rd party bookings are not covered by airbnb host guarantee. 

 

Please contact airbnb here: https://www.airbnb.com/help/contact_us/message

Fran42
Level 2
Jan Juc, Australia

All guests should also be rated from previous reviews so you can quickly see if they are 5  star, have verified id and payment id.  I heartily agree with all previous comments.  Guests need to be vetted more throughly.

I would like to add it’s essential that I see a guest photo reason is say a Airbnb guest name Suzy has a good review record with Airbnb she books my listing then two different friends of hers turn up no history no reviews it’s hapoened to me and I have had some bad experience. My policy is no photo no review history no booking regards Roger 

Tanya184
Level 7
Woy Woy, AU

All good in theory but why not be transparent on both sides? The guest may not choose me because of the way I look... But they get to see me when they look at my listing because my profile pic is there and I'm verified 

I totally agree Tanya. If I have to provide photos, descriptions, personal details and photos for potential guests why should they not do the same for me. Why not have i.d. photos for hosts to see?

Melissa754
Level 2
Little Rock, AR

Hi, I rarely look at the photos and have it set where someone can instantly book.  However, I do look at each person and their profile coming to my home before they arrive.  I'm a single woman, living alone, staying here with the guests and renting my extra rooms out of necessity.  I welcomed all races, genders, religions, etc. At the end of the day, if someone can't provide a simple picture of themselves prior to me welcoming them into my home, that's a problem.  I do realize a picture isn't going ensure anyone's safety.  My most "normal" (if there is such a thing) looking guest, handsome, well dressed, professional looking fella (which happened to be my very first guest) was also my most offensive guest making sexual advances causing me to second guess my decision to do this.  I've also had someone else book for someone which surprised when the person arrived but being one of the coolest and nicest people I've ever met.  You can't get into an airport without a photo id these days.  Shouldn't we have the right to know to see their face?  Am I not suppose to look at the person when they arrive?   I'm sure they wouldn't want to book home without seeing pictures. If they don't want to provide pictures, there are plenty of hotels and motels they could stay at instead.  As we say in the south, that's complete horse **bleep**.  I think it should be required.  

Thank you for your time, 

Melissa

So sorry you had to deal with that @Melissa0. I hope you reported him for sexual harassment and left him an honest review so others can be forewarned. 

Colleen9
Level 2
Canberra, Australia

Sorry Airbnb I don't agree with you. I like it the way it is and I dislike it if a person does not have a photograph of themselves attached; I have even asked some people if they wouldn't mind posting a photograph of themselves when one is missing. For no other reason than that I like to know who I am communicating with. Seeing a photograph after the booking is silly.

My husband and I have been in hospitality for many years including owning a pub and dealing with hundreds of people in a day. It is important to see faces and body language of the person you communicate with.

We have been working with Airbnb since 2016 and have welcomed almost 500 people into our home in Canberra Australia from 22 countries and we love it.

IF Airbnb hosts are being prejudiced for any reason maybe they should not host. By proposing this change, you are catering to a minority group. If an AirBnB host refuses a 'stay request', maybe you can include a 'reason for refusal' field and monitor the reasons and number of refusals that hosts do.

Well saud Colleen. I agree entirely.

cheers

Faye, Wonthaggi, Vic.

Debbie270
Level 5
Franklin, TN

Hi, 

I understand the need to protect people from discrimination, so I will work within the new parameters. However, I do find it a bit disappointing that the directions (included in the same email) for hosts to use to require a profile picture to be on file (though invisible to the hosts) before a guest can make a reservation do not work! When you go to the guests requirements section there is no “profile photo section”.  When I contacted support, I was told to reinstall the app.....and still no section. In the meantime, I am assuming that guests can now book without a photo ever being posted since I can’t require it for future reference when they arrive to check in. I support being transparent and inclusive, but why not have everything ready to roll out at the same tine? Doesn’t seem quite fair to everyone.