Airbnb Answers: Guest profile photos

Airbnb
Official Account

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.

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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
Peta7
Level 10
Johannesburg, South Africa


@Susan1028 wrote:

I was able to reference her in incognito mode and see she had 47 positive reviews!  

 

Susan please do elaborate and share this method of reference with the rest of the ignored platform users and those that apparently no longer belong on the platform where all should belong.

Being part of the ignored group we have discovered other venues for voicing our frustrations, there is the link supplied in the profile photo thread, Airbnb hell and the Hello Peter platform that we believe could be impacting more than the thousands of replies received from the Policy shift (without user consultation)  blogs that is onbviously designed to contain the disgruntled host's voices.

Considering the numbers we believe it to be impracticable for the platform administrators to open and read every reply as it will take a substantial team a very long time to accomplish this and then we ask ourselves what will they do with all of the negative comment contained, surely not reverse their Authoritarian decisions? 


 

Hi Susan,

I am totally disgusted with the lopsided discrimination towards hosts.  

 

Who are the other two companies you have registered with?

Thanks.

I would also prefer seeing a picture of the guest before booking(libextheyvused to do) , with more background about why they are coming. We are letting strangers into our homes, not running hotels!

Rosemary114
Level 2
Milford, United Kingdom

I like to see who I am about to welcome into my home... it's not a hotel. A photo helps to make my hosting comfortable.

... and SAFE!   I had to have a guest removed after about 5 days and he had booked for 3 weeks.  I felt fearful for my safety and I moved out of my own home... YES I MOVED OUT OF MY HOME. I removed auto booking so I can scan who I allow into my place....NOT HAPPY WITH THE CHANGES THAT GUESTS CAN SEE MY IMAGE, MY HOME MY PROFILE.  WHAT ABOUT MY RIGHTS TO SAFETY? How does it get any better than this?  

Susan1028
Level 10
Oregon, US

Just as predicted, independent host properties are being shown after the bulk listers.  I used to be at the top of my category.  I'm now on page 4. 

 

Perhaps it's becuase I've been so vocal in opposition to this policy and others contrary to the stated mission of "trust and safety" and  innovation and grass-roots "commm-unity" spirit that brought me here.

 

Perhaps it's because the bulk listers (even when they have overt complaints posted in thier reviews) are more valuable, although even the bulk hosts can only sell a property once/day...just like us, and they're regular spaces, just like us.

They're listing on ALL Platforms, so there's NO loyalty.

 

Being a 100% loyal 5-star superhost achieved after 4 weeks and maintained 100% on this platform with no complaints means nothing.

Giving back to the community by being an "open homes" host, donating nights to charity, facilitating a community garden and volunteering at a homeless shelter means nothing.

Honest, intelligent, rational feedback including passing on guests' feedback about these changes and other possibilities for improvement means nothing.

Host Loyalty means nothing.

The consistent effort and INTEGRITY I put into my business here means nothing.

 

The utter disregard from the top down has degraded the pure JOY that previously infused this endeavor and it's becoming just another corporate grind, like others I've left behind.

 

Airbnb has become just like the rest...which they surpassed because they were DIFFERENT ... and they're different because we are, and because we DO care about each and every stay.

 

When a void is created, it will be filled, and if airbnb allows themselves to lose thier original niche, they will not be able to get it back, and they will be just another of the 1% elite that has brought this world to global crisis.

 

What has airbnb done with thier Billions in profit for the Communities that have supported them that has NOT been self-serving?  What has it done to stop the environmental destruction that actually threatens their tourism-based business ?  What has airbnb done for the growing popultion of the homeless, the hungry, and future generations?

 

I wasone of many in my sphere who shouted my exceitement about being an airbnb host from the rooftops...promoting this platform, bringing in new guests and hosts in addition to myself.

 

There's an upswell of new hosts catering to those who want to spend thier abundance in ways that DO benefit humanity and this planet, guess and hosts who want a more personal, corporate-free experience that is community minded beyond the profits to be made.  This describes many of my guests and friends and collegaues (who encouraged me to list here) who who are also displeased with how things are going here and are, again, looking for a community that embodies the stated values rather than using them as just another sales pitch.

Jim404
Level 4
Pollock Pines, CA

Well someone with the skills like here in Silicon Valley could make a new platform that works just like AIRBNB with the values that AIRBNB used to have and market it as an alternative.

Peta7
Level 10
Johannesburg, South Africa

Should this happen please do advise on the name of this proposed platform soonest 🙂

Yes please!!

Josie53
Level 2
Camberwell, Australia

Yes agree. Please let us know Jim!  Thanks 

Yes, I'd love to know about it!

Linda476
Level 3
Medford, OR

I'm pretty much leaving Airbnb over this further decline in respect and appreciation for hosts. I book private rooms in my home. I consider fit with my lifestyle,  protection of my property, and other guests.  Photos provide at least a bit of non-verbal communication.  This takes away our voice to say "no" until after we accept. Then we would be punished like children if we cancelled.

 

Here is another example of this decline. If I respond and ask a guest questions about their stay and they do not respond within 24 hours and I do not decline I am punished inTWO WAYS: My dates get blocked automatically as they "ASSUME " I "DID NOT RESPOND" (when I did respond)  because dates are not available.  Second because I RESPONDED but did NOT decline the guest this lowers my placement in listings.

 

Airbnb, you have built your business on hosts backs.  To be clear I  am feeling the disrespect and lack of appreciation.  

 

Not your door mat. Adios 

Johnny-and-Mark0
Level 6
Los Angeles, CA

Still horrified.

Wrote to and called Air BnB with the folloing.  Had to vent a bit even though I know nothing will be done.

 

Over the past months we have learned that Air BnB allows profile pictures of flowers, mountains, animals and pretty much ANYTHING. A clear face picture that matches the government ID you tell us you have on file is not required. We now know how to work with that.

Today I learned that you also allow a Guest to change the name and picture on a profile without review. We got a reservation for a Phoebe with a female picture and moments later it was now a Tommy with a mans picture. This tells me that you do nothing to maintain the integrity of who you say you've verified as related to who may actually show up at my door.

I called and was told this is actually Tommy's profile so will do what I can to verify it is actually him when he arrives.

I have to say, this is COMPLETELY unacceptable. We have learned that Air BnB gives a tremendous amount of leeway to it's Guests when it comes to following rules, "Money-Is_Money" after all, and you are here to make money.

The fact that we cannot trust your validation process one single bit is a shame. We bring people into our homes believing you have vetted them but in reality it could be anyone.

The Air BnB person I spoke to on the phone offered to have this reviewed but I said he need not bother, you won't do a thing about it.   I just wanted to let you know that it has happened to another Host.

@KevenandDoug

 

I've had this happen as well, before the new "no photo" policy, only in reverse with the male counterpart becoming female for the second request, both with no previous reviews. I asked for more information such as "what brings you to (my town)," etc.  No response. Request rescinded by prospective (male) guest.

 

Then within minutes I receive a new request for the same dates using the same wording, with a female photo...with the same background as the first with half of a cut off face of the same male who requested just before.  So, I again asked for more info.  No response... but they did not retract the request, so I was stuck, with the choice of accepting a couple who'd already been dishonest and not willing to communicate...or be penalized for a decline.

 

I called support and informed them.  The rep checked the images and agreed it seemed shady, so they suggested I decline, and they would reopen the dates for booking, but I would still have a "demerit."

 

Stright out shadiness, and I still got dinged for protecting myself with the agreement of "superhost support."