Guest profile photos: Airbnb response to community feedback

[Airbnb]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all of your feedback on the recent changes we announced to the guest profile photo process. Our team has read each and every one of your comments. We understand many of you are feeling frustrated right now, so we want to respond with some more details and clarification.

First, we want to acknowledge that this is a complicated and emotional topic: It touches on elements such as discrimination, choice, safety, and equality between Airbnb hosts and guests. As always, we’ve been really impressed by the quality of the conversations, and the supportiveness of the community in this thread. We’ve had significant discussion and debate about it internally at Airbnb, too. It’s clear that we need to keep listening and engaging with you (our hosts and partners) on this topic, and we commit to continuing to do so.

At the same time, it’s important that we also continue to take guest concerns into account. Most guests do provide a profile photo, but others told us that they didn’t want to share a picture of themselves when booking on Airbnb because they’re concerned their photos could be misused in a way that violates Airbnb’s nondiscrimination policy. As you know, Airbnb’s mission is to create a world where people can belong anywhere, and we want to make sure guests can feel comfortable when they travel on Airbnb.

We also know from many conversations with hosts (and from reading through your comments here) that you really value profile photos, for several important reasons (knowing what guests look like before they arrive, feeling safer, etc.). We always want to balance the needs of both hosts and guests and, at the same time, make sure we’re working towards Airbnb’s mission. It can be exceptionally hard to get that balance right, but we tried to do this with these recent changes.

As we highlighted in our previous post, the new policy means that Airbnb will not require guests to provide a profile photo and that, for those guests who choose to provide a profile photo, those photos will not be shown to hosts until after the booking is accepted. At the same time, we introduced a new host control that allows you to opt in to require that your guests provide a profile photo prior to submitting a booking request. This photo will be shown to hosts as soon as you accept the booking request, so you’ll be able to ensure you know what your guests look like before they arrive. In addition, you can always require your guests to provide a government ID to Airbnb, as well (more on that here).

Here are a few more tips to help you build trust with guests before a trip:

• You can message with them to get more information about the purpose of their trip;
• You can use your House Rules to set expectations with potential guests, too. (Guests have to review and agree to your House Rules before they can request to book your space.)
• You can review past guest reviews, from other hosts, to make a more informed decision about accepting booking requests.

Now, there are a few key themes we read in your comments about these changes, and we want to take a few minutes to address each of them:

Safety: Many of you mentioned that you’re not comfortable hosting someone who doesn't want to show their face, and some of you pointed out that you’re in challenging situations (remote locations and solo female hosts, for instance). This is an incredibly important topic. We’ve read through your responses, and we are committed to looking for ways to build trust between guests and hosts in all situations.

We’d like to extend an invitation to the engaged host community following this thread. Our home safety team is brainstorming ideas for how we could improve your experience and ensure you feel more safe hosting. While we have lots of ideas, we know the best solutions will come from listening to you, so we’d like to connect directly. Please let us know in the comments, below.

Timing: Many of you asked when you would see the changes to the guest profile photo process occur. We’re rolling them out gradually, as we often do with new products or processes. Currently, these changes have been introduced to 75% of hosts globally, and in the coming weeks will be available to 100% of hosts.  

Profile photos: A number of you raised concerns about profile photos that show a picture of a sunset or the guest’s dog instead of the guest themselves.  We have updated our policies to address these concerns. If you choose to turn on the new control and require that your guests have a profile photo, you can call Airbnb’s Community Support if you accept a reservation from a guest that does not have a profile photo of themselves.  Our Community Support team will work with you to address the situation. If you feel uncomfortable hosting someone without a photo of themselves, you can request to cancel the reservation penalty-free. (We recommend messaging the guest directly before cancelling.)

Discrimination: We do not condone discrimination by any member of the Airbnb community. These changes are part of our commitment to combating discrimination. Many of you responded that you believe these changes were unnecessary because you share our commitment to diversity and inclusion. We appreciate that feedback and can’t overstate the importance of having a host community that is engaged on this topic. Nonetheless, guests have consistently told us that they have concerns about hosts making decisions based on profile photos in violation of our Non-discrimination policy. We believe the changes to how we display photos addresses these concerns while balancing hosts’ interest in seeing potential guests before they arrive. Making these changes was an incredibly complex decision, for all the reasons you raised, but after significant debate (and working with many experts on this topic), we decided they were crucial changes to make.

Thank you for continuing to give us feedback and support as we strive to continue improving Airbnb for both hosts and guests. We hope you understand that we needed to make these changes to ensure a world of belonging and inclusivity. Please continue to tell us how we can improve, and we’ll continue to listen and adjust as we work to ensure you can feel comfortable and confident hosting.

Thank you,

The Airbnb Team

[Corinne284]

Don't open the door.  Don't use your discretion, discernment, and above all not your discrimination, ever, never.

Just call Lizzie in Management to get the guest his or her refund.

[Rick-and-Cherie0]

Yes, AirBnB what is the deal on this?  We just had our first encounter with this new practice and do not like it all.  And it appears that AirBnB is now saying that we can turn on the profile photo feature if we agree to Instant Booking???  What good is it to see the profile photo AFTER they have booked?  Last year we turned down a booking from a 20 year old female because her profile had a photo of her holding a rifle. Regardless of my feelings about the NRA, I don't think that any sensible person would rent a place to stay with someone who's photo included firearms. Am I wrong on this?

[A103]

If Airbnb wants to tell Hosts we cannot see the profile picture of who we are renting out to before we accept a booking then I am not willing to participate any longer on this platform. I have never discriminated against a single guest. I have appreciateively hosted guests of all races, religions and sexual orientations to my home using the Airbnb platform and I have hosted natural disaster victims for free. What a shame this feature is.  It truly taints a brilliant platform made by brilliant designers and engineers.  How unfortunate!

[Talon-And-Ron0]

I truly feel that Airbnb is more concerned for the guests then for the hosts. I feel very bullied into accepting requets I dont feel comfortable with, with the threat of losing superhost status looming over my head. We are not hotels. We are private homes letting strangers into our space. We need the security of seeing a photo first. In this day and age of Facebook and Instrgram i find it hard to believe potential guests will not show a photo.  If not, then what are they hiding? Perhaps hosts should also not have to show a photo until after the booking is complete. How ridiclous does that sound?  We are giving up personal space and need the security of knowing who we are sharing with. I wll not accept any booking request without a photo,  whther its suppose to show up after the request or not. Id rather feel 100% comfortable or just leave this platform all togther as this bully tactic isnt worth it for me.

[Rick-and-Cherie0]

Yes it is definitely a bullying tactic. And they are using our Superhost status as a means to get us to comply. Cancel someone after you see their profile and you lose your Superhost status. Just like that.

[Sarah977]

@Talon-And-Ron0    Yes, many of the guests who won't post a proper face photo on Airbnb have photos of themselves all over Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, etc. yet they want to be anonymous to a host whose home they expect to be welcomed into.

[Talon-And-Ron0]

Its pretty upsetting that airbnb expects this of hosts. I refused a booking today and  told the potential guest about airbnbs rules and why I cant accept him as a guest.  an hour later he tried to book again - without  photo and a one sentence "I wish to stay with you".  Its not going to happen. I wont do it.  I am sure this will also frustrate guests who get refused. Simple solution would be to make photos optional but to tell the poential guests  that they may not be accepted if they do not have  a photo available before booking. Hosts should not be penalized for not accepting. That way the option is up to the guest and they will just have to find other hosts who dont have the no picture concern.  

[George511]

Well stated comments.   

I have never used instant book.  I feel Airbnb is a people to people experience.  It is important to me to have some dialoge with my potential guests.  "Unique profile icons" are not a warm and fuzy experience.

Appears a team of probably overpaid lawyers over-rule the back bone of Airbnb....the hosts.

[Talon-And-Ron0]

Case in point, the same guy that tried booking twice without a photo, decided to upload a photo. So I accepted the reservation. Then he calls me because now he has all my information and tells me he had no photo because he was booking for 'friends' and would I still accept the booking even though it was not for him.  He also said he thought without a pic he could just do that for his freinds. Airbnb is putting hosts in a very dangerous situation with this no pic needed before booking policy.  Basically the other people could have showed up to my door and I would have had no idea ever that the wool was pulled over my eyes and it was a scam by someone booking in his friends.  I told him to cancel the booking as I will not accept this. 

An alternative system would be that when new members are setting up an account they are promted for a photo. If they refuse to upload a photo then they are informed that no picture will greatly reduce thier sucess of finanlizing a booking as airbnb hosts prefer to see who they are opening up their homes to.  Then if someone without a pic tries to book, the host can cancel it and not be penalized. Put the onus on the guest and not the host.  We need to feel secure much more thabn he guest does. Airbnb does nogt seem to understand that.

I am also turning off instant booking as of now.        

[Gudrun16]

I am very unhappy about this new ridiculous rule that the host cannot see the guest’s photo nor their profile BEFORE the booking is confirmed… And instead, my superhost status is taken from me the minute I cancel a booking based on the photo I see. I feel that my security as a host is totally jeopardised, as I am a single female in a family home with a young daughter. With all new booking requests coming in since this new rule, I feel very awkward and hesitant and doubtful, as I like to open my doors to people that I like and trust, but feel that a photo creates trust. What do guests need to hide? Why is it discriminating? Is it not discriminating against me? Each potential guest knows everything about us and our home including our interior and all nooks and crannies, but we are not allowed to know anything about the guests! How is this not discriminating? I am putting a very detailed profile including photo up, but that makes the bookings not wholly transparent, but very onesided. We live in a world where one cannot just open the doors to any random stranger. I want to know that my neighbours, us, my house and child are safe and secure. 

[Jess78]

Which is the best alternative to Airbnb, anyone tried these? VRBO is pretty good in my experience (security deposit, yay!), but I'd love to hear informed opinions about the rest.

VRBO.com – A classic Airbnb competitor, VRBO provides an online space for homeowners to advertise their vacation properties for travelers worldwide.

Wimdu.com – A very similar service to Airbnb, primarily based in Europe but spreading quickly.

PerfectPlaces.com – Another great worldwide resource for finding vacation rental properties.  This is a very direct Airbnb competitor, but their front end site is not as beautiful.

9flats.com – A private community of people renting short term accommodation to each other.

OneFineStay.com – Offers upscale city accommodation for visitors while the homeowner is out of town, allowing homeowners to earn an extra income.

VacationRentals.com – Part of the Home Away family of websites, this is another platform for homeowners to rent out their space when the’re not home.

FlipKey.com – A vacation rental marketplace that enables users to find and book a place to stay through its web platform.

[Sarah977]

@Airbnb  I've never tried any of them because none of them list private room rentals. They all only accept whole house listings. Someone posted here the other day saying Wimdu no longer exists.

[Patti4]

I am so discouraged, I can't even read through all of the fine responses from all of the diligent, experienced, and honest hosts. 

Please help me develop a method of screening under the new "no photo, no info" rules.

I do not use Instant book for all the obvious reason (safety, single woman alone in the house, they can see me but I can't see them, etc.). My guests are required to send an inquiry and upload photo in advance (which I can't see unless we book, got it).

What I need right now is advice on how to screen guests within the 24-hour window when

1. they provide no information about the purpose of their trip, and
2. they have no reviews on their profile

My house rules are complete and thorough and guests have to agree but I doubt many actually read them.

So I message with them, obviously. But if they fail to reply within 24 hours are my only choices to

1. take a gamble on my home and safety, or
2. call ABB to cancel without penalty?

Thanks for your help.

---

@Airbnb wrote:

Here are a few more tips to help you build trust with guests before a trip:

• You can message with them to get more information about the purpose of their trip;
• You can use your House Rules to set expectations with potential guests, too. (Guests have to review and agree to your House Rules before they can request to book your space.)
• You can review past guest reviews, from other hosts, to make a more informed decision about accepting booking requests.

[Sarah977]

@Patti4  We're in the same boat- older single woman hosting in her home, no Instant Book.

Yes, I rely on messaging with guests to get a feel for who they are, and so far (hosting since late 2016) I've had lovely, respectful guests, both male and female. I've accepted people with no reviews (If I see they've been a member for along time, I'll ask about that- sometimes they joined but never used it, sometimes they actually had stays, but the hosts didn't leave reviews) and they turned out to be fine guests, but really, I could tell they would be by the tone, openness and friendliness of their communication.

If a guest doesn't respond to a message: Inquiry-just let it expire. No need to Pre-approve or Decline if you've answered their message. Booking Request: Decline but send the guest a message explaining that the reason you declined is that you didn't get a response to your message and you are penalized if you don't Approve or Decline within 24 hours. Let them know that you realize they may just have been too busy to respond right away, and that all they need to do is put in another request, while responding to the message you had sent them.

In none of those cases is it ever necessary to cancel, as the guest doesn't have an approved booking yet. 

[Patti4]

Thanks, Sarah, for reminding me that cancellation is not required with a booking request, but accept/decline is. Before the no photo rule, I did decline a few requests based on poor communication or for a bad fit, and I always explained why. I like your suggestion: "you realize they may just have been too busy to respond right away, and that all they need to do is put in another request, while responding to the message you had sent them." 

It is a bit like starting over although I have been hosting since 2013, and continuous Superhost status for ages. My season is starting up and the first request was lacking details.

Best, Patti