@Jeff158 @Cormac0 @Helen3 @Sarah977
Cottages. com is just the tip of the iceberg. There are literally thousands of similar outfits flooding the platform now.
One of the most important rulings made by the EU was that offerings from individual hosts, and those from professional/commercial operators, must be clearly identified and delineated from each other on the site, as not doing so gives an unfair advantage to the big players. (That's quite apart from the range of preferential policies and practices Airbnb favours the Pro's with - incl. SuperStrict 30 and 60 canx - that are denied to regular hosts) Also, consumer protection laws differ greatly for each.
2. Identification of traders and commercial content
"It is understood, from Airbnb’s Hosting Standards, that certain professional providers are allowed to use Airbnb’s platform to offer their accommodation services. However, when searching for accommodation on Airbnb’s website, the search result shows accommodation provided by both private individuals and professional providers with no distinction between the two.
In particular, with a view to avoid omitting material information, the collaborative economy platform should, as a minimum, enable relevant third party traders to indicate to users that they are traders, and the platform should inform consumers whether and, if so, what criteria it applies to select the suppliers operating through it and whether and, if so, what checks it performs in relation to their reliability
With a platform like Airbnb, which enables accommodation sharing, the distinction between professional providers and private host peers may influence the decisions of consumers using the platform to book accommodation. In fact, on the one hand the distinction has implications for the question of whether the transaction is protected by consumer protection rules and, on the other, many consumers using Airbnb are looking for private homes with personal involvement and not necessarily for professional property owners.
CPC authorities find that the lack of distinction between private host peers and professional providers on Airbnb’s website is likely to deceive consumers in relation to the nature of the trader, as set out in art 6 (1) (f) and 7(1) and (2), and is likely to cause a transactional decision that would not have been taken otherwise. In order to comply with the Directive 2005/29/EC, Airbnb would need to change the manner in which listings are presented in accordance with the legal requirements described above. CPC authorities would also like to draw Airbnb’s attention to the UCPD’s requirements to clearly distinguish editorial content from advertising content. Consumers expect search engines to display 'natural' or 'organic' results relevant for their search query based on sufficiently impartial criteria.
It is not clear to the CPC authorities whether Airbnb has sponsored content in the search results as of now, but for future reference please note that, as explained in the UCPD Guidance, consumers should not be misled on the nature of the listings. For instance, it should be clear whether listings / search results are "natural" or "sponsored" or whether there are other serious limitations in the scope of the search"
I attended a meeting at Airbnb HQ here in Dublin last Tuesday evening and asked, repeatedly, why professional operators and commercial entities are still being listed alongside (and invariably, above) regular hosts on the platform, in clear breach of EU legislation, particularly when the company is fully aware that in failing to comply, it is blatantly - and illegally - choosing to put its original host base at a potentially disastrous disadvantage. I'm still trying to get an official answer - or any answer at all - almost a week later, but I won't be giving up anytime soon.
