Airbnb to Verify All 7 Million Listings

[Suzanne302]

In case you missed it:

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/airbnb-verify-million-properties-improve-trust-66800644

This is great and something that should have been a no-brainer. Plenty of bad listings out there. But it still seems to be vilifying the hosts when the biggest need is to address bad GUEST behavior.

Thoughts?

[Helen350]

@Suzanne302 

1) How is it POSSIBLE to verify listings, until the first guest, and then the second, third, fourth turn up & verify it either doesn't exist, or find it's nothing like the listing description/photos? Airbnb are hardly going to send inspectors round all those millions of listings in every country in the world..... I guess the review system works in that established Airbnbs have largely positive reviews - which is verification by review,  but how to identify scams  before the first few guests have  booked & found it doesn't exist. (Not being awkward, just wondering...)

2) Agree hosts should not be vilified for bad guest behaviour, & systems need to be in place to  deal with & NOT reward bad guests. - And support hosts over this!

[Reo--and--Gayle0]

  i read on Cnn website  the justice department   found widespread fake listings, fake reviews, hosts  using fake names, and fake addresses. If that is true,  they probably told them how they were doing it and they  now have the tools to shut those loopholes.   This is all good.  

[Helen350]

@Reo--and--Gayle0  I've lost count of the number of obviously fake listings I've reported in & around my obscure out of the way small town. I quickly identify them as fake, cos the ads are written in bad English, have 'generic' looking 'host' profile pics, have photos of interiors which look Asian, & exteriors of tower blocks, which we do not have! And claims of elevators & aircon which we don't have. There was one case where a fake listing was up for months, despite my having reported it. So I messaged C.S. Moments later I got an angry sounding phone call saying they had a whole dept dealing with these scams, but that there was some technical reason why they could not remove this particular one.... But that they were working on it.

Easy to i.d. fakes when full of Asian photos & wording.... Wouldn't be so easy if it were locals.

[Reo--and--Gayle0]

this is the news link I saw revolving fake listing scam .   https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/43k7z3/nationwide-fake-host-scam-on-airbnb

 just click on the color links to take you to the stories. one link has a response from AIRBNB CEO. 

Airbnb

Airbnb is taking action after an investigation uncovered an intricate scam that allowed a person to put up phony listings and fake reviews on its site. The company says it'll review each of its 7 million listings by December 2020 to vet the accuracy of photos, addresses and listing details, as well as to inspect for standards such as cleanliness, safety and home amenities. Just last week, five people were shot dead at a Halloween party in an Airbnb rental in Northern California, and the company said it's cracking down on unauthorized parties.

[Nikolai12]

I read the article about the fake listings. It is a riddle to me how the guest that wrote the article was able to find those other guests he contacted and wrote about. You can only see people’s first names, last names are not listed on the ABB site. Very odd! However, my biggest concern is about the situation where 6 people were shot, shouldn’t this be alarming and have Abb start vetting the guests more instead of verifying listings? It is the guests that are coming not our houses that need to be verified! 

[Emily487]

@Suzanne302 

I'm really excited for the Neighbor Hotline for those with concerns about an AirBnB. If we think they have call center/CS problems NOW,  just wait till thousands of annoyed neighbors start calling in every hour!

[Suzanne302]

@Emily487 OMG, right??? 

[Mark116]

@Suzanne302   I just hope it doesn't turn into something like the Plus program did, where airbnb demands minor changes, wastes hosts time with scheduling mix ups,  and then the host becomes caught in a netherworld where they can't get the final sign off after they have made whatever changes are demanded.  

I'm also curious, because I thought airbnb already rehoused you if the listing was not as advertised and gave you a refund, and this worries me that airbnb will start giving refund when the pillows are blue instead of green or the dishes pattern is different than the photos.

[Suzanne302]

@Mark116 I hope not either. That would be a nightmare. Not sure how it's possible to thoroughly vet 7 million properties.

It would seem a "probationary period" would be a good idea for new hosts as a way to help make sure a listing is legit.

Up to now, they seemed focused on money and signing up as many hosts and guests as possible without any thought as to what they were actually building...a monster. They do zero vetting of new listings. And pretty much zero vetting of new guests. It's so easy to become a host, it's scary!

I think they grew too fast.....

[Mark116]

I also think if they want to encourage accuracy, they should bring back the free photo 1x per year, I know the photos we have taken, even with a digital camera, are not as good as the ones the photographer did, so we kept those as long as possible and even still have 1 or 2 up for the listing.  

[Rebecca181]

@Suzanne302 Prior to reading your post - and seeing just the title - I actually read (at first), "Airbnb To VILIFY All 7 Million Listings". Shows you how I was impacted by Chesky's 'host shaming and blaming' response to the Orinda shootings. 

What I see is yet another knee-jerk reaction from Corporate, with no real thought as to how this lofty goal will be carried out behind it. Just something to pacify those anticipating an IPO and the profits they will make - And to pacify the public of course. And it worked - The Orinda shooting barely got any National attention and no international attention to speak of. 

Well done, Airbnb!

[Anonymous]

@Rebecca181  The Orinda shooting definitely got reported here in Germany. But it didn't make that much impact, because it's just a convergence of two things that are in the news practically every day:  Airbnb controversies, and  mass shootings in America.

[Mark116]

I would guess, though w/airbnb you can never be sure, that they would have to do this as physical inspections, otherwise someone can simply skype it from their fake listing, so, maybe a lot of  job opportunities will be opening up for airbnb inspectors, LOL.  And, then, they'd have to do it every 2 or 3 years or so, to keep it current.  And will they start doing a physicial inspection for new listings as they come on board?  The real question is whether airbnb even considered any of these questions before they did the announcement. 

[Laura2592]

@Mark1169  all I can think is "how much will this cost?" I see fees going waaaay up especially if they are strapped to show profit fir an IPO.