Airbnb Promises to Verify All 7 Million Listings

61

Very interesting. Why not get guests to verify ( from their perspective). However some guests are just malicious and as we all know - do not read the site - and will say anything publicly in a review, that in some cases are patently false. I am sure that some will also give reviews to Airbnb (non public) that will be bs also.

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62

Thinking… the invite a host incentive, I can see a verify this property with a discount off your next trip incentives.

63

Is there anything in particular that they are looking for?

64

Money …

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65

Not including travel from unit to unit, nor, input of data. What about availability of unit. There would have to be some sort of scheduling.

66

Yeah, if people are determined to throw a party, they will. My listing is a tiny studio guest house in my back yard (300 Sq ft) with a 2 guest max and this summer guests decided to hold a wedding reception on my porch (like, not even the guest porch, my porch, blocking my front door) without asking me. Luckily airbnb had my back when I called to report it.

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67

The basic premise they are implying is to ensure that the listing exists and photos are accurate. They want to protect guests from a prolific scam by bad hosts where the host tells guests at the last second that a listing is not available, then tells the guest they have another listing that the guest can use instead. The host may even provide photos showing a much nicer listing, but the other listing turns out to be a dump.

68

Yes, that’s the basic premise. But Chesky’s statements are just a PR move ahead of his IPO. Guests have always been able to report scam listings. And there are tons of hosts who’ve reported to Airbnb that someone is lisiting their place illegally- that it’s not even a rental- the scammer gets the photos off a real estate site. Airbnb has been ignoring these reports and letting the listing stay up. This is happening right now, even after this new announcement. It’s all total BS.

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69

Wouldn’t it just make more sense to put the effort into alerting guests to this possibility ahead of time? And provide them with instructions on what to do if it happens?

This is a rhetorical question – AirBnB isn’t likely to do anything to let guests know that there are some sketchy hosts on the platform.

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70

This is good to hear.

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