Yes, there is a company paying people to find the property addresses for AirBnBs, and selling the data to local governments. Yet another reason to comply with all local laws and taxes.
Wow, really? I thought software could do it cheaper but I guess human slavery is still the biggest bargain.
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Yeah, I’m pretty good at figuring these things out, but even finding one address every 10 minutes would only work out to $12/hr.
I pay more than that for cleaning my rentals. 
Squirrel moment—-another example of a new job/industry blossoming out of the home sharing business.
I am amazed at the changes/new jobs brought by home sharing:
- Automated messaging services
- Rental analytics providers
- Co-hosts
- A new type of STR property manager that advertises nationally & offers rentals in several areas (e.g. RedAwning) vs. local property listings only
- Need for more service providers like cleaning services or small repair
- Rental platforms that did not exist or expanded their STR vacation home rentals to include home-sharing options (e.g. Houfy, VRBO, etc)
- Airbnb experiences
It is amazing to me.
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First thing that came to mind when I read the topic title was rows and rows of robots in an Istanbul basement. Ok, I’ll get me coat…
JF
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I tried doing some MT stuff a few years ago and it came out to about 12 cents an hour. 
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I’ve said this before and will say again: I expect to start seeing reports of hosts having awful guests who demand refunds in exchange for not reporting their illegal rentals to authorities.
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If you’re running an illegal rental then you’ve got no one to blame but yourself.
JF
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Here’s one of the software approaches:
A Host of Troubles: Re-Identifying Airbnb Hosts Using Public Data
A friend told me her son went to a ball game in a big city, stayed at an Airbnb listing, and the host told him, “don’t tell anyone you are renting.” “If anyone asks you are my cousin.” “If anyone asks I’m picking up an extra shift at work & ask them to leave a message”
In some cases, the illegal rentals are obvious.
He decided to keep the information to himself because he didn’t want to have to find another place to stay.
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I hate hearing about that sort of thing. I always think that it gives us a bad name.
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There usually seems to be some hint in the listing but I can see why most people wouldn’t bother to look for the signs or care one way or the other. That’s why I end up in hotels in places like NYC, I don’t want to take the chance.
I guess they are looking for a bargain. However they are the guests who will post on AirbnbHell that they booked & suddenly the listing disappeared and they had no place to stay; thus making it more difficult for good hosts.
You know the story:
“Prior to check-in, the host told me not to talk to anyone in the building and if any one asked I was visiting her for the weekend. I decided to stay anyway. It felt odd but I didn’t report it to Airbnb. The day before check-in the listing disappeared and I couldn’t reach the host. I didn’t call Airbnb. I went to NYC and showed up at the rental. I couldn’t get in. Vacation ruined. I had to pay 3X as much for a hotel room. Airbnb let this happen to me. They don’t care about guests. I will never use Airbnb again.”
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Well, no. Thanks for the recap. I don’t read Airbnbhell. There’s enough whining on this forum to satiate my need to bite the hand that feeds me. 
I don’t expect guests to go overboard on research though. I really do put the onus on Airbnb to do their best to not allow illegal listings on their platform. I know there are difficulties doing that but they don’t even try very hard.
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