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Need your help! We are launching a low-cost photo verification service that allows a prospective renter to verify that the photos used in an AIrbnb listing are genuine and recent. We would value your comments, ideas and suggestions and in return, we’ll be happy to give you a free, extended trial once we launch.
So here is a quick summary, but if you’d like more information then please visit http://indentika.com. Please also don’t forget to complete the quick registration form here http://tinyurl.com/hur7xku so that we can get in touch when we launch to give you your free, extended trial.
The problem
Many prospective renters often state that their greatest anxiety is the potential discrepancy between the photos used in an Airbnb listing and the actual property. Complaints of “photo discrepancy” are increasing in line with the industry’s growth that results in an unfortunate trickle-down effect for good hosts. New hosts without reviews often discover that renters will gravitate towards listings with reviews and ignore their property, only because reviews are the only current way of verifying that a property’s photos match what a renter will find when they arrive.
The solution
So our proprietary solution to this “photo anxiety” problem is to provide Airbnb hosts with an effective way to display independently verified photos of their property, regardless of their geographic location. Priced at just a few dollars per month, we use a combination of remote human verification and image tracking technology that lets hosts advertise to prospective renters that the photos are genuine and recent (12 months or less). To give renters an added confidence boost (and prevent any fraudulent use of verified photos), renters can right click on a photo to verify if it is genuine and correctly associated with its Airbnb listing.
So that’s our pitch! Here are some questions:
Is there any benefit to being able to claim on your Airbnb listing that the photos are independently verified, genuine and recent?
Would this claim have a positive impact on your bookings?
Set up is free (which includes the remote photo verification session and production of verified images); the cost for allowing a renter to independently verify that the photos are genuine starts at $4.99 per month (40 phots). Comments on price?
Feel free to comment here or use the Comment box in the free trial registration form (see link above).
Agree - for many new hosts without reviews it can be difficult to attract a first guest because they are nervous that the photos aren’t a real match. The idea behind our service is that you don’t have to rely on Airbnb to take your photos (apart from not technically being able to use the “Airbnb” photos on other homestay sites) and we offer a unique technology that lets renters check the photos are genuine.
Agreed, and is partly the reason we undertake annual verifications so that photos are recent. But yes, if someone wants to go through the effort to verify photos to post on Airbnb and then trash their place, not much we can do
Sounds like a great concept. However Is there really such an anxiety regarding unverified photos on airbnb , and is solving that anxiety best solved by getting a certificate which costs you monthly? As a guest, yes it could be a factor that would deter me from booking a new property. as a new host, it may be worth a one off payment. But as soon as there is a review or two, the guest’s perception of risk is significantly diminished, so the host has no further need to have verified photos.
AirBnB is based on trust, if a guest needs “verified pictures”, I do not even want them in my house.
This is typically creating a problem that does not exist, end making money out of it.
Like many other services that like to “ride piggy back” on the succes of AirBnB.
I still think it’s a good concept, but would advise you to explore marketplaces which have higher trust hurdles. Or ones do not have a robust trust system in place. They might be more lucrative niches for a third party photo verification service.
Such as dating or marriage services. Or international real estate listings. Or field inspections for marine and aircraft insurance.
Don’t think this is a big enough problem to warrant paying a service for. I take my own photos and don’t don’t photoshop them. One thing guests say is that the place is exactly as pictured and advertised.
Would not interest me. Like so many of these services the focus is on urban markets. I am only two hours north of New York City and yet ABB claimed no photographers were available in my area. Yeah, right. I’m sure this service has nothing to offer rural markets.
I use photographs that I take on the phone. They are not even remotely professional. But I’ve heard that pro photographers will use fish-eye lenses and other things I don’t understand to make the place look larger. I don’t want to do that because I like it when guests say that the place is better than it looks in the photographs
This being said, I think that most guests choose our place because of its location rather than its decor.
But I wouldn’t use a verification service (especially one that costs money) for the reasons others mentioned above.
Bidding? I don’t want to pay anyone when Airbnb offers the service for free … if you’re in an urban market they care about. It doesn’t matter now, anyway, I’ve been renting for six years. But all these services that advertise here are all geared towards urban markets.
