As Follow Up Ban On Partying In Rented Homes, Airbnb Creates New Anti-party Technology In US And Canada

Airbnb's latest technology is claimed to be more sophisticated (photo: Pixabay)

JAKARTA - Airbnb is piloting its latest anti-party technology in the US and Canada to enforce its policy against banning parties in rental homes.

This technology helps companies identify potentially high-risk reservations by looking at certain factors that include history of positive reviews, Airbnb account age, length of trip, distance to accommodation, and weekend or weekday rentals.

"The ultimate goal is to try to reduce the ability of bad actors to hurl unauthorized parties that negatively impact our Hosts, neighbors, and the communities we serve," the company wrote in a statement to Airbnb Newsroom.

In fact, the company says, that it has been piloting similar technology in certain regions of Australia since October 2021.

In a felt test, they managed to reduce 35 percent of unauthorized parties who carried out party activities in their rented houses.

This technology was created as a follow-up to the company's decision to permanently ban hosting parties or events for hosts and guests.

When this ban started in 2019, Airbnb tightened the rules by banning open parties (parties advertised on social media). Then the pandemic hit, many clubs closed, so many people moved parties to their homes, including using Airbnb.

Worried about disturbing hosts or guests, and spreading the virus, the company finally made a temporary ban on parties in 2020. And then made it permanent in 2022.

According to the company, this technology is a more powerful version than before. Previously, Airbnb automatically barred guests under the age of 25 without a positive review from booking a mansion near where they live.

While the launch of this updated technology has a much broader focus, without mentioning a maximum age limit.

"While we are consistently willing to make exchanges to build trust, our goal is to make this system as accurate and fair as possible to support our Hosts and guests," the company continued.

The company also makes it clear that no system is perfect, no matter how much effort the company makes to create a safe space for its users.