Airbnb automates party-pooping
"Party's over," says AirBnb. (Photo: John Macdougal/AFP/Getty Images)
American electronic music duo LMFAO would be sad to discover that party rock is no longer in the house, or in Airbnbs, rather.
Have you ever heard of anti-party technology? No? Me neither. So it definitely took me by surprise that Airbnb coined the term after it recently codified a global ban on all parties and events at Airbnb listings.
But before we sign off Airbnb as party-poopers, it’s best to understand how the San Francisco-based company arrived at this decision.
Party for one
Party restrictions began as early as 2019, as Airbnb Hosts could authorize parties appropriate for their home and neighborhood. Eventually, Airbnb tightened its measures to prohibit “open-invite” parties which led to noise disturbances and neighborhood nuisances.
In November 2019, a Halloween party that was thrown at a California Airbnb drew a crowd of more than 100 people, unbeknownst to the Airbnb Hosts. Later that evening, a mass shooting occurred which left five partygoers dead. Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky vowed to create a dedicated “party house” response team and bolster manual screening of high-risk reservations.
When the pandemic hit, many bars and clubs closed shop or limited their occupancies due to health restrictions. Party culture quickly flocked to private Airbnbs, where gatherings could circumvent the COVID-19 protocols at the time. This series of events led to the temporary ban on parties. The Party and Events Policy prohibited “gatherings of more than 16 people” and “all disruptive parties and events.”
Over time, Airbnb’s party ban became more than just a public health measure. According to a statement by the company, “It developed into a bedrock community policy to support our Hosts and their neighbors.”
And the result speaks for itself. Airbnb found a direct correlation between the implementation of the policy in 2020 and a 44% year-over-year drop in the rate of Airbnb party complaints. And in 2021, over 6,600 guests were suspended from using the platform for attempting to violate the party ban.
The Airbnb community had mixed feelings when the temporary ban became a codified policy. On one hand, Airbnb reported that the initiative received positive feedback from community leaders. On the other, some Airbnb Hosts felt otherwise and even tried to rent out their property to party planners outside of the Airbnb platform.
No parties in the USA
Following the codified policy, Airbnb has already begun piloting its all-new anti-party tech in the US and some parts of Canada and Australia.
The anti-party tech aims to identify “potentially high-risk reservations,” which would examine a user’s history of positive reviews, history with the service, period of the requested booking, the distance from the user’s home to the booking, and whether the venue was booked for a weekend or a weekday.
This new tech was designed to flag suspicious bookings from the onset so that Hosts can approve bookings without fear of rowdy guests. Customers who have been blocked from booking an entire listing due to this system change will still be able to book a single room in a whole residence.
The latest update spots the party-planning MO, by preventing users under the age of 25 from booking entire properties near where they live until they accumulate at least three positive reviews. The new system is said to block party-seeking users while accommodating guests who aren’t actually trying to throw parties.
Party's over, people
This may be only the beginning of bash-banning.
Vacation rental company Vrbo has joined Airbnb on the cause. Meanwhile, other companies like Peerspace are making the most out of these anti-party movements and are providing venue rental alternatives.
While Airbnb’s party ban is technically global, the tech updates have only been in effect in the US, Canada, and Australia.
Although the policy is in effect in the Philippines, that hasn’t stopped both local and international party-seeking users from planning large-scale social gatherings through Airbnb. Just a casual search on the Philippine Airbnb platform shows multiple listings that blatantly violate Airbnb Policy.
As capacity restrictions are lightening up, people are looking to make up for lost time and party like there’s no tomorrow. And honestly, I don’t blame them. My only hope is that people are doing so under safe circumstances.
If I had a choice between partying in a public space or attending a chillnuman (a small get-together at someone’s house), the introvert in me will always choose smaller, more intimate spaces with close-knit people—and fewer chances of catching COVID-19.
My general rule of thumb: there ain’t no party like a safely-planned party.
