By: Brad Greiner, CEO of Open Air Homes and OpenAiRE Brokerage
September 13, 2024
With Halloween around the corner, Airbnb is tightening its grip on bad hosting practices. Will your listing survive THE PURGE?
As the spooky season kicks into gear, there’s a chilling new phenomenon in the world of short-term rentals that’s sending shivers down the spines of hosts everywhere. No, it’s not a haunted house, it’s Airbnb’s very own version of “The Purge.”
For those unfamiliar, “The Purge” is a dystopian series where, for 12 hours, all crimes, including murder, are legal. The concept is that this terrifying event helps reduce crime for the rest of the year.
Airbnb’s version of The Purge isn’t about crime per se it’s about hosting practices. And trust us, they’re not messing around.
Welcome to Airbnb’s Host Purge
Over the past few months, hosts and property managers have noticed a tightening grip from Airbnb on how they manage and monitor listings. Homes that don’t meet the high standards whether due to bad hosting practices, poorly kept properties, or low reviews are facing potential delisting.
If your home isn’t performing well, or if you’re using a property manager who isn’t up to par, your listing may face an uncertain future. We’ve seen this firsthand: even one negative complaint can trigger warnings from Airbnb’s algorithms, despite having 30+ consecutive 5-star reviews.
Hosts who’ve built a solid reputation on the platform are receiving automated warnings that their homes could be in violation and at risk of being removed from Airbnb. While these messages are likely generated by computer algorithms, they signal a broader trend: Airbnb is treating hosts and their homes as mere data points on a spreadsheet.
Why is Airbnb Taking These Steps?
Airbnb is taking these steps due to an oversupply in the market, coupled with a general decline in demand for rental properties. This imbalance has led to reduced earnings for homeowners, compelling Airbnb to strike the perfect balance of supply and demand to ensure that successful hosts can continue to thrive.
In essence, Airbnb is frustrated with the growing number of social media complaints about bad hosting, and they’re taking a heavy-handed approach to weeding out the bad players. Automated messages are now being sent out every time there’s a negative review, threatening to delist your home even if you have consistent 5-star ratings over years.
At Open Air Homes, we’ve been hosting for 14 years with a 4.9+ star average over that entire time. Our guests are overwhelmingly satisfied. However, we’ve noticed in the last two months that when we receive even one bad review, we start getting warnings about our home potentially being delisted. This is a very non-human approach to a very human problem. A host problem. A training problem. But, as hosts, we have come to expect tech companies to handle us like machines. This heavy-handed approach to one bad review is forcing hosts to expand their offerings to other platforms, just in case a ban on Airbnb occurs. It’s wise to begin building your review base on VRBO or other sites, should Airbnb’s policies become too stringent and lead to your delisting.
Is Airbnb’s Strategy Right?
In theory, Airbnb’s strategy to weed out bad hosts and homes makes sense. However, it requires human capital to determine who the good hosts are and who the bad ones are and when to side with a host versus a guest when there is an issue.
Airbnb seems to be missing the point that they believe they have always been the top product in the space and will continue to be. But as competitors take more and more market share, this dominance is at risk. If Airbnb continues to treat hosts poorly, another company could come along that offers a fairer deal, possibly at a lower commission, leading to a mass exodus of hosts from the platform.
A Future for Good Hosts
Airbnb’s crackdown isn’t necessarily bad after all, it’s the bad hosts and low-quality homes that give the entire industry a bad name. But there’s room for improvement in how Airbnb distinguishes the best from the rest. We believe Airbnb should have a more nuanced approach to identifying top hosts, whether they’re mom-and-pop operations, mid-sized businesses, or large-scale enterprises.
One solution? A series of badges you earn the more courses you complete. Instead of just a “Superhost” status, Airbnb could implement training programs that reward hosts with badges like “Super-Communicator” or “Super-Maintainer” This system would allow Airbnb to identify top performers not just through automated data but through a robust system of checks, training, and communication. Rather than immediately penalizing hosts when a home’s rating dips, a simple call could alert hosts to issues and allow them time to address problems before any drastic action is taken. However, the current reality is a far cry from this ideal. For now, Airbnb is casting a wide net, and even good hosts might find themselves caught up in it.
What You Can Do
If you’re concerned about your property’s standing on Airbnb, consider this your wake-up call. Working with a professional host who values the guest experience ensuring cleanliness, seamless check-ins, thorough maintenance, and fair pricing could be your saving grace.
The purge is here, and whether or not you’re spared might depend on how seriously you take your hosting responsibilities. But with the right approach, you can navigate these changes and continue to thrive in the Airbnb ecosystem.
Currently, Airbnb is siding with the guests because, again, back to the basics of business: supply is too high, and demand is too low, so they are siding with the demand side. This is simple supply and demand, but as Airbnb gets stricter with everyone, it’s clear that many hosts are considering their alternative plans whether that be VRBO, Google Travel, Booking.com, a direct booking feature, or countless other sites. Poke the bear too hard, and there could be a mass exodus like Airbnb has never seen. It is definitely not out of the realm of possibilities at this point, and I can guarantee that all hosts who have received these warnings are making backup plans should their home get delisted.
Guests, Beware: A New Era of Vetted Stays
For guests, Airbnb’s goal is to ensure that each stay is with a vetted host who offers a quality experience. However, getting from here to there is going to be messy. Expect to hear about hosts being kicked off the platform, some justifiably, others perhaps not. The path to a more reliable Airbnb experience might be rocky, but in the end, it could lead to better, more consistent stays.
The Bottom Line
Use this as your moment to step up your game and be great. The Purge is coming, and you want to be alive at the end of it!
