Drew Dixon
Airbnb officials are stepping up efforts to stem rowdy behavior at their rentals, especially for Memorial Day Weekend
The company is relying on anti-party technology to enforce its “community disturbance policy” employed to keep renters from going over the line.
Airbnb officials will use “machine learning” to scan prospective renters. If those looking to book a unit have had an issue with partying or disruptive behavior during previous bookings, they’ll be directed to an alternative accommodation or rental platform. The tech can even raise red flags based on the type of booking being requested.
The unofficial beginning of Summer during Memorial Day Weekend will see the technology in full force. It’s not the first time the tech has been used by Airbnb.
“Our anti-party technology is designed to help identify and prevent certain attempts to book one-to-two-night stays in entire home listings that could be higher risk for a disruptive party,” an Airbnb news release said.
“The system looks at a range of factors — including the type of listing being booked, the duration of the stay, the distance to the listing from the guest’s primary location and whether the booking is last minute — to determine whether a booking should be blocked.”
There have already been thousands of potential renters in Florida who have been blocked from reserving units and tens of thousands across the country.
“Last year, these defenses deterred approximately 51,000 people in the U.S. from booking and saw a reduction in the number of parties reported over these summer holidays,” an Airbnb news release said. “Specifically in Florida, approximately 7,400 people were deterred from booking an entire home listing on Airbnb last year across summer holiday weekends.”
Given the chance of complaints by neighbors about Airbnb units, the rental company has been increasing efforts to downplay raucous behavior.
“It’s important to note that parties remain extremely rare on Airbnb. In 2024, just 0.08% of reservations in Florida resulted in an allegation of a party. What’s more, thanks in part to proactive measures like our anti-party technology, we’ve seen a 46% decrease in the rate of party reports to us in Florida since introducing our global party ban policy in 2020,” Airbnb officials said.
