Airbnb Launching ‘Anti-Party’ Technology in Canada and the U.S.

Airbnb on Tuesday announced the introduction of new anti-party tools in Canada and the U.S. to help prevent unauthorized parties by identifying and declining potentially high-risk reservations.

This system looks at factors like history of positive reviews (or lack of positive reviews), length of time the guest has been on Airbnb, length of the trip, distance to the listing, weekend vs. weekday, among many others. The primary objective is attempting to reduce the ability of bad actors to throw unauthorized parties which negatively impact our Hosts, neighbors, and the communities we serve.

The move follows a June announcement that Airbnb’s temporary ban on parties would graduate a codified platform policy.

Airbnb placed a temporary ban on parties in Canada and the U.S. in 2020. “In Canada, we’ve seen a 47% year-over-year drop in party reports since the introduction of that temporary policy in 2020, higher than the global average of 44%,” the company said.

At the same time, Canada became the first market where Airbnb restricted guests under 25 years of age from booking entire home listings in their local area under certain circumstances if they did not have a history of positive reviews.

If an Airbnb user’s booking for an entire home is declined as a result of the platform’s anti-party measures, they will still be able to book a private room or a hotel room.

Airbnb’s crackdown on parties thrown without the knowledge or consent of property owners is part of the lodging and rental platform’s commitment to its community of Hosts, “who respect their neighbours and want no part of the property damage and other issues that may come with unauthorized or disruptive parties.”

Back in May, Airbnb started rolling out a massive redesign for its app and website. The company has also permanently shifted to a more flexible remote work dynamic for all of its workers.