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- Airbnb is cracking down on fake listings.
- The platform said it had removed 59,000 fake listings this year and prevented another 157,000 from getting on the site.
- Customers also listed high cleaning fees among their top concerns about the site.
Next time you find yourself on Airbnb, there's a chance that listing you're admiring could be too good to be true - literally.
The company says it has removed 59,000 fake listings and prevented another 157,000 from joining the platform this year alone.
Fake listings and high cleaning fees are among several issues that Airbnb users highlighted in a company survey, the rental platform said Wednesday. Others included a desire for lower prices.
Airbnb said that later this year it will begin verifying all listings in its top five markets, including the United States and the United Kingdom, to combat an outbreak of fakes.
Fraudulent listings create refunds and rebooking costs for Airbnb, "but the biggest risk is to our reputation," CEO Brain Chesky said. "If you can't trust when you book an Airbnb that it's real and you're going to like it, then you're going to stay in a hotel."
Earlier this year, Chesky spoke of the potential of chatbots like ChatGPT to be the "ultimate AI concierge" for travelers. Now the company also plans to use AI to help it verify listings in those top five countries.
It will have hosts go inside the property and open the Airbnb app. GPS will verify they are at the correct address, and AI will be used to compare live photos with pictures that the host uses on the listing.
Properties in the U.S., U.K., Canada, France and Australia that pass the test will get a "verified" icon on their listings starting in February. The company said it will verify listings in 30 more countries starting late next year.
Aside from fake listings, Airbnb has had to contend with more stringent regulations in places like New York City.
At the beginning of September, NYC began enforcing a 2022 law that makes it more difficult for Airbnb hosts to use their properties for short-term rentals, prompting a staggering drop in listings.
Additionally some Airbnb users took to social media last year to complain about increased charges — like cleaning fees and extensive chore lists.
The San Francisco company said more than 260,000 listings have lowered or removed cleaning fees this year, since it gave consumers the means to sort listings according to total price.
Airbnb says the change in how prices are displayed discourages hosts from touting low prices but piling on extra fees. However, only about one-third of Airbnb renters are using it.
"We got a lot of feedback that Airbnb is not as affordable as it used to be," Chesky said in an interview. The pricing changes are starting work, he said, and more measures are in the works.
One of those is "seasonal dynamic pricing" — technology that would help hosts adjust prices more often, like airlines and hotels do. Chesky said that will prod hosts into cutting prices during the off-season, but it could also help them raise peak prices.