Anti-party defenses for New Year’s Eve rolled out around the world

Key Takeaways

• Airbnb is rolling out anti-party technology in countries and regions globally to help reduce the risk of unauthorized and disruptive parties over NYE.
• Nearly 74,000 people globally were deterred from booking last New Year’s Eve.

This New Year’s Eve, Airbnb is introducing measures to help reduce the risk of unauthorized and disruptive parties. This anti-party technology uses machine learning to identify and block potentially higher-risk bookings of entire home listings from being made – with the goal of promoting positive travel and hosting on the platform.

Airbnb’s defenses assess a number of signals – including the length of the trip, the type of listing, how far the listing is from the guest’s location, and when the reservation is being made – to help determine the potential risk for a disruptive, unauthorized party. If a booking is identified as higher risk, the guest will either be blocked from booking, or redirected to alternative accommodations on the platform.

“While issues are rare, we want to do our part to help reduce the risk  of unauthorized and disruptive parties. Airbnb is committed to supporting hosts and the communities they live in, and we hope these defenses allow guests, hosts and neighbors to celebrate the holiday with added reassurance.” - Tara Bunch, Global Head of Operations at Airbnb

This technology will be in effect leading up to and over New Year’s Eve in countries and regions across the globe, including in the US, Puerto Rico, Canada, the UK, France, Spain, Australia and New Zealand. For guests seeking to book an entire home listing on Airbnb for New Year’s Eve in these countries, the following measures will be in place: 

• Restrictions on one to three night reservations: Our systems will block higher-risk one, two or three night bookings for entire home listings.
• Mandatory anti-party attestation: Guests who can make reservations will need to confirm that they understand that disruptive and unauthorized parties are not allowed on Airbnb, and they face suspension or removal from the platform if they violate this policy. 

Airbnb has activated these restrictions around New Year’s Eve since 2020. In the years since, we’ve seen a significant decrease in the rate of parties  reported  to us over this holiday. Last year alone, nearly 74,000 people globally were blocked from booking an entire home listing on the platform, including approximately 33,000 people in the US, approximately 5,700 people in Canada, and approximately 16,000 people in France. Since we first implemented this defense in 2020, the rate of parties reported to us over NYE has decreased by over 60% in the countries where measures were in place.

In the US, approximately 33,000 guests were blocked or redirected from attempting to book on Airbnb over New Year’s Eve. This includes approximately 4,700 guests in California and approximately 4,200 guests in Texas.

Disruptive and unauthorized parties on Airbnb are rare, and these efforts build on existing measures and resources to promote responsible travel and help enforce our global ban on disruptive parties. These include:

• Reservation screening, which is in effect globally year round 
• A free noise sensor for hosts in partnership with property tech company Minut
• Our Neighborhood Support Line for local communities to report urgent issues, like a party in progress, at a home they believe is listed on Airbnb
• A 24-hour Safety line for Hosts and guests to directly reach our Safety team for support, such as to report a party 
• Tips for hosts on preventing parties in their listing.

Airbnb was born in 2007 when two hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home, and has since grown to over 5 million hosts who have welcomed over 2 billion guest arrivals in almost every country across the globe. Every day, hosts offer unique stays and experiences that make it possible for guests to connect with communities in a more authentic way.