SAN FRANCISCO — Airbnb says it will use new methods to detect and block people who try to use the short-term rental service to host a party.
The company announced Tuesday that it has introduced technology that examines the history of prospective Airbnb renters, how far they live from the home they want to rent, whether they are renting for a weekday or weekend and other factors.
Airbnb said the screening system it is rolling out for listings in the United States and Canada has been tested since last October in parts of Australia, where it has led to a 35 percent drop in unauthorized countries.
The San Francisco-based company said the technology is designed to prevent a customer’s booking request from reaching the property’s host. Airbnb said people blocked from renting an entire home may be able to book a single room because the host is more likely to be around.
Airbnb has been under increasing pressure to limit parties since 2019, when a house Halloween party in a San Francisco suburb ended with five people killed in a shooting.
The following year, Airbnb announced a worldwide ban on parties in its listings and banned people under 25 from renting an entire house near their home unless they had positive reviews on the site. The party ban was initially set as a temporary health measure during the pandemic, but became permanent in June.
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