Airbnb deploys AI to crack down on parties over Halloween

Ahead of Halloween, Airbnb is deploying an AI-driven anti-party system across the US and Canada to help reduce the risk of disruptive and unauthorized parties over the holiday weekend.

This state-of-the-art system utilizes AI and machine learning to take steps to try to identify potentially higher-risk one-night and two-night booking attempts for entire home listings and prevent those bookings from being made.

To do this, the technology looks at hundreds of signals relating to the booking attempt that could indicate a higher risk for a disruptive or unauthorized party incident, including the length of the trip, the distance to the listing, and whether the booking is last-minute.

“While disruptive parties are rare, we want to try to reduce the risk of them even more. Our AI anti-party system is an important tool in helping us to do that, and we’re optimistic it will have a positive impact for our community and neighborhoods this Halloween.”

Naba Banerjee, Head of Trust and Safety at Airbnb

For guests looking to book reservations through Airbnb for Halloween, the measures in effect across the US (including Puerto Rico) and Canada are:

• Restrictions on one-night and two-night reservations – Our AI anti-party system will block certain one- and two-night entire home bookings that are identified as potentially higher-risk for a party incident.
• Mandatory anti-party attestation – Guests able to make local reservations must attest they understand Airbnb bans parties and that, if they break this rule, they face suspension or removal from the platform.

Airbnb implemented an anti-party system for Halloween last year that saw thousands of people across the United States deterred from booking an entire home listing on the platform—including approximately 15,500 people in California, 11,300 in Florida and 11,000 in Texas—as well as a decrease in reports of disruptive and unauthorized parties over the holiday weekend.¹

Ahead of Halloween this year, Airbnb also engaged law enforcement from across the US at the Major Cities Chiefs Association Annual Meeting to share information on our measures to deter incidents and support for criminal investigations in the event of isolated issues, which includes our dedicated law enforcement portal. Further, neighbors can report concerns about a home they believe is listed on Airbnb to us in real-time via our 24/7 Neighborhood Support Line, available at airbnb.com/neighbors.

These measures are part of our ongoing efforts to enforce our global party ban, which has correlated with a global 55% year-over-two-year decrease in the rate of party reports to us since its introduction in August 2020. Moreover, globally in 2022, just 0.039% of reservations on Airbnb resulted in an allegation of a party.

Other steps we take to help reduce the risk of unauthorized and disruptive parties on the platform include a 24-hour Safety Line for Hosts and guests to directly reach our specialized Safety team for help during an active stay, such as to report an unauthorized party, a free noise sensor offer for Hosts in the US and Canada, and tips for Hosts on preventing parties in their listing.