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Your online activity is now effectively a social ‘credit score’
Kaylen Ward's Twitter fundraiser for the Australian bushfire relief has ended. The Los Angeles-based model said she raised $1 million (by comparison Jeff Bezos donated $690,000). At the start of Ms. Ward's successful donation drive she had three Instagram accounts — none of which were part of the campaign.
Airbnb officially bans all 'open-invite' house parties
Airbnb has confirmed that it will ban all "open-invite" house parties, the company said in a blog post. It also will provide a "clear and actionable enforcement framework" for other issues including excessive noise, unauthorized guests, unauthorized parking, unauthorized smoking and "major cleanliness concerns requiring excessive cleaning after checkout."
Airbnb will verify every listing in the name of safety
Airbnb isn't done implementing safety features in the wake of the Halloween shooting in Orinda, California. The home rental service's Brian Chesky has revealed that the company will review every listed property to give people "peace of mind." This will include basics like address and photos as well as the authenticity of the hosts and a location's safety standards. The review should be complete by the end of 2020, Chesky said.
Airbnb bans 'party houses' following Halloween shooting
Airbnb is tightening its rental policies following a Halloween shooting that left five dead in Orinda, California. CEO Brian Chesky has announced that the service is banning rentals for "party houses" like the mansion at the heart of the shooting, where over 100 people had gathered before the shooting started that night. Chesky also promised "immediate action" against people found violating the policy, including removing them from the service.
Airbnb makes it easier to find a place to stay on business trips
Airbnb wants to make it easier to find work-friendly listings, and its solution is fairly simple. Before, the company would ask if you were traveling for business at checkout. Now, it's offering a work trip toggle that you can select at the beginning of your search. The feature will bring up listings that are more relevant for business trips.
Airbnb Luxe offers castles, villas and islands for $1,000 per night
If you've ever wanted to stay in a castle in France or book an entire island in the Pacific, you might appreciate Airbnb's new luxury travel offering, Airbnb Luxe. The company launched the long-rumored service today with more than 2,000 hand-picked listings, including award-winning homes in New Zealand and South Africa, historic villas in Tuscany and the Jamaican beachfront property where Ian Fleming wrote his iconic spy novels. But a stay in these high-end, Instagramable homes will cost you. Airbnb Luxe is designed for travelers looking to spend at least $1,000 per night.
Airbnb wants to sell you rock climbing and camping trips
Want an exciting holiday without having to plan it yourself? Airbnb wants to sell you more than just a place to stay. The newly launched Airbnb Adventures offers all-in-one trips to locations around the globe hosted by local experts.
Airbnb agrees to share data for over 17,000 NYC listings
Airbnb and New York City are inching closer to making peace over data sharing. To start, the home rental outfit has reached an agreement to hand over semi-anonymized host and reservation data for over 17,000 listings in the city. It's also providing data for every NYC listing rented between January 1st, 2018 and February 18th, 2019 that might have violated the city's short-term rental laws.
Airbnb's 'heritage travel' section is for exploring 23andMe results
23andMe has partnered with Airbnb to let users literally explore their roots. The travel website now has a special "heritage travel" section divided into the genetic populations you'd find in a 23andMe ancestry report. The regions include Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and West Asia, Central America and Mexico, South America, East and South Asia, the Caribbean and Europe. After finding out where their ancestors hail from, 23andMe customers can click through to a specific region and plan a trip.
Why some tech companies are turning to print
A month ago, I received a big, hefty magazine in the mail. It included stories such as a guide on where to go in Buenos Aires, a feature on tiny houses, and a deep dive into the history of African-American jockeys. The magazine was part travel, part lifestyle and part interior design; which are all topics I gravitate toward. What's more, the stories were well-written, the photographs were beautiful and the graphic design was on point. There was just one weird thing about it: It was published by Airbnb.
Airbnb introduces Donations to help with temporary housing
Airbnb announced a new initiative designed to help displaced people find housing solutions. The company launched a new Donations tool that will let Airbnb hosts kick back a portion of their income to organizations designed to help people who are in need of temporary housing. Airbnb hosts will be able to select a percentage of fares that they would like to give, and 100 percent of those donations will give to nonprofits. Donors will get regular updates to let them know how their contributors have helped others find places to stay.
Marriott plans to take on Airbnb with its own home-rental service
The line between the traditional hotel industry and the home-rental industry has become increasingly blurred. Last month, Airbnb bought HotelTonight, a last-minute hotel booking company. Now, Marriott is looking to take on Airbnb. According to The Wall Street Journal, Marriott could become the first major hotel company to offer home rentals.
Recommended Reading: The cost of Fortnite's success
How Fortnite's success led to months of intense crunch at Epic Games Colin Campbell, Polygon There have been a few stories recently about intense work conditions, or crunch, at studios making high-profile titles. Earlier this month we read about Anthem, and now we're hearing about Fortnite. Polygon conducted interviews with employees at Epic Games who detail working over 70 hours a week and discuss how voluntary overtime became an expectation.
Airbnb may create original shows to spark the travel bug
Airbnb might not be content with hoping that you'll book a stay on your next vacation -- it may want to make that vacation more appealing in the first place. Reuters sources say Airbnb hopes to create original shows that would encourage would-be customers to travel. Although the specific plans aren't mented, CEO Brian Chesky is reportedly a long-time advocate of the project and aims to create a studio so that Airbnb can "be travel-everything." The company has toyed with the idea for a minimum of three years, according to one insider.
Airbnb reverses ban on West Bank listings
Airbnb is changing course on its earlier decision to ban listings for Israeli settlements in the West Bank. As part of a settlement with a pro-Israel law organization that had sued over the ban, Airbnb said it would allow listings in the hotly contested region. However, it vowed to donate any profits from listings to unspecified humanitarian aid groups. The company planned a similar move for other disputed territories, including the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in eastern Europe.
Recommended Reading: Airbnb and the hidden cameras
Airbnb has a hidden-camera problem Sidney Fussell, The Atlantic Airbnb may be a good alternative to staying in a pricey hotel, but the company is dealing with a hidden camera problem. The Atlantic takes a look a the issue and what Airbnb says its doing to fix it.
Airbnb is buying last-minute hotel app HotelTonight
Airbnb is buying last-minute hotel booking service HotelTonight, in another move on the traditional hotel industry. The HotelTonight booking app and website, which offers day-of hotel reservations at discounted rates, will still operate independently, at least for now. Once the acquisition is completed, HotelTonight CEO Sam Shank will lead Airbnb's boutique hotel category. "We started HotelTonight because we knew people wanted a better way to book an amazing hotel room on-demand, and we are excited to join forces with Airbnb to bring this service to guests around the world," said the HotelTonight CEO in a press release.
Paris sues Airbnb over illegal rental ads
France is determined to prevent home sharing services from allowing makeshift hotels, and that now includes court action. The city of Paris is suing Airbnb over 1,000 ads it says violate a law designed to limit homeowners to renting their places for no more than 120 days per year. It's not clear just what terms the ads violated, but French law requires a registration number inside those ads to ensure they aren't venturing past the 120-day mark. The aim is to "send a shot across the bows" and end near-constant rentals that "spoil some Parisian neighborhoods," city mayor Anne Hidalgo told Le Journal du Dimanche in an interview.
Judge blocks NYC law requiring Airbnb to share host data
A federal judge has issued an injunction against a New York City law that would require home-sharing companies like Airbnb and HomeAway to provide detailed information to the city about those who rent spaces through the platforms. Mayor Bill de Blasio signed the law in August and it was set to take effect next month. As defined by the law, the information these companies would be required to share with city officials would include the names and addresses of hosts as well as whether whole apartments or individual rooms were being rented.
Facebook gave Lyft and others special access to user data
Since the Cambridge Analytica revelations came to light earlier this year, there's been quite a bit of scrutiny on what companies Facebook has given user data to. And now, documents released by the UK's Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, which is investigating Facebook, show how the company gave certain companies special access to user data. Among those receiving favored access were Airbnb, Lyft, Netflix and Bumble, while the documents show that Facebook also pointedly denied data access to some competitors, like Vine.
