Discussing discrimination at a Q&A for Airbnb Hosts

At Airbnb, we regularly hold sessions with our hosts to have important conversations about the topics that matter most to them. Whether we’re discussing location ratings or host reviews, these sessions all have a few things in common—they’re honest, candid, and can address tough topics.

In October 2018, Airbnb changed how guest profile photos are displayed to encourage more objective decision-making in the booking process. Now, guest profile photos are only displayed after the booking is confirmed.

Some hosts expressed concern with the update, emphasizing the valuable role that photos can play in providing them with information about their guests. But many others, like Dennis, applauded the update, noting how photos can contribute to discrimination. 

“I’ve had many guests come to me and say, ‘The reason why I chose you [to be my host] is because I knew I would not be rejected because of who I am,’” Dennis says.

Laura Chambers, who was Airbnb’s General Manager at the time, closed the discussion with an acknowledgment that conversations about discrimination are complex and challenging, but they’re also essential. Discrimination can be hard to talk about, but we have to confront it head on—together—before we can fight it.

We all have bias. But companies like Airbnb can help create tools that help prevent people from making biased decisions—which is why we made a commitment in 2016 to evaluate how we display guest profile photos in the booking process. Now guests’ profile photos aren’t displayed to hosts until after a booking is confirmed, which encourages more objective decision making by hosts.

We reached this decision after participating in a number of conversations with hosts and guests. While most guests provide a photo, some told us that they don’t want to share a picture of themselves when booking. We also recognize their concerns about the potential for photos to be misused in a way that violates our nondiscrimination policy.

At the same time, hosts have told us that they value profile photos because they can help hosts and guests get to know one another before a trip begins and help hosts recognize guests when they check in. Additionally, we’ve seen how photos can be a useful tool for enhancing trust and promoting community.

To give hosts like you more control in this process and help you build trust with guests before a trip, you can:

• Require that guests provide a government ID to Airbnb before they can book your listing
• Message guests to ask about the purpose of their trip
• Discover past guest reviews to learn what other hosts had to say about their experience with a guest
• Require that guests have a profile photo, though the photo will still appear only after a booking is accepted

These steps can help empower hosts while still trying to reduce discrimination. We also created a toolkit that explains different types of bias and stereotyping, how they might impact a community member’s experience on the Airbnb platform, and what you can do to overcome them.

But there’s still more work to be done, and we know this is just one of many important discussions. We’ll continue to meet with hosts to learn how we can work together to help make people from all backgrounds feel safe, respected, and welcome.