Airbnb Aims to Improve User Experience, Removes Low-quality Listings

Top-rated homes, removal of low quality listings, and smart locks are just some of the new features Airbnb is offering this year.

The world’s most popular home-sharing company announced this week new products and policies as part of ongoing efforts to improve the user experience, ensure high quality and reliability, and support hosts.

New features include a verified listings process across the US, Canada, Australia, UK, and France. Some 1.5 million listings are set to receive a “verified” badge this month. The listing verification will be launched in 30 additional countries in the fall.

The company also announced a photo and video authentication option and will be introducing a new highlight to help top listings stand out based on ratings, reviews and reliability. Those in the Top 25 percent of ranked listings globally will soon have a unique highlight added to their page with the leading 1 percent receiving a trophy icon, making it clear that these are the world’s best homes on Airbnb according to guests.

Additionally, users will be able to see if a listing is in the bottom 10 percent of ranked listings.

In April last year, Airbnb launched an updated hosting quality system which evaluates listings that may have failed to meet requirements. Since then, 100,000 listings have been removed and evaluation continues for every listing after each stay to help ensure they provide the best possible experience for guests.

“This is the largest set of removals we’ve ever made, and we’re building new tools to prevent these homes from being relisted,” said Airbnb in its announcement.

The company has also taken measures to reduce host cancellations which dropped by 36 percent in Q4 2023.

Lastly, a smart lock feature launched in 2023 allows hosts with listings in the US and Canada to connect compatible Schlage smart locks with their Airbnb account and automatically generate unique codes for every reservation.

Airbnb said it would be introducing even more product updates in May.

On average, 1 million people check into an Airbnb listing every day.