Airbnb's Dispute Moderation for Reviews
As the Airbnb community and product continue to grow, we remain committed to updating this policy when necessary to help ensure that reviews reflect the honest, first-hand experiences of our hosts and guests.
We believe that a healthy review system is one that respects and protects our community’s genuine feedback. For that reason, we take the removal of any review very seriously. You can read Airbnb’s Review Policy in full, but in short, this means a review may be removed if:
The review is in violation of Airbnb’s Content Policy,
The review is biased,
The review is irrelevant to the author’s experience on Airbnb, or
The review is related to a canceled reservation.
Moderating for bias Our community benefits most when reviews present an unbiased picture of the member’s experience. Airbnb removes reviews when they exhibit inappropriate bias - for example, because the reviewer is attempting to extort the person being reviewed, has a conflict of interest, or competes with the person being reviewed.
Extortion or incentivization
Any attempt to use reviews or review responses to force a person to do something they aren’t obligated to do is a misuse of reviews, and we don’t allow it.
People who use Airbnb aren’t allowed to tie positive reviews to promises of compensation or to threaten negative reviews if a desired outcome is not met. Violations may result in the restriction, suspension, or termination of your Airbnb account.
This policy prohibits:
Guests threatening to use reviews or ratings in an attempt to force a host to provide refunds, additional compensation, or a reciprocal positive review.
Hosts requiring a guest to leave a positive review or rating, or to revise a review in exchange for a partial or full refund, or a reciprocal review. Hosts also cannot offer a free or discounted stay in exchange for a guest revising an existing review.
Hosts or guests asking someone to take specific actions related to a review in exchange for the resolution of a dispute.
This policy does not prohibit:
A guest from contacting a host with a problem prior to leaving a review.
A host or guest seeking refunds or additional payment and leaving a review - where that review is not used as a threat to sway the outcome of a resolution.
A host from asking a guest to leave an honest positive review or rating reflecting a positive experience.
A host or guest from revising a review within the time constraints for revision.
Conflict of interest We will remove reviews where there are signals that the reservation was made for the sole purpose of inflating a person’s overall rating, or where we suspect that the stay never occurred.
Accepting fake reservations in exchange for a positive review, using a second account to review yourself or your own listing, or providing something of value in exchange for positive reviews, are not allowed. Violations may result in the restriction, suspension, or termination of your Airbnb account.
Competitor reviews Reviews written by competitors (for example, competing businesses, listings, or experiences) for the purpose of dissuading others from booking those listings or experiences or driving business to other listings or experiences, is not allowed. Violations may result in the restriction, suspension, or termination of your Airbnb account.
Party ban violations We may remove reviews in certain situations where the guest has not met the expectations outlined in our Party and Events Policy during their stay. We count on our hosts to take measures to try and stop a party before it becomes a safety issue or nuisance for the surrounding community. However, we recognize that breaking up a party could result in an unfairly negative review for the host. In order to encourage intervention and minimize the impact of biased reviews, a guest’s review may be removed when the host has provided sufficient documentation that a significant violation of the Party and Events Policy has taken place. However, these reviews will not be removed if they contain critical information that would be highly relevant for a future guest.
Moderating for relevance
Reviews provide community members with information and insights that help them make better booking decisions. Reviews are most helpful when reviewers accurately recount their experience and provide their honest opinions.
Where a review contains information that is unrelated to an experience as a host or guest, or is focused on something beyond the control of the person being reviewed, our moderation team will weigh the relevance of the review by assessing:
Does the review recount the reviewer's experience and provide their personal perspective?
Is the review helpful to other members of the Airbnb community? Does it provide essential information about a host or guest, listing, or experience that would help others make more informed booking decisions?
If Airbnb determines that the review contains no relevant information about a host or guest, listing, or experience, the review may be removed. Reviews that contain mostly irrelevant information are also subject to removal, but only where the otherwise relevant information would not be expected to meaningfully inform the booking decisions of other community members.
Examples of relevance violations and non-violations Irrelevant: "Don’t trust the taxi drivers in this city, they take the worst routes!" Relevant: "Don’t trust the taxi drivers in this city, they take the worst routes! On top of that, I arrived at this listing and it was in complete disrepair and the host never responded to my concerns."
Irrelevant: "This guest was such a liar. There was no way she is a real doctor." Relevant: "The guest showed up late to check-in and then yelled at me for not waking up fast enough to let her in. She was rude and easily annoyed for the entire reservation. I would hate to experience her bedside manner."
Moderating for canceled reservations Airbnb allows you to post reviews for any reservation canceled after 12:00 AM on the day of check-in. We do this to collect feedback on the most crucial moments of a travel experience, whether that means feedback about communication, house rule violations, issues with listing at the time of check-in, etc.
If you decide to leave a review for a canceled reservation, we do ask that you keep your feedback relevant to what you have personally experienced. In cases where Airbnb can confirm that a review was left for a canceled reservation, and the review contains information irrelevant to our community (for example, frustrations about a flight cancellation, etc.), the review may be removed.
Party and Events Policy
https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2704/party-and-events-policy
Note: As of August 20, 2020, Airbnb announced a global ban on all parties and events at Airbnb listings, including a cap on occupancy at 16. This party ban applies to all future bookings on Airbnb, and it will remain in effect indefinitely, until further notice.
Our Community Standards prohibit members of the Airbnb Community from creating a nuisance that disturbs the surrounding neighborhood. Hosts and guests can meet this standard by making sure they clearly align on expectations for events at listings. While we believe most guests are respectful, we’ve created our Parties and Events policy to provide clear guidance on what we expect from everyone. Until further notice, the policy prohibits:
Gatherings of more than 16 people
All disruptive parties and events
Guests who are reported for throwing a disruptive party or violating our rules on gatherings of more than 16 people are subject to suspension or removal from Airbnb’s platform. In some cases, guest reviews left after such parties may be removed. We may also remove listings if we determine that a host has authorised a party that violates this policy. If we receive reports that a listing is disrupting the surrounding community, we may request that the host update their rules or suspend the listing. In addition to strengthening our rules around parties, we’re also working to try and proactively stop disruptive parties before they even start by strengthening our risk-detection technologies. Large gatherings Until further notice, gatherings of more than 16 people—including both overnight guests and visitors—are not allowed, regardless of host authorization.
Parties and events Until further notice, all disruptive parties and events are prohibited, regardless of size. Guests who hold these types of events may have their account removed, and hosts who violate this rule and allow guests to throw parties may be subject to account consequences up to and including the removal of their listing.
Reporting a disruption When a property that’s listed on Airbnb is causing a disturbance—whether that’s excessive noise, a disruptive party, a gathering of more than 16 people, or unsafe behavior—members of the local community can report it at Neighborhood Support, which provides a link to local emergency services. They’ll also have access to the Neighborhood Support team phone number, where they can report a party that’s still in progress. Once an issue is reported, Airbnb will send a confirmation email explaining what happens next.
Listing content guidelines In line with this policy, hosts should not attract disruptive parties and events in their home by advertising their space as party- or event-friendly. Similarly, hosts should not advertise their space for gatherings larger than 16 people. Listings that violate these rules through the listing title, description, house rules, photos, etc., may be suspended until the violating content is removed. Where we've received complaints for a property violating this rule, we may also suspend the listing for up to 30 days and ask the host to update their listing to include an explicit rule stating that parties and events are not allowed.
In rare cases where it appears that the listing is intended only for the purposes of hosting parties or events (for example, party or event venues), or where a property has created a severe nuisance within a neighborhood, the listing may be permanently removed from Airbnb.
Rules that apply to different property types
Traditional hospitality settings
We trust hosts of traditional hospitality venues (such as boutique hotels) to determine their own rules for events. Traditional hospitality hosts can allow appropriate events at their own discretion. In cases where we receive complaints about these listings and events or where the types of events are inappropriate, we will follow up with the venues as necessary.
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