PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Airbnb says it has stepped up use of its “anti-party” technology to prevent disruptive New Year’s Eve gatherings in Arizona neighborhoods, blocking hundreds of bookings the company says were likely to lead to large, noisy events.
The company said its systems flagged and stopped more than 500 bookings across the state last year after identifying risk factors such as one-night reservations for an entire home around the holidays. In Phoenix alone, Airbnb said it prevented about 180 people from booking properties for New Year’s Eve; in Scottsdale, the company said it blocked 75 such reservations.
“It’s something that we are very sensitive to,” said Lauren Bouton of Airbnb, describing an automated process that analyzes hundreds of indicators, including the distance a guest lives from a listing, length of stay, property type and whether an entire home is being reserved, to identify bookings that may be party-prone…