4 ms·

I know hindsight is 20/20, but it's interesting to me that they could've created Airbnb, as they had both the reach and finances to potentially create a side-pr

by colmvp 9y ago

I know hindsight is 20/20, but it's interesting to me that they could've created Airbnb, as they had both the reach and finances to potentially create a side-project that was specific to short-term rentals. They already had sublets and temporary rentals as a sub-listing since forever. I know that Airbnb comes across as warm and fuzzy hosts who engage with guests, but it's progressively more commercialized with a good portion of hosts either managing multiple short-term rental properties or dedicating a space specifically for the purposes of consistently having short-term rentals.

MR4D 9y ago
If I had to bet which would last longer between Craigslist and AirBnB, I would pick Craigslist. I may be wrong, but I think it's the better bet for the long term.
smelendez 9y ago
That would have completely changed the company, though. Airbnb works by introducing ratings, insurance and being an intermediary someone can at least theoretically call if a renter is crazy or the listing isn't as advertised. Craigslist has 50 employees and minimal vetting of anything. It's great for what it is, but I would never use it to rent anything site unseen.
- cgriswald 9y ago
  > Craigslist has 50 employees and minimal vetting of anything. It's great for what it is, but I would never use it to rent anything site unseen. This is one reality show I would watch. Forget all those "We sleep in a dark place recording all the sounds buildings make and then speculate wildly about causes" shows. Sleeping overnight in a house/room/whatever rented randomly off Craigslist would be way more interesting and probably frequently more frightening.
  - jayjay71 9y ago
    I hope someone reads this and makes it a reality.
    - narrowrail 9y ago
      Thinking about this a bit more, I think it would have to be a show where the hosts were in on it. The scam artists would learn of this show if it became popular, and avoid renting to folks seemingly associated with it. A format like "Diner's, Drive'ins and Dives" would make sense with personal tours, instead of these 'virtual tours' found on VRBO (now owned by Expedia) and AirBnB. Anything too dramatic won't scale, or it will be fake (like most 'reality' tv). Edit: I guess one could do it surreptitiously, and save up the content, only to slowly release it ("maximizing revenue"). This might come across as "hit-piece journalism" funded by the AirBnB and VRBO. Change the cast of the show so they are not known associates of the show before the content is made public.
derefr 9y ago
I don't know if that's a matter of hindsight. AirBnB operates by pushing the boundaries of rental law, frequently overstepping them, constantly getting into fights with municipal governments. Not everyone wants to have that sort of a business, no matter how potentially profitable.
- stickfigure 9y ago
  Craigslist has had its fair share of that: https://www.google.com/search?q=craigslist+erotic+services+lawsuit https://www.google.com/search?q=craigslist+erotic+services+l...
  - derefr 9y ago
    From what I can recall, Craigslist didn't create their Erotic Services listings to profit off erotic services, but rather to stop escort advertisers from spamming their posts into arbitrary unrelated Craigslist sections. Having one forum that was "for that" allowed Craigslist to ghettoize those advertisers, allowing people who didn't want to see that sort of thing to avoid it. Worked quite well. After Craigslist was forced to drop the Erotic Services listings, the volume of such postings didn't decrease at all—it just shifted back to being posted on random other sections, to the detriment of everyone.

by colmvp 9y ago

MR4D 9y ago

If I had to bet which would last longer between Craigslist and AirBnB, I would pick Craigslist. I may be wrong, but I think it's the better bet for the long term.

smelendez 9y ago

That would have completely changed the company, though. Airbnb works by introducing ratings, insurance and being an intermediary someone can at least theoretically call if a renter is crazy or the listing isn't as advertised. Craigslist has 50 employees and minimal vetting of anything. It's great for what it is, but I would never use it to rent anything site unseen.

cgriswald 9y ago
> Craigslist has 50 employees and minimal vetting of anything. It's great for what it is, but I would never use it to rent anything site unseen. This is one reality show I would watch. Forget all those "We sleep in a dark place recording all the sounds buildings make and then speculate wildly about causes" shows. Sleeping overnight in a house/room/whatever rented randomly off Craigslist would be way more interesting and probably frequently more frightening.
- jayjay71 9y ago
  I hope someone reads this and makes it a reality.
  - narrowrail 9y ago
    Thinking about this a bit more, I think it would have to be a show where the hosts were in on it. The scam artists would learn of this show if it became popular, and avoid renting to folks seemingly associated with it. A format like "Diner's, Drive'ins and Dives" would make sense with personal tours, instead of these 'virtual tours' found on VRBO (now owned by Expedia) and AirBnB. Anything too dramatic won't scale, or it will be fake (like most 'reality' tv). Edit: I guess one could do it surreptitiously, and save up the content, only to slowly release it ("maximizing revenue"). This might come across as "hit-piece journalism" funded by the AirBnB and VRBO. Change the cast of the show so they are not known associates of the show before the content is made public.

derefr 9y ago

I don't know if that's a matter of hindsight. AirBnB operates by pushing the boundaries of rental law, frequently overstepping them, constantly getting into fights with municipal governments. Not everyone wants to have that sort of a business, no matter how potentially profitable.

stickfigure 9y ago
Craigslist has had its fair share of that: https://www.google.com/search?q=craigslist+erotic+services+lawsuit https://www.google.com/search?q=craigslist+erotic+services+l...
- derefr 9y ago
  From what I can recall, Craigslist didn't create their Erotic Services listings to profit off erotic services, but rather to stop escort advertisers from spamming their posts into arbitrary unrelated Craigslist sections. Having one forum that was "for that" allowed Craigslist to ghettoize those advertisers, allowing people who didn't want to see that sort of thing to avoid it. Worked quite well. After Craigslist was forced to drop the Erotic Services listings, the volume of such postings didn't decrease at all—it just shifted back to being posted on random other sections, to the detriment of everyone.