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> They could solve this problem overnight with their software Can you expand on what the software solution would look like here? I'm curious why the hotel lob

• matchbok 8y ago
  Eliminating all listings without a host present would solve 99% of these problems. That's what the site sells itself as, anyway. Problem is there isn't much money to be made there. Or just do a tiny bit of host/property verification. Again, too much money to be made from illegal/unzoned hotels.
  • smallgovt 8y ago
    I see. So, the legality of short-term rentals in NYC hinge on the presence of the host during the rental. And, that's not easily detectable by just scraping Airbnb. I still think it'd be straight forward to scrape reviews off Airbnb that have telltale signs of the host not being present e.g. lockbox mentions. Filing complaints/lawsuits against even a small minority should create a chilling effect for everyone else who's running illegal hotels.
    • xkcd-sucks 8y ago
      Or, in a high density environment like NYC, prediction from scraped listings plus an actual person who verifies the host's absence and records it. Work on contract for... "The hotel industry consortium", idk how that works. It sounds fun if the market is big enough
• bradleyjg 8y ago
  All or very very nearly all host not present rentals in NYC are illegal. That the software allows such listings is evidence that Airbnb doesn’t care. I suspect rather the opposite that they value the revenue they get from these illegal transactions.