4 ms·

>they have no online history making it hard to distinguish them from a bot or puppet. Implying that a "bot" or "puppet" is paying to stay at AirBnB's just so t

• admax88qqq 4y ago
  In the case I commented on they left a positive review. I'm sure many hosts will accept the Airbnb fees once to boost their rating. Especially if they're starting out, early reviews carry more weight.
• mijamo 4y ago
  Yes this is exactly what they do, and what happens with many Amazon items as well, and for Booking.com It is not really a big cost because you only really need to pay the platform fee (you control both sides of the transaction do the only real cost is the middleman). Reviews are super important and it is hard to get booking when you have 0 reviews so it is not surprising that some hosts would spend some dollars for 3-4 fake positive reviews to kickstart their property (many people will bounce off the ad without at least a couple positive reviews, so it changes your business radically)
  • mhuffman 4y ago
    Except you are describing the opposite of what is being done. Not positive reviews, but negative reviews. I can certainly see astroturfing your own properties with great reviews, but negative ones? That is a situation where you do not control both sides of the transaction, so a high price to pay to put a "fake" negative review on a property!
    • admax88qqq 4y ago
      Read the top comment that started this thread. It was about a positive review. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34219765 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34219765 > Airbnb removed my positive review and accused me of being in cahoots with the host to leave positive feedback.