The experience that Airbnb offers is distinct from most vacation rental services-- Airbnb hosts and travelers expect to have some amount of friendly interaction

The experience that Airbnb offers is distinct from most vacation rental services-- Airbnb hosts and travelers expect to have some amount of friendly interaction with each other. Rando SE users looking for hotel rooms don't have that expectation. If Airbnb took on SEO, they'd probably a long tail of customers who don't end up getting what they want through Airbnb's service. Furthermore, SEO won't help cultivate their social network, and word of mouth is getting them quality conversions right now. While I agree with the article that SEO is a complimentary marketing effort they're sagging on, perhaps they're doing so intentionally. If Airbnb had a more traditional hotel-like product then SEO promotion would probably help that product.