(Bloomberg) -- Airbnb Inc. will roll out new features and artificial intelligence tools in a product refresh meant to increase reliability on its app.
As part of the new features announced Wednesday, listings rated above 4.9 stars with below 1% cancellations from hosts will get a new “Guest Favorite” label, the company said, signaling to users that a rental has a lower rate of customer service issues. Two million out of the more than 7 million homes on its platform qualify for the label, Airbnb said.
The homesharing company will also debut a new AI tool to sort photos by room, as well as providing more context about reviewers and their trip in the review section of an Airbnb listing, including length of stay, number of travelers and other details.
The updates, some of a dozen as part of Airbnb's regular winter product release, will make it “more transparent who the best properties are and who the best hosts are,” Chief Executive Officer Brian Chesky said in an interview. The transparency will mean “the best ones will win and the ones that aren't as good — they'll have to either become better or maybe lower their prices to continue your bookings.”
The changes are the latest in a series of refinements Chesky's company has made this year to adapt to the shift in post-pandemic travel patterns, such as increased competition from hotels and a transition to bookings of long-term stays of 28 days or more from short-term rentals.
Read more: Short-Term Rentals That Airbnb Turned Into a Rage Are Struggling
The number of Airbnb rentals continues to increase at a faster pace than bookings, and the company has had to find ways to compete with the traditional hotel stay in terms of quality, consistency and affordability. In addition to improving customer service, reliability is ‘one of the final frontiers' needed to fix the foundational problems of Airbnb, Chesky said, adding: “Our capabilities and technology is finally catching up for us to execute it.”
Read more: Airbnb Is Fundamentally Broken and Needs to Be Fixed, CEO Says
“People often describe checking into an Airbnb as a ‘moment of truth' — when you find out if the home you booked meets your expectations,” Chesky said in a statement. “Too often, it doesn't.”
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