Airbnb’s anti-party system blocked 10,000 people in NJ from bookings

Airbnb has released year-end data outlining their efforts to combat unauthorized parties in New Jersey last year.

In the summer of 2020, Airbnb took action to ban parties as part of its mission to prioritize public health in the early months of the pandemic. To help enforce the party ban, they've also rolled out a number of systems aimed at trying to block and stop potential unauthorized parties while promoting safe and responsible travel.

Airbnb announced a new product that restricts guests under age 25 without a history of positive reviews from booking entire home listings. These guests are still allowed, however, to book private room listings, where the host usually lives on site.

In 2021, this "Under 25" anti-party system blocked or redirected about 10,000 people in New Jersey from making local entire home bookings.

Airbnb said it recognized that certain times of the year are more likely to encourage attempts to throw these unauthorized parties. So, it introduced new systems and rules to strengthen a host's protection against unauthorized parties over those weekends.

The company believes the new system and rules worked because the weekends surrounding the Fourth of July, Halloween and New Year's Eve were generally quiet and these initiatives were well-received by the host community.

The number of people impacted by these anti-party defenses in New Jersey are as follows:

• 4th of July: Over 3,000
• Halloween: Over 1,800
• New Year’s Eve: Over 3,750

Airbnb said it recognized that not everyone impacted by these technologies planned to throw a party. Some just simply may not have yet earned that history of positive reviews on its platform.