A fascinating piece that mirrors my experience in Boston at the moment.

The punchline moment for me is seeing agents on the platform with over 751 listings. That’s one user account. I was so bemused by this that I asked Airbnb for clarification on whether this is within their terms — offering at least three major agencies using the platform (that are easy to find outside of Airbnb given the profile of the properties that they list). It makes sense that they want to sign up, but how do they… fit in? Can I filter them out?

Wait, why not? Certainly this isn’t represented in the “hanging with friendly locals” marketing and brand alignment.

At time of writing there’s been no definitive reply — but surely this is a simple thing to address. I’m a startup founder and business traveler who wants the local experience. And I love Airbnb for that. I even helped bootstrap my own company with Airbnb. It used to feel like a great idea.

But as your article quotes… does a good small idea become a terrible big idea?

Airbnb is well aware of their impact as a platform for professional agents. And they must be aware that the user experience is becoming diluted by what amounts to housing arbitrage.

If Airbnb chooses that its profit motives are in alignment with such agencies, that’s their call. But they might like to solve the user experience shortfall by allowing the user to filter out what are effectively “fake” accounts. These accounts were made for people with some space they could share. It’s not a big ask to differentiate between that core vision and this equally valid but absolutely different supply persona.

And that alone would go a long way in trusting Airbnb is ready to engage on the very difficult topic of community equilibrium.