Nuked Airbnb will now see a potential guest’s initials, rather than their full name, until after they’ve confirmed that guest’s booking request. The change will fully roll out by January 31.
Airbnb guests with names that sounded black were 16 percent less likely to have bookings confirmed than those with names who sounded white. The change aims to prevent racial discrimination among hosts, per the company’s announcement, by stopping them from gleaning a guest’s race from their name.
The announcement follows a voluntary settlement agreement with three portland-area women who had sued Airbnb. Airbnb reached in 2019 with three women who sued the company.
Airbnb announced that it would’review and update the way profile names are displayed to hosts as part of the booking process’.
It also launched project lighthouse, an initiative to uncover and research discrimination on its platform, in the summer of 2020. Prior to the launch of that program, the company says it did not have a way to measure’larger trends and patterns related to discrimination’.
Since 2018, the platform has also kept guest photographs invisible to hosts before bookings are confirmed. Airbnb users worry that it could put marginalized guests in dangerous situations they’d otherwise avoid.
