Airbnb is a massive international corporation that has been on the news all the time since the Pandemic! With its meteoric rise to incredible highs during the time from 2019 through 2022, many believed that it would become one of the most valuable tech companies in the world very soon, but a series of new regulations in large markets like New York and California shook the prospects of the company in the short term.
At the same time, Airbnb decided to join the list of corporations that impose sanctions on several countries including Iran, Russia, and Belorussia. You can still access the platform from these nations if you buy a virtual phone number for Airbnb from Grizzly SMS and use it to register a new account, but listings from these countries have disappeared completely.
What is going on at Airbnb in 2024?
Recently, the company released its quarterly report which indicates a strong increase in revenues and gross profits. 18% revenue growth and a wave of bookings made in advance of the June holiday season were supposed to make investors happier, but many do not have the expected intensity of optimism due to lower revenue expectations despite larger reservations forecasts.
Note that the user base of the company is shaky after many issues with unexplained lifetime bans from the platform, controversies surrounding security camera surveillance, and more. Several personal information leaks also made it clear that using sensitive data is not a good idea.
You can protect yourself by using these tricks:
- Use a temporary phone number for SMS verification at Airbnb to avoid providing some bits of your personal information.
- Try renting from landlords who may not ask you for copies of your IDs and other documentation that can be compromised if handled inappropriately.
- Use VPN connections to browse the app and the website when looking for listings to avoid being targeted by the algorithm.
In fact, Airbnb itself reported that the number of newly registered users is growing at an unexpected rate. We believe that the increase in the use of fake phone numbers for SMS verification is one of the reasons as it allows users to bypass lifetime bans when browsing and prevents them from exposing sensitive data to the internet.
The prospects of the company in the near future
Airbnb is under fire for bad business practices and security issues. Another important issue is that the company is blamed by everyone for the housing crisis in many regions of the world as it spearheads the growth of the short-term rental business globally making dwellings less affordable in the Americas, Europe, and Asia.
Whether the brand can survive through the storm is a big question considering that landlords are now pressured by local governments in almost all western metropolitan areas to stick to a very strict code when listing their properties for short-term renting.
We again have to remind our readers about security issues and potential unexplained lifetime bans from the platform. If you do not want to deal with it, simply get a temporary phone number from any of over 100 countries at Grizzly SMS and use it to create a fresh, clean account without any hassles.
