Cold Call

Addressing Racial Discrimination on Airbnb

01.31.2023 - By HBR Presents / Brian KennyPlay

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For years, Airbnb gave hosts discretion to accept or reject a guest after seeing little more than a name and a picture, believing that eliminating anonymity was the best way for the company to build trust. But after research provided evidence that Black hosts received less in rent than hosts of other races and showed signs of discrimination against guests with African American sounding names, the company had to decide what changes to make. Should they change the design of the platform to reduce discrimination? And what’s the best way to measure the success of any changes?

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