Authentic and trustworthy reviews

Airbnb's Reviews Policy

Reviews for homes, services, and experiences help our community make informed booking and hosting decisions and provide helpful feedback to guests and hosts. That's why reviews must be relevant, authentic, trustworthy, and follow our Content Policy.

What we don’t allow

There are certain circumstances where reviews are unhelpful or untrustworthy and may be removed if they violate our policy. If a host or guest believes a review violates our policy, they can file a review dispute to have it considered for removal.

Reviews that are irrelevant

• Reviews should be about the offering reviewed. For example, if a review for a home is about a separate service or experience provided by the same host rather than the home, it isn't relevant to future guests deciding whether to book the home.
• Reviews are irrelevant if they don't provide the participants’ first-hand experience about the reservation.
• If a guest never arrived for their reservation or chose to cancel due to circumstances unrelated to the offering they booked, their review will be considered irrelevant because it isn't based on first-hand experience of the offering.
  

Reviews that are fake

Reviews are fake if they aren't based on a real reservation. Reviews must be submitted by or on behalf of someone who participated in the reservation.

Reviews involving bias, deception, extortion, incentivization, or pressure

• Reviews may not be used to mislead or deceive Airbnb or another person.
• Hosts and guests may not coordinate with, manipulate, extort, incentivize, or pressure another person to influence a review or exploit the review system.
• Hosts and guests may not threaten a negative review as a means to obtain unwarranted compensation, refund, or other incentive.
• Reviews may not be provided or withheld in exchange for something of value—like a discount, refund, or a reciprocal positive review—or a promise not to take negative action against the reviewer.

Reviews used to harm competition

Hosts and guests may not leave reviews of listings with which they are directly affiliated or in direct competition.

Reviews that are retaliatory

• Airbnb users may not write reviews to retaliate against another user for enforcing an Airbnb policy.
• A review will only be considered retaliatory if the reviewer committed a policy violation, was notified of that violation, and then left a biased review because their own violation was reported. A review discussing the facts or legitimacy of a Resolution Center or AirCover claim isn't automatically considered retaliatory.

Reviews that violate our Content Policy

Reviews must follow our Content Policy. For example, reviews may not contain explicit, discriminatory, harmful, or illegal content.

Enforcing this policy

If a review violates this policy, we may remove that review, including any associated ratings and other content. Depending on the violation, we may also restrict, suspend, or remove the associated Airbnb listing or account.

This policy may be applied differently in different places to reflect what local law requires.

Common examples of what doesn’t qualify for removal

Airbnb's policy is informed by consumer laws that apply to online reviews. Reviews may only be removed from our platform in limited circumstances.

Common examples that don't qualify for removal include:

• Disagreement with a star rating: A review won't be removed solely due to disagreement or dissatisfaction with the star rating—for example, a review says “Nice home and great stay,” but the guest left a 3-star rating.
• Review mentions factors outside of the host’s control: A review that mentions factors outside of a host’s control doesn't necessarily violate our policy as the information may be relevant to future guests (ex: the neighborhood is noisy) and we assess the entirety of a review for relevancy.
• Subjective opinions in written reviews: Many reviews contain subjective opinions about the reservation (ex: “The kitchen was small and cramped”). While the host may believe that the kitchen is spacious, the guest’s perspective may provide helpful information to future guests.

Reporting reviews under this policy

To report a review for violating this policy, contact us and a member of our team will review your request.

Responding to reviews

While we expect all community members to post genuine reviews, we generally don't mediate disputes concerning review accuracy. Instead, users can post responses to reviews that comply with this policy.

Removing a review you've written

You can remove a review you’ve written up to 30 days from the date it’s published.