Airbnb Feels Google Gets a Pass on New Short-Term Rental Data Rules in Europe
Skift Take
What's good for the goose is good for the Google. Or so Airbnb thinks.
Dennis' Online Travel Briefing
Editor’s Note: Every Wednesday, Executive Editor and online travel rockstar Dennis Schaal will bring readers exclusive reporting and insight into the business of online travel and digital booking, and how this sector has an impact across the travel industry.Airbnb thinks it's unfair that the European Commission is proposing increased data-sharing requirements on short-term rental providers across the zone, but Google seemingly is escaping the clampdown.
In a reply to the European Commission proposal on data collection and sharing made earlier in 2022, Airbnb issued a statement late last month noting that small players would have compliance requirements far less onerous than major short-term rental platforms, "or even more worryingly," big actors such as "Google Travel, which allows for direct STR (Short-Term Rental) bookings and thus eludes the definition of ‘online short-term rental platform’ as set out" in the European Commission proposal.
Separately, although Airbnb's global marketing strategy downplays Google when compared with Google-reliant Expedia and Booking.com, it is rare for Airbnb to so specifically be at loggerheads with Silicon Valley buddy Google.
Airbnb got its facts wrong in this instance because Google doesn't do any "direct" short
