by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 2:00 PM ET, Wed February 12, 2025
Consumers are losing confidence in short-term rental platforms like Airbnb and VRBO.
A new national survey commissioned by Trua, a company that creates digital trust credentials for identity verification, revealed that consumers are rethinking who they trust when booking stays.
Conducted in December 2024, The State of Trust and Safety in Online Marketplaces, survey found that:
- Only 18 percent of travelers fully trust platforms to properly vet hosts and guests
- 60 percent would pay extra for enhanced background checks
- 87 percent say booking platforms fail to explain how they protect personal data
- 70 percent are deterred from using home-sharing services due to privacy concerns
So what's the takeaway from these survey responses?
Raj Ananthanpillai, CEO of Trua offers his thoughts on what to glean from such consumer sentiments related to Airbnb and VRBO.
“Travelers aren’t just booking a stay—they’re booking peace of mind,” says Ananthanpillai. “They want assurance that their booking is safe and their host is verified.”
Platforms that fail to prioritize trust, security and transparency will lose guests to competitors that provide stronger safeguards and verified hosts, suggested Ananthanpillai.
The survey, which involved polling 2,000 adult Americans about their attitudes toward trust, safety and transparency in the digital age, revealed that Americans also have concerns about their personal data across ride sharing, dating, home services, finance and banking platforms.
When it comes to ride sharing apps, more than 60 percent of those pooled expressed significant concern about their data's security on Uber and Lyft.
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