Airbnb Launches Guidebook, Competes with Yelp

By: Daniella Soloway

There’s more to “living like a local” than renting a stranger’s home in a foreign city, and Airbnb wants to be the platform that will provide more than accommodations for travelers.

The company, now valued at $24 billion, has created Guidebook, a service similar to that of Yelp and TripAdvisor. By uploading one’s ideal trip, the service’s algorithm will filter through a list of hosts that match one’s lifestyle. The host’s local interests including restaurants, parks, malls and more will be shared in the Airbnb app to seamlessly integrate bookings and preferences.

In its initial stage, Guidebook has 3 million reviews, covering 35 cities. By the end of the summer, Airbnb will launch the service across additional locales.

Technewstoday.com reports that 15 million people rented on Airbnb in the past three months alone.