Airbnb's Biggest Weapon Against Hotels: Machine Learning

Airbnb numbers among the Valley's darlings, reportedly valued at $31 billion and actually profitable, the latter being a novelty among startups. Although its share of revenue in the global hospitality market is only 3 percent, according to an analysis from January, it's primed to increase that rapidly, with 18 percent adoption among travelers. Airbnb doesn't want to compete with the hotel industry merely on price (although clearly cost is a prime consumer concern). The company would prefer to also offer a booking experience that users will find more congenial and convenient. Toward that end, Airbnb continues to ramp up its investment in data science and machine learning.