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Airbnb Dethrones Google As the Best Tech Company To Work For In the US

Posted by samzenpus on from the dream-job dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Career website Glassdoor today released its eighth annual Employees' Choice Awards, a list of the 50 best companies to work for in the coming year. Airbnb was picked as the number one tech company to work for in 2016, displacing Google. Airbnb didn't even make the list last year. Google, meanwhile, placed sixth in 2013 and 2014, and first in 2015. As with Google last year, it's worth noting that Airbnb hasn't just taken the top tech company spot: It is the top company overall.

89 comments

  1. Really??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Airbnb was picked as the number one tech company to work for in 2016

    It's not 2016 yet?

    1. Re:Really??? by FooAtWFU · · Score: 1

      It's not 2016 yet?

      How quickly do you think the interview process will go?

      --
      The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
  2. How about best company w/ lower selectivity? by sethstorm · · Score: 1

    It's nice and all to have a company that's highly rated. It is even better to have a (non-staffing agency, non-MSP) company that gives citizens a favorable chance at long-term work.

    --
    Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
    1. Re:How about best company w/ lower selectivity? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can forget long term employment. Long term mortgages, credit card debt, continuous treadmill of education, that you can guarantee.

  3. Hipsters are Hobos by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hipsters are hobos and companies like Airbnb are the certified proof that we are living through another Great Depression. But unlike the 30s, we have all been convinced to be happy enough about this to give out prizes to industrial leaders in the race to the absolute rock bottom. Cue the upcoming Airbnb integrated Tindr service with Vine monetisation, because why stop when you're on a downhill roll?

    1. Re:Hipsters are Hobos by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Informative

      ... give out prizes to industrial leaders in the race to the absolute rock bottom.

      Airbnb allows normal people to earn money by renting out spare rooms, at the expense of big corporate hotel chains. It is silly to say they are a sign of rampant corporate domination. They are the opposite. They are an enabler for the common people.

      Disclaimer: I have been both a room renter and a room rentee on Airbnb. It was a good deal in both directions.

    2. Re:Hipsters are Hobos by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 4, Insightful

      we have all been convinced to be...

      Who has been convinced? Just because some website I've never visited says so, doesn't make it true. Part of being a critical thinker is not believing something just because you read it.

    3. Re:Hipsters are Hobos by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Obviously an idiot.

    4. Re:Hipsters are Hobos by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Airbnb allows normal people to earn money by renting out spare rooms,

      It doesn't "allow" it. Either the law has already allowed it, or it's outlawed, and no private company changes that.

      In places where it's allowed, people have been doing this since pretty much forever. In places where it's regulated, people have also been doing this since pretty much forever - sometimes staying within regulations, and sometimes not.

      at the expense of big corporate hotel chains.

      If you think the two alternatives are "Airbnb room" and "Big Corporate Hotel Chains", either you're incredibly lazy or you have something to gain from getting people to believe this. Since you say you've rented out on Airbnb, it sounds like the latter.

      It is silly to say they are a sign of rampant corporate domination.

      A dominant, leeching middleman which doesn't actually do anything but act as an agent or transaction processor is the epitome of corporate domination.

      They are the opposite. They are an enabler for the common people.

      Again, "Airbnb room" and "Big Corporate Hotel Chains" are no dichotomy. "Has a spare room to let out" is hardly the position of "the common people", either! although I suppose everyone likes to think that the dividing line crosses through them: they can either be common or elite, depending on which way helps their argument.

      Disclaimer: I have been both a room renter and a room rentee on Airbnb. It was a good deal in both directions.

      k, maybe it's your thing to stay at someone else's home, but N.B. Airbnb rooms aren't actually cheaper in the US on average than mid-range hotel accommodation. Airbnb, like e.g. Uber, is primarily a marketing company, so I understand that it's great at selling of superior quality in every case, when in fact you're buying a different product, and value for money may depend a lot on the when and the where.

    5. Re:Hipsters are Hobos by rudy_wayne · · Score: 2, Insightful

      ... give out prizes to industrial leaders in the race to the absolute rock bottom.

      Airbnb allows normal people to earn money by renting out spare rooms, at the expense of big corporate hotel chains. It is silly to say they are a sign of rampant corporate domination. They are the opposite. They are an enabler for the common people.

      Bullshit.

      The entire business model of companies like Airbnb and Uber are based on exploiting people who are desperate for work.

    6. Re:Hipsters are Hobos by KGIII · · Score: 3, Funny

      I only know of the Air one because it has been here on this site. I have no idea what the rest are. I've never actually been to the site of the company that I do know of.

      I'm not sure what to make of that. I've seen Tindr before but I've no idea what they do. Vine is something grapes grow on. It's the only real word of the three.

      I'm usually pretty decent with my technical jargon. I understood the concept of what you were saying but it's like speaking Spanish and still being able to understand Italian well enough to get the gist of it. The difference is, I expect you're speaking my language.

      I could Google or I could remain willfully ignorant. I'm not sure I want to waste more brain cells. Earlier I Googled a video of some Watch Me thing (it had something resembling music but I'm not sure what *kind* of music it was). I'd always hoped their wouldn't be a generation gap but I think I've figured it out. We just don't want to keep up with all these things. Most of the time, they're words describing something that's neither new nor innovative.

      From what I have read about the Air company, they're neither new nor innovative but "do it on a computer?" (Or, presumably, "with an APP!"?)

      So, I'm going to assume that the bed and breakfast thing means you let someone stay in your house for a fee. Tindr means use them to kindle a fire. Vine means grapes, so you must then spread the word among your your friends and score points depending on how many Tindrs you get and you probably monetize it by betting. (Unless there's someone paying for charred remains?)

      If that's not the case then, well, let me think it is. I'll be down in Florida soon and will be over at the club playing Pinochle and I want to have a good story to tell them what the crazy kids are doing on the newfangled internets these days.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    7. Re:Hipsters are Hobos by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 0

      The entire business model of companies like Airbnb and Uber are based on exploiting people who are desperate for work.

      Giving work to willing workers is not "exploitation". I don't feel exploited when the Airbnb rental income hits my bank account.

    8. Re:Hipsters are Hobos by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      YM: AirBnB allows people to rent party houses on busy weekends, while the owner can skip out on paying hotel bed taxes, nor have to worry about hotel regulations to host large amount of people in spare rooms.
      HTH.

      Yes, you can make money when you can skip out on taxes and not have to handle regulations. However your neighbors will start to hate you, and that isn't a good thing, especially with more and more municipalities and HOAs banning AirBNB because of abuse.

    9. Re:Hipsters are Hobos by lucm · · Score: 1

      Airbnb allows normal people to earn money by renting out spare rooms, at the expense of big corporate hotel chains.

      You mean: "at the expense of cute girls who believe it's really a woman that is renting a room and not a creepy guy planning to have her sleeping with him in his bed"?

      --
      lucm, indeed.
    10. Re:Hipsters are Hobos by OverlordQ · · Score: 1

      Yeah, it also allows business to lock up housing away from residents of that town.

      --
      Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
    11. Re:Hipsters are Hobos by Darinbob · · Score: 2

      But you can get that income without Airbnb. All it's done is be one of a few companies to provide a central location to advertise the services on phones. The short term rental market has existed for ages. Yes, it may be handy for those who never look up from the phone but it's certainly not very innovative.

    12. Re:Hipsters are Hobos by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      All it's done is be one of a few companies to provide a central location to advertise the services on phones
      Explain! How is that supposed to work?

      I want a "private rented room" ... how I should find one via a "phone" is beyond me.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    13. Re:Hipsters are Hobos by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Guessing this is a generational thing.

      Read phone = smartphone = computer.

    14. Re: Hipsters are Hobos by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Huh? Citation...?

    15. Re:Hipsters are Hobos by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Airbnb allows normal people to earn money by renting out spare rooms, at the expense of big corporate hotel chains."

      No they do it at the expense of people who live in cities and communities, driving up rent and destroying neighborhoods.

      AirBnB is valued at over $20 billion dollars. How is that not a huge corporation. AirBnB spent over $8 million dollars to prevent regulatory legislation in san francisco recently.

      AirBnb, Vrbo, home away, all these companies are exploiting communities to make a buck without taking any responsibility.

    16. Re:Hipsters are Hobos by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Obvious agent of the Patriarchy. Everyone knows that if you oppose google, you oppose women in technology.

    17. Re:Hipsters are Hobos by ranton · · Score: 1

      But you can get that income without Airbnb. All it's done is be one of a few companies to provide a central location to advertise the services on phones. The short term rental market has existed for ages. Yes, it may be handy for those who never look up from the phone but it's certainly not very innovative.

      Yeah, and all Google did was provide a central location where you could find content on the Internet. Web site directories and even tools like phone books had existed for ages. Certainly not very innovative either.

      Providing a market place for people to easily engage in trade is still massively useful. I wouldn't call Airbnb a revolutionary company, but they certainly provide a very useful service. I have rented out apartments there on two occasions and it was great to have a reasonably prices place with a large fridge, oven, and washing machine as opposed to a hotel room.

      --
      -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
    18. Re: Hipsters are Hobos by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Haven't heard about that one, but I have head a few.

    19. Re:Hipsters are Hobos by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tindr is a dating app. Vine is a video sharing service.

      So much for keeping your ignorance...

    20. Re:Hipsters are Hobos by KGIII · · Score: 1

      Damn it. I clicked it and, obviously, read it. That's okay, I smoked a joint about a half hour ago. I'll probably forget. ;-)

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    21. Re:Hipsters are Hobos by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Craigslist? This stuff all existed before airbnb, before the internet, etc.

    22. Re:Hipsters are Hobos by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good for them, Government leaches, and paid for protection hotel racket.
      Hurray for Uber and AirBNB.

  4. Highest rated CEOs... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Check out the "Highest rated CEOs" list. Larry Page is #1.

    I bet it urks Larry Ellison that he isn't on the list and Marc Benioff is.....

  5. Best for who? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Not for transgenendered one-legged bearded leprechauns! Thats for DAMN sure!!

  6. No kidding? by tehlinux · · Score: 1

    Crazy how a company that conspired with one of its competitors to rob its own employees of billions (that's with a b) in salary isn't at the top of the list...

    --
    Most linux users don't know this, but the man pages were named after Chuck Norris. Chuck Norris fsck'ing hates noobs!
  7. How is airbnb a tech company? by headbulb · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How is airbnb or many of these other startups tech companies?

    Sure they use technology, but so does the grocery store down the street. Should we start labeling grocery stores as tech companies that have websites? If your main product isn't technology and instead you use some inhouse custom built website/app to sell some other product or service then your company isn't a tech company but a company that uses tech to enable your business model.

    Lyft/uber/airbnb/ aren't tech companies They are something else. I wish they would stop masquerading.

    1. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

      I came here to ask this about Airbnb. I didn't know what it was for sure, but assumed it was an airline or something. In any case, if this company is a tech company then so is L.L. Bean.

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    2. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you use some inhouse custom built website/app to sell some other product or service then your company isn't a tech company

      One could argue that by your definition Google is not a tech company.

    3. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

      Uhh, yea it is. Whats more, is airbnb has quite a few cool pieces of tech that they've released as open source.

      http://nerds.airbnb.com/open-source/

    4. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      so has walmart, another technology startup in your mind

    5. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      They are all only pimps. They manage other people's resources end get their cut. They are not just a middlemen, they decide your part of the business and filter your clients.

    6. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Thank you dear airbnb employee!

    7. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by Forgefather · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I'm not so sure about this. I see your argument that technology is not the core product, but the fact is that their entire business would not be possible without their technology. It's not the same as a grocery store that can run their business just fine if their website goes down.

      My test is thus: how freaked out does the management get went when the network has an outage at 3:00 in the morning. If they are full on incontinent then you have a tech company.

      Perhaps this puts a lot of companies under that umbrella, but in 2015 is it even possible to treat technology of secondary importance to your business? Such companies are now few and far between.

      --
      "There are lies, there are damn lies, and there are statistics"
    8. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by eth1 · · Score: 1

      How is airbnb or many of these other startups tech companies?

      Sure they use technology, but so does the grocery store down the street.

      They're a tech company because that's what they do: provide technology to facilitate the people actually doing the renting.

      The company I work for is similar. We provide SaaS/IaaS for a specific industry (real estate/multi-family rental), but we don't participate directly in that industry. So, we're a tech company, not a real estate company.

    9. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by Darinbob · · Score: 2

      Agreed here. This is mass media, they think anything that involves a computer or an "app" is tech. It's stupid.
      Is everyone who makes a pod cast a tech worker? How about the person who takes off her clothes for money on the internet, is that a tech worker?

      Why isn't the company that works on drilling technology for the oil industry called a "tech company"? If I make machines to put vegetables into cans on an assembly line, am I a tech worker because I am actually creating new technologies?

      Imagine if they did that for mathematics, would someone working on cryptography be called a chalkboard worker who could get a job with the chalkboard industry? Why is Hadoop called a technology? A database is possibly technology, a network protocol and media connecting to that database is possibly technology, and an algorithm is mathematics. So using a database over a network to apply an algorithm is much more about mathematics than technology.

      So why is it that all these companies with nothing more than a server on the internet and a web presence or app interface are "tech" companies? Airbnb is as low tech as they come, even if they may have Jimmy in the basement who does some fancy stuff to keep the servers responsive.

      What's wrong with how we used to do it in the past? We had computer companies, software companies, engineering companies, and so forth.

    10. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by Darinbob · · Score: 2

      Possibly not. But Google actually builds stuff. They have phones and tablets. They went and built up their own servers instead of renting space from a cloud company, and they were even innovative about how to build those servers.

      If airbnb is a tech company then the term has been dumbed down so much that it is meaningless.

    11. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      they're basically the 'uber' of hotels.. instead of selling short car rides, they're selling short stays in residential properties.... like uber, they're built upon a business model that is illegal in many jurisdictions, the providers of the service lack credentials, zoning, building codes, licensure and insurance required of the hotels they're stealing business from, and they usually ignore other hotel/short term rental-related laws, including sales taxes, which are often rather high.

    12. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by rudy_wayne · · Score: 0

      you use some inhouse custom built website/app to sell some other product or service then your company isn't a tech company

      One could argue that by your definition Google is not a tech company.

      They aren't They are an advertising company. More than 90% of their revenue comes from selling ads. Just like newspapers and magazines -- and nobody calls them "tech companies."

    13. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by rudy_wayne · · Score: 1

      >My test is thus: how freaked out does the management get went when the network has an outage at 3:00 in the morning. If they are full on incontinent then you have a tech company.

      So every newspaper and magazine qualifies as a "tech company".

    14. Re: How is airbnb a tech company? by slazzy · · Score: 1

      The old incontinent outage test, yes I've worked for a few tech companies.

      --
      Website Just Down For Me? Find out
    15. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by KGIII · · Score: 1

      Now I know where I heard of them! Ha! I don't think it was here. I think it might have been on Voat. I think... I think this is the same company?

      Didn't they have some guy stay at someone's house and that someone was a crazy, transgendered, rapist who threatened them with a knife and stuff? Actually, I think the owner was the crazy dude's mother or something. Anyhow, another mother was oddly involved and she was the mother of the victim and she called the company trying to rescue her son because he'd called her expressing concern and not called back so this company wouldn't give her the number or address where the kid was staying because of privacy reasons and refused to call the cops. I think that's how the story goes.

      Hmm... A quick Google shows this:
      http://www.whdh.com/story/2980...

      I suspect searching more reveals the rest. Also, it turns out it was a text message to his mother and not a phone call. He was in Madrid, Spain. I'm kind of surprised the publicity didn't do them harm. I wonder if there is still fallout coming? The host claims it was consensual. Who knows what the actual truth is but, damn it, I knew I'd heard of this company before! Hah! I'm not entirely out of touch.

      That's an even better story for the Pinochle tables.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    16. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Walmart? Nah.. maybe they are getting there.. Amazon on the other hand, is 100% a tech company... Blockbuster video wasn't... but Netflix is.. Your local cd store wasn't... But Spotify is.. your local travel agent isn't... but Airbnb is.

    17. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nope. Never even used their service... only at one point considered adopting one of their open source tools for my organization.

      But hey.. if I were an employee I'd probably be in a much better position to know just what exactly my company is than you.

    18. Re: How is airbnb a tech company? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Plenty of tech stuff here, directly from the engineers.
      http://nerds.airbnb.com

      They also open-source some of the stuff they work on.
      http://nerds.airbnb.com/open-source/

      The service they provide is a website. Sounds like a tech company.

    19. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by stephanruby · · Score: 1

      How is airbnb or many of these other startups tech companies?

      Sure they use technology, but so does the grocery store down the street. Should we start labeling grocery stores as tech companies that have websites?

      Grocery stores don't count as technology companies. Technology companies don't have a public hotline you can call, or if they do have a hotline, they don't have live human beings answering it (without at least charging you $120 an hour). Banks are very close to becoming technology companies, but most are not there yet. My bank for instance will still give me a live human being after 3 hours of wait time.

      My bank sucks at technology. Sometimes, I wish it was more like Square, Pay Pal, or Google. Not having customer service people, and only relying on your own technology, now that's a commitment.

    20. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      How freaked out did wall street companies get in the 60s when the phone lines went out? Did that make them telecommunications companies or just companies that used telecommunications?

    21. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      What technology? A phone app is not technology. The phone is the technology.

    22. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Then Twitter and Facebook and Google are no tech companies either ...

      Oh wait, they hire mainly software developers, run their own clouds, invent NoSQL storages, use the hippest languages like Scala (in case of Twitter) and have millions of concurrent users to deal with.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    23. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This surprises me because I've found their website to be quite buggy...

    24. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by gnupun · · Score: 1

      One could argue that by your definition Google is not a tech company.

      Yes, anyone can write a competent search engine over the weekend. Not! However, any script monkey can write a website that can connect supply (rooms for rent) with demand (tourists).

      Will AirBnb, Uber etc. be able to maintain market dominance, since any competitor can replicate their service and charge a lower commission?

    25. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      By that definition, Amazon isn't really a tech company either, since they just have a website that connects supply with demand, though they also do their own warehousing (which isn't tech).

    26. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by gnupun · · Score: 1

      ... they just have a website that connects supply with demand, though they also do their own warehousing (which isn't tech).

      Correct, just because you use a telephone to operate your business does not mean you're an electronics company. Maybe creating a website to sell products was revolutionary back then, it's not new anymore.

      If there's more software to the website than just linking buyer and seller, then it's a tech company. If a street-corner florist has a website with the photos and prices of the flowers he's selling today, can his business be classified as a tech operation? No.

    27. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by rochrist · · Score: 1

      That's exactly what I was wondering. How the hell is this a 'tech company'.

    28. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by rochrist · · Score: 1

      The difference you're missing is that Google, and even Amazon -produce- a ton of technology, do research, and create actually products. They don't simply use technology (largely built by other people) to create a glorified Want Advertiser.

    29. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by Forgefather · · Score: 1

      I would say so, yes. Whether or not it is intuitive, I think this is the mentality that a newspaper organization should have when approaching their business because their business could not exist without the tech.

      --
      "There are lies, there are damn lies, and there are statistics"
    30. Re:How is airbnb a tech company? by Forgefather · · Score: 1

      This difference in this example is that wall street does not own the mechanism used to make the calls. This is more akin to a manager getting pissed at the company that they outsourced the development to.

      It might not be the best analogy, but if tech (and phone lines) are mission critical then I believe you have to approach them as if they were a core part of your business not just a product. You have to take steps to ensure that this part of your business is running optimally, and that means investing in the technology in very much the same way as a tech company.

      In your example with the phone lines how much attention did wall street pay to the integrity of the phone lines after the incident? These days, being a tech company is more about the mindset of the company regarding the technology that they use to run their business than it is about being a producer of technology products.

      In the example of the phone lines I would imagine that from that outage on traders took as much interest in the continued support of telecommunications as the phone company themselves.

      --
      "There are lies, there are damn lies, and there are statistics"
  8. it seems unusuable. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I tried to rent a place through Airbnb. The process went like so:

    Me: I'm looking for a room for next tuesday.
    Airbnb: What's your Facebook login?
    Me: Do I look like an idiot?
    Airbnb: How about your G+ account?
    Me: I must look like an idiot.

    So that was that. I haven't given them a second chance.

    1. Re:it seems unusuable. by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 2

      It's the new normal for Millenials. They are not open-minded people who trust by default, like the older generations. Instead, they mistrust until they get some kind of confirmation that you're like them. The old "well, I just won't be on Facebook then!" excuse carries no water with them, if your life is not public then obviously you have something to hide.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    2. Re:it seems unusuable. by LordKronos · · Score: 4, Informative

      Either you are lying, incompetent, or things have changed recently (I've never used airbnb, so I've no idea what their policies used to be). Go to airbnb.com, click signup and you are presented with 4 signup options:

      Facebook
      Google (not Google+, just Google...lots of websites use google authentication, but I'm not sure I've ever seen one that required Google+)
      American Express
      Email

    3. Re:it seems unusuable. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It was a while ago. They may have changed since then, I don't know. I had no interest in trying again.

    4. Re:it seems unusuable. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Airbnb is pretty slick, but users are a serious problem. We typically go with VRBO now for vacation rentals since the rentees actually have their shit together. VRBO is ugly but if someone posts a house is available, it's generally available (or they confirm quickly if the availability is vague), and if you meet the posted criteria (no smoking, no pets, etc) you're good to go. With Airbnb, you have to do all this extra legwork to make sure the place you just paid for actually will work. There's an extra set of hoops to make sure you are a worthy renter for that particular rental.

      My in-laws lost a house in the Butte Fire and needed a two week rental to collect their thoughts. Quiet, retired, self-sufficient couple in their 60's. They reserved a room on Airbnb but the lonely hippie renting the place didn't want "long term" renters, she wanted fellow young hippies to stay for a night or two, admire her "art", and then move on. They found this out because they had to drive 45 minutes to meet with the woman, after paying for the room for two weeks, at which point the lady said they couldn't stay that long. Of course Airbnb wouldn't refund the rental convenience fee, they couldn't have cared less about the situation.

    5. Re:it seems unusuable. by stephanruby · · Score: 3, Informative

      I tried to rent a place through Airbnb. The process went like so:

      Me: I'm looking for a room for next tuesday.
      Airbnb: What's your Facebook login?
      Me: Do I look like an idiot?
      Airbnb: How about your G+ account?
      Me: I must look like an idiot.

      So that was that. I haven't given them a second chance.

      Not that it's necessary to "sign up" to search for a room, it's not, but you must have missed the "Sign up with Email" option.

      It's not very visible, but it's below the idiot-proof Facebook button and below the idiot-proof G+ button.

    6. Re:it seems unusuable. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To actually rent somewhere having signed up with just an email address you need to then provide ID. We rented a place this summer and they wanted a scan of and ID card or passport. They use (at least in Europe) some third party service for checking these.

    7. Re:it seems unusuable. by will_die · · Score: 1

      They are set to the local, or in some places centralized, police offices. It is used by the police to see where you are from and do some tracking.

    8. Re:it seems unusuable. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not very visible, but it's below the idiot-proof Facebook button and below the idiot-proof G+ button.

      Perhaps their shouldn't have used a BIG RED BOX (which usually has the connotation of being either an error, a warning, or something to the effect). The thing stands out, but does not look like the other buttons. (Intentional) GUI fail?

  9. Glassdoor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Glassdoor may not allow companies to remove/modify reviews, but they do scrutinize negative reviews more written against paying customers. I say this as someone who worked for an 'engaged employer' on glassdoor who had that pitched to him in very certain words by GD sales team.This is a laughable conclusion using their data.

  10. Airbnb is a tech company? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What tech do they sell? I thought they were a broker in the hospitality industry. What makes them different from Priceline or any other service provider? If simply using tech makes you a tech company, then every company is a tech company.

    1. Re:Airbnb is a tech company? by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      They have an "app". This is just a complex piece of modern engineering that no one can understand how they work not even the people who create them. So complex that you can even earn certificates to learn how to make them.

      To a journalist, "tech company" means two things. First, it's complicated and it would take too long to describe what it is to your grandma. Second, it's practically guaranteed(*) to make oodles of money any day now.

      (*) Journalist is not responsible for monetary losses due to gullibility of the readers.

  11. "Tech Company" has lost all meaning by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    If Airbnb is a "tech company", then every company is a tech company now.

  12. What? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why the hell was Google ever #1 anyway? I've always avoided them.

    1. Re:What? by rudy_wayne · · Score: 1

      Google is slipping in its ranking. In fact, you'll notice that many of the highest ranked companies are fairly new and relatively small. And that's not unexpected. As a company gets bigger and older, the chances of hiring asshole managers increases greatly. Notice that Microsoft, who has been in business for nearly 40 years never makes these lists.

    2. Re:What? by sodul · · Score: 1

      Best company I worked for was Netflix. Google not so much, more like a hit or miss in what group/team/role you are and who your political allies are. I liked Google a lot the first year while the cool-aid was still fresh, then after tat I though Palm was a nicer place with more respectful managers.

      What Google has for it is that they are very profitable and they used to have perks and food that were top notch but that degraded at scale, especially when they got over 10k employees.

  13. So tired of "tech" companies by sunking2 · · Score: 0

    Seriously, where is the tech? Webpages, databases, and billing/reservation system. Hardly tech.

    1. Re:So tired of "tech" companies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yea, if you think companies like this are nothing more than just another company running a LAMP stack or a typical database driven site from the late 90's, early 2000's... couldn't be more wrong.

  14. re: AirBnB cutting into hotel chain profits? by King_TJ · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I do I.T. support for a company that's heavily involved with the hotel and travel industry, and just got back from the annual company meeting. One of the discussion topics given to a panel of experts there was the impact of AirBnB. The consensus was that it ranges from "not a concern at all" to "relatively helpful to business".

    While admitting that the details depend a lot on which city you're talking about, there was definitely the opinion that in many good markets for the hotel industry, they have no problems achieving maximum (or near maximum) occupancy whenever corporate events come to town, or it's "tourist season" in the area. That's really what these guys live for. (It's not such a big deal if your big corporate hotel is relatively empty sometimes, if it rakes in big bucks for 3 months each summer, plus every 3-5 days or so in a row that some big convention is in town, and a few other key times of year like New Years' Eve or the Thanksgiving holiday.)

    The smaller hotels/motels that are really worried about Johnny Q. Public who wants the cheapest room deal possible, and would happily go the AirBnB route to save a few more bucks are in a completely different category. In other words, AirBnB competes with the seedy family-owned motels more than the big corporate chains like Marriott.

  15. But... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Google is a extension of the federal e government.

  16. Prop F by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Given the amount of money that AirBnB spent getting politicians to front adds lobbying the public, you know things must be obscenely good there.

  17. As a customer... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As a customer my first experience with arranging for and staying in an AirBNB was... horrendously bad. I had to call at least 4 or 5 times to deal with various issues ALL related to their system and their customer service. _EVERYBODY_, I spoke with at AirBNB was not good at their job, unable to understand or fix the problems, and out and out told me things that were incorrect.

    So, MAYBE it's a good company to work for because they don't fire incompetent workers. (Nor train them properly.)

    For the record, all my problems were with their system, their practices, their methods, and their customer service. The person I finally wound up staying with was fine.

  18. A refreshing change by Hognoxious · · Score: 2

    Nice to have a break from all the Uber pumping.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  19. systemd by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    I'd rather work for systemd, they're on the up and up!

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."