Sharing economy

Uber to Pay Out $20 Million After Promising Drivers ‘Exaggerated’ Wages

On Thursday, Uber agreed to pay the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) $20 million over claims it misled prospective drivers, recruiting them with ads that inflated typical earnings and mischaracterized the terms of its vehicle financing program. According to the FTC, Uber posted Craigslist ads in more than a dozen cities that promised hourly rates far…

Lyft Wants to Start Tracking Your Driver‘s Racist Habits

A two-year study from the National Bureau of Economic Research recently found that Uber and Lyft riders with “Black-sounding” names waited longer to have trip requests approved than riders with “White-sounding” names. Now, Lyft has announced a new measure it’s taking to curb racism: a hidden score measuring driver discrimination. In November, Senator Al Franken…

Cities Band Together to Deal With Uber, Airbnb

Such is the power of Uber and Airbnb they have inspired international cooperation in this uncertain world. Mayors from 10 cities worldwide are working together to write a unified “rulebook” for how to deal with these companies. Until now, regulators have dealt with Uber and Airbnb on a city-by-city basis, which has led to a…

Airbnb Bans Racist Host for Being Very Racist

Amid growing accusations of racism, Airbnb has permanently banned a North Carolina host who cancelled a black guest’s reservation and called her racist slurs. The ban is Airbnb’s attempt to do damage control at a time when social-media campaigns, personal accounts, and even a Harvard research paper claim that the site is a hotbed of…

Airbnb Says It’s Cracking Down on ‘Unwelcome Commercial Operators’ in SF

Airbnb has always claimed it’s a benevolent part of the sharing economy, simply helping homeowners get a little extra vacation cash, rather than a parasite driving up long-term rental costs. To prove that it’s serious, the company has announced a crackdown in San Fransisco. In a long statement posted on Saturday, Airbnb revealed the breakdown…

Airbnb Finally Admits to Purging Listings to Make It Look Less Commercialized

After being accused of tweaking data to make it seem like a larger percentage of its New York City hosts were innocently renting out their personal homes, Airbnb admitted yesterday that it did indeed remove “roughly 1,500” listings from its site before making the information public. In a letter to the New York State Assembly…

The 11 Shittiest Airbnbs Still Available for the Super Bowl

So you’re heading to Frisco to experience the glorious splendor of Super Bowl City, but you waited too long to find a place to stay and now all the hotels are booked! Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered, bro. We scoured the internet to find the best the sharing economy has to offer. Rentals are…

Uber Launches Insane “Pay-to-Work” Car Rental Program 

Uber is partnering with Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and—as the slogan goes—they’ll pick you up! By “they” I mean the poor schmucks who sign up to pay around $1000 a month to work for Uber. The pilot program, which launched in Denver, gives people access to a discounted rental car at $210 a week, plus taxes and…

Cab Owners Sue NYC Because Uber is Ruining Their Business

There’s so many bullshit arguments thrown around surrounding Uber, it’s refreshing to hear the real reason that cabbies hate the company: it’s killing their revenue, and the value of medallions. A suit filed today against New York City and its Taxi and Limousine Commission claims has a few bones to pick: regulators have allowed Uber…

Airbnb’s New Compact Pledges to Play Nicer With Cities But Doesn’t Go Far Enough

It’s been an interesting couple of weeks for Airbnb. The startup spent $8 million to defeat Proposition F in San Francisco, which would have imposed stricter regulations for the company. Days later, a horrifying story about two deaths in Airbnb rentals raised concerns that the defeated regulations were badly needed and overdue. In today’s New…

What Happens When Your Dad Is Killed While Staying In an Airbnb

With over one million unregulated listings globally, critics of Airbnb have long said it’s only a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt at one of the startup’s rentals. The most nightmarish scenario possible happened to a writer who is now coming forward: On Thanksgiving Day 2013, his father died from injuries sustained at…

SF’s Nasty Prop F Battle Proves Airbnb Is More Powerful Than We Ever Imagined

Yesterday, San Francisco voters defeated Proposition F, a set of regulations for short-term rentals which many thought might help ease its housing problems. The defeat is being credited almost singlehandedly to Airbnb. Will the entire city of San Francisco become overrun with Airbnb rentals now? Probably not. Have we gotten a taste of what Airbnb…

The FTC Wants Your Opinion On Airbnb, Uber and Lyft

Should cities treat Airbnb rentals like any other hotel room? What kind of insurance should Uber drivers carry to protect passengers? These are just some of the questions that the Federal Trade Commission will (probably) be discussing in an upcoming workshop exploring the so-called “sharing economy.” And it wants to hear from you. Despite fears…

Airbnb already provides reimbursement for property damage, now they’veadded liability insurance that will protect both hosts and their landlords should anyone get injured during a stay. The coverage is automatic and goes into effect in January; U.S. only for now. [Airbnb]

This Nifty Tool Helps Roommates Find The Fairest Way to Split the Rent

It’s impossible enough to find a decent apartment these days, let alone the humans to share it who won’t dismember you in the night. Far more difficult, however, is deciding which roommate pays which portion of the rent, which has been known to end more than one friendship before it even started. A new online…

Washington, D.C. Uber User “Held Against Will in High Speed Chase”

When poor old Ryan Simonetti booked a ride on Uber on Tuesday, he was hoping for a quiet journey from the Verizon Center to his company’s new offices in Tysons Corner. But instead, he got rather more than he bargained for. Tweeting about his Uber experience, the CEO of New York-based company Convene, explained: According…

Airbnb’s becoming more like a hotel every day: The service now allows you to book a place to stay at the last minute. The “book it tonight/tomorrow” feature can be accessed on the Airbnb app and is currently only available in L.A. and San Francisco. [Engadget]

Every City Should Have This Ingenious “Library of Things”

It’s happened to us all. You’re planning for some big project and suddenly you’re in need of a power drill… Or kitchen stand mixer… Or hiking gear. Now, you could just shell out for it, but when are you going to use it again? Enter Leila, a genius little “borrowing shop” in Berlin that saves…

Flytenow Is The Airplane Rideshare Service You Can Actually Afford

Admit it: You’ve always wanted to ride in a private plane. Imagine stretching out your legs and listening to music without headphones. What luxury! Too bad, you probably can’t afford it. But, with Flytenow, you just might. Think of it as a Lyft for airplanes. Flytenow aims to connect pilots looking to rack up hours…

When Will Airbnb Decide What Kind of Company It Wants to Be?

In 2007, I got an email from San Francisco. A big industrial design conference was coming to town and Bay Area hotels were predictably overbooked and overpriced. Two designers wanted to help their friends find affordable, un-scary places to stay, so they started a website called AirBed & Breakfast. The two designers were Joe Gebbia…