While Expedia and Priceline roll out ways to encroach on Airbnb’s space with their own private home listings for travellers, the $31 billion venture-backed Airbnb is also looking at new ways to boost its own traffic and bookings. Airbnb is now rolling out a new call for affiliate partners, where high-traffic sites with over 1 million visitors can embed Airbnb property listings and make commissions when they are booked. Alongside this, Airbnb has now turned on an API for app developers to link in the backend to and offer an easier way to manage listings via other apps.
The two steps underscore how the company is looking for ways to open its platform for the next stage of growth, and come amid a spate of other partnership expansions.
A couple of weeks ago, co-working space WeWork announced it would team up with Airbnb to offer a co-working and accommodation double service to business travellers. And in Florida, Airbnb has been collaborating with a developer to build an Airbnb-branded apartment complex — one way that the company might get around some of the trickier rules regarding Airbnb rentals in private buildings, which are potentially hindering the company’s growth.
Neither the API or the affiliate program have been officially announced, but both were spotted by Matteo Gamba, a product designer who blogs about Airbnb on the side.
Airbnb had an affiliate scheme in place in the past, but it was terminated December 2015. Since then, the company has been partnering with a very limited number of companies on a case-by-case basis (such as a deal to embed listings with two popular travel sites in Japan), which appears to be the basis of the new affiliate program.
“Airbnb has always maintained affiliate relationships with partners around the world,” a spokesperson for the company told TechCrunch in a statement. “In 2015 we ended some inactive partners, but have maintained others. The new landing page serves as simple, single place for potential partners to find the information they need to become an Airbnb affiliate and is available in all countries that Airbnb operates.”
