Airbnb has conducted a poll it says shows that over double the number of NYC voters view its service favorably as the number that view it as a net bad. Of those surveyed, 12% said they had a “very favorable” view of Airbnb, 25% said they had a “somewhat favorable” view of it. Just 5% said they viewed the service in a “very unfavorable” way, and 10% said they merely thought of it in a “somewhat unfavorable” way.
If it sounds like those numbers don’t add up to 100, it’s because they don’t. A full 48% of the 400 who responded over an 11-day stretch in October said they had no opinion on the matter.
Those results were without respondents being told what the service does. When asked their opinion of it after reading a brief explanation of what Airbnb actually does, 65% said it should be legal, and 22% said it should be illegal.
The survey didn’t address criticisms of Airbnb, like the claims that it takes apartments off the market, contributing to rent inflation. There are currently three bills before the city council that would put restrictions on the site’s ability to operate in NYC. Pictured: Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky. [Crain's]
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