Airbnb’s Icons has contributed to 1.7 million new profiles since May

When Airbnb revealed its Icons last May, the program received a lot of buzz both positive and negative — some were impressed with the pop culture-aligned experiences while others called the move a publicity stunt.

But one thing is certain — the effort is bringing new users into Airbnb’s ecosystem: in its earnings report for Q3 2024, Airbnb said Icons has contributed 1.7 million new profiles since its launch in May.

That’s directly tied to one of the company’s key goals as it looks to sell more than just rental stays.

“It’s strategic for us to get more accounts … especially as you want to sell more things beyond homes,” said Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky in May shortly after the launch. “I think in the future, the profile will be the center of the solar system of Airbnb, and the home will be one of many categories orbiting the profile.”

In a call to discuss the Q3 results with analysts, Chesky said Icons and other new features will contribute to its ongoing expansion.

“I think we’re just scratching the surface of how big this company could become,” Chesky said.

Along with new profiles, Airbnb said Icons has generated 60 million site visits and 1 billion social media impressions.

Expansion in new markets and new verticals

On the call, Chesky talked up expansion into new markets around the globe and also into new verticals.

“I think the next chapter of Airbnb is starting next May, because I think the next chapter is really about taking Airbnb and expanding it beyond our core business,” Chesky said. “And so I will outline three areas that are [going to] allow us to grow.”

The shortest horizon, he said, is actually the core business. The company is approaching 500 million room nights booked in a year and he believes it could reach 1 billion eventually.

Airbnb also plans to focus on global growth. Most of its business is concentrated in the United States, Australia, France, the United Kingdom and Canada, which represent about three quarters of gross booking value for the company. Chesky said he sees opportunity in emerging markets, notably Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Spain, Korea, Japan, India and China.

Chesky has long focused on Airbnb’s expansion beyond stays – including its Icons program, and its recently reopened Experiences. On the call Thursday, Chesky said he couldn’t share everything but pointed first to the opportunity to grow Experiences.

“One thing that we’ve previewed to you was we are going to be reimagining Airbnb experiences and those are going to be coming next May,” Chesky said.

Experiences could drive Airbnb usage up as they won’t be limited to travel, Chesky said.

“Airbnb is typically something you book once or twice a year. Very, very few people will book Airbnb every month,” he said. “Experiences are going to be, I think, one of many new offerings that can increase the frequency, that can make Airbnb go from an annual app to a monthly usage app, or even –  for some people – weekly usage app.”

Chesky added that more will be coming outside of accommodations – but didn’t offer much detail.

We’re going to go far beyond travel.

Brian Chesky, Airbnb

“We have some really cool other things that we’re working on, and it’s going to basically be starting with the nearest adjacencies around travel. And over the next decade, we’re going to go far beyond travel,” he said.

AI to be used for customer service

While Chesky walked back his expectations that generative artificial intelligence would transform Airbnb in September, he also touched on AI integration in the form of a chatbot to improve customer service.

Airbnb is going through what Chesky said is a “really exciting transformation” on customer service.

“I don’t want to be one of the CEOs [who] just brings up AI every earnings call,” Chesky said. “But we are seeing some really great progress on AI-powered customer service.”

Chesky said he prefers to chat versus call when it comes to customer service. In the future, he anticipates that the vast majority of chats with Airbnb guests will be intercepted and handled by an AI agent directly.

He sees this happening in three phases: First, the AI agent will handle basic questions, which is rolling out as a pilot. Second, the AI will help with personalization and eventually the agent will be able to “take action” with the ability to cancel reservations and the like for guests.

Financial results

Airbnb saw $3.7 billion in revenue in Q3 this year, a 10% increase compared to Q3 2023, which the company said was driven by an increase in nights stayed, with nights and experiences booked up 8% year over year. Adjusted EBITDA was up 7% year-over-year to $2 billion.

While many of the results were strong, the company saw a significant decrease in net income, from $4.4 billion in Q3 2023 to $1.4 billion in the same period this year, attributed to $2.8 billion tax benefit last year. 

Airbnb increased its Q3 marketing spend year over year, spending $43 million in Q3 this year compared to $33 million in 2023. The company said in its earnings release that this was a planned increase.

“Earlier this year, we shared our intent to invest in growth in 2024,” Airbnb said. “Accordingly, in Q3, sales and marketing expense grew faster than revenue on a year-over-year basis, partially due to investments in global markets as well as highly efficient performance marketing.”

The company was pleased with its marketing investments, it said, pointing to faster growth in bookings in low penetration areas, for example.