Building Airbnb Categories with ML and Human-in-the-Loop

Building Airbnb Categories with ML and Human-in-the-Loop

摘要

Online travel search hasn’t changed much in the last 25 years. The traveler enters her destination, dates, and the number of guests into a search interface, which dutifully returns a list of options that best meet the criteria. Eventually, Airbnb and other travel sites made improvements to allow for better filtering, ranking, personalization and, more recently, to display results slightly outside of the specified search parameters–for example, by accommodating flexible dates or by suggesting nearby locations. Taking a page from the travel agency model, these websites also built more “inspirational” browsing experiences that recommend popular destinations, showcasing these destinations with captivating imagery and inventory (think digital “catalog”).