In our 2021 Winter Release last November, Airbnb announced the most advanced translation technology ever offered to its community – Translation Engine – providing a seamless experience for Hosts and guests in over 60 languages as they interact over Stays and Experiences around the world.
Translation Engine removed the need for click-to-translate buttons, leveraging millions of Airbnb data points to automatically translate listing descriptions while growing smarter and more sophisticated each time. Hosts can count on high-quality translations that not only relieve the need to translate or quality-check listing descriptions themselves, but also allow them to reach more guests.
Today we are expanding Translation Engine to include reviews after successfully launching it across our messaging feature this summer.
Billions of messages a year, now translated in real-time
On the heels of last year’s launch, Translation Engine was expanded this summer to include messaging. This represents a significant feat given the sheer volume of messages across the platform each day – more than 1.3 billion in the 12 months leading to June 30, 20221. This translates to over 3.5 million messages a day and over 40 messages every second. Messages are automatically translated in the user’s preferred language, making it even easier for Hosts and guests to interact and ask questions, with both parties confident they can understand the exchanges accurately.
Millions of reviews, today available in each user’s preferred language
Today, we are further expanding our innovative technology to include reviews. Now guests can easily scroll automatically translated reviews in their preferred language without having to click on each individual translation, saving time and minimizing misinterpretations. Considering the more than 550 million reviews across the entirety of the platform to date2 and the complexity of providing accurate translations in the preferred languages of millions of Hosts and guests across more than 100,000 cities and more than 220 countries and regions, Translation Engine is a first-in-class service.