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by dehrmann 2656 days ago
I agree that Airbnb wasn't particularly innovative and didn't use technology in an interesting way, but they're not "extracting wealth." They're closer to an arbitrage play that takes advantage of, originally, surplus inventory, but now, price differences between hotels and apartments. The house rental market was also underserved before they showed up. It's not like OTAs offered home for rent next to hotels.