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Airbnb Quietly Rebuilds Marketing Engine It Once Dismantled
SEC filings show Airbnb has spent four years reversing the pandemic-era marketing cuts that made it famous, even as it maintains its 90% organic traffic claim.
Airbnb’s sales and marketing disclosures filed with the SEC since 2020 show a steady reversal of the dramatic spending cuts the company made early in the Covid pandemic. Quarter-by-quarter data reveals a more complicated picture than the company’s public emphasis on organic traffic.
The vacation rental platform became known during the pandemic for slashing marketing costs and leaning on its strong brand to drive demand. That approach was credited with helping Airbnb weather the crisis and later post record results.
Now, four years later, the company has quietly been rebuilding the marketing engine it famously dismantled. The filings document each stage of the shift, tracing rising expenditures on sales and marketing as Airbnb sought new growth channels.
Airbnb’s public claim that 90% of its traffic is unpaid or direct still appears in corporate statements. But that metric says less and less about how the company is actually allocating resources, according to the filings.
The gap between the public message and the financial disclosures highlights how Airbnb’s growth strategy has evolved since the height of the pandemic.