Regulators aren't the company's only problem. Traffic and app engagement are down, year-over-year, and stagnant over the past few years
Airbnb no longer looks like the revolutionary force in travel and hospitality that it once did.

New York City recently made a widely publicized move to crack down on rules against short-term rentals, eliminating loopholes and enforcement gaps Airbnb was once able to slip through. A recent article in The Atlantic discussed the extent to which the company succeeded with a form of "regulatory entrepreneurship," as in gaining an advantage by skirting the laws that apply to competitors (in this case, hotels) and trying to force more lax rules. The company claims most other cities are more tolerant, but if the backlash is just getting started that could be bad news for the company.