Media reports suggest both hosts and guests

becoming dissatisfied with Airbnb

Originally, Airbnb was a platform on which people with spare rooms could connect with low-budget travelers to make a buck while providing a "local experience" to guests.

But this worked so well that landlords began converting long-term housing to short-term rentals. And it soon became apparent that this could be done more profitably by having a large number of units under one roof, and just calling in cleaners between guests (or not) and forgoing the expense of on-site staff, giving the property a cost advantage vs. motels and serviced apartments.

Some guests, for their part, treated landlords' properties disrespectfully - kicking holes in sheetrock wallboard, smashing windows and furnishings, etc. Because absentee landlords won't discover the damage until after the guests are gone.

Then taking a cue from Ebay, Airbnb landlords and guests were encouraged to rate and review each other, which led to "battling reviews."

At that point, Airbnb found itself in the position of protecting guests from landlords and landlords from guests, by creating sets of rules and fines for all sorts of bad behaviors on either side.

All of this has of course pushed rental rates up.

And the conversion of year-round housing to Airbnbs hasn't escaped the scrutiny of local, municipal and regional governments that are increasingly faced with shortages of affordable housing for workers employed by the businesses that constitute a big piece of their tax base. So landlords are faced with registration, inspection and fee requirements that cut into their margin and result in further rate increases.

What next? Watch this space.