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This seems like the most reasonable answer. It otherwise doesn't make sense that AirBnB would want to lump these listings into a city nearby for searches specifically asking about a particular location.

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But wouldn't you expect it to work the other way around? Say, if I search for "Detroit, MI" it would expand the search query to the surrounding area. But this takes "Dearborn, MI" expands the search query and gives preference to places that are outside of the city.

I'm not saying that's not the root cause, just that it seems like a backwards implementation if so.

Maybe that's a way to give Detroit hosts an incentive to stay on Airbnb. After all, the more money they make the more likely they are to still use Airbnb despite the new city rules. So pushing more demand towards Detroit will reduce the number of hosts who decide to leave the platform (and possibly attract new hosts).

I think it can make sense from a business standpoint. It is unfortunate it hurts other hosts who have nothing to do with it. But I would guess this is just temporary.

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