TripAdvisor, Inc. 10-K

Item 1. Business Overview Tripadvisor operates the world’s largest travel guidance platform, connecting a global audience of prospective travelers with travel partners through rich content, price comparison tools, and online reservation and related services for destinations, accommodations, travel activities and experiences, and restaurants . Our mission is to help people around the world plan, book and experience the perfect trip. In 2000, under our flagship brand Tripadvisor, we launched www.Tripadvisor.com in the U.S. Since then, we have built a portfolio of travel guidance brands and businesses, seamlessly connecting travelers to destinations, accommodations, travel activities and experiences, and restaurants in over 40 markets and over 20 languages worldwide. As of December 31, 2021, Tripadvisor featured more than 1 billion reviews and opinions on nearly 8 m illion hotels and other accommodations, restaurants, experiences, airlines and cruises. In addition to the flagship Tripadvisor brand, we own and operate a portfolio of online travel brands and businesses, operating under various websites, including the following: www.bokun.io , www.cruisecritic.com, www.flipkey.com, www.thefork.com , www.helloreco.com, www.holidaylettings.co.uk, www.housetrip.com , www.jetsetter.com, www.niumba.com, www.seatguru.com, www.singleplatform.com, www.vacationhomerentals.com, and www.viator.com . Our Industry and Market Opportunity We operate in the global travel industry, focusing exclusively on online travel and travel-related activity, and the online advertising market. The global travel market (which excludes dining) is expected to reach $1.4 trillion of bookings in 2022, according to Phocuswright, an independent travel, tourism and hospitality research firm. As consumer travel media consumption and travel commerce activity has increasingly moved online, we believe travel and travel-related businesses will continue to allocate greater percentages of their marketing budgets to online channels in order to grow their businesses. We serve the needs of both the consumers and travel partners that operate within this market. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a significant negative impact on the travel, hospitality, restaurant, and leisure industries and consequently adversely and materially affected our business, results of operations, liquidity and financial condition during the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020. Uncertainty continues over travel due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including how quickly global travel will recover, and how the future travel experience will be changed and shaped by the pandemic. However, we believe that, while the pandemic could permanently change travel in certain ways, global travel will return to pre-pandemic levels. Consumers want to connect with others, learn about new places and see things they have not seen before. We believe this passion for travel, combined with the need to make informed choices, creates significant long-term growth opportunities for our business. Our Business Model On a global sc ale, we match consumer demand for travel with travel partners that offer accommodations, restaurants and other travel related experiences. Consumers come to the Tripadvisor platform directly via our branded site, www.tripadvisor.com, our mobile app, and through organic and paid search channels for those searching for information on accommodations, tours, activities, attractions and general visitor information for particular locations, and through sites included in our portfolio of brands. Value Proposition to Consumers Tripadvisor helps consumers plan, book, and enjoy the trips that matter. Our platform offers consumers access to rich and expansive content, including more than 1 billion traveler reviews and other traveler-generated content such as photos, search and discovery capabilities across a variety of parameters such as location and price, and other informational content that helps drive consumer convenience as they plan and book their perfect trip. We believe this rich content has led Tripadvisor to become a trusted global brand, attracting nearly half a billion monthly unique 2 visitors to our platform and influencing a significant amount of travel commerce during peak months prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are focused on creating the best online experience in travel planning and booking, making it easier for consumers to research destinations, experiences and restaurants, read and contribute user-generated content (such as reviews and photos), compare destinations and businesses based on quality, price and availability comparisons, and complete bookings powered by our travel partners. Value Proposition to Travel Partners The scale of our platform and the traffic to our platform enable our travel partners to be discovered, to advertise, and to sell their services to a global travel audience. These partners may include hotel chains, independent hoteliers, online travel agencies, or OTAs, destination marketing organizations, and other travel-related and non-travel related product and service providers. We enable media advertising opportunities – and in some cases, facilitate transactions between consumers and travel partners in a number of ways, including by sending referrals to our travel partners’ websites, facilitating bookings on behalf of our travel partners, or by serving as the merchant of record – particularly in our Experiences offering – and by offering advertising placements on our platform. Business and Products We manage our business based on the following reportable segments: (1) Hotels, Media & Platform and (2) Experiences & Dining. Our Hotels, Media & Platform segment includes revenue generated from the following sources: • Tripadvisor-branded Hotels Revenue. The largest source of Hotels, Media & Platform segment revenue is generated from click-based advertising on Tripadvisor-branded websites, which is primarily comprised of contextually-relevant booking links to our travel partners’ websites. Our click-based travel partners are predominantly OTAs and hotels. Click-based advertising is generally priced on a cost-per-click, or “CPC”, basis, with payments from travel partners determined by the number of travelers who click on a link multiplied by the CPC rate for each specific click. CPC rates are determined in a dynamic, competitive auction process, where our travel partner CPC bids for rates and availability to be listed on our platform are submitted. We also generate revenue from our cost-per-action, or “CPA” model, which consists of contextually-relevant booking links to our travel partners’ websites which are advertised on our platform. We earn a commission from our travel partners, based on a pre-determined contractual commission rate, for each traveler who clicks to and books a hotel reservation on the travel partners’ website, which results in a traveler stay. In addition, we also provide business-to-business (“B2B”) offerings, including subscription-based advertising to hotels, owners of B&Bs and other specialty lodging properties, enabling subscribers to advertise their businesses on our platform, as well as manage and promote their website URL, email address, phone number, special offers and other information related to their business. Subscription-based advertising services are predominantly sold for a flat fee for a contracted period of time. We also offer travel partners the opportunity to advertise and promote their business through hotel sponsored placements on our platform, generally on a CPC rate basis. • Tripadvisor-branded Display and Platform Revenue. We offer businesses the ability to promote their brands through display-based advertising placements on our platform across all of our segments and business units. Our display-based advertising clients are predominantly direct suppliers of hotels, airlines and cruises, as well as destination marketing organizations. We also sell display-based advertising to OTAs and other travel related businesses, as well as advertisers from non-travel categories. Display-based advertising is sold predominantly on a cost per thousand impressions, or CPM, basis. 3 Our Experiences & Dining segment includes revenue generated from the following sources: • Experiences. We provide information and services that allow travelers to research and book tours, activities and attractions (the “experience”) in popular travel destinations in our Viator online marketplace. We also power experience booking capabilities to travelers on third-party distribution partner websites and mobile apps, including some of the world’s top airlines, hotel chains, and online and offline travel agencies, including on the Tripadvisor websites and mobile apps. We work with local experience operators (the “operator”) to provide travelers the ability to book tours, activities and attractions in destinations worldwide. In these transactions we act as the merchant of record and generate commissions for each booking transaction we facilitate through our online reservation system. We also earn commissions from third-party merchant partners, who display and promote on their websites the experiences available on our platform to travelers which generate bookings, in transactions where we are not the merchant of record. For the vast majority of experience bookings, we collect the full amount charged to the traveler at the time of booking and remit the operator’s portion after the booked experience occurs, which contributes to positive working capital before the traveler completes the experience. • Dining. We provide information and services for consumers to research and book restaurant reservations in popular travel destinations through our dedicated online restaurant reservations offering, TheFork, and on our Tripadvisor-branded websites and mobile apps. We primarily generate transaction fees (or per seated diner fees) that are paid by our restaurant customers for diners seated through TheFork’s online reservation system. We also offer B2B services and generate subscription fees for subscription-based advertising to restaurants, access to certain online reservation management services, marketing analytic tools, and menu syndication services provided by TheFork and Tripadvisor. In addition, we also offer restaurant partners the opportunity to advertise and promote their business through restaurant media advertising placements on our Tripadvisor websites and mobile apps generally on a CPC rate basis. We also offer travelers Rentals, Flights & Car, and Cruise solutions on our platform which complement our end-to-end travel experience. Revenue generated through these offerings are combined in Other which is not considered a reportable segment. Our Rentals offering provides information and services that allow travelers to research and book vacation and short-term rental properties, including full homes, condominiums, villas, beach properties, cabins and cottages. Rentals primarily generates revenue, a commission from both the traveler and the property owner, by offering individual property owners and property managers the ability to list their rental properties on our platform thereby connecting with travelers primarily through a free-to-list commission-based option. We generally collect payment from the traveler at the time of booking, representing the amount due to the property owner or manager, as well as our commission. These properties are listed on www.flipkey.com, www.holidaylettings.co.uk, www.housetrip.com, www.niumba.com, www.vacationhomerentals.com, and on our Tripadvisor-branded websites and mobile apps. In addition, we generate revenue from Flights, Cruise, and Car offerings on our platform, which primarily consists of click-based advertising and display-based advertising revenue, similar to our Hotels, Media & Platform segment. For further information regarding our segments, including the principal revenue streams within these segments and timing of revenue recognition and cashflows, refer to “Note 4: Revenue Recognition ” and “Note 20: Segment and Geographic Information ” in the notes to our consolidated financial statements in Item 8 on this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Seasonality Consumers’ travel expenditures have historically followed a seasonal pattern. Correspondingly, travel partners’ advertising investments, and therefore our revenue and operating profits, have also historically followed a seasonal pattern. Our financial performance tends to be seasonally highest in the second and third quarters of a given year, which includes the seasonal peak in consumer demand, traveler hotel and rental stays, and travel activities and experiences taken, compared to the first and fourth quarters, which represent seasonal low points . During the first half of the year, experiences and rentals bookings typically exceed the amount of completed experiences and rental 4 stays, resulting in higher cash flow related to working capital, while during the second half of the year, particularly in the third quarter, this pattern reverses and cash flows from these transactions are typically negative . However, as discussed in Part II, Item 7. “ Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations ” and “Note 1: Organization and Business Description ” in the notes to our consolidated financial statements in Item 8 on this Annual Report on Form 10-K, o ther factors may also impact typical seasonal fluctuations, which include further significant shifts in our business mix or adverse economic conditions that could result in future seasonal patterns that are different from historical trends. For example, due to the impact of COVID-19 on our business, we did not experience our typical seasonal pattern for revenue and operating profits during the year ended December 31, 2020. COVID-19 contributed significantly to unfavorable working capital trends and material negative operating cash flow during the year ended December 31, 2020, most notably occurring during the first half of 2020, when we typically generate significant positive cash flow. Although consumer travel demand, traveler hotel and rental stays, and travel activities and experiences taken generally remain materially lower than historic levels, these trends improved during 2021, resulting in increased revenues, and working capital and operating cash flow more akin to typical historical seasonality trends . However, it is difficult to predict the seasonality for 2022, given the sustained uncertainty related to the continued economic and travel impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ultimate shape and timing of a recovery in our key markets. In addition, significant shifts in our business mix or adverse economic conditions could result in future seasonal patterns that are different from historical trends. Our Long-Term Growth Strategy The global travel market (which excludes dining) is expected to reach $1.4 trillion of bookings in 2022, according to Phocuswright, an independent travel, tourism and hospitality research firm. Given we have the world’s largest travel audience, we believe that Tripadvisor’s influence in the travel ecosystem remains significant. Our long-term growth strategy aims to increase consumer engagement on our platform and drive profitable growth through: • offering products that delight travelers by reducing friction throughout the travel planning and trip-taking journey; • driving consumer loyalty to our platform through user experience and by offering products and services that increase engagement with our platform and result in membership growth, new and repeat bookings, mobile app engagement and repeat usage; • driving traveler and diner engagement, bookings, and loyalty on our branded platforms by offering industry-leading choices for online bookable experiences and restaurants in top destinations worldwide; • deepening travel partner engagement on our platform by expanding the number of products and services we offer; and • leveraging our platform’s brand and scale and our unique attributes to expand and grow our offerings such as hotel and restaurant B2B solutions, direct-to-consumer products and services where consumers pay us on a per trip planned or an annual subscription basis and click-based and display-based media advertising. We expect to enable our growth through investment in: • organic investment in marketing and technology (e.g., machine learning) to further improve the experiences we can deliver to consumers and travel partners on our platform; and • inorganically by opportunistically pursuing strategic acquisitions. Marketing and Competition Tripadvisor and its partners compete with other companies across numerous verticals within an attractive and rapidly evolving travel industry. In our daily operations, we compete to attract premier travel community-powered 5 content (reviews, photos and other forms of engagement), traffic, advertising dollars and, more generally, the purchasing power of high-intent and highly-valuable consumers seeking to book vacations and spend. Since our travel review content and those of our competitors are typically free, we differentiate based on the awareness and trust travelers and diners place in our brands, the quality and nature of our consumer and B2B product offerings and through the choices available through our online travel search and price comparison services (or metasearch). As such, we invest in improving our consumer experience and expanding travel review content (the core offering within our value proposition), the growth of business listings on our platform that provide choice and the diverse range of bookable experiences we provide travelers during their vacations that create lasting memories. Knowing trust in our platform is paramount to our success and the virtues of our network effect, we also invest in leading the internet industry in our trust and safety initiatives, including providing transparency into our traveler review process and our efforts to combat misinformation and false reviews. We also invest to amplify our global brand and raise consumer awareness of, and engagement with, our end-to-end product offerings. With hundreds of millions of visitors to our platform each year, we leverage a number of cost effective online and offline marketing channels to reach travelers and diners, including our own platform channels (i.e. websites and app), online search engines (primarily Google), social media, email, media via public relations, partnerships, and content distribution. The relative success of our marketing strategy is measurable on these channels, and can be influenced by changes that we and our travel partners and competitors make to our respective products and marketing strategies. We allocate resources among the different marketing channels based on our internal return on investment measures. We compete globally with both online and offline, established and emerging, providers of travel, hospitality, lodging, experiences (bookable tours, activities, and attractions), and restaurant reservation and related services. The markets for the services we offer are intensely competitive, and current and new competitors can launch new services at a relatively low cost. We also compete with different types of companies in the various markets and geographies where we operate, including large and small companies in the travel space as well as broader service providers. More specifically: • In our Hotels, Media & Platform segment, we compete, and in some cases partner, with the following businesses: o OTAs (including Expedia Group, Inc., or “Expedia,” Booking Holdings, Inc., or “Booking,” and their respective subsidiaries and operating companies, and Airbnb); o hotel metasearch providers (including trivago (a majority-owned subsidiary of Expedia), Kayak and HotelsCombined (subsidiaries of Booking) and Trip.com Group Limited); o large online search, social media, and marketplace platforms and companies (including Google, Facebook, Microsoft’s Bing, Yahoo, Baidu, and Alibaba); o traditional offline travel agencies; and o global hotel chains seeking to promote direct bookings. • As endemic and non-endemic (non-travel) advertisers seek to diversify their display-based advertising spend beyond platforms such as Google and Facebook and their related properties (Instagram and YouTube); Tripadvisor competes with these and other internet media channels for advertising spend, such as Twitter, Pinterest and Snap Media, in addition to fast growing advertising businesses, such as ad-supported retail and entertainment platforms like Amazon, Spotify, and Walmart.com. • We also compete with offerings in our Experiences & Dining segment. Experiences competes with online travel agencies (such as Airbnb, Booking and Expedia), search engines (such as Google), other pure-play experience OTAs (such as GetYourGuide, Peek and Klook), traditional travel agencies and online travel service providers and wholesalers, among others. Our Dining offering competes with other online restaurant reservation services, such as Google and OpenTable (a subsidiary of Booking). 6 Commercial Relationships We have commercial relationships with a majority of the world’s leading OTAs, as well as thousands of other travel partners, pursuant to which these companies primarily purchase traveler leads from us, generally on a click-based advertising basis. Although these relationships are memorialized in agreements, many of these agreements are for limited terms or are terminable at will or on short notice. As a result, we seek to ensure the mutual success of these relationships. For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019 our two most significant travel partners were Expedia and Booking, each of which accounted for 10% or more of our consolidated revenue and together accounted for approximately 34%, 25% and 33% of our consolidated revenue, respectively. Nearly all of this concentration of revenue is recorded in the Tripadvisor-branded Hotels revenue line within our Hotels, Media & Platform segment for these reporting periods. Additionally, our business is dependent on relationships with third-party service operators that we rely on to fulfill service obligations to our customers where the Company is the merchant of record, such as our experience providers and vacation rental owners. However, no one operator’s inventory resulted in more than 10% of our revenue on a consolidated basis in any period presented. Operations and Technology We have assembled a team of highly skilled software engineers, computer scientists, data scientists, network engineers and systems engineers whose expertise spans a broad range of technical areas, including a wide variety of open source operating systems, databases, languages, analytics, networking, scalable web architecture, operations and warehousing technologies. We make significant investments in product and feature development, data management, personalization technologies, scalable infrastructures, networking, data warehousing, and search engine technologies. Our systems infrastructure for Tripadvisor-branded websites is in a "hybrid-cloud" configuration in which parts of it are housed at a colocation facility and managed by our operations team, while the rest is hosted on Amazon Web Services. Our infrastructure installations have multiple communication links as well as continuous monitoring and engineering support. The colocation facility is protected with both network-level and application-level defenses, using well known commercial solutions specifically tailored for such purposes. We make use of Amazon Web Services availability zones to provide redundancy for the cloud portions of our infrastructure. Substantially all of our software components, data, and content are replicated in multiple datacenters and development centers, as well as backed up at offsite locations. Our systems are monitored and protected though multiple layers of security. Several of our individual subsidiaries and businesses have their own data infrastructure and technology teams. Intellectual Property Our intellectual property, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, domain names, trade dress, proprietary technology and trade secrets, is an important component of our business. We rely on our intellectual property rights in our content, proprietary technology, software code, ratings indexes, databases of reviews and forum content. We have acquired some of our intellectual property rights through licenses and content agreements with third parties and these arrangements may place restrictions on the use of our intellectual property. We protect our intellectual property by relying on our terms of use, confidentiality agreements and contractual provisions, as well as on international, national, federal, state and common law rights. We protect our brands by pursuing the trademark registration of our core brands, as appropriate, maintaining our trademark portfolio, securing contractual trademark rights protection when appropriate, and relying on common law trademark rights when appropriate. We also register copyrights and domain names as deemed appropriate. Additionally, we protect our trademarks, domain names and copyrights with the use of intellectual property licenses and an enforcement program. We have considered, and will continue to consider, the appropriateness of filing for patents to protect future inventions, as circumstances may warrant. However, many patents protect only specific inventions and there can be 7 no assurance that others may not create new products or methods that achieve similar results without infringing upon patents owned by us. In connection with our copyrightable content, we post and institute procedures under the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act and similar “host privilege” statutes worldwide to gain immunity from copyright liability for photographs, text and other content loaded on our platform by consumers. However, differences between statutes, limitations on immunity, political and regulatory efforts to amend relevant statutes, and moderation efforts in the many jurisdictions in which we operate may affect our ability to claim immunity. From time to time, we may be subject to legal proceedings and claims in the ordinary course of our business, including claims of alleged infringement by us of the trademarks, copyrights, patents, and other intellectual property rights of third parties. In addition, litigation may be necessary in the future to enforce our intellectual property rights, protect our trade secrets or determine the validity and scope of proprietary rights claimed by others. Any such litigation, regardless of outcome or merit, could result in substantial costs and diversion of management and technical resources, any of which could materially harm our business. Regulation We are subject to a number of laws and regulations that affect companies conducting business on the internet as well as some relating to the travel industry, the vacation rental industry and the provision of travel services. As we continue to expand the reach of our brands into additional international markets and expand our product offerings, we are increasingly subject to additional laws and regulations. This includes laws and regulations regarding privacy and data protection, libel and defamation, content, intellectual property, distribution, electronic contracts and other communications, consumer protection, taxation, online payment services and competition, among others. These laws and regulations are constantly evolving and can be subject to significant change. Many of these laws and regulations are being tested in courts, and could be interpreted by regulators and courts in ways that could harm our business. In addition, the application and interpretation of these laws and regulations is often uncertain, particularly in the new and rapidly-evolving industry in which we operate. In addition, we provide advertising data and information and conduct marketing activities that are subject to consumer protection laws that regulate unfair and deceptive practices, domestically and internationally, including, in some countries, pricing display requirements, licensing and registration requirements and industry specific value-added tax regimes. The U.S. (as well as individual states), the E.U. (as well as member states) and other countries have adopted legislation that regulates certain aspects of the internet, including online editorial and user-generated content, data privacy, behavioral targeting and online advertising, taxation, and liability for third-party activities. It is difficult to accurately predict how such legislation will be interpreted and applied or whether new taxes or regulations will be imposed on our services, and whether or how we might be affected. Increased regulation of the internet could increase the cost of doing business or otherwise materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or operating results. We are subject to laws that require protection of user privacy and user data. As our business has evolved, we have begun to receive and store a greater volume of personally identifiable data. This data is increasingly subject to laws and regulations in numerous jurisdictions around the world. For example, the E.U., in May 2018, adopted the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, which requires companies, including ours, to meet enhanced requirements regarding the handling and storage of personal data. In addition, the State of California adopted the Consumer Privacy Protection Act which became effective January 1, 2020 and also enhances privacy rights and consumer protection for residents of California. In addition, similar laws have been adopted or are currently under discussion in other jurisdictions. The enactment, interpretation and application of these laws is still in a state of flux. Also, on June 23, 2016, the U.K. passed a referendum to exit the E.U., known as Brexit, and the U.K. ceased to be a member of the EU on January 31, 2020. On December 24, 2020, the U.K. and E.U. finalized the terms of the departure. While there continues to be some uncertainty around U.K. and E.U. relations, we do not expect Brexit will have a material impact on our business and results of operations; however, we will likely face new regulations and additional hiring costs, as well as hiring limitations from candidates outside of the U.K. 8 Compliance with these laws, rules and regulations has not had, and is not expected to have, a material effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. However, certain laws and regulations have not historically been applied in the context of online travel companies, so there can be uncertainty regarding how these requirements may relate to our business in the future. Corporate History, Equity Ownership and Voting Control Tripadvisor was co-founded in February 2000 by Stephen Kaufer, our current Chief Executive Officer and President. In April 2004, Tripadvisor was acquired by IAC/InterActiveCorp, or IAC. In August 2005, IAC spun-off its portfolio of travel brands, including Tripadvisor, into Expedia, at the time a separate newly-formed Delaware corporation. On December 20, 2011 Expedia completed a spin-off of Tripadvisor into a separate publicly-traded Delaware corporation. We refer to this second spin-off transaction as the “Spin-Off.” Following the Spin-Off, on December 21, 2011, Tripadvisor began trading on The Nasdaq Global Select Market, or Nasdaq, as an independent public company under the trading symbol “TRIP.” On December 11, 2012, Liberty Interactive Corporation, or Liberty, purchased an aggregate of approximately 4.8 million shares of common stock of Tripadvisor from Barry Diller, our former Chairman of the Board of Directors and Senior Executive, and certain of his affiliates. As a result, Liberty beneficially owned approximately 18.2 million shares of our common stock and 12.8 million shares of our Class B common stock. On August 27, 2014, the entire beneficial ownership of our common stock and Class B common stock held by Liberty was acquired by Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings, Inc., or LTRIP. Simultaneously, Liberty, LTRIP’s former parent company, distributed, by means of a dividend, to the holders of its Liberty Ventures common stock, Liberty’s entire equity interest in LTRIP. We refer to this transaction as the “Liberty Spin-Off”. As a result of the Liberty Spin-Off, effective August 27, 2014, LTRIP became a separate, publicly traded company holding 100% of Liberty’s interest in Tripadvisor. As a result of these transactions, and as of December 31, 2021, LTRIP beneficially owned approximately 16.4 million shares of our common stock and 12.8 million shares of our Class B common stock, which constitute approximately 13% of the outstanding shares of common stock and 100% of the outstanding shares of Class B common stock. Assuming the conversion of all of LTRIP’s shares of Class B common stock into common stock, LTRIP would beneficially own approximately 21% of the outstanding common stock. Because each share of Class B common stock is entitled to ten votes per share and each share of common stock is entitled to one vote per share, LTRIP may be deemed to beneficially own equity securities representing nearly 57% of our voting power. Human Capital Management, Culture and Employees Employees As of December 31, 2021, the Company had 2,691 employees. Our number of employees increased approximately 4% when compared to the same period in 2020. Approximat ely 50%, 35%, and 15% of th e Company’s current employees are based in Europe, the U.S., and the rest of world, respectively. Additionally, we use independent contractors to supplement our workforce. We believe we have good relationships with our employees and contractors, including relationships with employees represented by international works councils or other similar organizations. Talent Acquisition and Development We believe our employees are essential to our success and that the Company’s success depends on our ability to attract, develop and retain key talent. The skills, experience and industry knowledge of key employees significantly benefit our operations and performance. Competition for qualified personnel is intense, particularly for software engineers, computer scientists, and other technical staff, and constrained labor markets have increased competition for personnel across other parts of our business. The Company's management and Board of Directors oversee various initiatives for talent acquisition, retention and development. 9 Our talent philosophy is to both develop talent from within and to strategically recruit key external talent. This approach has yielded a deep understanding among our employee base of our business, our products, and our customers, while adding new employees and ideas in support of our continuous improvement mindset. Our overall talent acquisition and retention strategy is designed to attract and retain diverse and qualified candidates to enable the success of the Company and achievement of our performance goals. We recruit the best people for the job without regard to gender, ethnicity or other protected traits and it is our policy to comply fully with all domestic, foreign and local laws relating to discrimination in the workplace. Our talent acquisition team uses internal and external resources to recruit highly skilled and talented workers, and we encourage employee referrals for open positions. We support and develop our employees through global training and development programs that build and strengthen employees’ leadership and professional skills. Leadership development includes programs for new leaders as well as programs designed to support more experienced leaders. We also partner with external training organizations to help provide current and future workers with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed. It is important that our employees represent a mix of experiences and backgrounds in order to make our company stronger, more innovative and more inclusive. Inclusion is one of our core values, and we have programs in place to promote diversity and inclusion. Our diversity and inclusion initiatives support our goal that everyone throughout the Company is engaged in creating an inclusive workplace. We support inclusion through training on topics including Unconscious Bias and Inclusive Leadership. We also support a network of active Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) reflecting many dimensions of diversity across the Company. Total Rewards As part of our compensation philosophy, we believe that we must offer and maintain market competitive total rewards programs for our employees in order to attract, motivate and retain superior talent. These programs not only include base wages and incentives in support of our pay for performance culture, but also health, welfare, and retirement benefits. We design our benefit programs to meet the needs of our employees’ health while managing program costs for escalation rates at or below industry trend factors. Our programs include but are not limited to wellness, mental health services, telemedicine, and partnerships with service providers that support diverse family-care need solutions. We continuously refine, develop and implement proactive health care strategies and solutions that allow us to enhance employee health and well-being while curbing costs. Refer to “Note 14: Employee Benefit Plans ” and “Note 15: Stock Based Awards and Other Equity Instruments ” in the notes to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8 on this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information on our 401(k) Plan, our equity award plan and other employee benefit plans. Health and Safety The health and safety of our employees is of utmost importance to us. We conduct regular self-assessments and audits to ensure compliance with our health and safety guidelines and regulatory requirements. The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored for us the importance of keeping our employees safe and healthy. In response to the pandemic, the Company has taken actions aligned with the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to protect its workforce so they can more safely and effectively perform their work, including, but not limited to: • Adding work from home flexibility; • Increasing cleaning protocols across all locations; • Initiating regular communication regarding impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including health and safety protocols and procedures; • Prohibiting all domestic and international non-essential business travel for all employees; and • Requiring masks to be worn in all locations where required by local law. 10 Additional Information We maintain a corporate website at ir.tripadvisor.com. Except as explicitly noted, the information on our website, as well as the websites of our various brands and businesses, is not incorporated by reference in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, or in any other filings with, or in any information furnished or submitted to, the SEC. On our Investor Relations website ( http://ir.tripadvisor.com/investor-relations ), we provide our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to these reports free of charge. These reports are available on our website as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file or furnish these reports to the SEC or publish through press releases, public conference calls and certain webcasts. All documents filed electronically with the SEC (including reports, proxy and information statements and other information) are also available at www.sec.gov. Investors and others should be aware that we use our investor relations website ( http://ir.tripadvisor.com/investor-relations ) to announce material financial information to our investors as well as communicate with the public about our company, our results of operations and other information. We post our code of business conduct and ethics, which applies to all employees, including all executive officers, senior financial officers and directors, on our corporate website at www.tripadvisor.com. We intend to disclose any waivers of the code of ethics for our executive officers, senior financial officers or directors, on our corporate website. Ite m 1A. Risk Factors You should consider carefully the risks described below together with all of the other information included in this Annual Report as they may impact our business, results of operations and/or financial condition. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently believe are immaterial may also impair our business, results of operations or financial condition. If any of the following risks occur, our business, financial condition, operating results and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected. Risk Factors Summary The following is a summary list of the principal risks that make an investment in our securities speculative or risky. For additional information, please refer to the detailed descriptions following the summary. • Declines or disruptions in the worldwide travel industry, including health concerns, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, civil or political unrest or other events outside our control; • Our performance marketing efficiency and the general effectiveness of our advertising and marketing efforts; • Any change by our search and meta-search partners in how they present travel search results or conduct their auctions for search placement in a manner that is competitively disadvantageous to us; • Our ability to adjust to consumer adoption of mobile devices and/or new technologies and product offerings; • Our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; • Our ability to successfully manage growth and expand our global business; • Our ability to respond to and keep up with the rapid pace of technological and market changes; • IT systems-related failures or security breaches and data privacy risks and obligations; • Tax, legal and regulatory risks; • Risks associated with the facilitation of payments from consumers, including fraud and compliance with evolving rules and regulations and reliance on third parties; • Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates and other risks associated with doing business in multiple currencies and jurisdictions; • Success of strategic initiatives, investments and acquisitions, including integration; and • Financial risks including increased debt levels and stock price volatility. Risks Related to Our Business and Industry 11 The COVID-19 pandemic has had, and is expected to continue to have, a material impact on the travel industry, our company and our financial performance. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused material declines in demand within the travel, hospitality, restaurant and leisure industry that has dampened consumer demand for our products and services and has adversely and materially affected our business and financial performance. The extent and duration of the impact of the pandemic on our business and financial performance is highly uncertain and difficult to predict, as the duration and severity of the pandemic is uncertain and cannot be predicted. While many countries are in the process of vaccinating their residents against COVID-19, the large scale and challenging logistics of distributing the vaccines, adoption rates, as well as uncertainty over the efficacy of the vaccine against new variants of the virus may contribute to delays in economic recovery, particularly for the travel industry. Given the unpredictable and unprecedented nature of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it is difficult to estimate with accuracy the short and long-term impact to our future financial performance, but we expect the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects to continue to have a significant adverse impact on our business and financial performance for the foreseeable future . Further, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, much of our work force began working remotely and continue to work remotely. While many of our employees are accustomed to working remotely or working with other remote employees, much of our workforce has historically not been remote. Working remotely can give rise to cybersecurity issues, training and compliance issues, or create operational or other challenges as we adjust to a fully-remote workforce, any of which could harm our business. Declines or disruptions in the travel industry have had a material adverse impact on the Company’s business and financial performance. Our business and financial performance are affected by the health of the worldwide travel industry. As noted above, we expect that COVID-19 will continue to materially adversely impact our business into 2022. Other events beyond our control, such as unusual or extreme weather or natural disasters, travel-related health concerns, restrictions related to travel, trade or immigration policies, wars, sources of political uncertainty, foreign policy changes, regional hostilities, imposition of taxes or surcharges by regulatory authorities, labor unrest or travel-related accidents can disrupt travel globally or otherwise result in declines in travel demand. In addition, the uncertainty of macro-economic factors and their impact on consumer behavior makes it more difficult to forecast industry and consumer trends, which in turn could adversely affect our ability to effectively manage our business. Our financial performance is also subject to global economic conditions and their impact on levels of discretionary consumer spending. Sales of travel services tend to decline or grow more slowly during economic downturns when consumers engage in less discretionary spending, are concerned about unemployment or economic weakness, have reduced access to credit or experience other concerns that reduce their ability or willingness to travel. Leisure travel, in particular, which accounts for a substantial majority of our current business, is dependent on discretionary consumer spending levels . If we are unable to continue to attract a significant amount of visitors to our platform, to cost-effectively convert these visitors into revenue-generating customers and to continue to engage consumers, our business and financial performance could be harmed. Our traffic and user engagement could be adversely affected by a number of factors including, but not limited to, inability to provide quality content, inventory or supply to our consumers; declines or inefficiencies in traffic acquisition and reduced awareness of our brands. Certain of our competitors have advertising campaigns expressly designed to drive traffic directly to their websites, and these campaigns may negatively impact traffic to our platform. There can be no assurances that we will continue to provide content and products in a manner that meets rapidly changing demand. Any failure to obtain and manage content and products in a cost-effective manner that will engage consumers, or any failure to provide content and products that are perceived as useful, reliable and trustworthy, could adversely affect user experiences and their repeat behavior, reduce traffic to our platform and negatively impact our business and financial performance. We rely on internet search engines and application marketplaces to drive traffic to our platform, certain providers of which offer products and services that compete directly with ours. If we are unable to drive traffic cost-effectively, traffic to our platform could decline and our business would be negatively affected. The number of consumers we attract to our platform is due in large part to how and where information from, and links to, our platform are displayed on search engine results pages, or SERPs. The display, including rankings, of search results can be affected by a number of factors, many of which are not in our control. Search engines frequently change the logic that determines the placement and display of the results of a user’s search, such that the purchased or algorithmic placement of links to our platform can be negatively affected. A search engine could alter its search algorithms or results causing our websites to place lower in search query results. For example, Google, a significant source of traffic to our platform, frequently promotes its own competing products in its search results, which has 12 negatively impacted placement of references to our company and our platform on the SERP. If a major search engine changes its algorithms in a manner that negatively affects the search engine ranking of our websites or those of our travel partners, or if competitive dynamics impact the cost or effectiveness of Search Engine Optimization (“SEO”) or Search Engine Marketing (“SEM”) in a negative manner, our business and financial performance would be adversely affected. Furthermore, our failure to successfully manage our SEO and SEM strategies and/or other traffic acquisition strategies could result in a substantial decrease in traffic to our platform, as well as increased costs to the extent we replace free traffic with paid traffic. We also rely on application marketplaces, or app stores such as Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play, to drive downloads of our apps. In the future, Apple, Google or other marketplace operators may make changes that make access to our products more difficult or may limit our access to information that would restrict our ability to provide the best user experience. For example, Google has entered various aspects of the online travel market, including by establishing a flight metasearch product and hotel metasearch product as well as reservation functionality. Our apps may receive unfavorable treatment compared to the promotion and placement of competing apps, such as the order in which they appear within marketplaces. In addition, Apple has announced new features that limit who has access to consumer data, including location information. Similarly, if problems arise in our relationships with providers of application marketplaces, traffic to our platform and our user growth could be harmed. We derive a substantial portion of our revenue from advertising and any significant reduction in spending by advertisers on our platform could harm our business. Our ability to grow advertising revenue with our existing or new travel partners is dependent in large part on our ability to provide value to them relative to other alternatives. Our ability to provide value to our travel partners depends on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the following: • Our ability to increase or maintain user engagement; • Our ability to increase or maintain the quantity and quality of ads shown to consumers; • The development of technologies that can block the display of our ads or our ad measurement tools; • The effectiveness of our advertising and the extent to which it generates sales leads, customers, bookings or financial results on a cost-effective basis; • The competitiveness of our products, traffic quality, perception of our platform, and availability and accuracy of analytics and measurement solutions to demonstrate our value; and • Adverse government actions or legal developments relating to advertising, including limitations on our ability to deliver targeted advertising. Any of these or other factors could result in a reduction in demand for our ads, which may reduce the prices we receive for our ads, or cause marketers to stop advertising with us altogether, any of which would negatively affect our revenue and financial results. Click-based advertising revenue accounts for the majority of our advertising revenue. Our pricing for click-based advertising depends, in part, on competition between advertisers. If our large advertisers become less competitive with each other, merge with each other or with our competitors, focus more on per-click profit than on traffic volume, or are able to reduce CPCs, this could have an adverse impact on our advertising revenue which would, in turn, have an adverse effect on our business and financial results. We rely on a relatively small number of significant travel partners and any reduction in spending by or loss of these partners could seriously harm our business. For the year ended December 31, 2021, our two most significant travel partners, Expedia and Booking (and their subsidiaries), accounted for a combined 34% of total revenue. If any of our significant travel partners were to cease or significantly curtail advertising on our platform, we could experience a rapid decline in our revenue over a relatively short period of time which would have a material impact on our business. Our business depends on strong brands and any failure to maintain, protect or enhance our brands could hurt our ability to retain and expand our base of consumers and partners, the frequency with which consumers utilize our products and services and our ability to attract travel partners. Our ability to maintain and protect our brands depends, in part, on our ability to maintain consumer trust in our products and services and in the quality, integrity, reliability of usefulness of the content and other information found on our platform. If consumers do not view the content on our platform to be useful and reliable, they may seek other sources to obtain the information they are looking for and may not return to our platform as often or at all. We dedicate significant resources to 13 protecting the quality of our content, primarily through our content guidelines, computer algorithms and human moderators that are focused on identifying and removing inappropriate, unreliable or deceptive content. Media, legal, or regulatory scrutiny of our user content, advertising practices, and other issues may adversely affect our reputation and brand. Negative publicity about our company, including our content, technology and business practices, could diminish our reputation and confidence in our brand, thereby negatively affecting the use of our products and our financial performance. For example, in the past, certain media outlets have alleged that we have improperly filtered or screened reviews, that we have not properly verified reviews, or that we manipulate reviews, ranking and ratings in favor of our advertisers. We expend significant resources to ensure the integrity of our reviews and to ensure that the most relevant reviews are available to our consumers; we do not establish rankings and ratings in favor of our advertisers. Regulatory inquiries or investigations require management time and attention and could result in further negative publicity, regardless of their merits or ultimate outcomes. In addition, unfavorable publicity regarding, for example, our practices relating to privacy and data protection could adversely affect our reputation with our consumers and our travel partners. Such negative publicity also could have an adverse effect on the size, engagement, and loyalty of our user base and result in decreased revenue. Consumer adoption and use of mobile devices creates new challenges. If we are unable to offer compelling products on such devices or continue to operate effectively on these platforms, our business may be adversely affected. Widespread adoption of mobile devices has driven substantial online traffic and commerce to mobile platforms and we anticipate that use of these devices will continue to grow. Our platform, when utilized on mobile phone devices, have historically monetized at a significantly lower rate than desktops and advertising opportunities are more limited on these devices. Additionally, consumer purchasing patterns differ on these devices. For example, accommodation reservations made on a mobile device are generally for shorter lengths of stay and are not made as far in advance. We expect that the ways in which consumers engage with our platform will continue to change over time as consumers increasingly engage via alternative devices. It is important for us to develop and maintain effective platforms to drive adoption and user engagement by providing consumers with an appealing, easy-to-use experience. As new devices and platforms are continually being released, it is difficult to predict the problems we may encounter in adapting our products and services and we may need to devote significant resources to the creation, support and maintenance of competitive new products. If we are unable to continue to rapidly innovate and create appealing, user-friendly and differentiated offerings and efficiently and effectively advertise on these platforms, we could lose market share and our business, future growth and financial results could be adversely affected. Our success will also depend on the interoperability of our products with a range of technologies, systems, networks and standards and our ability to create, maintain and develop relationships with key participants in related industries, some of which may be our competitors. For example, Google’s Android, and Apple’s iPhone are the leading smartphones in the world and our products need to synergistically function on their operating systems in order to create a positive user experience on those devices. Yet, Apple has announced privacy features that limit the amount of information we can access about our users operating on the Apple iPhone operating system. We may not be successful in developing products that operate effectively with these technologies, systems, networks and standards or in creating, maintaining and developing relationships with key participants in related industries. If we experience difficulties or increased costs in integrating our products into alternative devices or if manufacturers do not include our products in their devices, make changes that degrade the functionality of our products, give preferential treatment to competitive products or prevent us from delivering advertising, our user growth and financial results may be harmed. Any continued or future declines or disruptions in the economy and industries in which we operate could adversely affect our businesses, financial performance and the market price of our common stock. Sales of travel services tend to decline or grow more slowly during economic downturns when consumers engage in less discretionary spending, are concerned about unemployment or economic weakness, have reduced access to credit or experience other concerns that reduce their ability or willingness to travel. The global economy may be adversely impacted by events beyond our control including actual or threatened terrorism, regional hostilities or instability, natural disasters, political instability and health concerns (including epidemics or pandemics), significant increases in energy costs, tightening of credit markets and declines in consumer confidence. The uncertainty of macro-economic factors and their impact on consumer behavior makes it more difficult to forecast industry and consumer 14 trends and the timing and degree of their impact on our markets and business, which in turn could adversely affect our ability to effectively manage our business. Economic downturn and adverse market conditions may also negatively impact our travel partners, our travel partners’ access to capital, cost of capital and ability to meet liquidity needs. These challenges faced in a prolonged economic downturn or deterioration in the travel industry could adversely impact our business, financial performance and share price. The extent and duration of such impacts remain largely uncertain and dependent on future developments that cannot be accurately predicted at this time. We operate in a competitive global environment and our failure to compete effectively could reduce our market share and harm our financial performance. We compete with different types of companies in the various markets and geographies where we operate, including large and small companies in the travel space as well as broader service providers. We face competition for content, consumers, advertisers, online travel search and price comparison services and online reservations. We compete globally with both online and offline, established and emerging, providers of travel, lodging, experiences and restaurant reservation and related services. Current and new competitors can launch new services at a relatively low cost. More specifically: • In our Hotels, Media & Platform segment, we face competition from the following businesses: OTAs (including Expedia and Booking); hotel metasearch providers (including trivago, Kayak, HotelsCombined, and Trip.com); large online search, social media, and marketplace platforms and companies (including Google, Facebook, Bing, Yahoo, Baidu, Alibaba, and Airbnb); and traditional offline travel agencies; and global hotel chains seeking to promote direct bookings. • We also face competition from different companies with respect to our Experiences & Dining segment. Our Experiences offering competes with online travel agencies, such as Airbnb, Booking, GetYourGuide, Peek and Klook; traditional travel agencies; online travel service providers; and wholesalers, among others. Our Dining offering competes with other online restaurant reservation services, such as Google and OpenTable. There has been a proliferation of new channels through which service providers can offer accommodations, experiences and restaurant reservations. Metasearch services may lower the cost for new companies to enter the market by providing a distribution channel without the cost of promoting the new entrant’s brand to drive consumers directly to its website. Some of our competitors offer a variety of online services and, in some cases, are willing to make little or no profit on a transaction, or offer travel services at a loss, in order to gain market share. Many of our competitors have significantly greater financial, technical, marketing and other resources and have more expertise in developing online commerce and facilitating internet traffic as well as larger client bases. They also have the ability to leverage other aspects of their business to enable them to compete more effectively. In addition, Google and other large, established companies with substantial resources and expertise have launched travel or travel-related search, metasearch and/or reservation booking services and may create additional inroads into online travel. Many of our competitors continue to expand their voice and artificial intelligence capabilities, which may provide them with a competitive advantage in travel. We compete with certain companies that we also do business with, including certain of our travel partners and related parties. The consolidation of our competitors and travel partners may affect our relative competitiveness and our travel partner relationships. Competition and consolidation could result in higher traffic acquisition costs, reduced margins on our advertising services, loss of market share, reduced customer traffic to our platform and reduced advertising by travel companies on our platform. We rely on information technology to operate our business and remain competitive, and any failure to adapt to technological developments or industry trends could harm our businesses. Our future success depends on our ability to continuously improve and upgrade our systems and infrastructure to meet rapidly evolving consumer trends and demands while at the same time maintaining the reliability and integrity of our systems and infrastructure. We may not be able to maintain or replace our existing systems or introduce new technologies and systems as quickly as we would like or in a cost-effective manner. We may not be successful, or as successful as our competitors, in developing technologies and systems that operate effectively across multiple devices and platforms in a way that is appealing to our consumers. Our future success will also depend on our ability to adapt to emerging technologies such as tokenization; new authentication technologies, such as biometrics, distributed ledger and blockchain technologies; new and emerging payment methods, such as cryptocurrencies, Alipay, Paytm and WeChat Pay; artificial intelligence; virtual and augmented reality; and cloud technologies. The emergence of alternative or 15 new devices and the emergence of niche competitors who may be able to optimize products, services or strategies for such platforms will require additional investment in technology. New developments in other areas could also make it easier for competitors to enter our markets due to lower up-front technology costs. If we are unable to adapt to the evolving demands of our customers, we may not remain competitive, and our business and financial performance could suffer. Our competitors are continually developing innovations in services and features. As a result, we are continually working to improve the user experience on our platform in order to engage our consumers and drive user traffic and conversion rates for our travel partners and provide our business partners with the tools they need to succeed. We have invested, and expect to continue to invest, significant resources in developing and marketing these innovations. We can give no assurances that the changes we make will yield the benefits we expect and will not have unintended or adverse impacts. If we are unable to continue offering innovative products and services and quality features that customers want to use, existing customers may become dissatisfied and use competitors’ offerings and we may be unable to attract additional customers, which could adversely affect our business and financial performance. Our dedication to making the consumer experience our highest priority may cause us to prioritize rapid innovation and consumer experience over short-term financial results. We strive to create the best experience for our consumers. We believe that in doing so we will increase our traffic conversion (i.e., visitors converting into clicks and/or bookings), revenue and financial performance. We have taken actions in the past, and may continue to take actions in the future, that have the effect of reducing our short-term financial results if we believe the actions benefit the overall consumer experience. These decisions may not produce the long-term benefits we expect, new or enhanced products may fail to engage consumers and/or we may be unsuccessful in our efforts to monetize these initiatives, in which case our relationships with consumers and travel partners, and our business and financial performance could be harmed. We are dependent upon the quality of traffic in our network to provide value to our travel partners, and any failure in our ability to deliver quality traffic and/or the metrics to demonstrate the value of the traffic could have a material and adverse impact on the value of our platform to our travel partners and adversely affect our revenue. We use technology and processes to monitor the quality of the internet traffic that we deliver to our travel partners and have identified metrics to demonstrate the quality of that traffic and identify low quality clicks such as non-human processes, including robots, spiders, the mechanical automation of clicking and other types of invalid clicks or click fraud. Even with such monitoring in place, there is a risk that a certain amount of low-quality traffic will be delivered to such online advertisers. Such low-quality or invalid traffic may be detrimental to our relationships with travel partners and could adversely affect our advertising pricing and revenue. We rely on assumptions and estimates and data to calculate certain of our key metrics, and real or perceived inaccuracies in such metrics may harm our reputation and negatively affect our business. Certain metrics are key to our business; as both the industry in which we operate and our businesses continue to evolve, so too might the metrics by which we evaluate our businesses. While the calculation of the metrics we use is based on what we believe to be reasonable estimates, our internal tools are not independently verified by a third-party and have a number of limitations; furthermore, our methodologies for tracking these metrics may change over time. For example, a single person may have multiple accounts or browse the internet on multiple browsers or devices, some consumers may restrict our ability to accurately identify them across visits, some mobile apps automatically contact our servers for regular updates with no user action, and we are not always able to capture user information on our platform. As such, the calculations of our unique users may not accurately reflect the number of people actually visiting our platform. If the internal tools we use to track these metrics under-count or over-count performance or contain algorithm or other technical errors, the data we report may not be accurate. We continue to improve upon our tools and methodologies to capture data; however, the improvement of our tools and methodologies could cause inconsistency between current data and previously reported data, which could confuse investors or lead to questions about the integrity of our data. Finally, we may, in the future, identify new or other metrics that enable us to more accurately evaluate our business. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on these metrics. We rely on the performance of highly skilled personnel and if we are unable to retain or motivate key personnel or hire, retain and motivate qualified personnel our business would be harmed. The contributions of key senior management and the contributions of software engineers and other technology professionals are critical to our overall management and the success of our business. We cannot ensure that we will be able to retain the services 16 of our existing key personnel and the loss of one or more of our key personnel, without a suitable replacement, could seriously harm our business. We do not maintain any key person life insurance policies. Stephen Kaufer, our co-founder, Chief Executive Officer and President, is expected to step down from his position in 2022. While our Board has initiated an open search for Mr. Kaufer’s position, we have not yet named a successor. We cannot ensure that we will be able to find a suitable replacement for Mr. Kaufer on the expected timeline. Moreover, leadership transitions can be inherently difficult to manage, and an inadequate transition to a permanent successor may cause disruptions to our business due to, among other things, diverting management's attention or causing a deterioration in morale. Additionally, the ability of a new CEO to quickly expand their knowledge of our business plans, operations and strategies will be critical to their ability to make informed decisions about our strategy and operations. Further, if our new CEO formulates different or changed views, the future strategy and plans of the Company may differ materially from those of the past. The success of our operations and the quality of our services are also highly dependent on our ability to attract and retain skilled personnel. During 2020, our headcount was reduced by nearly 1,600 employees. During 2021, we saw historic levels of attrition. This reduction in workforce and attrition results in the loss of institutional knowledge, relationships, or expertise for critical roles. This could also have a negative impact on employee morale and productivity, make it more difficult to retain valuable key employees, divert attention from operating our business, create personnel capacity constraints and hamper our ability to grow, develop innovative products and compete, any of which could impede our ability to operate or meet strategic objectives. For employees, we compete with companies that have far greater financial resources than we do as well as companies that promise short-term growth opportunities and/or other benefits. If we do not succeed in attracting well-qualified employees or retaining or motivating existing employees, our business would be adversely affected. Acquisitions, investments, significant commercial arrangements and/or new business strategies could present new challenges and risks and disrupt our ongoing business. We have acquired, invested in and/or entered into significant commercial arrangements with a number of businesses in the past and our future growth may depend, in part, on future acquisitions, investments, commercial arrangements and/or changes in business strategies. Such endeavors may involve significant risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the following: • Costs incurred to identify, pursue and fund these endeavors that may or may not be successful and may limit other potential uses of cash; • Amortization expenses related to acquired intangible assets and other adverse accounting consequences; • Diversion of management’s attention or other resources from our existing business; • Difficulties and expenses in integrating the operations, products, technology or personnel; • Difficulties in implementing and retaining uniform standards, controls, procedures, policies and information systems; • Assumption of debt and liabilities, including costs associated with litigation, cybersecurity risks, and other claims; • Failure of any such strategy or target to achieve anticipated objectives, revenues or earnings; • Limited management or operational control and heightened reputational risk with respect to minority investments; • Entrance into markets in which we have no prior experience; and • Adverse market reaction to the transaction. We have in the past invested, and may in the future invest, in privately-held companies. Such investments are inherently risky and our ability to liquidate any such investments is typically difficult. Valuations of such privately-held companies are inherently complex and uncertain due to the lack of liquid market for the companies’ securities. We cannot assure you that these investments will be successful or that such endeavors will result in the realization of the synergies, cost savings and innovation that may be possible within a reasonable period of time, if at all. We could lose the full amount of our investments; any impairment of our investments could have a material adverse effect on our financial results. Risks Related to Legal and Regulatory Matters We are a global company that operates in many different jurisdictions inside and outside the U.S. and these operations expose us to additional risks. Many regions have different economic conditions, languages, currencies, legislation, regulatory environments, levels of political stability, levels of consumer expectations, and use of the 17 internet for commerce. We are subject to risks typical of global businesses, including, but not limited to, the following: • Compliance with additional laws and regulations, including but not limited to, laws and regulations regarding data privacy, labor and employment, advertising, anti-competition and tax; • Difficulties in managing staff and operations due to distance, time zones, language and cultural differences; • Restrictions on repatriation of cash and on investments in operations; • Uncertainty regarding liability for services, content and intellectual property rights; • Increased risk and limits on enforceability of intellectual property rights; • Diminished ability to legally enforce contractual rights; • Economic or political instability or laws involving economic or trade prohibitions or sanctions; and • Threatened or actual acts of terrorism. Our strategy includes continued expansion in existing markets and potentially new markets. In addition to the risks mentioned above, international markets have strong local competitors with established brands and travel service providers or relationships that may make expansion in certain markets difficult and costly and take more time than anticipated. In some markets, legal and other regulatory requirements may prohibit or limit participation by foreign businesses, such as by making foreign ownership or management of internet or travel-related businesses illegal or difficult or may make direct participation in those markets uneconomic, which could make our entry or expansion in those markets difficult or impossible, require that we work with a local partner or result in higher operating costs. If we are unsuccessful in expanding in existing and potentially new markets and effectively managing that expansion, our business and financial results could be adversely affected. We are regularly subject to claims, lawsuits, government investigations, and other proceedings which may result in adverse outcomes and, regardless of the outcome, result in legal costs, diversion of management resources, injunctions or damage awards, and other negative results. It is possible that a resolution of one or more such proceedings could result in substantial damages, fines or penalties that could adversely affect our business, financial results or financial position. These proceedings could also result in reputational harm, criminal sanctions or consent decrees, the release of confidential information or orders preventing us from offering certain features, functionalities, products, or services, requiring a change in our business practices. Any of these consequences could adversely affect our business and financial results. A failure to comply with current laws, rules and regulations or changes to such laws, rules and regulations and other legal uncertainties may adversely affect our business or financial results. Our business and financial results could be adversely affected by unfavorable changes in or interpretations of existing laws, rules and regulations or the promulgation of new laws, rules and regulations applicable to us and our business, including, but not limited to, those relating to internet and online commerce, internet advertising, consumer protection, intermediary liability and data security and privacy. These laws continue to evolve. For example, there is, and will likely continue to be, an increasing number of laws and regulations pertaining to internet and online commerce and liability for information retrieved from or transmitted over the internet. In addition, the growth and development of online commerce may prompt calls for more stringent consumer protection laws and more aggressive enforcement efforts, data privacy and industry-specific laws and regulations. Further, our Rentals business has been and continues to be subject to regulatory developments globally that affect the rental industry, such as (i) statutes or ordinances that prohibit or limit property owners and managers from renting certain properties on a short-term basis, (ii) fair housing or other laws governing whether and how properties may be rented, and (iii) homeowners, condominium and neighborhood associations adopting or considering adopting rules that prohibit or restrict property owners and managers from short-term rentals. Operating in this dynamic regulatory environment requires significant management attention and financial resources. The failure of our businesses to comply with these laws and regulations could result in fines and/or proceedings against us by governmental agencies, regulatory authorities, courts and/or consumers, which, if material, could adversely affect our business and financial results. The promulgation of new laws, rules and regulations, or new interpretations of existing laws, rules and regulations, could require us to change certain aspects of our business, operations and relationships to ensure compliance, which could decrease demand for services, reduce revenues, increase costs and/or subject the Company to additional liabilities. For example, many jurisdictions have adopted, and many jurisdictions are considering adopting, privacy rights and consumer protections for their residents, which legislation will continue to change the landscape for the use and protection of data and could increase the cost and complexity of delivering our services. 18 Unfavorable changes could limit marketing methods and capabilities, decrease demand for products and services, impede development of new products, require significant management time, increase costs and/or subject us to additional liabilities. Violations of these laws and regulations could result in penalties, criminal sanctions and/or negative publicity against us, our officers or our employees and/or restrictions on the conduct of our business. We face risks related to our intellectual property. We rely on content, brands and technology, much of which is proprietary. We protect our content, brands and technology by, among other things, a combination of maintenance and enforcement of registered and unregistered intellectual property rights (e.g. trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets), technological solutions and contractual protections. Even with these precautions, it may be possible for another party to copy or otherwise obtain and use our intellectual property, without authorization or to independently develop similar content, brands or technology. Any misappropriation or violation of our rights could have a material adverse effect on our business. Effective intellectual property protection may not be available in every jurisdiction in which our platform or services are made available and policing unauthorized use of our intellectual property is difficult and expensive. Therefore, in certain jurisdictions, we may be unable to adequately protect our intellectual property against unauthorized third-party copying or use. We cannot be sure that the steps we have taken will prevent misappropriation or infringement of our intellectual property. Furthermore, we may need to go to court or other tribunals in order to enforce our rights or scope of the proprietary rights of others. These proceedings might result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and management attention and we cannot accurately predict the likelihood of success in such proceedings. Our failure to protect our intellectual property in an effective manner could have a material adverse effect on our business. We currently license some of the intellectual property displayed on our platform from third parties. As we continue to introduce new services that incorporate new intellectual property, we may be required or elect to license additional intellectual property. We cannot be sure that such licenses will be available on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. From time to time, in the ordinary course of our business, we have been subject to, and are currently subject to, legal proceedings and claims relating to third-party intellectual property rights, and we expect that third parties will continue to assert intellectual property claims against us, particularly as we expand the complexity and scope of our platform and services. Successful intellectual property claims against us could result in significant monetary liability or prevent us from operating our business, or portions of our business, or require us to change business practices or develop non-infringing intellectual property, which could require significant effort and expense. In addition, resolution of claims may require us to obtain releases or licenses to use intellectual property rights belonging to third-parties, which may be expensive to procure, or possibly to cease using those rights altogether. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Increased focus on our environmental, social, and governance ("ESG") responsibilities have and will likely continue to result in additional costs and risks, and may adversely impact our reputation, employee retention, and willingness of customers and partners to do business with us . Institutional, individual, and other investors, proxy advisory services, regulatory authorities, consumers and other stakeholders are increasingly focused on ESG practices of companies. The standards for tracking and reporting on ESG matters and disclosure frameworks are relatively new, have not been harmonized, and continue to evolve. Ensuring there are systems and processes in place to comply with the various ESG tracking and reporting obligations will require management time and expense. As we look to respond to evolving standards for identifying, measuring, and reporting ESG metrics, our efforts may result in a significant increase in costs and may nevertheless not meet investor or other stakeholder expectations and evolving standards or regulatory requirements, which may negatively impact our financial results, our reputation, our ability to attract or retain employees, our attractiveness as a service provider, investment, or business partner, or expose us to government enforcement actions, private litigation, and actions by stockholders or stakeholders. Risks Related to Data Security and Privacy Our processing, storage and use of personal information and other data subjects us to additional laws and regulations and failure to comply with those laws and regulations could give rise to liabilities. The security of data when engaging in electronic commerce is essential to maintaining consumer and service provider confidence in our services. We are subject to a variety of laws in the U.S. and abroad regarding privacy and the storing, sharing, use, processing, disclosure and protection of personal information, the scope of which are changing, subject to differing 19 interpretations, and may be inconsistent between countries or conflict with other existing laws. The regulatory framework for privacy issues worldwide is currently in flux and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. In addition, practices regarding the collection, use, storage, transmission and security of personal information by companies operating over the internet have recently come under increased public scrutiny. Implementing and complying with these laws and regulations may be more costly or take longer than we anticipate, or could otherwise affect our operations. Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with our privacy and information security policies, privacy-related obligations to consumers or other third parties, or privacy-related legal obligations, may result in litigation or governmental enforcement actions that could harm our reputation and cause our consumers and travel partners to lose trust in us, any of which could have an adverse effect on our business, brand, market share and financial results. We are subject to risks associated with processing credit card and other payment transactions and failure to manage those risks may subject us to fines, penalties and additional costs and could have a negative impact on our business. We accept payments from consumers and travel partners using a variety of methods, including credit, debit and invoicing. We are subject to regulations and compliance requirements, including obligations to implement enhanced authentication processes. We rely on third parties to provide certain payment methods and payment processing services and our business could be disrupted if these companies become unwilling or unable to provide these services to us. We are also subject to payment card association operating rules, including data security rules, certification requirements, and rules governing electronic funds transfers, which could change or be reinterpreted to make it difficult or impossible for us to comply. We are also subject to a number of other laws and regulations relating to payments, money laundering, international money transfers and privacy and information security. These laws, regulations and/or requirements result in significant costs and, yet, we may still be susceptible to fraudulent activity or cyber-threats. If we fail to comply with these rules or requirements or if our data security systems are breached or compromised, we may be liable for card issuing banks’ costs, subject to fines, penalties and higher transaction fees, and/or lose our ability to accept credit and debit card payments, process electronic funds transfers, or facilitate other types of online payments. In addition, for certain payment methods, including credit and debit cards, we pay interchange and other fees, which may increase over time and raise our operating costs and lower profitability. Additionally, our marketplace activities in the U.K. and Europe require us to obtain a payment institution license under the Second Payment Services Directive (“PSD2”) which replaced the Payment Services Directive (“PSD”) effective January 13, 2018. PSD2 requires a license to perform certain defined “payment services” in a European Economic Area (“EEA”) member state. Conditions for obtaining the license include minimum capital requirements, establishment of procedures for safeguarding of funds, and certain governance and reporting requirements. Certain obligations relating to internal controls and the conduct of business, in particular, consumer disclosure requirements and certain rules regarding the timing and settlement of payments, must be met. It is possible that we could become subject to regulatory enforcement or other proceedings in those states or other jurisdictions with money transmission, or other similar statutes or regulatory requirements, including an EEA member state, related to the handling or moving of money, which could in turn have a significant impact on our business, even if we were to ultimately prevail in such proceedings. If we are ultimately deemed to be in violation of one or more money transmitter or other similar statutes or regulatory requirements related to the handling or moving of money in the U.S., the EEA or other jurisdictions, we may be subject to the imposition of fines or restrictions on our business, our ability to offer some or all of our services in the relevant jurisdiction may be suspended, and we may be subject to civil or criminal liability and our business, results of operations and financial position could be materially adversely affected. System security issues, data protection breaches, cyberattacks and system outage issues could disrupt our operations or services provided to our consumers, and any such disruption could damage our reputation and adversely affect our business, financial results and share price. Our reputation and ability to attract, retain and service our consumers and travel partners is dependent upon the reliable performance and security of our computer systems and those of third parties we utilize in our operations. Significant security issues, data breaches, cyberattacks and outages, interruptions or delays, in our systems or third-party systems upon which we rely, could impair our ability to display content or process transactions and significantly harm our business. Breaches of our security measures or the accidental loss, inadvertent disclosure or unapproved dissemination of proprietary information or sensitive or confidential data about us, our consumers or our travel partners, could expose us, our consumers and travel partners to a risk of loss or misuse of this information, damage our brand and reputation or otherwise harm our business and financial performance and could result in government enforcement actions and 20 litigation and potential liability for us. The costs of enhancing infrastructure to attain improved stability and redundancy may be time consuming and expensive and may require resources and expertise that are difficult to obtain. In addition, to the extent that we do experience a data breach, remediation may be costly and we may not have adequate insurance to cover such costs. Computer programmers and hackers also may be able to develop and deploy viruses, worms, ransomware and other malicious software programs that attack our products or otherwise exploit any vulnerabilities in our systems, or attempt to fraudulently induce our employees, consumers, or others to disclose passwords or other sensitive information or unwittingly provide access to our systems or data. In addition, sophisticated hardware and operating system software and applications that we produce or procure from third parties may contain defects in design or manufacture, including “bugs” and other problems that could unexpectedly interfere with the operation of the system. We may need to expend significant resources to protect against security breaches or to investigate and address problems caused by cyber or other security problems. Failure to adequately protect against attacks or intrusions, whether for our own systems or systems of vendors, could expose us to security breaches that could have an adverse impact on our financial performance. Much of our business is conducted with third-party partners and vendors. A security breach at such third-party could be perceived by consumers as a security breach of our systems and could result in negative publicity or reputational damage, expose us to risk of loss or litigation and subject us to regulatory penalties and sanctions. In addition, such incidents may also result in a decline in our user base and client base or engagement levels. Media coverage of data breaches and public exposure of consumer data rights has increased, in part because of the rise of enforcement actions, investigations and lawsuits. Similarly, the increase in privacy activist groups is likely to give rise to further scrutiny, investigative actions and publicity. Security breaches could result in negative publicity, damage to reputation, exposure to risk of loss and possible liability due to regulatory penalties and sanctions. As this focus and attention on privacy and data protection increases, we also risk exposure to potential liabilities and costs resulting from the compliance with, or any failure to comply with, applicable legal requirements, conflicts among these legal requirements or differences in approaches to privacy and security. Security breaches could also cause travelers and consumers to lose confidence in our data security, which would have a negative effect on the value of our brand. Evolving regulations, guidance and practices on the use of "cookies" and similar technology could negatively impact the way we do business. Cookies, or text files stored on consumers’ web browsers, are common tools used by thousands of websites and apps, including ours, to store or gather information, improve site security, improve the customer experience, market to consumers and increase conversion on their websites. Many countries have adopted data protection laws and regulations governing the use of cookies and other similar tracking technologies by websites and app developers. Such regulations could limit our ability to serve certain customers in the manner we currently do, including with respect to retargeting or personalized advertising, impair our ability to improve and optimize performance on our platform, negatively affect a consumer's experience using our platform and negatively impact our business. Equally, privacy has been the impetus behind a move towards a cookie-less online ecosystem which poses a potential risk to our online behavioral advertising strategy. For example, Apple and Google continue to announce new privacy features that may limit our ability to use cookies and similar technology to improve the consumer experience. Risks Related to Financial Matters We have indebtedness which could adversely affect our business and financial condition. With respect to the 2025 Senior Notes and 2026 Senior Notes, we are subject to risks relating to our existing or potential indebtedness that include: • Requirement to dedicate a portion of our cash flow to principal and interest payments, thereby reducing the availability of cash to fund working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions and investments and other general corporate purposes; • Difficulties to optimally capitalize and manage the cash flow for our businesses; • Possible competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors that have less debt; • Limitations on our ability to borrow additional funds on acceptable terms or at all; and • Exposure to increased interest rates to the extent our outstanding debt is subject to variable rates of interest. 21 Failure to comply with the various covenants contained in our Credit Agreement and the 2025 Indenture could have a material adverse effect on our business. The various covenants contained in the Credit Agreement and 2025 Indenture include those that limit our ability to, among other things: • Incur indebtedness; • Pay dividends on, redeem or repurchase our capital stock; • Effect share repurchases; • Enter into secured financing arrangements; • Enter into sale and leaseback transactions; and • Enter into unrelated businesses. These covenants may limit our ability to optimally operate our business. Any failure to comply with the restrictions of our Credit Facility or our 2025 Senior Notes and 2026 Senior Notes may result in an event of default under the agreements governing such debt instruments and such default may allow the creditors to accelerate the debt incurred thereunder. In addition, lenders under the Credit Facility may be able to terminate any commitments they had made to supply us with further funds. We may have future capital needs and may not be able to obtain additional financing on acceptable terms. Pursuant to the Credit Facility, we agreed to pledge substantially all of our assets, including the equity interests of our subsidiaries. This agreement also includes restrictive covenants that may limit our ability to secure additional financing in the future on favorable terms, if at all. Our ability to secure additional financing will also depend upon our future operating performance, which is subject to then prevailing general economic and credit market conditions, and financial, business and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. We are subject to risks relating to our 2026 Senior Notes. During the first quarter of 2021, we adopted new accounting guidance issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) which simplifies the accounting for convertible debt instruments by reducing the number of accounting models and the number of embedded conversion features that could be recognized separately from the primary contract. The new accounting guidance requires a convertible debt instrument to be accounted for as a single liability measured at its amortized cost, as long as no other features require bifurcation and recognition as derivatives. The new accounting guidance, among other things, requires an entity to use the if-converted method in the diluted earnings per share calculation for convertible instruments. Under the if-converted method, diluted earnings per share would generally be calculated assuming that all the notes were exchanged solely into shares of common stock at the beginning of the reporting period, unless the result would be anti-dilutive. The application of the if-converted method may reduce our reported diluted earnings per share, if any. Furthermore, if any of the conditions to the conversion of the 2026 Senior Notes is satisfied, then we may be required under applicable accounting standards to reclassify the liability carrying value of the 2026 Senior Notes as a current, rather than a long-term, liability. This reclassification could be required even if no noteholders exchange their 2026 Senior Notes and could materially reduce our reported working capital. Holders of our 2026 Senior Notes may convert the 2026 Senior Notes after the occurrence of certain dates or events. Refer to “Note 10: Debt ” in the notes to our consolidated financial statements in Item 8 on this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information on our 2026 Senior Notes. Settlement of the 2026 Senior Notes could adversely affect our liquidity. We are subject to risks relating to the Capped Calls. In connection with the issuance of the 2026 Senior Notes, we entered into privately negotiated capped call transactions (the “Capped Calls”) to reduce potential dilution to our common stock and/or offset cash payments we must make in excess of the principal amount, in each case, upon any conversion of Senior Notes, with such offset subject to a cap. We are subject to the risk that one or more of the hedge counterparties may default under the Capped Calls. If any of the hedge counterparties become subject to insolvency proceedings, we will become an unsecured creditor with a claim equal to our exposure at that time under our transactions with such counterparties. Our exposure will depend on many factors but, generally, the increase in our exposure will be correlated to the increase in the market price and in the volatility of our common stock. In addition, upon a default by a hedge counterparty, we may suffer adverse tax consequences and more dilution than we currently anticipate with respect to our common stock. 22 Our financial results are difficult to forecast; they have fluctuated in the past and will likely fluctuate in the future. Our financial results in any given quarter can be influenced by numerous factors, many of which we are unable to predict or are outside of our control, including: • Our ability to maintain and grow our consumer base and to increase user engagement; • Increases in marketing, sales and other expenses that we will incur to grow and expand our operations and to remain competitive; • Fluctuations in the marketing spend of our travel partners due to seasonality, global or regional events or other factors; • User behavior or product changes that may reduce traffic to features or products that we successfully monetize; • System failure or outages, which would prevent us from serving ads for any period of time; • Breaches of security or privacy and the costs associated with any such breaches and remediation; • Fees paid to third parties for content or promotion of our products and services; • Adverse litigation judgments, settlement or other litigation related costs; • Changes in the legislative or regulatory environment or engagement by regulators; • Changes in tax laws, which may significantly affect our tax rates and taxes due; • Tax obligations that may arise from resolutions of tax examinations that may materially differ from the amounts we have anticipated; • Fluctuations in currency exchange rates and changes in the proportion of our revenue and expenses denominated in foreign currencies; • Changes in U.S. GAAP; and • Changes in global business and macroeconomic conditions. As a result, you should not rely upon our quarterly financial results as indicators of future performance. If we are unable to successfully maintain effective internal control over financial reporting, investors may lose confidence in our reported financial information and our business and our share price may be adversely impacted. As a public company, we are required to maintain internal control over financial reporting and our management is required to evaluate the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of the end of each fiscal year. If we are not successful in maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, there could be inaccuracies or omissions in the financial information we file with the SEC. Additionally, even if there are no inaccuracies or omissions, we could be required to publicly disclose our management’s conclusion that our internal control over financial reporting or disclosure controls and procedures are not effective. These events could cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, result in increased costs to remediate any deficiencies, attract regulatory scrutiny or lawsuits that could be costly to resolve and distract management’s attention, limit our ability to access the capital markets, adversely impact our stock price, or cause our stock to be delisted from The Nasdaq or any other securities exchange on which we are then listed. Risks Related to Tax Matters Our effective income tax rate is impacted by a number of factors that could have a material impact on our financial results and could increase the volatility of those results. Due to the global nature of our business, we are subject to income taxes in the U.S. and other foreign jurisdictions. In the event we incur taxable income in certain jurisdictions but incur losses in other jurisdictions, we generally cannot offset the income from one jurisdiction with the loss from another. This lack of flexibility could affect our effective income tax rate. Furthermore, significant judgment is required to calculate our worldwide provision for income taxes and depends on our ability to operate our business in a manner consistent with our corporate structure and intercompany arrangements. In the ordinary course of our business, there are many transactions and calculations where the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. Our future income tax rates could be affected by a number of matters outside of our control, including but not limited to changes in the mix of earnings in countries with differing statutory tax rates, changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets or accounting for share-based compensation. If our effective income tax rates were to increase, our financial results and cash flows would be adversely affected. Application of U.S. state and local or international tax laws, changes in tax laws or tax rulings, or the examination of our tax positions, could materially affect our financial position and results of operations. As an international business, we are subject to income taxes and non-income-based taxes in the U.S. and various other international jurisdictions. Tax laws are subject to change as new laws are passed and new interpretations of the laws 23 are issued or applied. Due to economic and political conditions, tax rates and tax regimes may be subject to significant change and the tax benefits that we intend to eventually derive could be undermined due to changing tax laws. Governments are increasingly focused on ways to increase tax revenues, which has contributed to more aggressive positions taken by tax authorities and an increase in tax legislation. Any such additional taxes or other assessments may be in excess of our current tax provisions or may require us to modify our business practices in order to reduce our exposure to additional taxes going forward, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Any changes to international tax laws or any additional reporting requirements may increase the complexity and costs associated with tax compliance and adversely affect our cash flows and results of operations. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (“OECD”) has been working on a Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project and has issued various reports, guidelines, policy notes, and proposals that if adopted could result in an overhaul of the international taxation system under which our current tax obligations are determined. In October 2021, more than 130 countries tentatively signed on to a framework, expected to be implemented in 2023, which calls for a minimum tax rate on corporations of 15% and a reallocation of profits from the largest and most profitable businesses to countries where they make sales. The proposed framework, once enacted, envisages new international tax rules and the removal of all digital services taxes. As this framework is subject to further negotiation and implementation by each member country, the timing and ultimate impact of any such changes on our tax obligations is uncertain. As the OECD/G20 continues to drive toward a consensus framework, several countries which have previously enacted unilateral digital services tax initiatives, such as France, Italy, Spain, and the U.K., will continue to impose these revenue based taxes until implementation of the consensus framework. During the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, we recorded $1 million and $2 million, respectively, of digital service tax to general and administrative expense on our consolidated statements of operations . We are routinely under audit by federal, state and foreign taxing authorities. The ultimate outcome of these examinations (including the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS") audit described below) cannot be predicted with certainty but could be materially different from our income tax provisions and accruals and could have a material effect on our results of operations or cash flows in the period or periods for which that determination is made. Should the IRS or other taxing authorities assess additional taxes as a result of examinations, we may be required to record charges to our results of operations, which could harm our operating results and financial condition. Changes in the tax treatment of companies engaged in e-commerce may adversely affect the commercial use of our platform and our financial results. Tax authorities at the international, federal, state and local levels are currently reviewing the appropriate treatment of companies engaged in e-commerce and it is possible that various jurisdictions may attempt to levy additional or new sales, income or other taxes relating to our activities. For example, Congress is considering various approaches to legislation that would require companies engaged in e-commerce to collect sales tax on internet revenue and a growing number of U.S. states and certain foreign jurisdictions have adopted or are considering proposals to impose obligations on remote sellers and online marketplaces to collect taxes on their behalf. Additionally, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in South Dakota v. Wayfair Inc., in which a Court reversed longstanding precedent that remote sellers are not required to collect state and local sales taxes, may have an adverse impact on our business. Also, as described in more detail above, certain U.S. states and countries in which we do business have enacted or proposed digital services tax initiatives. New or revised international, federal, state or local tax regulations or court decisions may subject us or our customers to additional sales, occupancy, income and other taxes. We cannot predict the effect of these and other attempts to impose sales, income or other taxes on e-commerce; however, new or revised taxes and, in particular, sales taxes, occupancy taxes, value added taxes (“VAT”), and similar taxes would likely increase the cost of doing business online and decrease the attractiveness of selling products and services over the internet. New taxes could also create significant increases in internal costs necessary to capture data and collect and remit taxes. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial results and financial condition. Taxing authorities may successfully assert that we should have collected or in the future should collect sales and use, occupancy, VAT or similar taxes, and we could be subject to liability with respect to past or future sales, which could adversely affect our operating results. We do not collect and remit sales and use, occupancy, VAT or similar taxes in all jurisdictions in which we have sales, based on our belief that such taxes are not applicable or legally required. Several states and other taxing jurisdictions have presented or threatened us with assessments, alleging that we are required to collect and remit certain taxes there. While we do not believe that we are subject to such taxes and intend to vigorously defend our position in these cases, we cannot be sure of the 24 outcome of our discussions and/or appeals with these states. In the event of an adverse outcome, we could face assessments, plus any additional interest and penalties. We also expect additional jurisdictions may make similar assessments or pass similar new laws in the future, and any of the jurisdictions where we have sales may apply more rigorous enforcement efforts or take more aggressive positions in the future that could result in greater tax liability allegations. Such tax assessments, penalties and interest or future requirements may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. We continue to be subject to significant potential tax liabilities in connection with the Spin-Off. Under the Tax Sharing Agreement between us and Expedia entered into in connection with the Spin-Off, we are generally required to indemnify Expedia for any taxes resulting from the Spin-Off (and any related interest, penalties, legal and professional fees, and all costs and damages associated with related stockholder litigation or controversies). We continue to be responsible for potential tax liabilities in connection with consolidated income tax returns filed with Expedia prior to or in connection with the Spin-Off. By virtue of previously filed consolidated tax returns with Expedia, we are currently under IRS audit for the 2009, 2010, and short-period 2011 tax years and, in connection with that audit, have received Notices of Proposed Adjustment from the IRS which would result in an increase in our worldwide income tax expense. We have requested competent authority assistance under the Mutual Agreement Procedure (“MAP”) for tax years 2009 through 2011. We expect the competent authorities to present a resolution for the 2009 through 2011 tax years in the near future. Upon receipt, we will assess the resolution provided by the competent authorities as well as its impact on our existing income tax reserves for all open subsequent years. The outcome of these matters or any other audits could subject us to significant tax liabilities. Refer to “Note 12: Income Taxes ” in the notes to our consolidated financial statements in Item 8 on this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information on this IRS audit. We face risks associated with fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. As a result, we face exposure to movements in foreign currency exchange rates including, but not limited to, re-measurement of gains and losses from changes in the value of foreign denominated assets and liabilities; translation gains and losses on foreign subsidiary financial results that are translated into U.S. dollars upon consolidation; and planning risk related to changes in exchange rates between the time we prepare our annual and quarterly forecasts and when actual results occur. For example, in the event that one or more European countries were to replace the Euro with another currency, our sales into such countries, or into Europe generally, would likely be adversely affected until stable exchange rates are established. Accordingly, fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, such as the strengthening of the U.S. dollar against the Euro or the British pound, could adversely affect our net revenue growth in future periods. In the event of severe volatility in exchange rates, the impact of these exposures can increase and the impact on results of operations can be more pronounced. In addition, the current environment and the increasingly global nature of our business have made hedging these exposures more complex. We hedge certain short-term foreign currency exposures with the purchase of forward exchange contracts. These forward exchange contracts only help mitigate the impact of changes in foreign currency rates that occur during the term of the related contract period and carry risks of counter-party failure. There can be no assurance that our forward exchange contracts will have their intended effects. Risks Related to Ownership of our Common Stock Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings, Inc. currently is a controlling stockholder. Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings, Inc., or LTRIP, effectively controls the outcome of all matters submitted to a vote or for the consent of our stockholders (other than with respect to the election by the holders of our common stock of 25% of the members of our Board of Directors and matters as to which Delaware law requires separate class votes). Our Chairman, Gregory Maffei, and Directors Greg O’Hara and Albert Rosenthaler, also serve as officers and directors of LTRIP. LTRIP may have interests that differ from those of our other stockholders and may vote in a way with which our other stockholders may not agree or that may be adverse to other stockholders’ interests. LTRIP is not restricted from investing in other businesses related to our business. LTRIP’s control of us, as well as the provisions of our organizational documents and Delaware law, may discourage or prevent a change of control that might otherwise be beneficial, which may reduce the market price of our common stock. 25 The market price and trading volume of our common stock has experienced, and could continue to experience in the future, substantial volatility. The market price of our common stock is affected by a number of factors, including: • Quarterly variations in our or our competitors’ results of operations; • Changes in earnings estimates or recommendations by securities analysts; • Failure to meet market expectations; • The announcement of new products or product enhancements by us or our competitors; • Repurchases of our common stock; • Developments in our industry, including changes in governmental regulations; and • General market conditions and other factors. In the past, the stock market has experienced price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market prices of equity securities of many companies. These fluctuations often have been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. These broad market and industry fluctuations and general economic, political and market conditions, such as recessions, interest rate changes or foreign currency exchange fluctuations, may negatively impact the market price of our common stock regardless of our actual operating performance. We are currently relying on the “controlled company” exemption under Nasdaq Stock Market Listing Rules, pursuant to which “controlled companies” are exempt from certain corporate governance requirements otherwise applicable under Nasdaq listing rules. The Nasdaq Stock Market Listing Rules exempt “controlled companies,” or companies of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, a group or another company, from certain corporate governance requirements. We currently rely on the controlled company exemption for certain of the above requirements, including the requirement that director nominees be selected or recommended to the Board of Directors by a majority of its independent directors or by a nominating committee that is composed entirely of independent directors. Accordingly, our stockholders will not be afforded the same protections generally as stockholders of other Nasdaq-listed companies with respect to corporate governance for so long as we rely on these exemptions from the corporate governance requirements. We do not pay regular quarterly or annual cash dividends on our stock. Any determination to pay dividends is at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend on our results of operations, earnings, capital requirements, financial condition, future prospects, contractual restrictions and other factors deemed relevant by our Board of Directors. Therefore, investors should not rely on regular quarterly or annual dividend income from shares of our common stock and investors should not rely on special dividends with any regularity or at all. Future sales of shares of our common stock in the public market, or the perception that such sales may occur, may depress our stock price. Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market, particularly sales by our directors, officers, employees and significant stockholders, or the perception that these sales might occur, could depress the market price of our common stock and could impact our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional securities. In addition, certain stockholders have rights, subject to some conditions, to require us to file registration statements covering their shares or to include their shares in registration statements that we may file for ourselves or other stockholders. A decline in the price of shares of our common stock might impede our ability to raise capital through the issuance of additional shares of our common stock or other equity securities. Anti-takeover provisions in our organizational documents and Delaware law may discourage or prevent a change of control, even if an acquisition would be beneficial to our stockholders, which could affect our stock price adversely and prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management. These provisions include: • Authorization and issuance of Class B common stock that entitles holders to ten votes per share; • Authorization of the issuance of preferred stock which can be created and issued by the Board of Directors without prior stockholder approval, with rights senior to those of our common stock; • Prohibition of our stockholders to fill board vacancies or call special stockholder meetings; and • Limitations on who may call special meetings of stockholders. These and other provisions in our certificate of incorporation, bylaws and Delaware law could make it more difficult for stockholders or potential acquirers to obtain control of our Board of Directors or initiate actions that are 26 opposed by our then-current Board of Directors, including a merger, tender offer or proxy contest involving our company. Any delay or prevention of a change of control transaction or changes in our Board of Directors could cause the market price of our common stock to decline. Item 1B. Unresolve d Staff Comments None. Item 2. Prope rties As of December 31, 2021, we do not own any real estate. We lease approximately 280,000 square feet of office space for our corporate headquarters in Needham, Massachusetts, or Headquarters Lease. Our Headquarters Lease, has an expiration date of December 2030, with a n option to extend the lease term for two consecutive terms of five years each. We also lease an aggregate of approximately 430,000 square feet of office space at approximately 35 locations across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and South America, in cities such as New York, London, Sydney, Barcelona, Buenos Aires and Paris, primarily used as sales offices, subsidiary headquarters, and for international operations, pursuant to leases with various expiration dates. We believe that our current facilities are adequate for our current operations and that additional leased space can be obtained on reasonable terms if needed. Item 3. Legal Pr oceedings Refer to “Note 13: Commitments and Contingencies ” in the notes to the consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8 on this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for further information on our legal proceedings. For an additional discussion of certain risks associated with legal proceedings, see “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A on this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures Not applica ble. 27 PART II