TripAdvisor 2011 Annual Report Download - page 28

Table of Contents
We depend on our key personnel.
Our future success depends upon the continued contributions of our senior corporate management. In particular, the contributions of Barry
Diller, our Chairman and Senior Executive, and Stephen Kaufer, our President, Chief Executive Officer and a director, are critical to our overall
management. Our future success will depend on the performance of our senior management and key employees. We cannot ensure that we will
be able to retain the services of these key personnel or any other member of our senior management or key employees, the loss of whom could
seriously harm our business. We do not maintain any key person life insurance policies.
In addition, competition remains intense for well-qualified employees in certain aspects of our business, including software engineers,
developers, product management and development personnel, and other technology professionals. Our continued ability to compete effectively
depends on our ability to attract new employees and to retain and motivate existing employees. If we do not succeed in attracting well-qualified
employees or retaining or motivating existing employees, our business would be adversely affected.
Changing laws, rules and regulations and legal uncertainties may adversely affect our business or financial performance.
Our business and financial performance 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 those relating to the Internet and
online commerce, Internet advertising, consumer protection and privacy. Unfavorable changes could decrease demand for products and services,
limit marketing methods and capabilities, increase costs and/or subject us to additional liabilities.
For example, there is, and will likely continue to be, an increasing number of laws and regulations pertaining to the Internet and online
commerce that may relate to liability for information retrieved from or transmitted over the Internet, online editorial and user-generated content,
user privacy, behavioral targeting and online advertising, taxation, liability for third-party activities and the quality of products and services. Our
current business partner arrangements with third parties, including Facebook, could be negatively impacted to the extent that more restrictive
privacy laws or regulations are enacted, particularly in the United States or European
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Diminished ability to legally enforce contractual rights;
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Increased risk and limits on enforceability of intellectual property rights;
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Possible preferences by local populations for local providers;
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Restrictions on, or adverse consequences related to, the withdrawal of non
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U.S. investment and earnings;
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Currency exchange restrictions, particularly conversion of the U.S. dollar into Chinese renminbi;
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Restrictions on repatriation of cash as well as restrictions on investments in operations in certain countries;
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Exchange rate fluctuations and the risks and costs inherent in hedging such exposures;
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Financial risk arising from transactions in multiple currencies;
• Slower adoption of the Internet as an advertising, broadcast and commerce medium in certain of those markets as compared to the
United States;
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Difficulties in managing staffing and operations due to distance, time zones, language and cultural differences; and
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Uncertainty regarding liability for services, content and intellectual property rights, including uncertainty as a result of local laws and
lack of precedent.