TripAdvisor 2011 Annual Report Download - page 40

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Table of Contents
Social . Our Wisdom of Friends initiative is a core component of our strategic growth plan; 76% of respondents to a recent Nielsen study
cited “recommendations from people I know” as the information source that they trust most. We believe that having a strong social presence
drives traffic to and engagement on our sites and improves the sites’ “stickiness” amongst the users. As a result, we continue to deepen our
integration with Facebook’s Friend Graph. As of February, 2012, TripAdvisor has offered more than 100 million users (according to Facebook
Insights) a personalized and social travel planning experience that enables travelers to engage first with their own Facebook friends’ reviews and
opinions when planning their perfect trip on TripAdvisor.
Mobile . Mobile is an investment area that is geared towards creating a more complete user experience by reinforcing the TripAdvisor
brand when users are in-market. In the year ended December 31, 2011, we saw strong user uptake, reaching an aggregate of 13 million mobile
downloads and approximately 16 million monthly unique users, as measured by our own log files, up from 2 million downloads and 4 million
monthly unique users at the end of 2010. During that period, we launched 20 free Mobile City Guides for Android and iOS, offering access to
TripAdvisor traveler reviews, as well as suggested itineraries and offline-accessible interactive walking tours. We believe mobile devices,
including smartphones and tablet devices, are increasingly used when travelers begin to plan trips. In order to capture an increasing percentage of
these users, we have designed our mobile product to be user-friendly and have chosen not to monetize that platform to its full potential at this
time. We expect the long-term benefits of a more engaged mobile audience to outweigh the short-term revenue that we could generate from, for
example, an increased number of advertisements.
Vacation Rentals . This product addresses a highly-fragmented $85 billion dollar per-year industry, according to a 2010 Radius Global
Market study. Historically, we have built our supply content through acquisitions, namely our U.S.-based FlipKey and U.K.-based
HolidayLettings businesses, but during the fourth quarter we announced partnerships aimed at increasing our supply content. We believe that our
nearly 200,000 properties, and our highly-engaged and motivated community, position us extremely well for success.
Business Listings . This product was created in early 2010 to allow hotel and accommodation owners to list pertinent information on
TripAdvisor, bringing them closer to the traveler and thereby increasing direct bookings. In the year ended December 31, 2011, we saw nearly
80% subscriber growth, reaching our approximately 35,000 Business Listing customers by the end of the year, which is still only around 6% of
our current hotel listings on our TripAdvisor branded sites. We intend to expand our sales force and improve features to attract additional
customers from our installed base.
Current Trends Affecting Our Business
Increasing Competition. The travel review industry and, more generally, the business of collecting and aggregating travel-
related resources
and information, have become increasingly competitive. In recent years, an increasing number of companies, such as search companies Google
Inc. and Baidu.com, Inc. and several large online travel agencies, have begun to collect and aggregate travel information and resources. We plan
to continue to invest in order to remain the leading source of travel reviews as well as continuing to enhance our content and user experience.
Increasing Use of Internet and Social Media to Access Travel Information. Commerce, information and advertising continue to migrate to
the Internet and away from traditional media outlets. We believe that this trend will create strategic growth opportunities, allowing us to attract
new consumers and develop unique and effective advertising solutions. Consumers are increasingly using online social media, such as Facebook,
as a means to communicate and exchange information, including travel information and opinions.
Consumers are also increasingly using mobile and tablet computing devices to access the Internet. To address these demands, we have
developed and plan to continue to extend the platform to develop mobile and tablet applications to allow greater access to our travel information
and resources. In addition, we have made significant efforts related to social networking in order to leverage the expanding use of this channel.
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