TripAdvisor 2015 Annual Report Download - page 10

nocostintheTripAdvisorManagementCenter,allowbusinessesanddestinationstopromotethemselvesbydisplayingtheirTripAdvisorratings,reviewsand
awards.TripAdvisorwidgetsarepresentlyfoundonmorethan200,000uniquedomainsaroundtheglobe.BothfreeandlicensedTripAdvisorcontentreachesover
900millionpeoplepermonth.Partnersbenefitfromouruser-generatedcontent,suchasreviews,ratingsandphotos.Inaddition,wepowerreviewcollectionfora
growingnumberofpartners,suchasAccorHotels,WyndhamHotelGroup,BestWesternandEasytobook.com,enablingthemtoproactivelycollectreviewsfrom
theirowncustomerspost-stayintheirownbrandedenvironment.Wehavealsodevelopedpartnershipswithmobilecarriersanddevicemanufacturers.
Marketing and Promotions
Wehaveestablishedwidely-usedandrecognizedbrandsthroughourmarketingefforts.Wecontinuetoaggressivelypromoteourbrands,particularlyour
flagshipbrandTripAdvisor.Ourmarketingprogramsareintendedtobuildandmaintainthevalueofourbrands,promoteconsumerengagementandcontributions,
drivequalifiedclickstoourmetasearchandinstantbookingpartnersandstrategicallypositionourbrandsinthemarket.Ourlong-termsuccessdependsonour
continuedabilitytomaintainandincreasetheoverallnumberofconsumersflowingthroughourbrandinacost-effectivemanner,toengagecustomersinboththe
planningandbookingphase,andtoattractconsumerswhowillsharetheirowncontentfromtheirtrips.Wereachconsumersacrossmobileanddesktopdevices
throughouronlinemarketingacquisitionprograms,andofflinethroughourofflinebrandcampaigns.WealsoutilizeourCRMchannelsbysendingrelevantand
engagingtravelercommunicationstoourmembersviaemail.Wehavearobustglobalpublicrelationsprogramthatyieldsplacementsonaconstantbasisinmajor
printandonlinepublications.Wecontinuetolookfornewwaystobuildbrandawarenessandexpandnewchannels,whichmayincludetraditionalmediaand
socialmediachannelsincludingFacebookandTwittertodeepencustomerengagement.WesyndicateourcontentsothatothersitescanfeatureTripAdvisor
brandingandcontent.Lastly,marketingandproductdevelopmentinitiativesarecloselytied.Weareconstantlycreatinghelpfulfeaturesandfunctionalitysothat
ouruserscandiscovermorerelevanttravelplanningreviews,adviceandbookingcontentthattheywanttotalkaboutandsharewiththeirfriends.
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.TheTripAdvisor-brandedwebsitesare
poweredprimarilyusingJavaprogramminglanguage.
Oursystemsinfrastructure,webanddatabaseserversforTripAdvisor-brandedwebsitesarehousedattwogeographicallyseparatefacilitiesandhave
multiplecommunicationlinksaswellascontinuousmonitoringandengineeringsupport.Eachfacilityisfullyself-sufficientandoperationalwithitsownhardware,
networking,software,andcontent,andisstructuredinanactive/passive,fullyredundantconfiguration.Substantiallyallofoursoftwarecomponents,data,and
contentarereplicatedinmultipledatacentersanddevelopmentcenters,aswellasbeingbackedupatoffsitelocations.Oursystemsaremonitoredandprotected
thoughmultiplelayersofsecurity.Severalofourindividualsubsidiariesandbusinesses,includingViator,havetheirowndatainfrastructureandtechnologyteams.
WidespreadadoptionofmobiledevicessuchasiPhone,Android-enabledsmartphonesandtabletssuchastheiPad,coupledwiththeimprovedweb
browsingfunctionalityanddevelopmentofthousandsofusefulappsavailableonthesedevices,isdrivingsubstantialtrafficandcommerceactivitytomobile
platforms.Wehaveseentremendousgrowthintheadoptionofmobileplatforms,ashaveouradvertisingpartners.Advertisingopportunitiesmaybemorelimited
onmobiledevicesgiventheirsmallscreensizes.Further,giventhesizeandtechnicallimitationsoftabletsandsmartphones,mobileconsumersmaynotbewilling
todownloadmultipleappsfrommultipletravelserviceprovidersandinsteadprefertouseoneoralimitednumberofappsfortheirmobiletravelactivity.Asa
result,theconsumerexperiencewithmobileapps(aswellasbrandrecognitionandloyalty)isbecomingincreasinglyimportantandwemakesignificant
investmentsinthisarea.
Webelievethatmobilebookingsarenecessarytomaintainandgrowourbusinessasconsumersincreasinglyturntomobiledevicesandmobile
applications.Asaresult,wehavemadesignificantprogresscreatingmobileofferings,whichhavereceivedstrongreviews,soliddownloadtrendsandaredriving
anincreasingshareofourbusiness.
Our Competition
Wecompeteinrapidlyevolvingandintenselycompetitivemarkets.Wefacecompetitionforcontent,users,advertisers,onlinetravelsearchandprice
comparisonservices(orhotelmetasearch)andonlinereservations.Wealsofacecompetitionfromlargecompaniesthatalsooffercomprehensiveon-lineresources
fordestinations,lodging,attractionsandrestaurants.
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