TripAdvisor 2015 Annual Report Download - page 11

Ourprimarycompetitorsincludelargeonlineportals,socialnetworkingsitesandsearchengines,suchasGoogle(includingGoogle+Local),Facebook
(includingGraphSearch),Yahoo!(includingYahoo!Travel)andBaidu.WealsofacecompetitionfromOTAs(suchasExpediaandPricelineandtheirrespective
subsidiaries),aswellaswholesalers,touroperatorsandtraditionalofflinetravelagencies.Wealsocompetewithawiderangeofothercompanies,including
Airbnb,Inc.,Alibaba,Ctrip.comInternational,Ltd.,HolidayCheckAG,HomeAway,Inc.(asubsidiaryofExpedia),Yelp,Inc.andOpenTable,Inc.(asubsidiaryof
Priceline).
Inthecompetitiontoattractusers,werelyonourabilitytoacquiretrafficthroughofflinebrandrecognitionandbrand-directeffortssuchastelevision,email
andonlinesearch,whetherunpaidorpaid.UnpaidsearchissometimesreferredtoasSEO,whichisthepracticeofdevelopingwebsiteswithrelevantandcurrent
contentthatrankwellin“organic,”orunpaid,searchengineresults.SEOcanbeaffectedbyanumberoffactorsincludingcompetitivesitecontent,changestoour
websitearchitectureandpagedesigns,changestosearchenginerankingalgorithms,orchangestodisplayorderinginsearchengineresultssuchaspreferred
placementforinternalproductsofferedbysearchengines.SEMisaformofInternetmarketingthatinvolvesthepromotionofwebsitesbyincreasingtheirvisibility
insearchengineresultspagesthroughtheuseofpaidplacement,contextualadvertising,andpaidinclusion.SEMisacompetitivemarketplacewithcompetitors
continuallyupdatingtheirtrafficacquisitionstrategiesandeconomicmodelsacrossalargenumberofkeywordsandmarkets.
Wecompeteforadvertiserswithlarge,establishedsearchengineswithsignificantlygreaterresourcesthanwehave,suchasGoogle,Bing,andYahoo!,as
wellasonlinemediacompaniesandadnetworks,andofflineadvertisingsources,suchastelevisionandprintmedia.Thesecompetitorshavelargeclientbasesand
significantlygreaterresourcesthanwehaveandexpertiseindevelopingonlinecommerceandfacilitatinginternettrafficarecreatinginroadsintoonlinetravel.
Competitionfromthesepartiescouldcauseustoloseadvertisingcustomersorsharesofadvertisingexpenditures.IfGoogle,oranyotherleadingsearchengines
refersignificanttraffictotheseorothertravelservicesthattheydevelopinthefuture,orotherwisefavorsupplierwebsitesorothertravelservicewebsitesover
otheronlinetravelsites,includingus,itwouldlikelybecomemoredifficultandexpensiveforustogeneratetraffictoourwebsitesandthereforemaintainorgrow
ourmarketshare.
Wealsocompeteforonlinetravelsearchandpricecomparisonservices(orhotelmetasearch),withothersuchcompanies,includingExpedia(throughits
ownershipofTrivago),Priceline(throughitsownershipofKayak)andHotelsCombined.
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Withrespecttoourrestaurant,attractionsandvacationandshort-termrentalbusinesses,wefacecompetitionfromavarietyofcompanies,including:
·onlinerestaurantreservationservices,suchasOpenTable(asubsidiaryofPriceline),Yelp’sSeatMeandAmazon’sTable8;
·onlineattractionreservationservices,suchasGetYourGuideandExpedia’sDestinationServices;
·onlineaccommodationsearchand/orreservationservicesfocusedonvacationandshort-termrentalproperties,suchasHomeAway(asubsidiaryof
Expedia)andAirbnb,Inc.
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Certainofthecompanieswedobusinesswitharealsoourcompetitors.Theconsolidationofourcompetitorsandpartners,includingExpedia(throughits
ownershipofTrivago,Orbitz,Travelocity,andHomeAway)andPriceline(throughitsownershipofKayakandOpenTable),coupledwithevolvingbusiness
modelsthroughouttheindustry,resultsinahighlydynamiccompetitiveenvironment.Asthemarketevolvesforonlinetravelcontentandthetechnology
supportingit,includingplatformssuchassmartphoneandtabletcomputingdevices,weanticipatethattheexistingcompetitivelandscapewillchangeandnew
competitorsmayemerge.
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,images,videos,graphicsandbrands.Wehaveacquiredsomeofourintellectualpropertyrightsthroughlicensesandcontentagreementswith
thirdparties.Theselicensesandagreementsmayplacerestrictionsontheuseofourintellectualproperty.
Weprotectourintellectualpropertybyrelyingonourtermsofuse,confidentialityproceduresandcontractualprovisions,aswellasoninternational,
national,stateandcommonlawrights.Inaddition,weenterintoconfidentialityandinventionassignmentagreementswithemployeesandcontractors,and
confidentialityagreementswithotherthirdparties.Weprotectourbrandsbypursuingthetrademarkregistrationofourcorebrands,suchasTripAdvisorandthe
OwlLogo,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.
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