Booking Holdings Inc

Previous wording

Our mission is to make it easier for everyone to experience the world. We aim to provide consumers with a best-in-class experience offering the travel choices they want, with tailored language, payment, and other options, seamlessly connecting them with our travel service provider partners. We offer these services through five primary consumer-facing brands: Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, and OpenTable.

Current wording

Our mission is to make it easier for everyone to experience the world. We aim to provide consumers with a best-in-class experience offering the travel choices they want, with tailored planning, payment, language, and other options, seamlessly connecting them with our travel service provider partners. We offer these services through five primary consumer-facing brands: Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, and OpenTable. See Note 14 to our Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements for segment reporting and geographic information.

Previous wording

We derive substantially all of our revenues from enabling consumers to make travel service reservations. We also earn revenues from advertising services, restaurant reservations and restaurant management services, travel-related insurance services, and other services. See Note 2 to our Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements for more information.

Current wording

We derive substantially all of our revenues from enabling consumers to make travel service reservations. We also earn revenues from advertising services, restaurant reservation and management services, travel-related insurance offerings, and other services.

Previous wording

In the first quarter of 2024, global room nights increased 9% year-over-year driven primarily by healthy travel demand in Europe and Asia. In the second quarter of 2024, global room nights increased 7% year-over-year, sequentially slower than the first quarter of 2024 primarily due to lower year-over-year growth in Europe. In the third quarter of 2024, global room nights increased 8%, sequentially faster than the second quarter of 2024 primarily due to higher year-over-year growth in Europe.

Current wording

Our global room nights in 2024 increased 9% year-over-year driven primarily by healthy travel demand in Europe and Asia. We saw the booking window expand in 2024 compared to 2023, which benefited year-over-year room night growth. In the first quarter of 2025, global room nights increased 7% year-over-year, driven primarily by increased travel demand in Europe and Asia.

Previous wording

The cancellation rate in the third quarter of 2024 was slightly lower than the cancellation rate in the third quarter of 2023. Because we recognize revenues from bookings when the traveler checks in, our reported revenues are not at risk of being reversed due to cancellations. Increases in cancellation rates can negatively impact our marketing efficiency as a result of incurring performance marketing expenses at the time a booking is made even though that booking could be canceled in the future if it was booked under a flexible cancellation policy.

Current wording

The cancellation rate in the first quarter of 2025 was slightly higher than the first quarter of 2024. Because we recognize revenues from bookings when the traveler checks in, our reported revenues are not at risk of being reversed due to cancellations. Increases in cancellation rates can negatively impact our marketing efficiency as a result of incurring performance marketing expenses at the time a booking is made even though that booking could be canceled in the future if it was booked under a flexible cancellation policy.

Previous wording

Our global average daily rates ("ADRs") decreased by less than 1% on a constant currency basis in the third quarter of 2024 as compared to the third quarter of 2023, driven primarily by a lower mix of room nights in North America, which is a higher ADR region, and a higher mix of room nights from Asia, which is a lower ADR region. Excluding the changes in regional mix, our global ADRs on a constant currency basis increased year-over-year by less than 1%. The year-over-year decrease in our global ADRs has resulted in our accommodation gross bookings growing slower than our room nights in the third quarter of 2024. It is difficult to predict what the trend in industry ADRs will be in the future.

Current wording

In the first quarter of 2025, our global average daily rates ("ADRs") on a constant currency basis were approximately 1% higher than the prior year. Our global ADRs were negatively impacted by a higher mix of room nights from Asia, which is a lower ADR region. Excluding the changes in regional mix, our global ADRs on a constant currency basis increased year-over-year by about 2%. The year-over-year increase in our global ADRs on a constant currency basis has resulted in constant currency accommodation gross bookings growing faster than our room nights in the first quarter of 2025. It is difficult to predict what the trend in industry ADRs will be in the future.

Previous wording

We believe that our mobile app is an important platform for experiencing the Connected Trip since the app travels with the traveler. The mix of our room nights booked on a mobile app in the third quarter of 2024 was a mid-fifties percentage, up from a low-fifties percentage in the third quarter of 2023. The significant majority of room nights booked on our mobile apps are direct, and we continue to see favorable repeat direct booking behavior from consumers in our mobile apps, which allow us more opportunities to engage directly with consumers. The revenues earned on a transaction on a mobile app may be less than a typical desktop transaction as we see different consumer purchasing patterns across devices. For example, accommodation reservations made on a mobile app typically are for shorter lengths of stay and have lower accommodation ADRs.

Current wording

Our mobile app is an important platform for experiencing the Connected Trip since the app travels with the traveler. The mix of our room nights booked on a mobile app in the first quarter of 2025 was a mid-fifties percentage, up from a low-fifties percentage in the first quarter of 2024. The significant majority of room nights booked on our mobile apps are direct, and we continue to see favorable repeat direct booking behavior from consumers in our mobile apps, which allow us more opportunities to engage directly with consumers. The revenues earned on a transaction on a mobile app may be less than a typical desktop transaction as we see different consumer purchasing patterns across devices. For example, accommodation reservations made on a mobile app typically are for shorter lengths of stay and have lower accommodation ADRs.

Previous wording

As part of our strategy to provide more payment options to consumers and travel service providers, increase the number and variety of our accommodations, and enable our long-term Connected Trip strategy, Booking.com increasingly processes transactions on a merchant basis, where it facilitates payments from travelers for the services provided. This allows Booking.com to process transactions for travel service providers and to increase its ability to offer secure and flexible transaction terms to consumers, such as the form and timing of payment. We believe that expanding these types of service offerings will benefit consumers and travel service providers, as well as our gross bookings, room night, and earnings growth rates. However, this results in additional expenses for personnel, payment processing, chargebacks (including those related to fraud), and other expenses related to these transactions, which are recorded in "Personnel" expenses and "Sales and other expenses" in our Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Operations, as well as associated incremental revenues (e.g., payment card rebates), which are recorded in "Merchant revenues." To the extent more of our business is generated on a merchant basis, we incur a greater level of these merchant-related expenses, which negatively impacts our operating margins despite increases in associated incremental revenues. The mix of our total gross bookings generated on a merchant basis was 65% in the third quarter of 2024, an increase from 56% in the third quarter of 2023.

Current wording

As part of our strategy to provide more payment options to consumers and travel service providers, increase the number and variety of our accommodations, and enable our long-term Connected Trip strategy, Booking.com increasingly processes transactions on a merchant basis, where it facilitates payments from travelers for the services provided. This allows Booking.com to process transactions for travel service providers and to increase its ability to offer secure and flexible transaction terms to consumers, such as the form, currency, and timing of payment. The mix of our total gross bookings generated on a merchant basis was 67% in the first quarter of 2025, an increase from 59% in the first quarter of 2024. We believe that expanding these types of service offerings will benefit consumers and travel service providers, as well as our gross bookings, room night, and earnings growth rates. However, this results in additional expenses for personnel, payment processing, chargebacks (including those related to fraud), and other expenses related to these transactions, which are recorded in "Personnel" expenses and "Sales and other expenses" in our Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Operations, as well as associated incremental revenues (e.g., payment card rebates), which are recorded in "Merchant revenues." To the extent more of our business is generated on a merchant basis, we incur a greater level of these merchant-related expenses, which negatively impacts our operating margins despite increases in associated incremental revenues. Over the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2025, the incremental revenues from facilitating payments were greater than the associated incremental variable expenses.

Previous wording

We have established widely-used and recognized brands through marketing and promotional campaigns. Our total marketing expenses, which are comprised of performance and brand marketing expenses that are substantially variable in nature, were $2.2 billion in the third quarter of 2024, up 6% versus the third quarter of 2023 as a result of the year-over-year growth in travel demand in the quarter and our efforts to invest in marketing. Our performance marketing expenses, which represent a substantial majority of our marketing expenses, are primarily related to the use of online search engines (primarily Google), affiliate marketing, meta-search, and social media channels to generate traffic to our platforms. Our brand marketing expenses are primarily related to costs associated with producing and airing digital branding and television advertising.

Current wording

We have established widely-used and recognized brands through marketing and promotional campaigns. Our total marketing expenses, which are comprised of performance and brand marketing expenses that are substantially variable in nature, were $1.8 billion in the first quarter of 2025, up 10% versus the first quarter of 2024 as a result of the year-over-year growth in travel demand in the quarter and our efforts to invest in marketing. Our performance marketing expenses, which represent a substantial majority of our marketing expenses, are primarily related to the use of online search engines (primarily Google), affiliate marketing, meta-search, and social media channels to generate traffic to our platforms. Our brand marketing expenses are primarily related to costs associated with producing and airing digital branding and television advertising.

Previous wording

Marketing efficiency, expressed as marketing expenses as a percentage of gross bookings, and performance marketing returns on investment ("ROIs") are impacted by a number of factors that are subject to variability and are in some cases outside of our control, including ADRs, costs per click, cancellation rates, foreign currency exchange rates, our ability to convert paid traffic to booking customers, and the timing and effectiveness of our brand marketing campaigns. In recent years, we observed periods of stable or increasing ROIs. Although it is difficult to predict how performance marketing ROIs will change in the future, ROIs could be negatively impacted by increased levels of competition and other factors. When evaluating our performance marketing spend, we typically consider several factors for each channel, such as the customer experience on the advertising platform, the incremental traffic we receive, and anticipated repeat rates. Marketing efficiency can also be impacted by the extent to which consumers come directly to our platforms for bookings. The mix of our room nights booked by consumers coming directly to our platforms was a mid-fifties percentage over the trailing twelve months ended September 30, 2024, and this mix increased versus the trailing twelve months ended September 30, 2023.

Current wording

Marketing efficiency, expressed as marketing expenses as a percentage of gross bookings, and performance marketing returns on investment ("ROIs") are impacted by a number of factors that are in some cases outside of our control. Such factors include ADRs, costs per click, cancellation rates, foreign currency exchange rates, search engine bidding algorithms, channel mix, our ability to convert paid traffic to booking customers, and the timing and effectiveness of our brand marketing and social media marketing campaigns. In recent years, we observed periods of stable or increasing ROIs. Although it is difficult to predict how ROIs will change in the future, ROIs could be negatively impacted by increased levels of competition and other factors. When evaluating our performance marketing spend, we typically consider several factors for each channel, such as the customer experience on the advertising platform, the incremental traffic we receive, and anticipated repeat rates. Marketing efficiency can also be impacted by the extent to which consumers come directly to our platforms for bookings. The mix of our total room nights booked by consumers coming directly to our platforms was a mid-fifties percentage over the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2025 and was higher if we exclude the room nights booked through affiliate programs (i.e., business-to-business). The mix of total room nights booked by consumers coming directly to our platforms increased year-over-year, which benefited our marketing efficiency in the first quarter of 2025 versus the first quarter of 2024. See Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors - "We face risks relating to our marketing efforts" and "We are dependent on travel service providers, restaurants, search platforms, and other third parties" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024.

Previous wording

Booking.com had approximately 3.9 million total properties on its website at September 30, 2024, consisting of over 475,000 hotels, motels, and resorts and over 3.4 million alternative accommodation properties (including homes, apartments, and other unique places to stay), representing an increase from approximately 3.3 million total properties at September 30, 2023.

Current wording

Booking.com had approximately 4.1 million total properties on its website at March 31, 2025, representing an increase from approximately 3.5 million total properties at March 31, 2024. At March 31, 2025, the total properties on Booking.com's website consisted of approximately 3.6 million alternative accommodation properties (including homes, apartments, and other unique places to stay) and approximately 500,000 hotels, motels, and resorts.

Previous wording

The mix of Booking.com's room nights booked for alternative accommodation properties in the third quarter of 2024 was approximately 35%, up versus approximately 33% in the third quarter of 2023. We have observed a longer-term trend of an increasing mix of room nights booked for alternative accommodation properties as consumer demand for these types of properties has grown, and as we have increased the number and variety of these properties on Booking.com. We may experience lower profit margins due to additional costs, such as increased customer service or certain partner related costs, related to offering alternative accommodations. As our alternative accommodation business has grown, these different characteristics have negatively impacted our profit margins and this trend may continue.

Current wording

The mix of Booking.com's room nights booked for alternative accommodation properties in the first quarter of 2025 was approximately 37%, up versus approximately 36% in the first quarter of 2024. We have observed a longer-term trend of an increasing mix of room nights booked for alternative accommodation properties as consumer demand for these types of properties has grown, and as we have increased the number and variety of these properties on Booking.com. We may experience lower profit margins due to additional costs, such as increased customer service or certain partner related costs, related to offering alternative accommodations. As our alternative accommodation business has grown, these different characteristics have negatively impacted our profit margins and this trend may continue.

Previous wording

Although we believe that providing an extensive collection of properties, excellent customer service, and an intuitive, easy-to-use consumer experience are important factors influencing a consumer's decision to make a reservation, for many consumers, the price of the travel service is the primary factor determining whether to book. Discounting and couponing (i.e., merchandising) occurs across the major regions in which we operate, particularly in Asia. In some cases, our competitors are willing to make little or no profit on a transaction or offer travel services at a loss in order to gain market share. As a result, it is increasingly important to offer travel services, such as accommodation reservations, at a competitive price, whether through discounts, coupons, closed-user group rates or loyalty programs, increased flexibility in cancellation policies, or otherwise. These initiatives have resulted and, in the future, may result in lower ADRs and lower revenues as a percentage of gross bookings.

Current wording

Although we believe that providing an extensive collection of properties, excellent customer service, and an intuitive, easy-to-use platform are important factors influencing a consumer's decision to make a reservation, for many consumers the price of the travel service is the primary factor determining whether to book. Discounting and couponing (i.e., merchandising) occurs across the major regions in which we operate, particularly in Asia. In some cases, our competitors are willing to make little or no profit on a transaction or offer travel services at a loss in order to gain market share. As a result, it is important to offer travel services at a competitive price, whether through discounts, coupons, closed-user group rates or loyalty programs, increased flexibility in cancellation policies, or otherwise. These initiatives have resulted and, in the future, may result in lower ADRs and lower revenues as a percentage of gross bookings.

Previous wording

Over the long term, we intend to continue to invest in marketing and promotion, technology, and personnel within parameters consistent with attempts to improve long-term operating results, even if those expenditures create pressure on operating margins. In recent years, our investments in initiatives to drive future growth added pressure on operating margins. We also intend to broaden the scope of our business, including exploring strategic alternatives such as acquisitions.

Current wording

Over the long term, we intend to continue to invest in marketing and promotion, technology, and personnel, as well as exploring strategic alternatives such as acquisitions, within parameters consistent with efforts to improve long-term operating results. To create room for these investments, we intend to continue to look for ways to optimize our expenses.

Previous wording

Many taxing authorities are increasingly focused on ways to increase tax revenues and have targeted large multinational technology companies in these efforts. As a result, many countries and some U.S. states have implemented or are considering the adoption of a digital services tax or similar tax that imposes a tax on revenues earned from digital advertisements or the use of online platforms, even when there is no physical presence in the jurisdiction. Currently, rates for these taxes range from 1.5% to 10% of revenues deemed generated in the jurisdiction. The digital services taxes currently in effect, which we record in "Sales and other expenses" in the Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Operations, have negatively impacted our results of operations. For more information, see Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors - "We may have exposure to additional tax liabilities" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023.

Current wording

Many taxing authorities seek to increase tax revenues and have targeted large multinational technology companies in these efforts. Many jurisdictions, particularly in the EU, have implemented or are considering the adoption of a digital services tax or similar tax that imposes a tax on revenues earned from digital advertisements or the use of online platforms, even when there is no physical presence in the jurisdiction. Rates for these taxes range from 1.5% to 10% of revenues deemed generated in the jurisdiction. We record the applicable digital services taxes in "Sales and other expenses" in the Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Operations. For more information, see Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors - "We may have exposure to additional tax liabilities" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024.

Previous wording

Increased regulatory focus on online businesses, including online travel businesses like ours, could result in increased compliance costs or otherwise adversely affect our business. For example, the Digital Markets Act ("DMA") and Digital Services Act ("DSA") give regulators in the EU more instruments to investigate and regulate digital businesses and impose new rules and requirements on platforms designated as "gatekeepers" under the DMA and online platforms more generally, with separate rules for "Very Large Online Platforms" (VLOP) under the DSA. In early 2023, Booking.com received a VLOP designation notice from the European Commission. The Company met the quantitative notification criteria set forth in the DMA and in May 2024, the European Commission designated the Company as a gatekeeper under the DMA. Certain of the DMA's requirements will become enforceable in the fourth quarter of 2024. As a result of the DMA, compliance costs may increase and changes to our products or business practices may be required. For information regarding risks related to the DMA and DSA, please see Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors - "Our business is subject to various competition/anti-trust, consumer protection, and online commerce laws and regulations around the world, and as the size of our business grows, scrutiny of our business by legislators and regulators in these areas may intensify" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023. For more information on the impacts of regulations on our business, see Note 13 to our Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements.

Current wording

Increased regulatory focus on large technology companies could result in increased compliance costs or otherwise adversely affect our business. For example, the European Commission designated the Company as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act in 2024 and Booking.com as a "Very Large Online Platform" under the Digital Services Act in 2023. As a result of these designations, we are subject to additional rules and regulations that may not be applicable to our competitors. For more information, see Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors - "Our business is subject to various competition, consumer protection, and online commerce laws and regulations around the world, and as the size of our business grows, scrutiny of our business by legislators and regulators in these areas may intensify" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 and Note 13 to our Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements.

Previous wording

Our businesses outside of the U.S. represent a substantial majority of our financial results, but because we report our results in U.S. Dollars, we face exposure to movements in foreign currency exchange rates as the financial results and the financial condition of our businesses outside of the U.S. are translated from local currency (principally Euros and British Pounds Sterling) into U.S. Dollars. See Note 2 to our Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements for information related to revenues by geographic area. As a result of the movements in foreign currency exchange rates, both the absolute amounts of and percentage changes in our foreign-currency-denominated net assets, gross bookings, revenues, operating expenses, and net income as expressed in U.S. Dollars are affected. Movements in foreign currency exchange rates did not have a meaningful impact on our total gross bookings or revenue growth in the third quarter of 2024 as compared to the third quarter of 2023. Since our expenses are generally denominated in foreign currencies on a basis similar to our revenues, our operating margins have not been significantly impacted by currency fluctuations.

Current wording

Our businesses outside of the U.S. represent a substantial majority of our financial results, but because we report our results in U.S. Dollars, we face exposure to movements in foreign currency exchange rates as the financial results and the financial condition of our businesses outside of the U.S. are translated from local currency (principally Euros and British Pounds Sterling) into U.S. Dollars. See Note 14 to our Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements for information related to revenues by geographic area. As a result of movements in foreign currency exchange rates, both the absolute amounts of and percentage changes in our foreign-currency-denominated net assets, gross bookings, revenues, operating expenses, and net income as expressed in U.S. Dollars are affected. Our total revenues increased by approximately 8% in the first quarter of 2025 as compared to the first quarter of 2024, but without the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates our total revenues increased year-over-year on a constant currency basis by approximately 10%. Since our expenses are generally denominated in foreign currencies on a basis similar to our revenues, our operating margins have not been significantly impacted by currency fluctuations.

Previous wording

We generally enter into derivative instruments to minimize the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. We enter into foreign currency exchange derivative contracts to hedge our exposure to the impact of movements in foreign currency exchange rates on our transactional balances denominated in currencies other than the functional currency. See Note 6 to our Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information related to our derivative contracts. In addition, we designate certain portions of the aggregate principal value of our Euro-denominated debt as a hedge of the foreign currency exposure of the net investment in certain Euro functional currency subsidiaries. Foreign currency transaction gains or losses on the Euro-denominated debt that is not designated as a hedging instrument for accounting purposes are recognized in "Other income (expense), net" in the Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Operations (see Notes 9 and 14 to our Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements). Such foreign currency transaction gains or losses are dependent on the amount of net assets of the Euro functional currency subsidiaries, the amount of the Euro-denominated debt that is designated as a hedge, and fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. For more information, see Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors - "We are exposed to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023.

Current wording

We generally enter into derivative instruments to minimize the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, such as foreign currency exchange derivative contracts to hedge our exposure to the impact of movements in foreign currency exchange rates on our transactional balances denominated in currencies other than the functional currency. See Note 6 to our Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information. We designate certain portions of the aggregate principal value of our Euro-denominated debt as a hedge of the foreign currency exposure of the net investment in certain Euro functional currency subsidiaries. Foreign currency transaction gains or losses on the Euro-denominated debt that is not designated as a hedging instrument for accounting purposes are recognized in "Other income (expense), net" in the Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Operations (see Notes 9 and 15 to our Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements). Such foreign currency transaction gains or losses are dependent on the amount of net assets of the Euro functional currency subsidiaries, the amount of the Euro-denominated debt that is designated as a hedge, and fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. For more information, see Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors - "We are exposed to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024.

Previous wording

•the year-over-year growth in room nights will be between 6% and 8%;

Current wording

•growth in room nights will be between 4% and 6%;

Previous wording

•the year-over-year growth in gross bookings will be between 7% and 9%;

Current wording

•growth in gross bookings will be between 10% and 12% on a reported basis and between 6% and 8% on a constant currency basis;

Previous wording

•the year-over-year growth in revenues will be between 7% and 9%; and

Current wording

•growth in revenues will be between 10% and 12% on a reported basis and between 6% and 8% on a constant currency basis; and

Previous wording

For the full year 2024, we expect:

Current wording

Due to the increased uncertainty in the geopolitical and macroeconomic environment, we are widening the range of our full year 2025 expectations for constant currency growth relative to our prior expectation. For the full year 2025, on a year-over-year basis we currently expect:

Previous wording

Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations is based upon our Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("U.S. GAAP"). Certain of our accounting estimates are particularly important to our financial position and results of operations and require us to make difficult and subjective judgments, often as a result of the need to make estimates of matters that are inherently uncertain. We use our judgment to determine the appropriate assumptions to be used in the determination of certain estimates and we evaluate our estimates on an ongoing basis. Estimates are based on historical experience, terms of existing contracts, our observance of trends in the travel industry, and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Our actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. Matters that involve significant estimates and judgments of management include the valuation of investments in private entities, the valuation of goodwill and other long-lived assets, income taxes, and contingencies. For a discussion of our critical accounting estimates, see the "Critical Accounting Estimates" section of Part II, Item 7, Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023.

Current wording

Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations is based upon our Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Certain of our accounting estimates are important to our financial position and results of operations and require us to make difficult and subjective judgments, often as a result of the need to make estimates of matters that are inherently uncertain. We use our judgment to determine the appropriate assumptions to be used in the determination of certain estimates and we evaluate our estimates on an ongoing basis. Estimates are based on historical experience, terms of existing contracts, our observance of trends in the travel industry, and on other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Our actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. For a discussion of our critical accounting estimates for the valuation of investments in private entities, income taxes, and contingencies, see the "Critical Accounting Estimates" section of Part II, Item 7, Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024.

Previous wording

The year-over-year increase in total gross bookings during the three months ended September 30, 2024 was due primarily to the increase in room nights and the positive impact from year-over-year growth in flight gross bookings, partially offset by a decrease in constant currency accommodation ADRs of less than 1%.

Current wording

Three Months Ended March 31, 2025 compared to the Three Months Ended March 31, 2024

Previous wording

Room nights, rental car days, and airline tickets reserved through our services for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023 were as follows:

Current wording

Room nights, rental car days, and airline tickets reserved through our services were as follows:

Previous wording

Room nights reserved through our services increased for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 compared to the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, driven primarily by increased travel demand in Europe and Asia. Rental car days reserved through our services increased for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 compared to the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, driven primarily by year-over-year growth in rental car days reserved on Booking.com. Airline tickets reserved through our services increased for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 compared to the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, driven primarily by the expansion of the flight offerings at Booking.com and Agoda.

Current wording

Room nights reserved through our services increased year-over-year for the three months ended March 31, 2025 driven primarily by increased travel demand in Europe and Asia. Rental car days reserved through our services increased year-over-year for the three months ended March 31, 2025 driven primarily by growth in rental car days reserved on Booking.com and Priceline. Airline tickets reserved through our services increased year-over-year for the three months ended March 31, 2025 driven primarily by the expansion of flight offerings at Booking.com and Agoda.

Previous wording

Gross bookings resulting from reservations of room nights, rental car days, and airline tickets made through our merchant and agency categories for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023 were as follows (numbers may not total due to rounding):

Current wording

Gross bookings resulting from reservations of room nights, rental car days, and airline tickets made through our merchant and agency categories were as follows (numbers may not total due to rounding):

Previous wording

Merchant gross bookings increased and agency gross bookings decreased for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 compared to the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, due primarily to the ongoing shift from agency bookings to merchant bookings at Booking.com.

Current wording

Merchant gross bookings increased year-over-year and agency gross bookings decreased year-over-year for the three months ended March 31, 2025 due primarily to the ongoing shift from agency bookings to merchant bookings at Booking.com. The year-over-year increase in merchant gross bookings during the three months ended March 31, 2025 was also due to strong growth in gross bookings from merchant accommodation reservation services at Agoda and merchant flight reservation services at Booking.com and Agoda.

Previous wording

The year-over-year increase in total gross bookings during the nine months ended September 30, 2024 was due primarily to the increase in room nights and the positive impact from year-over-year growth in flight gross bookings, partially offset by a negative impact of foreign exchange rate fluctuations, and by a decrease in constant currency accommodation ADRs of less than 1%.

Current wording

The year-over-year increase in total gross bookings for the three months ended March 31, 2025 was due primarily to the increase in room nights, as well as the positive impact from year-over-year growth in flight gross bookings and an increase in constant currency accommodation ADRs of approximately 1%, partially offset by a negative impact of foreign exchange rate fluctuations.

Previous wording

Flight gross bookings increased 28% and 22% year-over-year during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, respectively, due to airline ticket growth, partially offset by lower airline ticket prices. Rental car gross bookings increased 15% and 5% year-over-year during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, respectively, due primarily to rental car days growth, partially offset by lower average daily car rental prices.

Current wording

Flight gross bookings increased 30% year-over-year for the three months ended March 31, 2025, due to airline ticket growth, partially offset by lower average airline ticket prices. Rental car gross bookings increased 5% year-over-year for the three months ended March 31, 2025, due primarily to rental car days growth, partially offset by lower average daily car rental prices.

Previous wording

Substantially all of our revenues are generated by providing online travel reservation services, which facilitate online travel purchases from travel service providers by travelers. See "Results of Operations" in Part II, Item 7, Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 for additional information on our revenues, including merchant and agency revenues.

Current wording

See "Results of Operations" in Part II, Item 7, Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 for additional information on our revenues, including merchant, agency, and advertising and other revenues. Substantially all of our revenues are generated by providing online travel reservation services, which facilitate online travel purchases by travelers from travel service providers.

Previous wording

Merchant revenues increased while agency revenues decreased for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 compared to the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023 due primarily to the ongoing shift from agency revenues to merchant revenues at Booking.com. Advertising and other revenues increased for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 compared to the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023 due to growth in advertising revenues at Booking.com as well as growth at OpenTable.

Current wording

Merchant revenues increased year-over-year while agency revenues decreased year-over-year for the three months ended March 31, 2025 due primarily to the ongoing shift from agency revenues to merchant revenues at Booking.com. Advertising and other revenues increased year-over-year for the three months ended March 31, 2025 due to growth at OpenTable and growth in advertising revenues at Booking.com and Agoda. The year-over-year growth in total revenues was negatively impacted from the shift in the timing of the Easter holiday relative to last year.

Previous wording

Total revenues as a percentage of gross bookings was 18.4% and 14.2% for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, respectively, which compares to 18.4% and 13.9% for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, respectively. The year-over-year increase in total revenues as a percentage of gross bookings for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 was due to an increase in revenues related to facilitating payments, partially offset by an increase in the mix of flight gross bookings.

Current wording

Total revenues as a percentage of gross bookings increased year-over-year for the three months ended March 31, 2025 due to an increase in revenues related to facilitating payments, partially offset by an increase in the mix of flight gross bookings, which have lower revenues as a percentage of gross bookings, and a negative impact from differences in the timing of booking versus travel. The negative impact from differences in timing of booking versus travel was driven by the shift in the timing of the Easter holiday relative to last year.

Previous wording

Our marketing expenses, which are substantially variable in nature, increased for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, compared to the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, to help drive additional gross bookings and revenues. Marketing expenses as a percentage of total gross bookings in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 were lower than in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023 due primarily to an increase in the share of room nights booked by consumers coming directly to our platforms and higher performance marketing ROIs, partially offset by increased spend in social media channels.

Current wording

Our marketing expenses, which are substantially variable in nature, increased year-over-year for the three months ended March 31, 2025, to help drive additional gross bookings and revenues. Marketing expenses as a percentage of total gross bookings in the three months ended March 31, 2025 were higher than in the three months ended March 31, 2024 due to lower performance marketing ROIs, which was driven by changes in paid traffic mix, and increased spend in social media channels. This was partially offset by an increase in the share of room nights booked by consumers coming directly to our platforms as well as lower brand marketing expenses.

Previous wording

Information technology expenses increased year-over-year for the three months ended September 30, 2024 due to an increase in expenses related to cloud software. Information technology expenses increased year-over-year for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 due to increased software license and system maintenance fees, as well as increased cloud computing costs and outsourced data center costs.

Current wording

Information technology expenses increased year-over-year for the three months ended March 31, 2025 due to an increase in expenses related to cloud computing costs and outsourced data center costs, as well as software license and system maintenance fees.

Previous wording

Depreciation and amortization expenses increased during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, compared to the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, due primarily to increased depreciation of computer equipment, as well as amortization expense related to internally-developed and purchased software.

Current wording

Depreciation and amortization expenses increased year-over-year for the three months ended March 31, 2025 due primarily to increased depreciation of computer equipment, as well as amortization expense related to internally-developed and purchased software.

Previous wording

Foreign currency transaction losses for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 includes losses of $343 million and $108 million, respectively, related to our Euro-denominated debt and accrued interest that were not designated as net investment hedges and gains of $130 million and losses of $32 million, respectively, on derivative contracts. Foreign currency transaction losses for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023 includes gains of $36 million and $2 million, respectively, related to our Euro-denominated debt and accrued interest that were not designated as net investment hedges and losses of $56 million and $140 million, respectively, on derivative contracts.

Current wording

Foreign currency transaction (losses) gains for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 include losses of $437 million and gains of $167 million, respectively, related to our Euro-denominated debt and accrued interest that were not designated as net investment hedges, and gains of $59 million and losses of $85 million, respectively, on derivative contracts.

Previous wording

Our 2024 effective tax rates differ from the U.S. federal statutory tax rate of 21%, primarily due to the benefit of the Netherlands Innovation Box Tax (discussed below) and a reduction to our 2018 federal one-time deemed repatriation liability, pursuant to the U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ("Tax Act"), resulting from a recent U.S. Tax Court decision in Varian Medical Systems, Inc. v. Commissioner, partially offset by higher international tax rates, unrecognized tax benefits, and U.S. federal and state tax associated with our international earnings. Our 2023 effective tax rates differed from the U.S. federal statutory tax rate of 21%, primarily due to the benefit of the Netherlands Innovation Box Tax, partially offset by higher international tax rates and certain non-deductible expenses.

Current wording

Our 2025 effective tax rate differs from the U.S. federal statutory tax rate of 21%, primarily due to the benefit of the Netherlands Innovation Box Tax (discussed below), partially offset by higher international tax rates, U.S. federal and state tax associated with our international earnings, and non-deductible expenses related to the May 2025 Notes. Our 2024 effective tax rate differed from the U.S. federal statutory tax rate of 21%, primarily due to the benefit of the Netherlands Innovation Box Tax, partially offset by higher international tax rates, certain non-deductible expenses, and U.S. federal and state tax associated with our international earnings.

Previous wording

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, a majority of our income was reported in the Netherlands, where Booking.com is based. Under Dutch corporate income tax law, income generated from qualifying innovative activities is taxed at a rate of 9% ("Innovation Box Tax") rather than the Dutch statutory rate of 25.8%. A portion of Booking.com's earnings during the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023 qualified for Innovation Box Tax treatment, which had a beneficial impact on the effective tax rates for these periods. For additional information relating to Booking.com's Innovation Box Tax treatment, including associated risks, please see Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors - "We may not be able to maintain our 'Innovation Box Tax' benefit" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023.

Current wording

During the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, a majority of our income was reported in the Netherlands, where Booking.com is based. Under Dutch corporate income tax law, income generated from qualifying innovative activities is taxed at a rate of 9% ("Innovation Box Tax") rather than the Dutch statutory rate of 25.8%. A portion of Booking.com's earnings during the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 qualified for Innovation Box Tax treatment, which had a beneficial impact on the effective tax rates for these periods. For additional information, see Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors - "We may not be able to maintain our 'Innovation Box Tax' benefit" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024.

Previous wording

Our primary source of funds for operations is the cash flow that we generate from operations. We use our cash for a variety of needs, including ongoing investments in our business, share repurchases, dividends, repayment of debt, and capital expenditures. Our continued access to sources of liquidity depends on multiple factors. See Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors - "Our liquidity, credit ratings, and ongoing access to capital could be materially and negatively affected by global financial conditions and events" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023. Our financial results and prospects are almost entirely dependent on facilitating the sale of travel-related services. Marketing expenses and personnel expenses are the most significant operating expenses for our business. We rely on marketing channels to generate traffic to our websites. See our Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Operations and "Trends" and "Results of Operations" above for additional information on marketing expenses and personnel expenses including stock-based compensation expenses.

Current wording

Our primary source of funds for operations is the cash flow that we generate from operations. We use our cash for a variety of needs, including ongoing investments in our business, share repurchases, dividends, repayment of debt, and capital expenditures. Our continued access to sources of liquidity depends on multiple factors. See Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors - "Our liquidity, credit ratings, and ongoing access to capital could be materially and negatively affected by global financial conditions and events" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024. Our financial results and prospects are almost entirely dependent on facilitating the sale of travel-related services. Marketing expenses, personnel expenses, and sales and other expenses are the most significant operating expenses for our business. See our Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Operations and "Trends" and "Results of Operations" above for additional information on marketing expenses, personnel expenses, and sales and other expenses. We believe that our existing cash balances, liquid resources, and access to capital markets will be sufficient to fund our operating activities and other obligations in the short term and into the foreseeable future.

Previous wording

At September 30, 2024, we had $16.3 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and investments, of which approximately $11.1 billion is held by our international subsidiaries. Cash, cash equivalents, and long-term investments held by our international subsidiaries are denominated primarily in Euros, U.S. Dollars, and British Pounds Sterling. See Notes 5 and 6 to our Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information about our cash equivalents and investments. Our investment policy seeks to preserve capital and maintain sufficient liquidity to meet operational and other needs of the business.

Current wording

At March 31, 2025, we had $16.1 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and investments, of which approximately $11.3 billion is held by our international subsidiaries. Cash, cash equivalents, and long-term investments held by our international subsidiaries are denominated primarily in Euros, U.S. Dollars, and British Pounds Sterling. Our investment policy seeks to preserve capital and maintain sufficient liquidity to meet operational and other needs of the business. See Notes 5 and 6 to our Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements.