angi-20211231
Table of Contents
As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 1, 2022
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2021
Or
For the transition period from__________to__________
Commission File No. 001-38220
Angi Inc.
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)
3601 Walnut Street, Denver, CO80205
(Address of Registrant’s principal executive offices)
(303) 963-7200
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class Trading Symbol Name of exchange on which registered
Class A Common Stock, par value $0.001 ANGI The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
None
Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to submit such files). Yes☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the Registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C.7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒
As of February 11, 2022, the following shares of the Registrant’s common stock were outstanding:
Class C Common Stock —
The aggregate market value of the voting common stock held by non-affiliates of the Registrant as of June 30, 2021 was $1,076,847,384. For the purpose of the foregoing calculation only, all directors and executive officers of the Registrant are assumed to be affiliates of the Registrant.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE:
Portions of the Registrant's proxy statement for its 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III herein.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PageNumber
PART I
Item 1. Business 4
Item 1A. Risk Factors 12
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 25
Item 2. Properties 26
Item 3. Legal Proceedings 26
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures 27
PART II
Item 6. Reserved 27
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk 47
Item 8. Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 48
Note 1—Organization 56
Note 2—Summary of Significant Accounting Policies 56
Note 3—Income Taxes 64
Note 4—Goodwill and Intangible Assets 68
Note 5—Financial Instruments and Fair Value Measurements 69
Note 6—Long-term Debt 71
Note 7—Shareholders’ Equity 72
Note 8—Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) 73
Note 9—(Loss) Earnings Per Share 74
Note 10—Stock-based Compensation 75
Note 11—Segment Information 78
Note 13—Commitments and Contingencies 84
Note 14—Related Party Transactions with IAC 85
Note 15—Benefit Plans 87
Note 16—Consolidated Financial Statement Details 88
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 90
Item 9B. Other Information 93
Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections 93
PART III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers, and Corporate Governance 93
Item 11. Executive Compensation 93
Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services 93
PART IV
Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statements Schedules 94
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PART I
Item 1. Business
OVERVIEW
Who We Are
Angi Inc., formerly ANGI Homeservices Inc., (“Angi,” the “Company,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) connects quality home service professionals with consumers across more than 500 different categories, from repairing and remodeling homes to cleaning and landscaping. During the year ended December 31, 2021, over 240,000 domestic service professionals actively sought consumer leads, completed jobs or advertised work through Angi Inc. platforms. Additionally, consumers turned to at least one of our brands to find a service professional for approximately 33 million projects during the year ended December 31, 2021.
The Company has two operating segments: (i) North America (United States and Canada), which includes Angi Ads, Angi Leads and Angi Services; and (ii) Europe. In March 2021, the Company rebranded its North American brands which operate as follows: Angi Ads operates under the Angi (formerly Angie’s List) brand, Angi Leads operates primarily under the HomeAdvisor, powered by Angi brand, and Angi Services operates primarily under the Handy and Angi Roofing brands. The Company categorizes its services under two main areas: 1) Angi Leads and Angi Ads, which include services that generate revenue from service professionals for consumer matches, revenue from service professionals under contract for advertising, and membership subscription revenue from service professionals and consumers; and 2) Angi Services, which primarily includes its pre-priced offerings by which the consumer purchases services directly from the Company and the Company engages a service professional to perform the service, as well as revenue from services provided by Angi Roofing, LLC (which includes the business the Company acquired on July 1, 2021 known as Total Home Roofing, Inc.)
We have been incorporated in the State of Delaware since 2017 and operate under the name Angi Inc., formerly ANGI Homeservices Inc. We are a publicly traded holding company that was formed to facilitate the combination of IAC/InterActiveCorp’s (“IAC”) HomeAdvisor business and Angie’s List, Inc. (the “Combination”), which was completed on September 29, 2017.
As used herein, “Angi,” the “Company,” “we,” “our,” “us,” and similar terms refer to Angi Inc. and its subsidiaries (unless the context requires otherwise).
DESCRIPTION OF OUR BUSINESSES
Angi Ads, Leads, & Angi Services
In the United States, the Company offers its service professionals and consumers three main services: 1) our Angi Ads business connects consumers with service professionals for local services through a nationwide online directory; 2) our Angi Leads business provides consumers with tools and resources to help them find local, pre-screened and customer-rated service professionals, matching consumers with independently established home services professionals engaged in a trade, occupation and/or businesses that customarily provides such services and provides consumers with tools to communicate with service professionals and pay for related services directly through Angi platforms; and 3) our Angi Services business allows consumers to browse and buy common household services at set prices directly from Angi, rather than requesting quotes, from service professionals (which we refer to as pre-priced offerings), as well as instantly book appointments with service professionals online for household services (primarily cleaning and handyman services) which are fulfilled by high-quality, pre-screened independent service professionals. The matching and pre-priced booking services and related tools and directories are provided to consumers free of charge. Angi Services also includes roof replacement services fulfilled via the Angi Roofing, LLC business.
As of December 31, 2021, Angi had a network of approximately 206,000 transacting service professionals (each of whom paid for consumer matches through Angi Leads and/or performed an Angi Services job in the quarter. In addition, our Angi Ads business had approximately 38,000 advertising service professionals under contract for advertising as of December 31, 2021.
Collectively, this service professional network provided services in more than 500 different categories, ranging from cleaning and installation services to simple home repairs and larger home remodeling projects, and in 64 discrete geographic areas in the United States. Angi Ads and Angi Leads generated approximately 33 million service requests during the year ended December 31, 2021. Service requests consist of fully completed domestic service requests submitted to Angi Leads and completed jobs sourced through Angi’s platforms.
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Angi Ads Overview
Connecting consumers with service professionals for local services through the Angi nationwide online directory of service professionals across more than 500 service categories, as well as provides consumers with valuable tools, services and content (including verified reviews of local service professionals), to help them research, shop and hire for local services. Consumers can access the Angi nationwide online directory and related basic tools and services free of charge upon registration, as well as by way of purchased membership packages. Our Angi Ads business also sells term-based website and mobile and digital magazine advertising to service professionals, as well as provides them with quoting, invoicing, and payment services.
Consumer Services
Through our Angi Ads business, consumers who register for free can search for a service professional in the Angi nationwide online directory and/or be matched with a service professional, as well as access related basic tools and services, ratings, reviews, and certain promotions. In addition, two premium membership packages are available for a fee, which include varying degrees of online and phone support, access to exclusive promotion features, and an award-winning Angidigital magazine.
Consumers can rate service professionals listed in the Angi nationwide online directory on a one- to five- star rating scale based on a variety of criteria, including overall experience, availability, price, quality, responsiveness, punctuality and professionalism and other criteria, depending on the type of service provided. Ratings on each applicable criterion are weighted across all reviews submitted for the service professional to produce such professional’s overall rating on Angi. Consumers can also provide a detailed description of (and commentary regarding) their experiences with service providers. Ratings and reviews cannot be submitted anonymously, and there are processes in place to prevent service professionals from reporting on themselves or their competitors, as well as to detect fraudulent or otherwise problematic reviews.
Service Professional Services
Angi provides certified service professionals with a variety of services and tools, including quoting, invoicing, and payment services. Generally, service professionals with an average consumer rating below a “3” are not eligible for certification. Service professionals must satisfy certain criteria for certification, including retaining the requisite member rating, and owners or principals of businesses affiliated with service professionals must pass certain criminal background checks and attest to applicable licensure requirements.
Once eligibility criteria are satisfied, service professionals must then purchase term-based advertising to obtain certification. As of December 31, 2021, Angi had approximately 38,000 certified service professionals under contract for advertising. If a certified service professional fails to meet any eligibility criteria during the applicable contract term, refuses to participate in our complaint resolution process, and/or engages in what we determine to be prohibited behavior through any business, existing advertising and exclusive promotions will be suspended, and the related advertising contract will be subject to termination.
Certified service professionals rotate among the first service professionals listed in the Angi nationwide online directory search results for an applicable category (together with their company name, overall rating, number of reviews, certification badge and basic profile information), with non-certified service professionals appearing below certified service professionals in directory search results. Certified service professionals can also provide exclusive promotions to members. When consumers choose to be matched with a service professional, Angi’s proprietary algorithm will determine where a given service professional appears within related results.
Angi Leads Overview
The Angi Leads (HomeAdvisor powered by Angi) digital marketplace (formerly known as the HomeAdvisor Marketplace) service connects consumers with service professionals nationwide for home repair, maintenance and improvement projects. Our Angi Leads business provides consumers with tools and resources to help them find local, pre-screened and customer-rated service professionals, as well as instantly book appointments online, connect with service professionals instantly by telephone, and access several home services-related resources, such as cost guides for different types of home services projects.
Consumer Services
Consumers can submit a request to be matched with service professionals through the Angi Leads digital marketplace, as well as through certain paths on the Angi Ads and various third-party affiliate platforms. Depending on the nature of the service request and the path through which it was submitted, consumers are generally matched with service professionals from the Angi Leads digital marketplace, an Angi Services service professional or a combination of Angi Leads and Angi Ads service professionals (as and if available for the given service request).
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Matches made through the Angi Leads and Angi Ads businesses and various third-party affiliate platforms and paths are made by way of Angi’s proprietary algorithm, based on several factors (including the type of services desired, location and the number of service professionals available to fulfill the request).
In all cases, service professionals may contact consumers with whom they have been matched directly and consumers can generally review profiles, ratings and reviews of presented service professionals and select the service professional whom they believe best meets their specific needs. Consumers are under no obligation to work with any service professional(s) referred by or found through any Angi branded or third-party affiliate platforms.
Consumers are responsible for booking the service and for paying the service professional directly, which can be done by consumers independently or via the Angi Pay function in the Angi Pro Leads mobile app, through which consumers can also finance payments to service providers through a third party.
In addition to the general matching services described above, our Angi Leads business also provides several on-demand services, including Instant Booking and Instant Connect. Consumers can also access Angi’s online True Cost Guide, which provides project cost information for more than 400 project types nationwide, as well as a library of home services-related content consisting primarily of articles about home improvement, repair and maintenance, tools to assist consumers with the research, planning and management of their projects and general advice for working with service professionals.
Service Professional Services
Angi Leads service professionals pay fees for consumer matches and subscription fees for Angi Leads memberships, which are available for purchase through our sales force. The basic annual membership package includes membership in the Angi Leads digital marketplace, as well as access to consumer matches (for which additional fees are paid) through Angi Leads and Angi Ads platforms, and a listing in the Angi Leads online directory and certain other affiliated directories. Membership also includes a business profile page on HomeAdvisor.com and Angi.com, a mobile application and access to various online tools designed to help service professionals more effectively market to, manage and connect with, consumers with whom they are matched. In addition to the commercial membership terms, in order to be admitted into the Angi Leads network, service professionals must validate their home services experiences, as well as satisfy credential verification of any required state-level licensing and the owner or principal passing certain criminal background checks. Once in the network, the service professional must maintain at least a three-star customer rating. If a service professional in the Angi Leads network fails to meet any eligibility criteria during the term of its contract, refuses to participate in the complaint resolution process, or engages in what we determine to be prohibited behavior through any of our service channels, the service professional is subject to being removed from the Angi network.
Angi Services Overview
Angi began offering pre-priced offerings after acquiring Handy Technologies, Inc. (“Handy”) on October 19, 2018.Angi Services was launched in August 2019 on the Angi platform. Angi Services provides a pre-priced booking service, whereby consumers can request services through either the Angi or Handy platforms and pay Angi or Handy for the services directly. Angi then fulfills the request with independently established home services providers engaged in a trade, occupation and/or business that customarily provides such services.
On July 1, 2021, Angi acquired certain assets and liabilities of Total Home Roofing, LLC. Upon completion of the acquisition, the acquired assets and liabilities were distributed to a newly created legal entity called Angi Roofing LLC, which operates as a part of Angi Services. Angi Roofing is a roof replacement and repair company serving the Florida market (a market leader) and to a limited extent Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana markets.
Consumer Services
Consumers can submit requests for work to be done on the Handy and Angi apps and matches will be made through Handy platforms and paths based on the type of service desired, location and the date and time the consumer wants the service to be provided. In the case of Handy service professionals, consumers request services and pay for such services directly through the Handy platform and then Handy fulfills the request with independently established home services providers engaged in a trade, occupation and/or business that customarily provides such services. In certain markets, consumers can also submit a request to book a specific Handy service professional for a given household service.
In addition, consumers who purchase furniture, electronics, appliances and other home-related items from select third-party retail partners online (and in certain markets, in store) can simultaneously purchase assembly, installation and other related services to be fulfilled by Handy service professionals, which are then paid for directly through the applicable third-party retail partner platform.
Angi Roofing consumers are identified through lead generation services as well as organically through consumers that reach out directly. Consumers are able to receive roof replacement services, as well as a warranty on the quality of workmanship.
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Service Professional Services
Angi Services service professionals, including those on the Handy platform, are provided with access to a pool of consumers seeking service professionals and must validate their home services experiences, as well as satisfy credential verification and a background check (either as an individual professional or as the owner or principal of the business) and maintain an acceptable rating to remain on the Angi and Handy platforms. Access to the platforms will be revoked for repeatedly receiving low customer satisfaction ratings.
Our International Businesses
We also operate several international businesses that connect consumers with home service professionals. These international businesses include: (i) Travaux, MyHammer and Werkspot, the leading home services marketplaces in France, Germany and the Netherlands, respectively, (ii) MyBuilder, and Instapro, leading home services marketplaces in the United Kingdom and Italy, respectively, and (iii) the Austrian operations of MyHammer. We own controlling interests in MyHammer and wholly-own MyBuilder, Travaux, Werkspot and Instapro. The business models of our international businesses vary by jurisdiction and differ in certain respects from Angi business models.
Revenue
Angi Ads and Leads Revenue is primarily derived from (i) advertising revenue, which includes revenue from service professionals under contract for advertising, (ii) consumer connection revenue, which is comprised of fees paid by service professionals for consumer matches (regardless of whether the service professional ultimately provides the requested service), and (iii) membership subscription revenue from service professionals and consumers. Consumer connection revenue varies based upon several factors, including the service requested, product experience offered, and geographic location of service. Angi Services revenue is primarily comprised of revenue from jobs (i) sourced through the “Book Now” feature which lets consumers complete booking the entire transaction digitally for work that is completed physically, (ii) under managed projects (including Angi Roofing) which are home improvement projects, and (iii) through retail partnerships for installation of furniture or other household items.
Marketing
In March 2021, the Company changed its name to Angi Inc. and updated one of its leading websites and brands, Angie’s List, to Angi, and concentrated its marketing investment in the Angi brand in order to focus its marketing, sales, and branding efforts to a single brand.
We market our various products and services to consumers primarily through digital marketing (primarily paid search engine marketing, display advertising and third-party affiliate agreements) and traditional offline marketing (national television and radio campaigns), as well as through e-mail and free search engine marketing. Pursuant to third-party affiliate agreements, third parties agree to advertise and promote our products and services (and those of our service professionals) on their platforms. In exchange for these efforts, these third parties are paid a fixed fee when visitors from their platforms click through and submit a valid service request through our platforms, or when visitors submit a valid service request on the affiliate platform and the affiliate transmits the service request to us. We also market our products and services to consumers through relationships with select third-party retail partners and, to a lesser extent, through partnerships with other contextually related websites and direct mail.
We market Angi Leads matching services and membership subscriptions and Angi Ads’ term-based advertising and related products are marketed to service professionals primarily through our sales force. These products and services are also marketed, together with our Handy branded products and services and our pre-priced bookings and various directories, through paid search engine marketing, digital media advertising and direct relationships with trade associations and manufacturers.
Both generally, and in connection with the brand integration initiative describe below, we have made (and expect we will continue to make) substantial investments in digital and traditional offline marketing (with continued expansion into new and existing digital platforms) to consumers and service professionals to promote our products and services and drive visitors to our various platforms and service professionals.
Technology
Each of our brands and businesses develops its own technology to support its products and services, leveraging both open-source and vendor supported software technology. Each of our various brands and businesses has dedicated engineering teams responsible for software development and the creation of new features to support our products and services across a full range of devices (desktop, mobile web, native mobile applications and digital voice assistant platforms). Our engineering teams use an agile development process that allows us to deploy frequent iterative releases for product and service features.
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Competition
The home services industry is highly competitive and fragmented, and in many important respects, local in nature. We compete with, among others: (i) search engines and online directories, (ii) home and/or local services-related platforms, (iii) providers of consumer ratings, reviews and referrals and (iv) various forms of traditional offline advertising (primarily local in nature), including radio, direct marketing campaigns, yellow pages, newspapers and other offline directories. We also compete with local and national retailers of home improvement products that offer or promote installation services. We believe our biggest competition comes from the traditional methods most people currently use to find service professionals, which are by word-of-mouth and through referrals.
We believe that our ability to compete successfully will depend primarily upon the following factors:
•the ability to successfully implement the brand integration initiative;
•the ability of the Angi Services business to expand pre-priced booking services, while balancing the overall mix of service requests and directory services on Angi platforms generally;
•the size, quality, diversity and stability of our network of service professionals and the breadth of our online directory listings;
•our ability to consistently generate service requests and pre-priced bookings through the Angi platforms that convert into revenue for our service professionals in a cost-effective manner;
•our ability to increasingly engage with consumers directly through our platforms, including our various mobile applications (rather than through search engine marketing or via free search engine referrals);
•the functionality of our websites and mobile applications and the attractiveness of their features and our products and services generally to consumers and service professionals, as well as our continued ability to introduce new products and services that resonate with consumers and service professionals generally;
•our ability to continue to build and maintain awareness of, and trust in and loyalty to, our Angi brand; and
•the quality and consistency of our service professional pre-screening processes and ongoing quality control efforts, as well as the reliability, depth and timeliness of customer ratings and reviews.
Intellectual Property
We regard our intellectual property rights as critical to our success generally, with our trademarks, service marks and domain names being especially critical to the continued development and awareness of our brands and our marketing efforts.
We protect our intellectual property rights through a combination of registered copyrights, trademarks, trade dress, domain name registrations, trade secrets and patent applications, as well as through contractual restrictions and reliance on federal, state and common law. We enter into confidentiality and proprietary rights agreements with employees, consultants, contractors and business partners, and employees and contractors are also subject to invention assignment provisions.
We have several registered trademarks in the United States (the most significant of which relate to our Angi and HomeAdvisor brands), as well as other trademarks in Canada and Europe, and several pending trademark applications in the United States and certain other jurisdictions. We have also registered a variety of domestic and international domain names, the most significant of which relate to our HomeAdvisor and Angi brands. In addition, we have one patent in the United States that expires in November 2035 and three patent applications pending in the United States.
Government Regulation
We are subject to laws and regulations that affect companies conducting business on the Internet generally and through mobile applications, including laws relating to the liability of providers of online services for their operations and the activities of their users. As a result, we could be subject to claims based on negligence, various torts and trademark and copyright infringement, among other actions.
In addition, because we receive, transmit, store and use a substantial amount of information received from or generated by consumers and service professionals, we are also impacted by laws and regulations governing privacy, the storage, sharing, use, processing, disclosure and protection of personal data and data breaches. See “Item 1A-Risk Factors-Risks Related to Our Business and Industry-The processing, storage, use and disclosure of personal data could give rise to liabilities and increased costs.”
We are particularly sensitive to laws and regulations that adversely impact the popularity or growth in use of the Internet and/or online products and services generally, restrict or otherwise unfavorably impact the ability or manner in which we
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provide our products and services, regulate the practices of third parties upon which we rely to provide our products and services and undermine open and neutrally administered Internet access. For example, the United Kingdom’s proposed May 2021 Online Safety Bill, which like previous proposed legislation, seeks to create a new regulatory body responsible for establishing duties of care for Internet companies that provide user-generated content and for assessing related compliance. As proposed, failure to comply with the legislation could result in fines, blocking of services and personal liability for senior management. To the extent our businesses are required to implement new measures and/or make changes to our products and services to ensure compliance, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. Compliance with this legislation or similar or more stringent legislation in other jurisdictions could be costly, and the failure to comply could result in service interruptions and negative publicity, any or all of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, in December 2017, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (the “FCC”) adopted an order reversing net neutrality protections in the United States, including the repeal of specific rules against blocking, throttling or “paid prioritization” of content or services by Internet service providers. To the extent Internet service providers take such actions, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. Similarly, there have been various legislative efforts to restrict the scope of the protections available to online platforms under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, and our current protections from liability for third-party content in the United States could decrease or change as a result. Any future adverse changes to Section 230 could result in additional compliance costs for us and/or exposure for additional liabilities.
We are also generally sensitive to the adoption of new tax laws. The European Commission and several European countries have recently adopted (or intend to adopt) proposals that would change various aspects of the current tax framework under which our European businesses are taxed, including proposals to change or impose new types of non-income taxes (including taxes based on a percentage of revenue). For example, we are subject to and pay the Digital Services Tax in the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. Similar proposed tax laws could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
As a provider of products and services with a membership-based element, we are also sensitive to the adoption of laws and regulations affecting the ability of our businesses to periodically charge for recurring membership or subscription payments. For example, many U.S. states have considered enacting legislation that could impact the ability of our businesses to efficiently process auto-renewal payments for, as well as offer promotional or differentiated pricing. The adoption of any law that adversely affects revenue from recurring membership or subscription payments could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are particularly sensitive to laws and regulations related to the adoption and interpretation of worker classification laws, specifically, laws that could effectively required us to change our classification of certain of our service professional from independent contractors to employees.
We are also subject to laws governing marketing and advertising activities conducted by/through telephone, e-mail, mobile devices and the Internet, including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, the CAN-SPAM Act and similar state laws, as well as federal, state, and local laws and agency guidelines governing background screening.
Human Capital Management
As of December 31, 2021, we employed approximately 5,200full-time employees worldwide, the substantial majority of which provided services to our brands and businesses located in the United States. We also retain consultants, independent contractors, and temporary and part-time workers.
Talent and Development
The development, attraction and retention of employees is critical to our success. We strive to provide an atmosphere that fosters teamwork and growth. We are investing in a more productive, engaged, diverse and inclusive workforce. To support the advancement of our employees, we offer training and development programs and encourage advancement from within. In 2020, we launched a Learning Management system for broader facilitation of training resources. We leverage both formal and informal programs designed to identify, foster, and retain top talent. We believe that our rich culture enables us to create, develop and fully leverage the strengths of our workforce to exceed consumer expectations and meet our growth objectives. We also place a high value on inclusion, engaging employees in our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council, or DEI, which is staffed by employees with diverse backgrounds, experiences or characteristics who share a common interest in professional development, improving corporate culture and delivering sustained business results. Recent DEI initiatives include unconscious bias training and a women in leadership program.
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Total Rewards and Benefits
As part of our compensation philosophy, we believe that we must offer and maintain market competitive total rewards programs for our employees in order to attract and retain superior talent. These programs include base wages and incentives in support of our pay for performance culture, as well as health, welfare, and retirement benefits, vision, dental, life, prescription, and long-term disability insurance plans. We also provide employee paid supplemental life and accident insurance plans. To help employees cover medical expenses pre-tax, we offer employees a Flexible Spending Account. We also focus many programs on employee wellness and have implemented solutions including mental health support access, telemedicine, and fitness programs. We also offer our US-based full-time employees a 401(k) retirement plan with a Company match.
Community
We encourage our employees to become involved in their communities by providing full-time employees eight hours of paid-time off each year to volunteer in local community-based programs.
COVID Response
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we quickly implemented safety and health standards and protocols for our employees to ensure a safe work environment. Employees in our offices have been working remotely since March 2020 and we have moved our sales employees to work fully remotely. When our corporate employees return to the office, we will adhere to the recommended protocols of the Centers for Disease Control or local regulations. We have offered paid leave for COVID-related illness that meet local requirements.
Ethics
Our employees are required to annually agree to comply with our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and any deviations by our directors and executive officers are required to be approved by our Board. We also maintain an Ethics Hotline that is available to all of our employees to report (anonymously if desired) any matter of concern. Communications to the hotline (which is facilitated by an independent third party) are routed to appropriate functions (whether Human Resources, Legal or Finance) for investigation and resolution. In addition, any shareholder or other interested party may send communications to the Board of Directors, either individually or as a group, through a process that is outlined in the Investor Relations section of our website.
Additional Information
Company Website and Public Filings
We maintain a website at www.angi.com. Neither the information on this website, nor the information on the websites of any of our brands and businesses, is incorporated by reference into this annual report, or into any other filings with, or into any other information furnished or submitted to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).
We also make available, free of charge through our website, our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K (including related amendments) as soon as reasonably practicable after they have been electronically filed with (or furnished to) the SEC.
Code of Ethics
Our code of ethics applies to all of our employees (including our principal executive officer, principal financial officer and principal accounting officer) and directors and is posted on our website at http://ir.angi.com under the heading “Code of Ethics.” This code of ethics includes provisions enumerated in Item 406 of SEC Regulation S-K and the rules of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC. Any changes to this code of ethics that affect the provisions required by Item 406 of Regulation S-K (and any waivers of such provisions of the code of ethics for our executive officers, senior financial officers or directors) will also be disclosed on our website.
RELATIONSHIP WITH IAC
Equity Ownership and Vote
We have two classes of capital stock outstanding, Class A common stock and Class B common stock, with one vote and ten votes per share, respectively. Our shares of Class B common stock are convertible into shares of Class A common stock on a share for share basis. As of December 31, 2021, IAC owned all of our outstanding shares of Class B common stock, and 2,588,180 outstanding shares of the Company’s Class A common stock, in total representing approximately 84.5% of our total outstanding shares of capital stock and approximately 98.2%of the total combined voting power of our outstanding capital stock.
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Intercompany Agreements
In connection with the Combination, we and IAC entered into certain agreements to govern our relationship following the Combination. These agreements include the following:
Contribution Agreement
Under the contribution agreement: (i) we agreed to assume all of the assets and liabilities related to the HomeAdvisor business and indemnify IAC against any losses arising out of any breach by us of the contribution agreement or any other transaction related agreement described below and (ii) IAC agreed to indemnify us against losses arising out of any breach by IAC of the contribution agreement or any other transaction related agreement described below.
Investor Rights Agreement
Under the investor rights agreement, IAC has certain registration, preemptive and governance rights related to us and the shares of our capital stock it holds. The investor rights agreement also provides certain governance rights for the benefit of stockholders other than IAC.
Services Agreement
The services agreement currently governs services that IAC has agreed to provide to us through September 29, 2021, with automatic renewal for successive one-year terms, subject to IAC’s continued ownership of a majority of the total combined voting power of our voting stock and any subsequent extension(s) or truncation(s) agreed to by us and IAC. The services agreement has been renewed through September 29, 2022. Services currently provided to us by IAC pursuant this agreement include: (i) assistance with certain legal, M&A, human resources, finance, risk management, internal audit and treasury functions, health and welfare benefits, information security services and insurance and tax affairs, including assistance with certain public company and unclaimed property reporting obligations; (ii) accounting, controllership and payroll processing services; (iii) investor relations services and (iv) tax compliance services. The scope, nature and extent of services may be changed from time to time as we and IAC may agree.
Tax Sharing Agreement
The tax sharing agreement governs our and IAC’s rights, responsibilities and obligations with respect to tax liabilities and benefits, entitlements to refunds, preparation of tax returns, tax contests and other tax matters regarding U.S. federal, state, local and foreign income taxes. Under the tax sharing agreement, we are generally responsible and required to indemnify IAC for: (i) all taxes imposed with respect to any consolidated, combined or unitary tax return of IAC or its subsidiaries that includes us or any of our subsidiaries (to the extent attributable to us or any of our subsidiaries, as determined under the tax sharing agreement) and (ii) all taxes imposed with respect to any consolidated, combined, unitary or separate tax returns of us or our subsidiaries.
Employee Matters Agreement
The employee matters agreement addresses certain compensation and benefit issues related to the allocation of liabilities associated with: (i) employment or termination of employment; (ii) employee benefit plans and (iii) equity awards. Under the employee matters agreement, our employees participate in IAC’s U.S. health and welfare plans, 401(k) plan and flexible benefits plan and we reimburse IAC for the costs of such participation. In the event IAC no longer retains shares representing at least 80% of the aggregate voting power of shares entitled to vote in the election of our board of directors, we will no longer participate in IAC’s employee benefit plans, but will establish our own employee benefit plans that will be substantially similar to the plans sponsored by IAC.
In addition, under the employee matters agreement, we are required to reimburse IAC for the cost of any IAC equity awards held by our current and former employees, with IAC electing to receive payment either in cash or shares of our Class B common stock. This agreement also provides that IAC may require stock appreciation rights granted prior the closing of the Combination and equity awards in our subsidiaries to be settled in either shares of our Class A common stock or IAC common stock. To the extent shares of IAC common stock are issued in settlement of these awards, we are obligated to reimburse IAC for the cost of those shares by issuing shares of our Class A common stock in the case of stock appreciation rights granted prior to the closing of the Combination and shares of our Class B common stock in the case of equity awards in our subsidiaries.
Lastly, pursuant to the employee matters agreement, in the event of a distribution of Angi Inc. capital stock to IAC stockholders in a transaction intended to qualify as tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the Compensation Committee of the IAC board of directors has the exclusive authority to determine the treatment of outstanding IAC equity awards. Such authority includes (but is not limited to) the ability to convert all of part of IAC equity awards outstanding immediately prior to the distribution into equity awards denominated in shares of Angi Inc. Class A Common Stock, which Angi Inc. would be obligated to assume and which would be dilutive to Angi's stockholders.
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Item 1A. Risk Factors
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This annual report on Form 10-K contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The use of words such as “anticipates”, “estimates”, “expects”, “plans”, “intends”, “will continue”, “may”, “could” and “believes”, among similar expressions, generally identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, among others, statements relating to: our future business, financial condition, results of operations and financial performance, our business strategy, trends in the home services industry and other similar matters. These forward-looking statements are based on the expectations and assumptions of our management about future events as of the date of this annual report, which are inherently subject to uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict.
Actual results could differ materially from those contained in these forward-looking statements for a variety of reasons, including, among others, the risk factors set forth below. Other unknown or unpredictable factors that could also adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations may arise from time to time. In light of these risks and uncertainties, the forward-looking statements discussed in this annual report may not prove to be accurate. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which only reflect the views of our management as of the date of this annual report. We do not undertake to update these forward-looking statements.
Risk Factors
Risks Related to Our Business and Industry
Our brands and businesses operate in an especially competitive and evolving industry.
The home services industry is competitive, with a consistent and growing stream of new products, services and entrants. Some of our competitors may enjoy better competitive positions in certain geographical areas, with certain consumer and service professional demographics and/or in other key areas that we currently serve or may serve in the future. Generally, we compete with search engines, online marketplaces and social media platforms that have the ability to market their products and services online in a more prominent and cost-effective manner than we can, as well as better tailor their products and services to individual users. Any of these advantages could enable these competitors to offer products and services that are more appealing to consumers and service professionals than our products and services, respond more quickly and/or cost effectively than we do to evolving market opportunities and trends, and/or display their own integrated or related home services products and services in search results and elsewhere in a more prominent manner than our products and services, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, since most home services products and services are offered to consumers for free, consumers can easily switch among home services offerings (or use multiple home services offerings simultaneously) at no cost to them. And while service professionals may incur additional or duplicative near-term costs, the costs for switching to a competing platform over the long term are generally not prohibitive. Low switching costs, coupled with the propensity of consumers to try new products and services generally, will most likely result in the continued emergence of new products and services, entrants and business models in the home services industry. Our inability to continue to innovate and compete effectively against new products, services and competitors could result in decreases in the size and level of engagement of our consumer and service professional bases, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our success will depend, in substantial part, on the continued migration of the home services market online.
We believe that the digital penetration of the home services market remains low, with the vast majority of consumers continuing to search for, select and hire service professionals offline. While many consumers have historically been (and remain) averse to finding service professionals online, others have demonstrated a greater willingness to embrace the online shift. Service professionals must also continue to embrace the online shift, which will depend, in substantial part, on whether online products and services help them to better connect and engage with consumers relative to traditional offline efforts. The speed and ultimate outcome of the shift of the home services market online for consumers and service professionals is uncertain and may not occur as quickly as we expect, or at all. The failure or delay of a meaningful number of consumers and/or service professionals to migrate online and/or the return of a meaningful number of existing participants in the online home services market to offline solutions, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our brands and businesses are sensitive to general economic events and trends, particularly those that adversely impact consumer confidence and spending behavior.
We have historically been, and will continue to be, particularly sensitive to events and trends that result in consumers delaying or foregoing home services projects and/or service professionals being less likely to pay for consumer matches and
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subscriptions. Any such event or trend (for example, a general economic downturn or sudden disruption in business conditions, consumer confidence, spending levels and access to credit) could result in decreases in service requests, pre-priced bookings and directory searches. Any such decreases could adversely impact the number and quality of service professionals at Angi Leads and Angi Services and at our directories and/or adversely impact the reach of (and breath of services offered through) the Angi Leads and Angi Services and our directories, any or all of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Lastly, we have historically been, and will continue to be, sensitive to events and trends that could result in decreased marketing and advertising expenditures by service professionals. Adverse economic conditions and trends could result in service professionals decreasing and/or delaying fees paid for consumer matches, pre-priced bookings, membership subscriptions and/or time-based advertising spend, any or all of which would result in decreased revenue and could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The expansion of our pre-priced booking services, while balancing the overall mix of our service request and directory services on our platforms, is critical to our business, financial condition and results of operations.
For our Angi Services offerings, we contract with a service professional to perform a specific task for a consumer at a contracted price. Pre-priced booking services potentially offer higher margin opportunities, but also involve greater financial risk because we bear the impact of cost overruns, which could result in increased costs and expenses. An increase in the percentage of pre-priced booking services may also reduce service professional’s level of participation in our Angi Ads and Angi Leads offerings. As we expand our pre-priced booking services, we expect our mix of pre-priced booking services will be increasing over time, which could increase the risk that we suffer losses if we underestimate the level of effort or costs required to perform the consumer’s task. Our profits could be adversely affected if our costs exceed the assumptions we used in offering the contracted task. For example, we may miscalculate the costs, materials, or time needed to complete a task or we might be provided with inaccurate information by the consumer, which could result in us charging consumers too little for contracted tasks, which in turn would result in us having to absorb the actual, higher cost for contracted tasks or risk not being able to find service professionals to perform contracted tasks at the contracted rate. Our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected if our actual costs exceed the assumptions we used in offering the contracted task in our pre-priced booking service.
COVID-19 and other similar outbreaks could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a widespread global health crisis, resulting in significant disruption and has had (and is likely to continue to have) an adverse effect on economic conditions generally, as well as on consumer confidence and spending, all of which could have an adverse effect on our businesses, financial condition and results of operations. When COVID-19 first impacted North America and Europe in the early spring of 2020, we experienced a decline in demand for service requests, driven primarily by decreases in demand in certain categories of jobs (particularly discretionary indoor projects). While we experienced a rebound in service requests in the second half of 2020 and through early 2021, service requests did start to decline in May 2021 compared to the comparable months of 2020 as a result of the surge in 2020 and due to impacts of our brand integration initiative that we commenced in March 2021. Moreover, many service professionals’ businesses have been adversely impacted by labor and material constraints and many service professionals have limited capacity to take on new business, which negatively impacted our ability to monetize the increased level of service requests through the first quarter of 2021. Although our ability to monetize service requests rebounded modestly in the second half of 2021, we still have not returned to levels we experienced pre-COVID-19. No assurances can be provided that we will continue to be able to improve monetization, or that service professionals’ businesses will not be adversely impacted in the future.
The extent to which developments related to the COVID-19 pandemic and measures designed to curb its spread continue to impact our business, financial condition and results of operations will depend on future developments, all of which are highly uncertain and many of which are beyond the Company’s control, including the continuing spread of COVID-19, the severity of resurgences of COVID-19 caused by variant strains of the virus, the effectiveness of vaccines and attitudes toward receiving them, materials and supply chain constraints, labor shortages, the scope of governmental and other restrictions on travel, discretionary services and other activity, and public reactions to these developments.
In addition, in response to the COVID-19 outbreak and government-imposed measures to control its spread, our ability to conduct ordinary course business activities has been (and may continue to be) impaired for an indefinite period of time. For example, we have taken several precautions that could adversely impact employee productivity, such as requiring employees to work remotely, as well as imposing travel restrictions and temporarily closing office locations. While we have found that our employees (including call center and sales employees) have transitioned to working remotely with limited disruption to date, no assurances can be provided that their productivity and efficiency will remain at pre-pandemic levels, particularly if they are required to continue working remotely for an extended period of time. Also, working remotely may involve increased operational risks, such as increased risks of “phishing,” other cybersecurity attacks or the unauthorized dissemination of personally identifiable information or proprietary and confidential information. Lastly, moving employees back to the office
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may introduce distraction that could have a temporary negative impact on the Company’s productivity, and in turn, revenue. We may also experience increased operating costs as we gradually resume normal operations and enhance preventative measures, including with respect to real estate, compliance and insurance-related expenses. Moreover, we may also experience business disruption if the ordinary course operations of our contractors, vendors or business partners are adversely affected. Any of these measures or impairments could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Success depends, in substantial part, on our ability to maintain and/or enhance our brands, which could be negatively impacted by various factors.
We own and operate two of the leading home services brands in the United States (Angi and HomeAdvisor), as well as leading brands in several foreign jurisdictions. In March 2021, we updated one of our leading websites and brands, Angie’s List, to Angi, and concentrated our marketing investment in the Angi brand in order to focus our marketing, sales, and branding efforts on a single brand.
We believe that our success depends, in substantial part, on our continued ability to build awareness and loyalty to our Angi brand, maintain and enhance our established brands, as well as build awareness of (and loyalty to) new and emerging brands. Events that could negatively impact our brands and brand-building efforts include (among others): product and service quality concerns; service professional quality concerns; consumer and service professional complaints and lawsuits; lack of awareness of our policies or confusion about how the policies are applied; a failure to respond to feedback from our service professionals and consumers; ineffective advertising; inappropriate and/or unlawful acts perpetrated by service professionals and consumers; actions or proceedings commenced by governmental or regulatory authorities; and inadequate data protection and security breaches including related bad publicity. Any factors that negatively impact the Angi and/or HomeAdvisor brand(s) could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, trust in the integrity and objective, unbiased nature of the ratings and reviews found across our various brands contributes significantly to public perception of these brands and their ability to attract consumers and service professionals. If consumer reviews are perceived as not authentic in general, the reputation and strength of the relevant brand could be materially and adversely affected. While we use, and will continue to use, filters (among other processes) to detect fraudulent reviews, the accuracy of consumer reviews cannot be guaranteed. If fraudulent or inaccurate reviews (positive or negative) increase and we are unable to effectively identify and remove such reviews, the overall quality of the ratings and reviews across our various brands could decrease and the reputation of affected brands might be harmed. This could deter consumers and service professionals from using our products and services, which in turn could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our Angi brand integration initiative may involve substantial costs, including as a result of a continued negative impact on our organic search placement, and may not be favorably received by customers and service professionals.
We have incurred and may continue to incur substantial costs as a result of our brand integration initiative that we commenced in March 2021, and we may not be able to achieve or maintain brand name recognition or status that is comparable to the recognition and status previously enjoyed by Angie’s List, and our customers and service professionals may be confused as we transition and focus on the Angi brand. Our Company relies heavily on free and paid search engine marketing efforts to drive traffic to our platforms. Our brand initiative has adversely affected the placement and ranking of Angi Inc. websites, particularly Angi.com, in organic search results as Angi does not have the same domain history as Angie’s List. In addition, we shifted marketing to support the Angi brand, away from the HomeAdvisor brand, which has negatively affected the efficiency of our search engine marketing efforts.
Since the beginning of the integration process, these efforts have had a pronounced negative impact on service requests from organic search results and via our mobile applications, which in turn has resulted in increased paid search engine marketing to generate service requests. These factors have increased marketing spend and reduced revenue during the year ended December 31, 2021, materially more than expected at the launch of the brand initiative in March 2021. We expect the pronounced negative impact to organic search results, increased paid search engine marketing and reduced monetization from our mobile applicationswill continue until such time as the new brand establishes search engine optimization ranking and consumer awareness is more established. Any or all of these impacts could continue to increase our marketing costs (particularly to the extent free traffic is replaced with paid traffic) and adversely affect the effectiveness of our marketing efforts overall. Finally, as we align and focus the organization around a single brand, we could experience financial and operational challenges and reduced service professional participation across our various product lines. Depending on market acceptance, our brand integration initiative could adversely affect our ability to attract and retain customers and service professionals, which could cause us not to realize some or all of the anticipated benefits contemplated by the brand integration initiative.
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Our success depends, in substantial part, on our ability to establish and maintain relationships with quality and trustworthy service professionals.
We must continue to attract, retain and grow the number of skilled and reliable service professionals who can provide services across our platforms. If we do not offer innovative products and services that resonate with consumers and service professionals generally, as well as provide service professionals with an attractive return on their marketing and advertising investments, the number of service professionals affiliated with our platforms would decrease. Any such decrease would result in smaller and less diverse networks and directories of service professionals, and in turn, decreases in service requests, pre-priced bookings and directory searches, which could adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition to skill and reliability, consumers want to work with service professionals whom they can trust to work in their homes and with whom they can feel safe. While we maintain screening processes (which generally include certain, limited background checks) to try and prevent unsuitable service professionals from joining our platforms, these processes have limitations and, even with these safety measures, no assurances can be provided regarding the future behavior of any service provider on our platforms. Inappropriate and/or unlawful behavior of service professionals generally (particularly any such behavior that compromises the trustworthiness of service providers and/or of the safety of consumers), could result in decreases in service requests, bad publicity and related damage to our reputation, brands and brand-building efforts and/or actions by governmental and regulatory authorities, criminal proceedings and/or litigation. The occurrence or any of these events could, in turn, adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Marketing efforts designed to drive traffic to our brands and businesses may not be successful or cost-effective.
Attracting consumers and service professionals to our brands and businesses involves considerable expenditures for online and offline marketing. We have made, and expect to continue to make, significant marketing expenditures, primarily for digital marketing (primarily paid search engine marketing, display advertising and third-party affiliate agreements) and traditional offline marketing (national television and radio campaigns). These efforts may not be successful or cost-effective. Historically, we have had to increase marketing expenditures over time to attract and retain consumers and service professionals and sustain our growth.
Our ability to market our brands on any given property or channel is subject to the policies of the relevant third-party seller, publisher of advertising (including search engines and social media platforms with extraordinarily high levels of traffic and numbers of users) or marketing affiliate. As a result, we cannot assure you that these parties will not limit or prohibit us from purchasing certain types of advertising (including the purchase by Angi of advertising with preferential placement), advertising certain of our products and services, and/or using one or more current or prospective marketing channels in the future. If a significant marketing channel took such an action generally, for a significant period of time and/or on a recurring basis, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. In addition, if we fail to comply with the policies of third-party sellers, publishers of advertising and/or marketing affiliates, our advertisements could be removed without notice and/or our accounts could be suspended or terminated, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, our failure to respond to rapid and frequent changes in the pricing and operating dynamics of search engines, as well as changing policies and guidelines applicable to keyword advertising (which may unilaterally be updated by search engines without advance notice), could adversely affect our paid search engine marketing efforts (and free search engine traffic). Such changes could adversely affect paid listings (both their placement and pricing), as well as the ranking of our brands and businesses within search results, any or all of which could increase our marketing expenditures (particularly if free traffic is replaced with paid traffic). Any or all of these events could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Evolving consumer behavior (specifically, increased consumption of media through digital means) can also affect the availability of profitable marketing opportunities. To continue to reach and engage consumers and service professionals and grow in this environment, we will need to continue to identify and devote more of our overall marketing expenditures to newer digital advertising channels (such as online video and other digital platforms), as well as target consumers and service professionals via these channels. Since newer advertising channels are undeveloped and unproven relative to traditional channels (such as television), it could be difficult to assess returns on marketing investments in newer channels, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Lastly, we also enter into various arrangements with third parties to drive visitors to our Angi platforms. These arrangements are generally more cost-effective than traditional marketing efforts. If we are unable to renew existing (and enter into new) arrangements of this nature, sales and marketing costs as a percentage of revenue would increase over the long-term, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, the quality and convertibility of traffic and leads generated through third-party arrangements are dependent on many factors, most of which are
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outside our control. If the quality and/or convertibility of traffic and leads do not meet the expectations of our users and/or Angi Leads service professionals, they could leave our network and/or decrease their budgets for consumer matches or participation in pre-priced booking services, any or all of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We rely on Internet search engines to drive traffic to our various properties. Certain operators of search services offer products and services that compete directly with our products and services. If links to websites offering our products and services are not displayed prominently in search results, traffic to our properties could decline and our business could be adversely affected.
In addition to paid marketing, we rely heavily on Internet search engines, such as Google, to drive traffic to our properties through their unpaid search results. Although search results have allowed us to attract a large audience with low organic traffic acquisition costs in the past, if they fail to continue to drive sufficient traffic to our properties, we may need to increase our marketing spend to acquire additional traffic. We cannot assure you that the value we ultimately derive from any such additional traffic would exceed the cost of acquisition, and any increase in marketing expense may in turn harm our operating results.
The amount of traffic we attract from search engines is due in large part to how and where information about our brands (and links to websites offering our products and services) are displayed on search engine results pages. The display, including rankings, of unpaid search results can be affected by a number of factors, many of which are not in our direct control, and may change frequently. Search engines have made changes in the past to their ranking algorithms, methodologies and design layouts that have reduced the prominence of links to websites offering our products and services, and negatively impacted traffic to such websites, and we expect that search engines will continue to make such changes from time to time in the future.
However, we may not know how (or otherwise be in a position) to influence actions of this nature taken by search engines. With respect to search results in particular, even when search engines announce the details of their methodologies, their parameters may change from time to time, be poorly defined or be inconsistently interpreted.
In addition, in some instances, search engines may change their displays or rankings in order to promote their own competing products or services, or the products or services of one or more of our competitors. Any such action could negatively impact the search rankings of links to websites offering our products and services, or the prominence with which such links appear in search results. Our success depends on the ability of our products and services to maintain a prominent position in search results, and in the event operators of search engines promote their own competing products in the future in a manner that has the effect of reducing the prominence or ranking of our products and services, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Our ability to communicate with consumers and service professionals via e-mail (or other sufficient means) is critical to our success.
Historically, one of our primary means of communicating with consumers and service professionals and keeping them engaged with our products and services has been via e-mail communication. Through e-mail, we provide consumers and service professionals with service request and pre-priced booking service updates, as well as present or suggest new products and services (among other things) and market our products and services in a cost-effective manner. As consumers increasingly communicate via mobile and other digital devices and messaging and social media apps, usage of e-mail (particularly among younger consumers) has declined and we expect this trend to continue. In addition, deliverability and other restrictions could limit or prevent our ability to send e-mails to consumers and service professionals. A continued and significant erosion in our ability to communicate with consumers and service professionals via e-mail could adversely impact the overall user experience, consumer and service professional engagement levels and conversion rates, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. We cannot assure you that any alternative means of communication (for example, push notifications and text messaging) will be as effective as e-mail has been historically.
Our success depends, in part, on our ability to access, collect and use personal data about consumers.
We depend on search engines, digital app stores and social media platforms, in particular, those operated by Google, Apple and Facebook, to market, distribute and monetize our products and services. Consumers engage with these platforms directly, and as a result, these platforms may receive personal data about consumers that we would otherwise receive if we transacted with them directly. Certain of these platforms have restricted our access to personal data about users of our products and services obtained through their platforms. If these platforms limit or increasingly limit, eliminate or otherwise interfere with our ability to access, collect and use personal data about users of our products and services that they have collected, our ability to identify and communicate with a meaningful portion of our user base may be adversely impacted. If so, our customer relationship management efforts, our ability to identify, target and reach new segments of our user base and the population generally, and the efficiency of our paid marketing efforts could be adversely affected. We cannot assure you that search engines, digital app stores and social media platforms upon which we rely will not limit or increasingly limit, eliminate or otherwise interfere with our ability to access, collect and use personal data about users of our products and services that they
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have collected. To the extent that any or all of them do so, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Our success depends, in part, on our ability to continue to develop and monetize versions of our products and services for mobile and other digital devices.
As consumers increasingly access our products and services through mobile and other digital devices (including through digital voice assistants), we will need to continue to devote significant time and resources to ensure that our products and services are accessible across these platforms (and multiple platforms generally). If we do not keep pace with evolving online, market and industry trends including the introduction of new and enhanced digital devices and changes in the preferences and needs of consumers and service professionals generally, offer new and/or enhanced products and services in response to such trends that resonate with consumers and service professionals, monetize products and services for mobile and other digital devices as effectively as our traditional products and services and/or maintain related systems, technology and infrastructure in an efficient and cost-effective manner, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
In addition, the success of our mobile and other digital products and services depends on their interoperability with various third-party operating systems, technology, infrastructure and standards, over which we have no control. Any changes to any of these things that compromise the quality or functionality of our mobile and other digital products and services could adversely affect their usage levels and/or our ability to attract consumers and service professionals, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
There may be adverse tax, legal and other consequences if the contractor classification or employment status of the service professionals who use our platform is challenged.
We are particularly sensitive to the adoption of worker classification laws, specifically, laws that could effectively require us to change our classification of certain of our service professionals from independent contractors to employees, as well as changes to state and local laws or judicial decisions related to the definition and/or classification of independent contractors. For example, in 2019, California passed a worker classification statute (AB 5), which effectively narrowed the definition of an independent contractor by requiring hiring entities to use a stricter test to determine a given worker’s classification placed the burden of proof for classifying workers as independent contractors on the hiring entity, and provided enforcement powers to the state and certain cities. AB 5 has been the subject of widespread national discussion and it is possible that other jurisdictions may enact similar laws. Since we currently treat service professionals who provide services through our business as independent contractors for all purposes, we do not withhold federal, state and local income or other employment related taxes, make federal or state unemployment tax or Federal Insurance Contributions Act payments or provide workers’ compensation insurance with respect to these individuals. If we are required as the result of new laws, interpretations or orders to reclassify these individuals as employees, we could be exposed to various liabilities and additional costs, including exposure (for prior and future periods) under federal, state and local tax laws, and workers’ compensation, unemployment benefits, labor, and employment laws, as well as potential liability for penalties and interest, any or all of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. We are involved in various legal proceedings and investigations challenging the classification of these individuals as independent contractors, and may become involved in other proceedings and investigations in the future.
We may not be able to protect our systems, technology and infrastructure from cyberattacks and cyberattacks experienced by third parties may adversely affect us.
We are regularly under attack by perpetrators of malicious technology-related events, such as the use of botnets, malware or other destructive or disruptive software, distributed denial of service attacks, phishing, attempts to misappropriate user information and account login credentials and other similar malicious activities. The incidence of events of this nature (or any combination thereof) is on the rise worldwide. We continuously develop and maintain systems designed to detect and prevent events of this nature from impacting our systems, technology, infrastructure, products, services and users. We have invested (and continue to invest) heavily in these efforts and related personnel and training and deploy data minimization strategies (where appropriate), but these efforts are costly and require ongoing monitoring and updating as technologies change and efforts to overcome preventative security measures become more sophisticated. Despite these efforts, some of our systems have experienced past security incidents, none of which had a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, and we could experience significant events of this nature in the future.
Any event of this nature that we experience could damage our systems, technology and infrastructure and/or those of our users, prevent us from providing our products and services, compromise the integrity of our products and services, damage our reputation, erode our brands and/or be costly to remedy, as well as subject us to investigations by regulatory authorities, fines and/or litigation that could result in liability to third parties. Even if we do not experience such events firsthand, the impact of any such events experienced by third parties could have a similar effect. We may not have adequate insurance coverage to compensate for losses resulting from any of these events. If we (or any third-party with whom we do business or otherwise rely upon) experience(s) an event of this nature, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
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If personal, confidential or sensitive user information that we maintain and store is breached or otherwise accessed by unauthorized persons, it may be costly to mitigate and our reputation could be harmed.
We receive, process, store and transmit a significant amount of personal, confidential or sensitive user information and, in certain cases, enable users to share their personal information with each other. While we continuously develop and maintain systems designed to protect the security, integrity and confidentiality of this information, we cannot guarantee that inadvertent or unauthorized use or disclosure will not occur or that third parties will not gain unauthorized access to this information. When such events occur, we may not be able to remedy them, we may be required by law to notify regulators and impacted individuals, and it may be costly to mitigate the impact of such events and to develop and implement protections to prevent future events of this nature from occurring. When breaches of security (ours or that of any third-party we engage to store information) occur, we could face governmental enforcement actions, significant fines, litigation (including consumer class actions) and the reputation of our brands and business could be harmed, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, if any of the search engines, digital app stores or social media platforms through which we market, distribute and monetize our products and services were to experience a breach, third parties could gain unauthorized access to personal data about our users and subscribers, which could harm the reputation of our brands and businesses and in turn, adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The processing, storage, use and disclosure of personal data could give rise to liabilities and increased costs.
We receive, transmit and store a large volume of personal information in connection with the provision of our products and services. The manner in which we share, store, use, disclose and protect this information is determined by the respective privacy and data security policies of our various businesses, as well as federal, state and foreign laws and regulations and evolving industry standards and practices, which are changing, and in some cases, inconsistent and conflicting and subject to differing interpretations. In addition, new laws, regulations, standards and practices of this nature are proposed and adopted from time to time.
For example, a comprehensive European Union privacy and data protection reform, the General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”), became effective in May 2018. The GDPR, which applies to companies that are organized in the European Union or otherwise provide services to (or monitor) consumers who reside in the European Union, imposes significant penalties (monetary and otherwise) for non-compliance, as well as provides a private right of action for individual claimants. The GDPR will continue to be interpreted by European Union Data protection regulators, which may require that we make changes to our business practices and could generate additional risks and liabilities. Data protection regulators in European union member states have taken a strict view of cookie consent requirements after the enactment of the GDPR and enforcement actions are on the rise.
Also, the exit from the European Union by the United Kingdom could result in the application of new and conflicting data privacy and protection laws and standards to our operations in the United Kingdom and our handling of personal data of users located in the United Kingdom.
Moreover, multiple legislative proposals concerning privacy and the protection of user information are being considered by the U.S. Congress and various state legislatures. Other U.S. state legislatures have already enacted privacy legislation, one of the strictest and most comprehensive of which is the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, which became effective January 1, 2020 (the “CCPA”). The CCPA provides data privacy rights for California consumers, including the right to know what personal information is being collected about them and how it is being used, as well as significant rights over the use of their personal information and operational requirements for businesses. The CCPA restricts the ability of our businesses to use personal California user and subscriber information in connection with our various products, services and operations, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. The CCPA also provides consumers with a private right of action for security breaches, as well as provides for statutory damages of up to $750 per violation, with the California Attorney General maintaining authority to enforce the CCPA and seek civil penalties for intentional violations of up to $7,500 per violation. In addition, California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”) will take effect on January 1, 2023, and will revise and significantly expand the scope of the CCPA. The CPRA also creates a new California data protection agency authorized to implement and enforce the CCPA and the CPRA, which could result in increased privacy and information security enforcement. This could further restrict the ability of our businesses to use personal California user and subscriber information in connection with our various products, services and operations and/or impose additional operational requirements on our businesses, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Virginia and Colorado also passed comprehensive privacy legislation in 2021. These state laws have similar requirements to those under the CCPA and penalties that range up to $7,500 per violation. Both laws take effect in 2023 could restrict the ability of our businesses to use personal user and subscriber information of Virginia and Colorado users in connection with our various products, services, and operations and/or impose additional operational requirements on our business, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Lastly, the Federal Trade Commission has also increased its focus on privacy and data security practices and we anticipate this focus to continue.
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We could be subject to claims of non-compliance with applicable privacy and data protection policies, laws and regulations and industry standards and practices that we may not be able to successfully defend and/or significant fines and penalties. Moreover, any non-compliance or perceived non-compliance by us (or any third-party we engage to store or process information) or any compromise of security that results in unauthorized access to (or use or transmission of) personal information could result in a variety of claims against us, including governmental enforcement actions, significant fines, litigation (including consumer class actions), claims of breach of contract and indemnity by third parties and adverse publicity. When such events occur, our reputation could be harmed and the competitive positions of our various brands and businesses could be diminished, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, to the extent multiple U.S. state-level (or European Union member-state level) laws are introduced with inconsistent or conflicting standards and there is no federal or European Union regulation to preempt such laws, compliance could be even more difficult to achieve and our potential exposure to the risks discussed above could increase.
Lastly, ongoing compliance with existing (and compliance with future) privacy and data protection laws worldwide could be costly. The devotion of significant costs to compliance (versus the development of products and services) could result in delays in the development of new products and services, us ceasing to provide problematic products and services in existing jurisdictions and us being prevented from introducing products and services in new and existing jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Credit card data security breaches or fraud could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We accept payments (including recurring payments) from service professionals and consumers, primarily through credit and debit card transactions. The ability to access payment information on a real-time basis without having to proactively reach out to service professionals and consumers to process payments is critical to our success.
When third parties (including credit card processing companies, as well as any business that offers products and services online or offline) experience a data security breach involving credit card information, affected cardholders will often cancel their credit cards. The more sizable a given affected third-party’s customer base, the greater the number of accounts impacted and the more likely it will be that our service professionals and consumers would be impacted by such a breach. If such a breach were to impact our service professionals and consumers, we would need to contact affected service professionals and consumers to obtain new payment information. It is likely that we would not be able to reach all affected service professionals and consumers, and even if we could, new payment information for some may not be obtained and pending payments may not be processed, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Even if our service professionals and consumers are not directly impacted by a given data security breach, they may lose confidence in the ability of providers of online products and services to protect their personal information generally. As a result, they may stop using their credit cards online and choose alternative payment methods that are not as convenient for us or restrict our ability to process payments without significant effort, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our success depends, in part, on the integrity, quality, efficiency and scalability of our systems, technology and infrastructure, and those of third parties.
We rely on our systems, technology and infrastructure to perform well on a consistent basis. From time to time in the past we have experienced (and in the future we may experience) occasional interruptions that make some or all of this framework and related information unavailable or that prevent us from providing products and services; any such interruption could arise for any number of reasons. We also rely on third-party data center service providers and cloud-based, hosted web service providers, as well as third-party computer systems and a variety of communications systems and service providers in connection with the provision of our products and services generally, as well as to facilitate and process certain payment and other transactions with users. We have no control over any of these third parties or their operations.
The framework described above could be damaged or interrupted at any time due to fire, power loss, telecommunications failure, natural disasters, acts of war or terrorism, acts of God and other similar events or disruptions. Any event of this nature could prevent us from providing our products and services at all (or result in the provision of our products and services on a delayed or intermittent basis) and/or result in the loss of critical data. While we and the third parties upon whom we rely have certain backup systems in place for certain aspects of our respective frameworks, none of our frameworks are fully redundant and disaster recovery planning is not sufficient for all eventualities. In addition, we may not have adequate insurance coverage to compensate us for losses from a major interruption. When such damages, interruptions or outages occur, our reputation could be harmed and the competitive positions of our various brands and businesses could be diminished, any or all of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We also continually work to expand and enhance the efficiency and scalability of our framework to improve the consumer and service professional experience, accommodate substantial increases in the number of visitors to our various platforms,
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ensure acceptable load times for our various products and services, and keep up with changes in technology and user preferences. If we do not do so in a timely and cost-effective manner, the user experience and demand across our brands and businesses could be adversely affected, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may experience risks related to acquisitions.
We have made numerous acquisitions in the past and we continue to seek to identify potential acquisition candidates to expand our business generally in the future. If we do not identify suitable acquisition candidates or complete acquisitions on satisfactory pricing or other terms, our growth could be adversely affected. Even if we complete what we believe to be suitable acquisitions, we may experience related operational and financial risks. As a result, to the extent that we continue to grow through acquisitions, we will need to:
•properly value prospective acquisitions, especially those with limited operating histories;
•successfully integrate the operations, as well as the various functions and systems, of acquired businesses with our existing operations, functions and systems;
•successfully identify and realize potential synergies among acquired and existing businesses;
•retain or hire senior management and other key personnel at acquired businesses; and
•successfully manage acquisition-related strain on our management, operations and financial resources.
We may not be successful in addressing these challenges or any other problems encountered in connection with historical and future acquisitions. In addition, the anticipated benefits of one or more acquisitions may not be realized. Also, future acquisitions could result in increased operating losses, dilutive issuances of equity securities and/or the assumption of contingent liabilities. Lastly, the value of goodwill and other intangible assets acquired could be impacted by one or more continuing unfavorable events and/or trends, which could result in significant impairment charges. The occurrence of any these events could have an adverse effects on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We face additional risks in connection with our international operations.
We currently operate businesses under various regional brands in Canada, France, Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Italy and intend to seek to expand our international presence, both through acquisitions and organic growth.
Operating abroad, particularly in jurisdictions where we have limited experience, exposes us to additional risks, including:
•operational and compliance challenges caused by distance, language barriers and cultural differences;
•difficulties in staffing and managing international operations;
•differing levels (or lack) of social and technological acceptance of online services generally, as well as online home services offerings specifically;
•foreign currency fluctuations;
•restrictions on the transfer of funds among countries and back to the United States and related repatriation costs;
•differing and potentially complex laws and regulations, including related to tax, data privacy, cybersecurity and data protection, and related compliance challenges;
•competitive environments that favor local businesses;
•limitations on the level of intellectual property protection; and
•trade sanctions, political unrest, terrorism, war and epidemics or the threat of any of these events.
The occurrence of any or all of the events described above could adversely affect our international operations, and in turn, our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may fail to adequately protect our intellectual property rights or may be accused of infringing the intellectual property rights of third parties.
We rely heavily upon trademarks, trade dress and related domain names and logos to market our brands and businesses and to build and maintain brand loyalty and recognition, as well as upon trade secrets and patents.
We rely on a combination of laws and contractual restrictions on access to and use of proprietary information with employees, customers, suppliers, affiliates and others to establish and protect our and their various intellectual property rights. For example, we have generally registered and continue to apply to register and renew, or secure by contract where appropriate, trademarks and service marks as they are developed and used, and reserve, register and renew domain names as we deem appropriate. We also generally seek to apply for patents or for similar statutory protections as and if we deem appropriate, based
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on then current facts and circumstances, and will continue to do so in the future. No assurances can be given that these efforts will result in adequate trademark and service mark protection, adequate domain name rights and protections, the issuance of a patent or adequate patent protection against competitors and similar technologies. Third parties could also create new products or methods that achieve similar results without infringing upon patents we own.
Despite these measures, challenges to our intellectual property rights could still arise, third parties could copy or otherwise obtain and use the intellectual property without authorization and/or laws regarding the enforceability of existing intellectual property rights could change in an adverse manner. The occurrence of any of these events could result in the erosion of our various brands and limitations on our ability to control marketing online using our various domain names, as well as impede our ability to effectively compete against competitors with similar technologies, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We depend on our key personnel.
Our future success depends upon our ability to identify, hire, develop, motivate and retain highly skilled, diverse individuals, particularly in the case of senior and executive management. Competition for well-qualified employees across our various businesses is intense and we must attract new (and retain existing) employees to compete effectively. While we have established programs, we may not be able to continue to attract new (and retain existing) key and other employees in the future, especially in the technical fields of engineering and product development. In addition, if we do not ensure the effective transfer of knowledge and smooth transitions (particularly in the case of senior and executive management) across our various businesses, our business, financial condition and results of operations, could be adversely affected.
Failure to obtain and maintain required licenses or to comply with applicable regulations could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may be required under certain state and local government regulations to obtain and maintain licenses to perform pre-priced booking services on our platforms. Typically, licenses must be renewed annually and may be revoked or suspended for cause at any time. In some jurisdictions, the loss of a license for cause may lead to the loss of licenses in other jurisdictions and could make it more difficult to obtain additional licenses. The failure to receive or retain a license, or any other required permit, in a particular location, or to continue to qualify for, or renew licenses, could negatively impact our business. We may also spend significant amounts of money and effort to obtain licenses and continued compliance with applicable regulations. If we fail to comply with such licensing and permit regulations, we may be subject to various sanctions and/or penalties and fines or may be required to cease operations in such location until we achieve compliance, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related to Our Relationship with IAC
IAC controls our company and will have the ability to control the direction of our business.
As of December 31, 2021, IAC owned all of our outstanding shares of Class B common stock, and 2,588,180 outstanding shares of the Company’s Class A common stock, in total representing approximately 84.5% of our total outstanding shares of capital stock and approximately 98.2%of the total combined voting power of our outstanding capital stock. For so long as IAC owns shares of our capital stock that represent a majority of the combined voting power of our outstanding capital stock, it will be able to control any corporate action that requires a stockholder vote, regardless of the vote of any other stockholder (subject to certain limited exceptions for certain class votes). As a result, IAC has (and we expect will continue to have) the ability to control significant corporate activities, including:
•the election of our board of directors (subject to certain provisions of the investor rights agreement between us and IAC) and, through our board of directors, decision-making with respect to our business direction and policies, including the appointment and removal of our officers;
•acquisitions or dispositions of businesses or assets, mergers or other business combinations;
•issuances of shares of our Class A common stock, Class B common stock and Class C common stock and our capital structure generally;
•corporate opportunities that may be suitable for us and IAC, subject to the corporate opportunity provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (as described below);
•our financing activities, including the issuance of debt securities and/or the incurrence of other indebtedness generally;
•stock repurchases or the payment of one-time or recurring dividends; and
•the number of shares available for issuance under our equity incentive plans.
This voting control will limit the ability of other stockholders to influence corporate matters and, as a result, we may take actions that stockholders other than IAC do not view as beneficial. This voting control may also discourage transactions
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involving a change of control of our company, including transactions in which holders of shares of our Class A common stock might otherwise receive a premium for their shares.
Even if IAC owns shares of our capital stock representing less than a majority of the total combined voting power of our outstanding capital stock, so long as IAC owns shares representing a significant percentage of our total combined voting power, IAC will have the ability to substantially influence these significant corporate activities.
In addition, pursuant to the investor rights agreement between us and IAC, IAC has the right to maintain its level of ownership in us to the extent we issue additional shares of our capital stock in the future and, pursuant to the employee matters agreement between us and IAC, IAC may receive payment for certain compensation expenses through the receipt of additional shares of our capital stock. For a more complete summary of our various agreements with IAC, see “Note 14-Related Party Transactions with IAC” to the consolidated financial statements included in “Item 8-Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
Until such time as IAC no longer controls or has the ability to substantially influence us, we will continue to face the risks described in this “Risk Factors” section relating to IAC’s control of us and the potential conflicts of interest between us and IAC.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation could prevent us from benefiting from certain corporate opportunities.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation has a “corporate opportunity” provision that requires us to renounce any interests or expectancy in corporate opportunities for both us and IAC. This provision also includes a disclaimer that states that we recognize that: (i) any of our directors or officers who are also officers, directors, employees or other affiliates of IAC or its affiliates (except that we and our subsidiaries are not considered affiliates of IAC or its affiliates for purposes of this provision) and (ii) IAC itself, will have no duty to offer or communicate information regarding such corporate opportunities to us. Generally, neither IAC nor any of our officers or directors who are also officers or directors of IAC or its affiliates will be liable to us or any of our stockholders for breach of any fiduciary duty by reason of the fact that any such person pursues or acquires any corporate opportunity for the account of IAC or any of its affiliates, directs or transfers such corporate opportunity to IAC or any of its affiliates or does not communicate information regarding such corporate opportunity to us. This corporate opportunity provision may exacerbate conflicts of interest between us and IAC because the provision effectively permits any of our directors or officers who also serves as a director or officer of IAC to choose to direct a corporate opportunity to IAC instead of us.
IAC’s interests may conflict with our interests and the interests of our other stockholders. Conflicts of interest between us and IAC could be resolved in a manner unfavorable to us and our other stockholders.
Various conflicts of interest between us and IAC could arise. As of the date of this report, four of our twelve directors are current directors or executive officers of IAC. Ownership interests of these individuals and IAC in our capital stock and ownership interests of our directors and officers in IAC capital stock, or service by an individual as either a director and/or officer of both companies, could create or appear to create potential conflicts of interest when such individuals are faced with decisions relating to us. These decisions could include:
•corporate opportunities;
•the impact that operating or capital decisions (including the incurrence of indebtedness) relating to our business may have on IAC's consolidated financial statements and/or current or future indebtedness (including related covenants);
•business combinations involving us;
•our dividend and stock repurchase policies;
•management stock ownership; and
•the intercompany agreements and services between us and IAC.
Potential conflicts of interest could also arise if we decide to enter into new commercial arrangements with IAC in the future or in connection with IAC’s desire to enter into new commercial arrangements with third parties. Additionally, IAC may be constrained by the terms of agreements relating to its indebtedness from taking actions, or permitting us to take actions, that may be in our best interest.
Furthermore, disputes may arise between us and IAC relating to our past and ongoing relationships, and these potential conflicts of interest may make it more difficult for us to favorably resolve such disputes, including those related to: tax, employee benefit, indemnification and other matters arising from the Combination; the nature, quality and pricing of services IAC agrees to provide to us; sales or other disposals by IAC of all or a portion of its ownership interest in us; and business combinations involving us.
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We may not be able to resolve any potential conflicts, and even if we do, the resolution may be less favorable to us than if we were dealing with an unaffiliated third-party. While we are controlled by IAC, we may not have the leverage to negotiate amendments to our various agreements with IAC (if required) on terms as favorable to us as those we would negotiate with an unaffiliated third-party.
We rely on exemptions from certain Nasdaq corporate governance requirements that provide protection to stockholders of other companies.
Because IAC owns more than 50% of the combined voting power of our outstanding capital stock, we are a “controlled company” under the Marketplace Rules of The Nasdaq Stock Market, LLC (the “Marketplace Rules”). As a “controlled company,” we are exempt from compliance with certain Marketplace Rules related to corporate governance, including that a majority of our board of directors consists of “independent directors” (as defined in the Marketplace Rules) and that we have a nominating/governance committee composed entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities.
Accordingly, for so long as we are a “controlled company” and avail ourselves of these exemptions, our stockholders will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements of the Marketplace Rules.
IAC’s desire to maintain flexibility with respect to its ability to distribute the shares of our capital stock it holds on a tax-free basis to its stockholders, and its desire to preserve the ability to maintain tax consolidation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, may prevent us from pursuing opportunities to raise capital, acquire other businesses or provide equity incentives to our employees, or otherwise impact our ability to manage our capital structure.
Under current laws, IAC must retain beneficial ownership of at least 80% of our combined voting power and 80% of each class of our non-voting capital stock (if any is outstanding) in order to effect a tax-free distribution of our shares held by IAC to its stockholders. IAC has advised us that it does not have any present intention or plans to undertake such a tax-free distribution. However, IAC does currently intend to use its majority voting interest to retain its ability to engage in such a transaction. In addition, IAC must maintain ownership of at least 80% of our outstanding capital stock in order to maintain tax consolidation with us for U.S. federal income tax purposes. IAC has advised us that it currently intends to take such actions, or cause the Company to take such actions, as may be necessary in order to preserve tax consolidation. Each of these intentions may cause IAC not to support transactions that we wish to pursue that involve issuing shares of our capital stock, including for capital-raising purposes, as consideration for an acquisition or as equity incentives to our employees, or otherwise impact our overall capital management strategy. Our inability to pursue such transactions, or any reduced flexibility in the management of our capital structure, may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our agreements with IAC will require us to indemnify IAC for certain tax liabilities and may limit our ability to engage in desirable strategic or capital-raising transactions.
Pursuant to our tax sharing agreement with IAC, we generally will be responsible and will be required to indemnify IAC for: (i) all taxes imposed with respect to any consolidated, combined or unitary tax return of IAC or its subsidiaries that includes us or any of our subsidiaries to the extent attributable to us or any of our subsidiaries (excluding certain taxes attributable to Angi and its subsidiaries for taxable periods (or portions thereof) ending on or before the completion of the Combination), as determined under the tax sharing agreement, and (ii) all taxes imposed with respect to any consolidated, combined, unitary or separate tax returns of ours or any of our subsidiaries. To the extent IAC fails to pay taxes imposed with respect to any consolidated, combined or unitary tax return of IAC or one of its subsidiaries that includes us or any of our subsidiaries, the relevant taxing authority could seek to collect such taxes (including taxes for which IAC is responsible under the tax sharing agreement) from us or our subsidiaries.
IAC does not have a present plan or intention to undertake a tax-free spin-off of its interest in us. Under the tax sharing agreement, we generally will be responsible for any taxes and related amounts imposed on IAC or us (or our respective subsidiaries) that arise from the failure of a future spin-off of IAC’s retained interest in us to qualify as a transaction that is generally tax-free for U.S. federal income tax purposes under Section 368(a)(1)(D) and/or Section 355 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), to the extent that the failure to so qualify is attributable to: (i) a breach of the relevant representations and covenants made by us in the tax sharing agreement (or any representation letter provided in support of any tax opinion or ruling obtained by IAC with respect to the U.S. federal income tax treatment of such spin-off), (ii) an acquisition of our equity securities or assets or (iii) any other action or inaction by us after any such spin-off.
To preserve the tax-free treatment of any potential future spin-off by IAC of its interest in us, the tax sharing agreement restricts us and our subsidiaries, for the two-year period following any such spin-off (except in specific circumstances), from: (i) entering into any transaction pursuant to which shares of our capital stock would be acquired above a certain threshold, (ii) merging, consolidating or liquidating, (iii) selling or transferring assets above certain thresholds, (iv) redeeming or repurchasing stock (with certain exceptions), (v) altering the voting rights of our capital stock, (vi) actions and inactions that
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are inconsistent with representations or covenants in any tax opinion or private letter ruling document or (vii) ceasing to engage in any active trade or business as defined in the Code. The indemnity obligations and other limitations under the tax sharing agreement could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Future sales or distributions of shares of our capital stock by IAC could depress the price of our Class A common stock.
IAC has the right to sell or distribute to its stockholders all or a portion of the shares of our capital stock that it holds. Although as of the date of this report IAC has advised us that it does not have any present intention or plans to undertake such a sale or distribution, sales by IAC in the public market or distributions to its stockholders of substantial amounts of our capital stock (shares of Class B common stock or Class A common stock) could depress the price of our Class A common stock. In addition, IAC has the right, subject to certain conditions, to require us to file registration statements covering the sale of the shares of our capital stock it holds or to include such shares in other registration statements that we may file. If IAC exercises these registration rights and sells all or a portion of the shares of our capital stock it holds, the price of our Class A common stock could decline.
The services that IAC provides to us may not be sufficient to meet our needs.
We expect IAC to continue to provide us with corporate and shared services related to corporate functions, such as executive oversight, risk management, information technology, accounting, audit, legal, investor relations, tax, treasury and other services in exchange for the fees specified in the services agreement between us and IAC. Since the services agreement automatically renews for one (1) year periods for as long as IAC holds a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock, we may not be able to modify these services in a manner desirable to us as a standalone public company. Although we intend to replace portions of the services currently provided by IAC, we may not be able to perform these services ourselves and/or find appropriate third parties to do so at a reasonable cost (or at costs at or below those charged by IAC), which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related to Our Indebtedness
We may not be able to generate sufficient cash to service our indebtedness.
Our ability to satisfy our debt obligations will depend upon, among other things, our future financial and operating performance, which will be affected by prevailing economic conditions and financial, business, regulatory and other factors, many of which are beyond our control.
We may not be able to generate sufficient cash flow from our operations to meet our scheduled debt obligations. If so, we could be forced to reduce or delay capital expenditures, sell assets or seek additional capital in a manner that complies with the terms (including certain restrictions and limitations) of our current indebtedness. If these efforts do not generate sufficient funds to meet our scheduled debt obligations, we would need to seek additional financing and/or negotiate with our bondholders to restructure or refinance our indebtedness. Our ability to do so would depend on the condition of the capital markets and our financial condition at such time. Any such financing, restructuring or refinancing could be on less favorable terms than those governing our current indebtedness and would need to comply with the terms (including certain restrictions and limitations) of our existing indebtedness.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Class A Common Stock
The multiclass structure of our capital stock has the effect of concentrating voting control with IAC and limiting the ability of holders of our Class A common stock to influence corporate matters.
Each share of our Class B common stock has ten votes per share and each share of our Class A common stock has one vote per share. As of December 31, 2021, IAC owned all of our outstanding shares of Class B common stock, and 2,588,180 outstanding shares of the Company’s Class A common stock, in total representing approximately 84.5% of our total outstanding shares of capital stock and approximately 98.2%of the total combined voting power of our outstanding capital stock. Due to the ten-to-one voting ratio between our Class B common stock and Class A common stock, IAC (and any future holders of our Class B common stock, collectively) will continue to control a substantial majority of the combined voting power of our capital stock. This concentrated control will significantly limit the ability of holders of our Class A common stock to influence matters submitted to our stockholders for approval.
The difference in the voting rights of our Class B common stock and Class A common stock may harm the value and liquidity of our Class A common stock.
This difference in voting rights between our Class B common stock and Class A common stock could harm the value of our Class A common stock to the extent that any investor or potential future purchaser of our Class A common stock ascribes value to the right of the holders of our Class B common stock to ten votes per share. The existence of two classes of common stock with different voting rights could result in less liquidity for our Class A common stock than if there were only one class of common stock, which could adversely affect the price of our Class A common stock.
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We do not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.
We have never declared or paid cash dividends and we currently have no plans to pay cash dividends on our Class A common stock and/or Class B common stock. Instead, we currently anticipate that all of our future earnings will be retained to support our operations and finance the growth and development of our business. Any future determination relating to our dividend policy will be made by our board of directors and will depend on a number of factors, including: our historic and projected financial condition, liquidity and results of operations; our capital levels and needs; tax considerations; any acquisitions that we may consider; statutory and regulatory prohibitions and other limitations; the terms of any credit agreement or other borrowing arrangements that restrict our ability to pay cash dividends; general economic conditions; and other factors deemed relevant by our board of directors.
We are not obligated to pay dividends on our Class A common stock or Class B common stock. Consequently, investors may need to rely on sales on their Class A common stock after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any future gains on their investment.
The Delaware General Corporation Law and certain provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws may discourage, delay or prevent a change of control of our company and/or changes in our management.
The Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”) and our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that could discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of our Company and/or changes in our management that our stockholders may deem advantageous, including provisions that: (i) authorize the issuance of “blank check” preferred stock, which our board of directors could issue to discourage a takeover attempt; (ii) limit the ability of our stockholders to call special meetings of stockholders; and (iii) provide that our board of directors is expressly authorized to make, alter or repeal our bylaws.
Any provision of the DGCL or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws that has the effect of delaying or deterring a change in control could limit the opportunity for our stockholders to receive a related premium for their Class A common stock and could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for our Class A common stock.
The choice of forum provision in our amended and restated bylaws could limit the ability of our stockholders to obtain the judicial forum of their choice for certain disputes.
Our amended and restated bylaws provide that unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, a state court within the State of Delaware (or, if no state court located within Delaware has jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware) will be the sole and exclusive forum for all of the following actions: (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim for (or based on breach of) fiduciary duty owed by any of our current or former directors, officers or other employees to us or to our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against us or any of our current or former directors, officers or other employees pursuant to the DGCL, our certificate of incorporation or our bylaws, (iv) any action asserting a claim relating to or involving us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine or (v) any action asserting an “internal corporate claim” (as defined under the DGCL). This choice of forum provision may limit the ability of our stockholders to bring claims in a judicial forum that they find favorable for disputes with us or our current or former directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find our choice of forum provision to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we could incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
Our Class A common stock is currently ineligible for inclusion in certain stock market indices which may adversely affect the trading market for our Class A common stock.
Policies adopted by certain operators of U.S. stock market indices exclude equity securities of companies with multiple classes of outstanding publicly traded equity securities and/or companies with outstanding classes of publicly traded equity securities that have no voting rights (or “low” voting rights relative to another outstanding class of equity securities) from their stock indices and similar policies may be implemented by other operators of stock market indices in the future. Given the multiclass structure of our capital stock and IAC’s control over us, our Class A common stock is not currently eligible for inclusion in the S&P Composite 1500 (and its three component indices) and any indices managed by FTSE Russell and, as a result, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and other investment vehicles that attempt to passively track these indices will not be investing in our stock. Exclusion from these stock market indices (and any others in the future) could make our Class A common stock less attractive which could adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
Not applicable.
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Item 2. Properties
We believe that the facilities for our management and operations are generally adequate for our current and near-term future needs. Our facilities, most of which are leased, consist of executive and administrative offices, sales offices and data centers. We do not anticipate any future problems renewing or obtaining suitable leases for us or any of our businesses. We currently lease approximately 152,000 square feet of office for our corporate headquarters, Angi business and administrative and sales force personnel in Denver, Colorado.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
Overview
In the ordinary course of business, the Company and its subsidiaries are (or may become) parties to claims, suits, regulatory and government investigations, and other proceedings involving property, personal injury, intellectual property, privacy, tax, labor and employment, competition, commercial disputes, consumer protection and other claims, as well as stockholder derivative actions, class action lawsuits and other matters. Such claims, suits, regulatory and government investigations, and other proceedings could result in fines, civil or criminal penalties, or other adverse consequences. The amounts that may be recovered in such matters may be subject to insurance coverage. Although the results of legal proceedings and claims cannot be predicted with certainty, neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is currently a party to any legal proceedings the outcome of which, we believe, if determined adversely to us, would individually or in the aggregate have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. However, the outcome of such matters is inherently unpredictable and subject to significant uncertainties.
Rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission require the description of material pending legal proceedings (other than ordinary, routine litigation incident to the registrant’s business) and advise that proceedings ordinarily need not be described if they primarily involve damages claims for amounts (exclusive of interest and costs) not exceeding 10% of the current assets of the registrant and its subsidiaries on a consolidated basis. In the judgment of Company management, none of the pending litigation matters which we are defending, including the one described below, involves or is likely to involve amounts of that magnitude. The litigation matter and the investigation described below involves issues or claims that may be of particular interest to our stockholders, regardless of whether this matter may be material to our financial position or operations based upon the standard set forth in the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
FTC Investigation of Certain HomeAdvisor Business Practices
On April 19, 2021, the staff of the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) informed HomeAdvisor that upon investigation it believes that certain of HomeAdvisor’s business practices relating to leads provided to service professionals and its mHelpDesk product are unfair or deceptive in violation of the FTC Act. The Company and FTC have been engaged in discussions about the staff’s beliefs, and those discussions are ongoing. While HomeAdvisor believes that any such claims would be without merit and is prepared to defend vigorously against any enforcement proceeding, it is continuing a dialogue with the FTC to discuss the matter and cannot currently predict the outcome of this investigation and related discussions.
Service Professional Class Action Litigation against HomeAdvisor
In July 2016, a putative class action, Airquip, Inc. et al. v. HomeAdvisor, Inc. et al., No. 1:16-cv-1849, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. The complaint, as amended in November 2016, alleges that our HomeAdvisor business engages in certain deceptive practices affecting the service professionals who join its network, including charging them for substandard customer leads and failing to disclose certain charges. The complaint seeks certification of a nationwide class consisting of all HomeAdvisor service professionals since October 2012, asserts claims for fraud, breach of implied contract, unjust enrichment and violation of the federal RICO statute and the Colorado Consumer Protection Act (“CCPA”), and seeks injunctive relief and damages in an unspecified amount.
In July 2018, the plaintiffs’ counsel filed a separate putative class action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, Costello et al. v. HomeAdvisor, Inc. et al., No. 1:18-cv-1802, on behalf of the same nine proposed new plaintiffs in the Airquip case, naming as defendants HomeAdvisor, Angi and IAC (as well as an unrelated company), and asserting 45 claims largely duplicative of those asserted in the proposed second amended complaint in the Airquip case. In November 2018, the judge presiding over the Airquip case issued an order consolidating the two cases to proceed before him under the caption In re HomeAdvisor, Inc. Litigation.
In January 2019, the plaintiffs renewed their motion for leave to file a consolidated second amended complaint, naming as defendants, in addition to HomeAdvisor, Angi and IAC, CraftJack, Inc. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company and thus, an entity affiliated with HomeAdvisor) and two unrelated entities. In February 2019, the defendants opposed the motion on
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various grounds. In September 2019, the court issued an order granting the plaintiffs’ motion. In October and December 2019, the four defendants affiliated with HomeAdvisor filed motions to dismiss certain claims in the amended complaint. On September 29, 2020, the court issued an order granting in part and denying in part the defendants’ motions to dismiss. Discovery in the case will close during 2022, after which the parties will begin litigating the issue of class certification.
The Company believes that the allegations in this lawsuit are without merit and will continue to defend vigorously against them.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Market for Registrant’s Common Equity and Related Stockholder Matters
Our Class A common stock is quoted on The Nasdaq Global Select Market (“NASDAQ”) under the ticker symbol “ANGI.” There is no established public trading market for our Class B common stock.
As of February 11, 2022, there were 40 holders of record of our Class A common stock. Because the substantial majority of the outstanding shares of our Class A common stock are held by brokers and other institutions on behalf of shareholders, we are not able to estimate the total number of beneficial shareholders represented by these record holders. As of February 11, 2022, there was one holder of record and beneficial shareholder of our Class B common stock.
Dividends
We do not currently expect that any cash or other dividends will be paid to holders of our Class A or Class B common stock in the near future. Any future cash dividend or other dividend declarations are subject to the determination of the Company’s Board of Directors.
Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities
There were no unregistered sales of our capital stock during the quarter ended December 31, 2021.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
The Company did not purchase any shares of its Class A common stock during the quarter ended December 31, 2021. As of that date, 16.1 million shares of ANGI Class A common stock remained available for repurchase under the Company's previously announced March 2020 repurchase authorization. The Company may repurchase shares pursuant to this repurchase authorization over an indefinite period of time in the open market and in privately negotiated transactions, depending on those factors Company management deems relevant at any particular time, including, without limitation, market conditions, share price and future outlook. From January 1, 2022 through February 11, 2022, the Company repurchased approximately 1.0 million shares at an average price of $7.80 per share. As of February 11, 2022, there were approximately 15.0 million shares remaining in the March 2020 share repurchase authorization.
Item 6. Reserved
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
GENERAL
Management Overview
Angi Inc., formerly ANGI Homeservices, Inc., (“Angi,” the “Company,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) connects quality home service professionals with consumers across more than 500 different categories, from repairing and remodeling homes to cleaning and landscaping. As of December 31, 2021, Angi had a network of approximately 240,000 transacting service professionals, each of whom paid for consumer matches and/or performed a job sourced or booked through Angi Ads and
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Leads and/or Angi Services. Collectively, this service professional network provided services in more than 175 categories, ranging from cleaning and installation services to simple home repairs and larger home remodeling projects, and 64 discrete geographic areas in the United States. Additionally, consumers turned to at least one of our brands to find a professional for approximately 33 million projects during the year ended December 31, 2021.
The Company has two operating segments: (i) North America (United States and Canada), which includes Angi Ads, Angi Leads and Angi Services; and (ii) Europe. In March 2021, the Company rebranded its North American brands which operate as follows: Angi Ads operates under the Angi (formerly Angie’s List) brand, Angi Leads operates primarily under the HomeAdvisor, powered by Angi brand, and Angi Services operates primarily under the Handy and Angi Roofing brands.
Angi Ads provides service professionals the capability to engage with potential customers, including quote, invoicing, and payment services. Angi Leads provides consumers with tools and resources to help them find local, pre-screened and customer-rated service professionals nationwide for home repair, maintenance and improvement projects. Angi Services allows consumers to browse and buy common household services at set prices directly from Angi, rather than requesting quotes from vetted service professionals, as well as instantly book appointments online for household services (primarily cleaning and handyman services) with top-quality, pre-screened independent service professionals. Consumers can request and pay for household services directly through the Angi platform and Angi fulfills the request through the use of independently established home services providers engaged in a trade, occupation and/or business that customarily provides such services. The matching and pre-priced booking services and related tools and directories are provided to consumers free of charge. Angi Services also includes roof replacement services fulfilled via the Angi Roofing, LLC business.
In the U.S., the Company primarily markets its services to consumers through search engine marketing, television advertising, and affiliate agreements with third parties. The Company also markets its services to consumers through email, digital display advertisements, partnerships with other contextually related websites and, to a lesser extent, through relationships with certain retailers, direct mail and radio advertising. The Company markets subscription packages and time-based advertising to service professionals primarily through its sales force, as well as through search engine marketing, digital media advertising, and direct relationships with trade associations and manufacturers. We have made, and expect to continue to make, substantial investments in digital and traditional advertising (with continued expansion into new and existing digital platforms) to consumers and service professionals to promote our products and services and to drive traffic to our various platforms and service professionals.
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Defined Terms and Operating Metrics:
Unless otherwise indicated or as the context otherwise requires, certain terms, which include the principal operating metrics we use in managing our business, are defined below:
•Angi Ads and Leads Revenue primarily reflects domestic ads and leads revenue, including consumer connection revenue for consumer matches, revenue from service professionals under contract for advertising and membership subscription revenue from service professionals and consumers.
•Angi Services Revenue primarily reflects domestic revenue from pre-priced offerings by which the consumer purchases services directly from the Company and the Company engages a service professional to perform the service and includes revenue from Total Home Roofing, Inc. (“Angi Roofing”), which was acquired on July 1, 2021.
•Angi Service Requests (“Service Requests”) are fully completed and submitted domestic customer service requests and includes Angi Services requests in the period.
•Angi Monetized Transactions are fully completed and submitted domestic customer service requests that were matched to and paid for by a service professional and includes completed and in-process Angi Services jobs in the period.
•Angi Transacting Service Professionals (“Transacting SPs”) are the number of service professionals that paid for consumer matches through Angi Leads or performed an Angi Services job during the most recent quarter.
•Angi Advertising Service Professionals (“Advertising SPs”) are the number of service professionals under contract for advertising at the end of the period.
•Senior Notes - On August 20, 2020, ANGI Group, LLC (“ANGI Group”), a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, issued $500.0 million of its 3.875% Senior Notes due August 15, 2028, with interest payable February 15 and August 15 of each year, commencing February 15, 2021.
Components of Results of Operations
Sources of Revenue
Angi Ads and Leads Revenue is primarily derived from (i) advertising revenue, which includes revenue from service professionals under contract for advertising, (ii) consumer connection revenue, which is comprised of fees paid by service professionals for consumer matches (regardless of whether the service professional ultimately provides the requested service), and (iii) membership subscription revenue from service professionals and consumers. Consumer connection revenue varies based upon several factors, including the service requested, product experience offered, and geographic location of service. Angi Services is primarily comprised of revenue from jobs (i) sourced through the “Book Now” feature which lets consumers complete booking the entire transaction digitally for work that is completed physically, (ii) under managed projects (including Angi Roofing) which are larger home improvement projects, and (iii) through retail partnerships for installation of furniture or other household items.
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Operating Costs and Expenses:
•Cost of revenue -consists primarily of payments made to independent service professionals who perform work contracted under Angi Services arrangements, credit card processing fees, hosting fees, and roofing materials costs associated with Angi Roofing.
•Selling and marketing expense - consists primarily of advertising expenditures, which include online marketing, including fees paid to search engines; offline marketing, which is primarily television advertising; and partner-related payments to those who direct traffic to our brands; compensation expense (including stock-based compensation expense) and other employee-related costs for our sales force and marketing personnel; and facilities costs.
•General and administrative expense - consists primarily of compensation expense (including stock-based compensation expense) and other employee-related costs for personnel engaged in executive management, finance, legal, tax, human resources and customer service functions, fees for professional services (including transaction-related costs related to acquisitions), provision for credit losses, software license and maintenance costs, and facilities costs. Our customer service function includes personnel who provide support to our service professionals and consumers.
•Product development expense - consists primarily of compensation expense (including stock-based compensation expense) and other employee-related costs that are not capitalized for personnel engaged in the design, development, testing and enhancement of product offerings and related technology, software license and maintenance costs, and facilities costs.
Non-GAAP financial measure
Adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (“Adjusted EBITDA”) is a non-GAAP financial measure. See “Principles of Financial Reporting” for the definition of Adjusted EBITDA and a reconciliation of net loss attributable to Angi Inc. shareholders to operating loss to consolidated Adjusted EBITDA for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020.
The following discussion should be read in conjunction with Item 8. Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data. For a discussion regarding our financial condition and results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to the year ended December 31, 2019, please refer to 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 fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, filed with the SEC on February 16, 2021.
Brand Integration Initiative
In March 2021, the Company changed its name to Angi Inc. and updated one of its leading websites and brands, Angie’s List, to Angi, and since then, has concentrated its marketing investment in the Angi brand in order to focus its marketing, sales, and branding efforts on a single brand.
We rely heavily on free, or organic, search results from search engine optimization, and paid search engine marketing to drive traffic to our websites. Our brand integration initiative has adversely affected the placement and ranking of Angi Inc. websites, particularly Angi.com, in organic search results as Angi does not have the same domain history as Angie’s List. In addition, we shifted marketing to support Angi, away from HomeAdvisor, which has negatively affected the efficiency of our search engine marketing efforts.
Since the beginning of the integration process, these efforts have had a pronounced negative impact on service requests from organic search results and via our mobile applications, which in turn has resulted in increased paid search engine marketing to generate service requests. These factors have increased marketing spend and reduced revenue during the year ended December 31, 2021, materially more than expected at the launch of the brand initiative in March 2021. We expect the pronounced negative impact to organic search results, the increased paid search engine marketing costs and the reduced monetization from our mobile applications to continue until such time as the new brand establishes search engine optimization ranking and consumer awareness is established.
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Angi Services Investment
Angi Services was launched in August 2019 and we have invested significantly in Angi Services and expect to continue to do so going forward. We expect significant future revenue growth as we expand the business, refine the overall experience, and increase penetration in certain geographies and service categories. This increased investment in Angi Services has contributed to losses for the Company for the year ended December 31, 2021 and this investment is expected to continue through at least 2023.
COVID-19 Update
The impact on the Company from the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures designed to contain its spread has been varied and volatile.
As previously disclosed, the impact of COVID-19 on the Company initially resulted in a decline in demand for service requests, driven primarily by decreases in demand in certain categories of jobs (particularly discretionary indoor projects). While we experienced a rebound in service requests in the second half of 2020 and through early 2021, service requests did start to decline in May 2021 compared to the comparable months of 2020 as a result of the surge in 2020 and due to impacts of the Brand Integration Initiative described above. Moreover, many service professionals’ businesses have been adversely impacted by labor and material constraints and many service professionals have limited capacity to take on new business, which continues to negatively impact our ability to monetize the slightly increased level of service requests. Although our ability to monetize service requests rebounded modestly in the second half of 2021, we still have not returned to levels we experienced pre-COVID-19. No assurances can be provided that we will continue to be able to improve monetization, or that service professionals’ businesses and, as a consequence, our revenue and profitability will not continue to be adversely impacted in the future.
The extent to which developments related to the COVID-19 pandemic and measures designed to curb its spread continue to impact the Company’s business, financial condition and results of operations will depend on future developments, all of which are highly uncertain and many of which are beyond the Company’s control, including the continuing spread of COVID-19, the severity of resurgences of COVID-19 caused by variant strains of the virus, the effectiveness of vaccines and attitudes toward receiving them, materials and supply chain constraints, labor shortages, the scope of governmental and other restrictions on travel, discretionary services and other activity, and public reactions to these developments.
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Results of Operations for the Years Ended December 31, 2021 and 2020
Revenue
Years Ended December 31,
(Dollars in thousands)
North America
Angi Ads and Leads:
Percentage of Total Revenue:
North America 95 % 95 %
Europe 5 % 5 %
Years Ended December 31,
(In thousands, rounding differences may occur)
Operating metrics:
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(a)Angi Transacting Service Professionals (“Transacting SPs”) are the number of service professionals that paid for consumer matches through Angi Leads or performed an Angi Services job during the most recent quarter.
North America revenue increased $207.1 million, or 15%, driven by increases in Angi Services revenue of $195.4 million, or 120%, and Angi Ads and Leads revenue of $11.7 million, or 1%. The increase in Angi Services revenue is due primarily to organic growth and, to a lesser extent from Angi Roofing, acquired July 1, 2021. The increase in Angi Ads and Leads revenue is due primarily to an increase in Advertising revenue of $25.5 million, or 11%.