Airbnb

Marketing spend by year

Bars: advertising and marketing expense, $B (10-K). Line: spend as a share of revenue.

What they told investors

“While bookings from any single event may be temporary, the brand awareness, the trust, and new hosts these partners create benefit our business long after the event ends.”Brian Chesky · 2026 Q2 · transcript

“As a data point on retention, after Paris, six months after the Games we had retained in excess of half of the listings that came on specifically for the Games.”Ellie Mertz · 2026 Q1 · transcript

“We will continue to prioritize reinvestment to support further growth across the business, specifically on efficient marketing spend, international expansion, and AI initiatives.”Ellie Mertz · 2026 Q1 · transcript

What the 10-K says about marketing

• investing in brand “Our marketing strategy combines brand marketing, communications, performance marketing, and strategic partnerships to increase awareness among existing and potential hosts and guests, demonstrating what makes Airbnb distinct. In 2025, we focused on unified brand campaigns…” 10-K, Feb 12, 2026
• investing in brand “We believe maintaining and strengthening our brand is crucial for attracting and retaining hosts and guests. We invest significantly in brand marketing across various channels to drive traffic to our platform, but these efforts may not always be cost-effective or successful.…” 10-K, Feb 12, 2026
• measurement “Our marketing strategy includes performance marketing through search engines and social media, as well as paid and unpaid channels like search engine optimization (“SEO”). However, rising costs for keywords and changes in search engine algorithms can impact our visibility and…” 10-K, Feb 12, 2026

Say vs do

Walk the talk. In 399 statements from its leaders in interviews, 12 argued for investing in brand and 3 for cutting; the filed spend went up.

Peers