Booking Holdings

Marketing spend by year

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

What they told investors

“Smart filters have now been rolled out globally in accommodations and we are beginning to extend and test these capabilities within the cars vertical.”Glenn Fogel · 2026 Q1 · transcript

“some of these players would go towards a performance marketing platform that we thought would be very advantageous to us given the experiences we've been able to deal with at Google”management · 2026 Q1 · transcript

“Marketing as a percentage of gross bookings in 2025 was 4.4%, similar to 2024 as growth in our direct channel was offset by our decision to invest in traditional performance marketing and social media channels at attractive ROIs.”Ewout Steenbergen · 2025 Q4 · transcript

“First, I think it's important to look at the marketing deleverage in the context of a quarter where we delivered 19% EBITDA growth and expanded EBITDA margins by 80 basis points.”management · 2025 Q4 · transcript

“In the quarter, we saw opportunities to achieve incremental demand at attractive ROIs in traditional performance marketing channels in addition to higher brand marketing expenses versus a comparatively lower level of spend a year ago.”Ewout Steenbergen · 2025 Q4 · transcript

“for 2026, what we have said is that we aim to achieve marketing leverage again unless, of course, we find those really great opportunistic moments that we can lean in again in this year.”Ewout Steenbergen · 2025 Q4 · transcript

What the 10-K says about marketing

• investing in brand “• continuing to increase brand awareness and localization in key geographies such as Asia and the U.S.;” 10-K, Feb 18, 2026
• investing in brand “We have established widely used and recognized e-commerce brands through marketing campaigns and strategic use of performance marketing spend. We invest in marketing and other brand building to preserve and enhance consumer awareness of our brands.” 10-K, Feb 18, 2026
• investing in brand “We invest considerable resources in the establishment and maintenance of our brands, marketing and other brand building efforts to preserve and enhance consumer awareness of our brands, and to attract and retain consumers. Performance marketing costs to grow traffic to our…” 10-K, Feb 18, 2026
• measurement “Our marketing efficiency, expressed as marketing expense as a percentage of gross bookings, and performance marketing return on investment ("ROIs") are impacted by a number of factors that are subject to variability and are in some cases outside of our control, including ADRs,…” 10-K, Feb 18, 2026
• measurement “The cancellation rate in 2025 was lower than the prior year. Because we recognize revenues from bookings when the traveler checks in, our reported revenues are not at risk of being reversed due to cancellations. Increases in cancellation rates can negatively impact our marketing…” 10-K, Feb 18, 2026

Say vs do

Thin/down. In 0 statements from its leaders in interviews, 0 argued for investing in brand and 0 for cutting; the filed spend went down.

In the news

• 10 Questions on Advertising... with Booking.com’s Stephanie Frank The Drum · Sep 18, 2026 · marketing

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