Expedia

Marketing spend by year

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

What they told investors

“In our consumer business, our sharper measurement and targeting capabilities are allowing us to invest in the highest return opportunities and leverage our marketing spend.”Ariane Gorin · 2026 Q2 · transcript

“We grew our bookings 8% while leveraging marketing spend, which was only up 1%.”management · 2026 Q2 · transcript

“We had the substantial reductions in marketing spend and driving out inefficient spend, but also redirecting spend to more productive channels.”management · 2026 Q2 · transcript

“They're developing these agentic systems to create personalized ads at scale, both using our technology and using third-party technology.”Ariane Gorin · 2026 Q2 · transcript

“Overall, AI-enabled tools are driving hundreds of millions of dollars in realized marketing value through greater productivity and workflow automation.”Ariane Gorin · 2026 Q1 · transcript

“our consumer business grew about 10% this quarter, the strongest growth in nearly 8 years, while we've cut marketing spend in the consumer business 7%.”management · 2026 Q1 · transcript

What the 10-K says about marketing

• shifting the mix “To reduce complexity and improve operations, in 2020, we shifted to a platform operating model, which enabled us to deliver more scalable services and operate much more efficiently. For example, we now manage our marketing investments holistically across the entire brand…” 10-K, Feb 13, 2026
• shifting the mix “fitability depend on our continued ability to maintain and increase the overall number of traveler transactions flowing through our brand and shared platforms in a cost-effective manner, as well as our ability to attract repeat customers and customers that come directly to our…” 10-K, Feb 13, 2026
• investing in brand “We rely on the value of our brands, and the costs of maintaining and enhancing our brand awareness are increasing.” 10-K, Feb 13, 2026
• investing in brand “We invest considerable financial and human resources in our brands in order to retain and expand our customer base in existing and emerging markets. We expect that the cost of maintaining and enhancing our brands will continue to increase and decisions we make on investing in…” 10-K, Feb 13, 2026
• measurement “Our efforts to preserve and enhance consumer awareness of our brands may not be successful, may have unintended negative impacts, or, even if successful may not be cost-effective, or as efficient as they have been historically, resulting in less direct traffic and increased…” 10-K, Feb 13, 2026

Say vs do

Walk the talk. In 35 statements from its leaders in interviews, 2 argued for investing in brand and 0 for cutting; the filed spend went up.

In the news

• How Expedia restructured its marketing for the AI era—6 moves worth copying Ad Age · Sep 28, 2026 · AI in marketing

Peers