Angi (ANGI) Risk Factors

We are regularly under attack by threat actors through 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 intercept payments intended for legitimate third parties, and other similar malicious activities. The incidence of events of this nature (or any combination thereof) is on the rise worldwide. Our efforts to develop and maintain systems designed to detect and prevent events of this nature from impacting our systems, technology, infrastructure, products, services, payment processes and procedures, and users are costly and require ongoing monitoring and updating as technologies change and efforts to overcome preventative security measures become more sophisticated. There can be no assurance that the systems we have designed to prevent or limit the effects of cyberattacks or attacks will be sufficient to prevent or detect material consequences arising from such incidents or attacks, or to avoid a material adverse impact on our systems after such incidents or attacks do occur. Despite these efforts, some of our systems have experienced past security incidents 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 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 or be costly to remedy, as well as subject us to investigations by regulatory authorities, fines or litigation that could result in liability to third parties. Even if we do not experience such events directly, the impact of any such events experienced by third parties could have a similar effect. If we were to experience future events involving third-party service providers, the impacts could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations in a significant or material manner. 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 on which we otherwise rely) experience(s) an event of this nature, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

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.

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. We continue to monitor the worker classification laws to ensure compliance with their laws. If we are required to reclassify service professionals from independent contractors to employees and/or their classification is challenged for any reason, we could be exposed to various liabilities and additional costs for prior and future periods, including under federal, state and local tax laws, workers' compensation and unemployment benefits, minimum and overtime wage laws, and other labor and employment laws, as well as potential liability for penalties and interest. If the amounts related to such liabilities and additional costs are significant, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. See Item 8 - Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data - Note 15 - Contingencies.

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, several U.S. territories and all 50 states now have data breach laws that require timely notification to individuals, and at times regulators, the media or credit reporting agencies, if a company has experienced the unauthorized access or acquisition of personal information. Other state laws contain additional disclosure obligations for businesses that collect personal information about residents and afford those individuals additional rights relating to their personal information that may affect our ability to use personal information or share it with our business partners. For example, California's Privacy Rights Act of 2020 ("CPRA") amended certain provisions of the California Consumer Privacy Act which provides California residents with certain privacy rights in connection with the collection and disclosure of their personal information and requires businesses to make certain disclosures and take certain other acts in furtherance of those rights. The CPRA became fully enforceable on July 1, 2023 and further restricts our ability to use personal California user and subscriber information in connection with our various products, services and operations and/or imposes additional operational requirements, which could result in increased costs. Other U.S. states, such as Virginia, Utah, Connecticut, and Colorado, have passed consumer privacy laws that became effective later in 2023 and in 2024. We will continue to monitor and assess the impact of these state laws, which may impose substantial penalties for violations, impose significant costs for investigations and compliance, allow private class-action litigation and carry significant potential liability for our business. Lastly, the Federal Trade Commission has also increased its focus on privacy and data security practices, and we anticipate this focus to continue. Outside of the U.S., data protection laws also apply to some of our operations. For example, the General Data Protection Regulation (the "GDPR") in the United Kingdom and the European Union imposes, among other things, strict obligations and restrictions on the collection and use of U.K. and European Union personal data, a requirement for prompt notice of data breaches in certain circumstances, a requirement for implementation of certain approved safeguards for transfers of personal data to third countries, and possible substantial fines for any violations. Governmental authorities around the world have enacted similar types of legislative and regulatory requirements concerning data protection, and additional governments are considering similar legal frameworks. We may 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 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 (or European Union member-state) 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 expenditures 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.

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 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, web browsers 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 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 and/or marketing affiliates, our advertisements could be removed without notice 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, including any phasing out (or blocking) of third-party cookies by web browsers, 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. In addition, if there are changes in the usage and functioning of search engines and/or decreases in consumer use of search engines, for example, as a result of the continued development of artificial intelligence technology, this could negatively impact our ability to drive traffic to our platforms. For example, artificial intelligence could be utilized to better educate homeowners on how to perform their own home improvement projects, thereby reducing the need for our business, or artificial intelligence could eventually transform the way search engines currently work, thereby creating unknown challenges to our marketing channels. 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, social media, streaming, OTT and other digital platforms), as well as target consumers and service professionals via these channels in a cost-effective manner. As these channels continue to evolve relative to traditional channels (such as television), it could continue to be difficult to assess returns on related marketing investments, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we also enter into various arrangements with third parties to drive visitors to 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 outside our control. If the quality or convertibility of traffic and leads do not meet the expectations of our users or Angi Leads service professionals, they could leave our network 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 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 subscriptions. Such factors include general economic conditions and other factors, such as consumer confidence in future economic conditions, recessionary concerns, rising interest rates, increased inflation, the availability and cost of consumer credit, levels of unemployment and tax rates. As global economic conditions continue to be volatile and/or economic uncertainty remains, particularly in light of high inflation and interest rates, trends affecting our business also remain unpredictable. Any such event or trend 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 and/or adversely impact the reach of, and breadth of, our services offerings, any or all of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, 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. Lastly, given the adverse financial and operational impact we experienced as a result of the coronavirus and measures designed to contain its spread, any future outbreak of a widespread health epidemic or pandemic could adversely impact our ability to conduct ordinary course business activities and employee productivity and increase operating costs. Moreover, we could also experience business disruption if the ordinary course operations of our third-party affiliates, partners and vendors are adversely affected, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operation.

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 offerings 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.