UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934


For the fiscal year ended December 31, 20172023
or
TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the transition period from __________ to __________
Commission File Number: 001-36904
GoDaddy Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware46-5769934
Delaware46-5769934
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number)
14455 N. Hayden Road
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)
(480) 505-8800
(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)
2155 E. GoDaddy Way
Tempe, Arizona 85284
(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)
(480) 505-8800
(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each classTrading Symbol(s)Name of each exchange on which registered
Class A Common Stock, par value $0.001 per shareGDDYNew York Stock Exchange
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    xNo    
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    x
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    xNo    
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).        Yes    xNo    
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.        
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer",filer," "smaller reporting company" and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filerxAccelerated filer
Non-accelerated filer (Do not check if a smaller reporting company)Smaller reporting company
Emerging growth company
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.                                                        x
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements.                                 ☐
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b).                         ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes    No    

x
As of June 30, 2017,2023, the aggregate market value of the registrant's Class A common stock held by non-affiliates, based upon the closing sales price for the registrant's Class A common stock as reported by the New York Stock Exchange, was $3,685,245,433.approximately $11.1 billion. For the purpose of calculating the aggregate market value of shares held by non-affiliates, we have assumed that all outstanding shares are held by non-affiliates, except for shares beneficially owned by each of our executive officers directors and 5% or greater stockholders. In the case of 5% or greater stockholders, we have not deemed such stockholders to be affiliates unless there are facts and circumstances indicating that such stockholders exercise any control over our company. This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for any other purpose.directors.
As of February 23, 2018,2024, there were 133,934,978142,478,402 shares of GoDaddy Inc.'s Class A common stock, $0.001 par value per share, outstanding and 33,999,84125 shares of GoDaddy Inc.'s Class B common stock, $0.001 par value per share, outstanding.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of the registrant's Definitive Proxy Statement relating to the Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K where indicated. Such Definitive Proxy Statement will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the registrant's fiscal year ended December 31, 2017.
2023.




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GoDaddy Inc.
Annual Report on Form 10-K
Year Ended December 31, 20172023

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NOTE ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K (Annual Report), including the sections titled "Business," "Risk Factors," "Use of Proceeds"Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), involving substantial risks and uncertainties. The words "believe," "may," "will," "potentially," "plan," "could," "should," "predict," "ongoing," "estimate," "continue," "anticipate," "intend," "project," "expect" and"expect," "seek," or the negative of these words, or terms or similar expressions conveying uncertainty of future events or outcomes, or that concern our expectations, strategy, plans or intentions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, anticipated, or expected. When considering forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the risk factors and other cautionary statements discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" and in our publicly available filings and press releases. These statements include, among other things, those regarding:
our ability to continue to add new customers and increase sales to our existing customers;
our ability to develop new solutions and bring them to market in a timely manner;
our ability to timely and effectively scale and adapt our existing solutions;
our ability to deploy new and evolving technologies, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics and similar tools (collectively, AI), in our offerings;
our dependence on establishing and maintaining a strong brand;
the occurrence of service interruptions and security or privacy breaches;breaches and related remediation efforts and fines;
system failures or capacity constraints;
the rate of growth of, and anticipated trends and challenges in, our business and in the market for our products;
our future financial performance, including our expectations regarding our revenue, cost of revenue, operating expenses, including changes in technology and development, marketing and advertising, general and administrative and Customer Carecustomer care expenses, and our ability to achieve and maintain future profitability;
our ability to continue to efficiently acquire customers, maintain our high customer retention rates and maintaingrow the level of our customers' lifetime spend;
our ability to provide high quality Customer Care;customer care;
the effects of increased competition in our markets and our ability to compete effectively;
our ability to grow internationally;
the impact of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates on our business and our ability to effectively manage the exposure to such fluctuations;
our ability to effectively manage our growth and associated investments;investments, including the migration of applications and services to the public cloud;
our ability to integrate recent or potential future acquisitions, including our recent acquisitionentry into new lines of Host Europe Holdings Limited (HEG)business and our ability to achieve expected results from our integrations and new lines of business;
our ability to complete desired or proposed acquisition of Main Street Hub, and to deliver a broader range of cloud-based products built on a single global technology platform;divestitures;
our ability to maintain our relationships with our partners;
adverse consequences of our substantial level of indebtedness and our ability to repay our debt;
our ability to maintain, protect and enhance our intellectual property;
our ability to maintain or improve our market share;
sufficiency of cash and cash equivalents to meet our needs for at least the next 12 months;
beliefs and objectives for future operations;
our ability to stay in compliance with laws and regulations currently applicable to, or which may become applicable to, our business both in the United States (U.S.) and internationally;
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NOTE ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS (continued)

economic and industry trends or trend analysis;
our ability to attract and retain qualified employees and key personnel;
the amountanticipated income tax rates, tax estimates and timing of any payments we make under tax receivable agreements (TRAs) or forstandards;
our future taxable income and ability to realize our deferred tax distributions;assets;
interest rate changes;
the future trading prices of our Class A common stock;
our expectations regarding the outcome of any regulatory investigation or litigation;
the amount and timing of future repurchases of our Class A common stock under any share repurchase program;
the potential impact of shareholder activism on our business and operations;
our expectations regarding the effectiveness of our 2023 restructuring efforts;
our ability to remediate the identified material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting and to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting;
as well as other statements regarding our future operations, financial condition, growth prospects and business strategies.

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NOTE ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS (continued)


We operate in very competitive and rapidly-changing environments, and new risks emerge from time-to-time. It is not possible for us to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed in this reportAnnual Report may not occur, and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those implied in our forward-looking statements.
You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Although we believe the expectations reflected in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee the future results, levels of activity, performance or events and circumstances described in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur. Neither we, nor any other person, assume responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this reportAnnual Report to conform such statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations, except as required by law. Given these risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.
Unless expressly indicated or the context suggests otherwise, references to GoDaddy, we, us"GoDaddy," "company," "we," "us" and our"our" refer to GoDaddy Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries, including Desert Newco, LLC and its subsidiaries (Desert Newco). We refer to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (together with its affiliates, KKR), Silver Lake Partners (together with its affiliates, Silver Lake) and Technology Crossover Ventures (together with its affiliates, TCV) collectively as the Sponsors. We refer to YAM Special Holdings, Inc. as YAM. We refer to Robert R. Parsons, the sole beneficial owner of YAM, our founder and a member of our board of directors, as Bob Parsons.


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Part I.
Item 1. Business
Our customers have bold aspirations—the drive to be their own boss, write their own storyOverview
GoDaddy is a global leader serving a large market of entrepreneurs, developing and takedelivering easy-to-use products in a leap of faith to pursue their dreams. Launching that brewery, running that wedding planning service, organizing that fundraiser, expanding that web-design business or whatever sparks their passion.one-stop shop solution alongside personalized guidance. We are inspired by our customers,serve small businesses, individuals, organizations, developers, designers and are dedicated to helping them turn their powerful ideas into meaningful action.domain investors. Our vision is to radically shift the global economy toward life-fulfilling independententrepreneurial ventures.
Overview
Our mission is to empower entrepreneurs everywhere, making opportunity more than 17inclusive for all. We are passionate about our mission and honored that entrepreneurs trust their ideas with us. Our 21.0 million customers are peoplepassionate and organizations with vibrant ideas—businesses, both large and small, entrepreneurs, charities and hobbyists. They are defined by their guts, grit and determinationdetermined to transform their ideas into something meaningful. They wear many hatsoften face a complex road to success, and juggle many responsibilities,our ability to evolve and they needbuild products to make the mostmeet our customers' needs uniquely positions us to help our customers navigate their journey.
Our customers' journeys are non-linear and we design our services to help across all aspects of their time. Ourbusiness. Each phase in the journey can be iterative in nature; customers need help navigating today's dynamic Internet environmentare constantly revisiting different stages of their entrepreneurial experience to improve and wantgrow across what we call the benefits"Entrepreneurs' Wheel." The Entrepreneurs' Wheel focuses on three areas: identity, presence and commerce solutions. As the needs of the latest technology to help them succeed. We are a trusted partner and champion for organizations of all sizes in their quest to build a successful online presence.
We are a leading technology provider to small businesses, web design professionals and individuals, delivering simple, easy-to-use cloud-based products and outcome-driven, personalized Customer Care. We operate the world's largest domain marketplace, where our customers can find that unique piece of digital real estate perfectly matching their idea. We provide website building, hostingchanged and security toolsexpanded, we evolved our products and services to helpmeet them where they are on the Entrepreneurs' Wheel. Our customers easily construct, expandoften start with the most intimate of brand considerations, their identity, which we provide through our domain services that blend into their connected social identities and protect their online presence.
As their entrepreneurial needs evolve, we help our customers manage and grow we provide applicationstheir presence and connect with their customers through our expanded service offerings and access to relevant third-party products and platforms, helping them connectincluding website building and hosting, marketplace syndication, social media and bio site management, security, business products and email and other services. In 2023, we introduced multiple customer-facing capabilities in generative AI to their customers, manage and grow their businesses and get found online.
The Internet is no longer just an interconnected networkfurther enhance the customer experience. In the fourth quarter of independent sites and pages—it2023, we introduced GoDaddy Airo in the U.S. GoDaddy Airo is an entire ecosystem, with layersAI-powered solution designed to build and levels of identityhelp grow businesses online by delivering personalized website content, a logo, domain-based email, ready-to-use social media posts, a marketing calendar, email communications and presence. An online presence may have initially consisted of a simple and static website with basic information, often supported by limited search engine marketing. Now,more.
Within commerce, our customers must manage their online identities and interactneed to integrate dynamic information everywhere they engage with their customers across many platforms,audiences, including customer touchpoints such as appointment availability, retail inventory, digital subscriptions and social media channels, search engines, listing providersmedia. GoDaddy's product and e-commerce marketplaces, all while maintainingservice offerings provide a stronghigh-performance back-end registry technology platform and elegant mobilean integrated suite of payment systems and desktop presence. We offer productspoint-of-sale hardware and solutionssoftware to help our customers tackle this rapidly-changing technology landscapeseamlessly manage online and evolve their online presence as their business and goals evolve. We develop the majority of our products internally and believe our solutions are among the best in the industry in terms of breadth, performance, functionality and ease of use.offline commerce.
Often technology companies force their customers to choose between technology and support, delivering one but not the other. At GoDaddy, we don't believe our customers should have to choose and strive to deliver both great technology and great customer support. We believe engaging with our customers in a proactive, consultative way helpsthrough personalized guidance via phone and/or digital experiences sets them knock down the technology hurdles they face.up to succeed. Through the thousands of daily conversations we have with our customers, every day, we receivegather valuable feedback enabling us to continually evolve our products and solutions and respond to their changing needs.
Our people and unique culture have been integral to our success. We live by the same principles that enable new venturesour customers' ideas to survive and thrive: hard work, perseverance, conviction, an obsession with customer satisfactionthrive, including owning outcomes, building value, joining forces, working courageously and a belief that no one can do it better.living passionately. We take responsibility for drivingdelivering successful outcomes and are accountable to our customers,based on data driven decisions, which we believe has beenis a key factor in enablingdriving our rapid customer and revenue growth. We also believe we have one of the most recognized technologyInternet brands in the U.S., and our international awareness remains high in our top markets.
Our Sizestable and Scale
Our combinationdurable business model is driven by strong brand recognition, efficient customer acquisition, high customer retention rates and increasing lifetime spend of easy-to-use cloud-based products, personalized Customer Care, a powerful brand and a unique culture have helped us build an attractive business with strong financial performance.
We are the global market leader in domain name registration—a key on-ramp to establishing a business online in our connected economy—with more than 75 million domains under management as of December 31, 2017, which, based on information reported in VeriSign's Domain Name Industry Brief represented more than 22% of the world's registered domains.
As of December 31, 2017, we had more than 17 million customers, with approximately 2.6 million customers added in 2017, of which 1.6 million came through our acquisition of Host Europe Group (HEG).

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As of December 31, 2017, we had nearly 1 million customers who each spent more than $500 a year.
customers. In each of the five years ended December 31, 2017,2023, our customer retention rate exceededwas approximately 85%, and in 2023, our retention rate for customers who had been with us for over three years was approximately 91%92%.
Additionally, in 2023, we had over 1.5 million customers who each spent more than $500 a year on our product offerings. We believe the breadth and depth of our product offerings, seamless ease-of-use in a one-stop shop and the high-quality, personalized guidance and responsiveness from GoDaddy Guides continues to build strong customer relationships leading to our high customer retention rates. In 2017,2023, we generated $2,618$4,254 million of revenue, up 4.0% from $4,091 million in 2022, and we generated $4,603 million in total bookings, up 21.5%4.3% from $2,155$4,414 million in 2016. In 2017, we had $2,232 million2022.
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As of December 31, 2017, we provided localized solutions in over 50 markets. In 2017, approximately 33% of our total bookings were attributable to customers outside of the U.S.
Our highly-rated Customer Care team of nearly 5,500 specialists, including nearly 1,900 outside the U.S.,Customers and Solutions
GoDaddy is focused onbuilt to serve entrepreneurs by providing high-quality, personalized care. As a result of their ongoing dialogue with customers, our Customer Care team also drives bookings and in 2017 generated approximately 20% of our total bookings.
Our Market
Our customers represent a large and diverse market which we believe is largely underserved. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, there were approximately 29.7 million small businesses in 2014. Based on data from the 2014 U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Small Business Administration, over 90% of small businesses have fewer than five employees and approximately 24 million, or over 80% of, small businesses were non-employer firms. Furthermore, the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity Report estimated that in 2015 there were approximately 530,000 new business owners created each month in the U.S. Moreover, according to a study performed by the International Finance Corporation and McKinsey Company, there are more than 420 million micro, small and medium enterprises (defined as one to 250 employees) worldwide. We believe our addressable market extends beyond small businesses and includes individuals and organizations, such as universities, community organizations, charities and hobbyists.
Despite the ubiquity and importance of the Internet to individual consumers, many small businesses and organizations have remained offline given their limited resources and inadequate tools. We believe approximately 60% of small businesses do not have a website. However, as proliferation of mobile devices blurs the online/offline distinction into an "always online" world, having an impactful online presence is becoming a "must have" for small businesses worldwide.
What it means for small businesses and ventures to be online continues to evolve. Today, having an effective online presence often means having a combination of: (i) a secure and content rich website viewable from any device; (ii) presence on social media sites, (iii) search engines and an increasing number of horizontal and vertical marketplaces (e.g. Yelp and OpenTable); (iv) branded email communication; (v) online marketing; and (vi) Internet-enabled commerce ability with reservation and scheduling capabilities for service-based businesses and a product catalog and sales capabilities for product-based businesses. In addition, other needs such as telephony, payment processing, and accounting and tax preparation, which had traditionally been separate point solutions, can now be part of an integrated solution.
The shift toward dynamic online presence for small business has been fueled by the emergence of simple, yet powerful, cloud-based technologies that can easily be utilized by individuals with limited technical skills. Cloud technologies have helped enable the integration of front and back-end activities. Cloud-basedeasy-to-use products which can be "rented" on a monthly or yearly basis, allow a business to more easily scale from a nascent idea to a thriving venture.single technology platform wrapped with personalized guidance.
Our Customers
We serve several customer populations: (i) Independents, (ii) WebPros, (iii) Domain Registrars and Investors, and (iv) Third Party Registrars and Corporate Domain Portfolio owners. While these customer populations tend to utilize many of the same GoDaddy product offerings, there are meaningful differences in their journeys, what they value, their goals and how they communicate with the rest of the world. We aim to establish and provide solutions that address these differences.
Our customers share common traits, such as tenacitylargest customer population, Independents, consists mostly of microbusinesses and determination. Theynoncommercial endeavors. These microbusinesses have an entrepreneurial spirit, strong work ethic and, above all, passion for their ventures,ideas, yet their specific needs vary depending on the type and stage of their ventures. Theyidea and the phase of their journey. Independents range from individuals who arehave an initial business idea and those thinking about starting a business, to established ventures that are up and running but need help attracting customers, growing their sales, processing payments, managing their businessonline presence or expanding their operations. Most of our customersIndependents have fewer than five employees, and most identify themselvesself-identify as having little to no technology or design skills. TheyThese customers need our help to give their businessescreate a unique and secure digital identity. Whileidentity, especially with the more technical aspects of their online presence. Although our customers have differing degrees of resources and technical capabilities, they all share a desire to find tools to help them bring their ideas to life, enhance their connectionconnections with their audience, sell their products and services and provide a seamless experience for both existing customers and find new customers.
To serveOur second largest customer population, WebPros, are website designers and developers who build websites on behalf of businesses and noncommercial organizations. We estimate that half of all global website builds occur through a third party, such as our customers well at every phaseWebPros, on a do-it-for-you basis. WebPros are often freelancers, moonlighters or teams within website design agencies that often have website design as one of their ventures, we group them into multiple stagesstreams of growth, starting with "nascent"income. WebPros generally have more technical acumen and evolving to "established and content." We have also identified groups with specialized needs,look for tools that provide greater amounts of flexibility, such as the "digital commerce" group made upWordPress content management system (CMS). Although WebPros have a need for technical depth and flexibility, they also benefit from our simplicity and guidance as tools to increase their throughput and maximize the use of web-savvytheir time. We help our WebPros customers in a number of ways beyond our product suite and services, including providing tools to help them save time, make money and exceed client expectations. These client management applications make it easier for designers and developers to manage their clients' websites at any host, or on GoDaddy products such as Managed WordPress. With our products and services, WebPros can easily manage their overall business with capabilities such as client billing, administrative access and shopping features, making it easier for them to buy and manage multiple products for their clients, as well as make use of enhanced technical support and discounts for reselling GoDaddy products. We support a variety of third-party control panels and content management tools favored by WebPros including cPanel, Plesk, Drupal, Joomla and more.
Our third largest customer population is Domain Registrars and Investors. Domain registrars are organizations that have their own domain registration offerings, but who use our domain registration and management platform. These commercial arrangements provide for strategic relationships with many key platforms and enable further scale of our domain registration technology and insights. Domain investors are individuals or organizations who utilize digital commerce platforms as their main sourcemanage a portfolio of revenue,registered domains for the purpose of selling via secondary markets. These investors bring a unique and valuable resource to our business in the form of liquidity and the ability to help our other populations (Independents and WebPros) successfully find a domain investors who buy, hold and sell domains as their primary business activity. name they prefer.
We also serve Third Party Registrars and Corporate Domain Portfolio owners. We serve third party registrars through GoDaddy Registry which provides wholesale generic top level domains (gTLDs) and country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs) for registrars to sell to the end customer. These top-level domains (TLDs) provide alternatives to the .com domain that more closely represent the names of our customers' ideas, businesses and brands. We also provide a groupfully managed registry platform for other registry operators. We manage the full technology and operating stack at scale for over 200 TLDs including some of the largest brands in the world. Corporate Domain Portfolio owners are organizations that maintain and manage a large portfolio of domain names, including general and international domains. These customers consistingare looking for the most powerful, secure and intuitive technology to streamline their processes, unparalleled industry experience and expertise to navigate the complexities of managing a corporate portfolio, and a focused and dedicated team that can provide committed support with the highest levels of security, service and domain management.

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Our Solutions
We designed and developed an extensive set of web-designerseasy-to-use technology products to enable our customers to establish an identity, connect with their customers across multiple platforms and web-developers—who we call "Web Pros"—whoonline marketplaces and deliver a seamless customer experience in a connected commerce world. We understand that no matter what our customers' needs are, in the businessor what stage of building, designingtheir idea they are focusing on, our customers want a "one-stop shop" solution. We offer our customers products and managing the online presence of others. Each of these groups is unique in their needs, and we personalize our solutionsservices to meet them at every stage of their journey.
Our domain name registration products enable us to engage customers at a common starting place for establishing an exclusive personally branded identity and often are an on-ramp for our other products. Domains are a part of our Core Platform business, and we believe our Applications and Commerce products are a natural adjacency to our domain registration products. Applications and Commerce products, including our proprietary website building, commerce and productivity solutions, significantly improve our value proposition to customers, thereby increasing our revenue and margin growth opportunities and improving our customer retention. Our omni-commerce payments platform and GoDaddy Payments recognize our customers' needs and provide for cost-effective solutions. We believe our payments solutions enable our customers to quickly and easily participate in the digital economy with a seamless transition to sell in-store or on marketplaces and social platforms. We have also made significant investments in the localization of many of our product and service offerings, as 48% of our customers are located in international markets (notably the United Kingdom (UK), Canada, India and Australia). And, while not a standalone product, our GoDaddy Guides consist of approximately 6,300 specialists worldwide who are readily available and provide care to customers who have different levels of technical sophistication.
In 2023, we launched GoDaddy Airo in the U.S. GoDaddy Airo is an AI-powered solution designed to save our customers time. Airo enables our customers to build and help grow businesses online by delivering personalized website content, a logo, domain-based email, ready-to-use social media posts, a marketing calendar, email communications and more.
We manage and report our business in the following two segments:
Applications and Commerce (A&C), which primarily consists of sales of products containing proprietary software, notably our website building products, as well as our commerce products and third-party email and productivity solutions and sales of certain products when they are included in bundled offerings of our proprietary software products.
Core Platform (Core), which primarily consists of sales of domain registrations and renewals, aftermarket domain sales, website hosting products and website security products when not included in bundled offerings of our proprietary software products as well as sales of products not containing a software component.
Applications and Commerce
Bringing an idea to life online requires the right tools and products to establish a presence. GoDaddy Websites + Marketing, Managed WordPress, GoDaddy Studio and other GoDaddy offerings are a part of a customer's presence that enable anyone to start, grow and scale their businesses. Our customers come to GoDaddy to build a professional website, attract customers, sell their products and services and accept payments online and in person. GoDaddy's easy-to-use tools help microbusiness owners manage everything in one place.
Applications Products
Our primary applications products include:
Websites + Marketing. Websites + Marketing is an easy-to-use, do-it-yourself, mobile-optimized online tool that enables our customers to build effective websites and e-commerce enabled online stores with minimal technical skill. We offer a variety of plans, with pricing dependent on business and marketing features. With each stageof these plans, customers gain access to industry-targeted professional design templates, which can be further customized using our editor by adding intent-driven sections, photos, videos or text. Our design templates cover a wide range of categories with professionally written content for small businesses, organizations, families, weddings and other ideas. We design our websites and tools to work seamlessly on mobile devices, with a focus on performance, to enable websites to appear in search engine rankings.
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Managed WordPress and Managed WooCommerce Stores. Managed WordPress is our streamlined, optimized website building experience that allows our customers to easily build and manage a faster WordPress site that offers more flexibility and power than our Websites + Marketing solution. With our Managed WordPress site, we manage the administrative tasks for our customers, allowing them to spend more time on building or growing their lifecycle.business. We offer a variety of plans, with pricing based on various features. Our Managed WordPress sites are built with enhanced security, automatic, regular backups and core updates, integrated Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), one-click migration tools, pre-installed extensions, plugins and themes, business email and backups and a staging site. We also offer Managed WooCommerce Stores, giving our customers the freedom to sell anything, anywhere online, from physical products to digital downloads, services and subscriptions.
Digital Marketing. We offer a range of marketing tools and services designed to help businesses acquire and engage customers and create content. These capabilities are available in an integrated offering with our website and commerce tools, or as a stand-alone offering for customers using other website content-management systems. The tools are designed for busy customers who may lack experience with online marketing, focusing on ease of use, mobile experience and delivering business results. For example, our mobile application, GoDaddy Studio, allows our customers to grow their brands by easily creating impactful visual content for almost any online platform. Search Engine Optimization helps our customers get their websites found on major search sites using a simple step-by-step wizard with targeted recommendations on which search phrases are most likely to drive traffic to a customer's site. Business listings capabilities bring business information to where customers are looking, including Meta and Google My Business. Email marketing lets customers build targeted campaigns, either from scratch or using website or commerce content. Social Media Marketing helps customers create ads and boost brand awareness through a complete "do-it-for-me" service for managing engagement on the most popular social networks. This service combines dedicated teams of branding experts – photographers, writers, designers, marketers – with proprietary technology to manage activity on Meta, X (f/k/a Twitter) and Yelp, among others, to help our customers acquire new customers and build stronger relationships with their existing customers.
Commerce
We aim to lead the small business commerce market by enabling GoDaddy customers of all sizes, from those just starting out to established businesses looking to scale and grow, to sell everywhere their customers shop. We design our commerce products to help our customers sell online, in person and on leading marketplaces, while being able to manage their sales from one place. In addition to robust commerce capabilities, we offer the lowest card transaction fees in the industry when compared to other leading providers, which allows our customers to keep more of what they make.
Our primary commerce products and services include:
Online Store. Our Websites + Marketing product includes online store capabilities, which allows our customers to transact business directly on their websites. Online store capability is easy to use and offers powerful commerce features with templates for websites that are optimized for mobile shopping, integrations with GoDaddy Payments and our Smart Terminal Point-of-Sale (POS) system, inventory and product catalog management, and growth tools for marketing. It also allows customers to sell on marketplaces such as Amazon, Etsy, eBay, Walmart and Google and social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, with all channels managed from our centralized dashboard. As part of the GoDaddy Commerce ecosystem, Managed WooCommerce Stores, our WordPress-based online store solutions, provide our customers everything they need to sell online, in person, and across popular marketplaces and social media platforms from one built-in experience. Similar to our Websites + Marketing product, Managed WooCommerce Stores include our centralized dashboard, allow for marketplace selling and are integrated with GoDaddy Payments and our Smart Terminal POS system.
Point-of-Sale (POS) Systems. We offer a countertop Smart Terminal for businesses with in-store operations. Our Smart Terminal is a modern, dual screen all-in-one POS system that allows our customers to manage in-store inventory and product catalogs and take payments. In addition, the Smart Terminal seamlessly integrates with both our Websites + Marketing Online Store and Managed WooCommerce Stores to unify in-person and online sales so businesses can offer “Buy online pick up in-store” experiences to their customers. The Smart Terminal also offers access to third-party applications that meet merchants' needs that we do not address directly.
In addition to our Smart Terminal, we offer other payment acceptance solutions that allow our customers to take payments their way while seamlessly interacting with their customers wherever they may be. For example, we now include Payable Domains, a default payments system that creates a frictionless, out-of-the-box experience for our customers. Our Card Reader and Tap-to-Pay on the GoDaddy Mobile App (iPhone and Android) allow customers to take payments and sell on the go. Our Virtual Terminal allows customers to take payments from their smartphone, tablet or computer with Internet connection with no hardware needed. Our customers also have the ability to take online payments without needing to create a website through our Online Pay Links. Customers can brand and personalize these shareable pay links with their domain, giving them another
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opportunity to build their brand. Pay links can be sent through text or email or shared on social media sites. We also provide merchants with QR code-based payments, allowing their customers to scan and pay through the GoDaddy Mobile App.
GoDaddy Payments. As a "payment facilitator," GoDaddy Payments enables our customers in both the U.S. and Canada to accept all major forms of payment, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and contactless payments including Apple Pay and Google Pay, with no long-term contracts or monthly minimums. This service enables our customers to start accepting payments in minutes with a simple setup and get paid, in many cases, as early as the next business day, all with the lowest fees in the industry when compared to other leading providers. In addition, GoDaddy Payments is built-in as a payments acceptance method in all our U.S. and Canada commerce products for easy enablement.
Email and Productivity Solutions
Our customers want to spend their time on what matters most to them, selling their products and services or helping their customers do the same. We provide them with productivity tools such as domain-specific email, telephony and online storage to help run their ventures. We offer a variety of products designed to make the business of business easier for our customers. The products we offer include those developed in-house as well as third-party applications which we distribute and support, such as Microsoft 365.
Our primary email and productivity solutions products include:
Email Accounts. We offer a range of email service plans with a multi-feature web interface that connects to our customers' domains. The pricing of these plans depends on the customer's desire for additional features, including HIPAA- compliant email, advanced email security, archiving, and additional business applications such as Microsoft Teams. All our email accounts are ad-free and we offer added security functionality designed to protect from spam, viruses and other forms of online fraud, such as phishing.
Microsoft 365. We offer fully-supported Microsoft 365 accounts that are easy to set up and use with our customers' domains. We offer Microsoft 365 through multiple plans, ranging from email with calendar and contacts connected to a full suite of productivity tools, including file sharing and full desktop versions of Microsoft productivity applications, such as Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint. For customers wanting to protect their email data, we offer an email backup service, and for customers needing to comply with regulatory requirements, we offer email add-on services such as HIPAA-enabled email, encryption services (in partnership with ProofPoint), archiving services (in partnership with Barracuda) and advanced e-mail security. We help make Microsoft 365 installation easy, allowing customers to be up and running in minutes, including "do-it-for-me" migration services to move customers' existing email data to Microsoft 365 accounts.
In 2023, 2022 and 2021, we derived approximately 34%, 31% and 30% of our total revenue, respectively, from sales of our A&C products.
Core Platform
Domains
Every great idea needs a great name and GoDaddy is the leading global domain naming service. Staking a claim on an identity with a domain name is an integral part of establishing a concept and presence online. When inspiration strikes, we provide our customers with the broadest selection of domains and high-quality search, discovery and recommendation tools to help them find the right name for their idea. Securing a domain is a key component to creating a complete identity and our domain products often serve as the starting point in our customer relationships. We are a global leader in domain name registration, with approximately 85 million domains under management as of December 31, 2023. Based on information reported in VeriSign's most recent Domain Name Industry Brief, this represented approximately 24%of the approximately360 milliondomain names registered worldwide as of December 31, 2023. As of December 31, 2023, approximately 92% of our customers purchased a domain from us. In addition, GoDaddy Registry provides a high-performance back-end registry technology platform with a portfolio of TLDs including .biz, .co, .nyc, and .us.
Our primary domains product offerings include:
Primary Registrations. Using our website or mobile application, we offer customers the ability to search for and register available domain names with the applicable registry. Our inventory for primary registrations is defined by the number of TLDs we offer. As of December 31, 2023, 446 different generic TLDs, such as .com, .net and .biz, and 58 different country code TLDs,
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such as .co, .ca, .in and .jp., were available for purchase through GoDaddy. Since 2013, hundreds of new gTLDs were launched through ICANN's "new gTLD program" initiated in 2012 (the Expansion Program), making it easier for companies and individuals to find and register new, easy-to-remember domain names tailored to their ideas, industry or interests. ccTLDs are important to our international expansion efforts as we found international customers often prefer the ccTLD for the country or geographic market in which they operate. Our primary registration offering relies heavily on our search, discovery and recommendation tools which enable our customers to find a domain name that matches their business needs and goals. We also sell domain registrations through relationships with third-party resellers and we provide back-end registry services supporting more than 200 TLDs.
Aftermarket. We operate a large domain aftermarket platform, which processes aftermarket, or secondary, domain name sales. We designed our aftermarket platform to enable the seamless purchase and sale of previously registered domain names through an online auction, an offer and counter offer transaction or a "buy now" transaction and automation and lease to own options for our customers. We maintain a portfolio of more than 1.2 million previously registered domains, allow our customers to "List for Sale" names under their registration, provide functionality for the entire registrar network to list expiring domains from their platforms and, in 2023, opened "List for Sale" functionality to registrar partners allowing their currently registered customers to list domain names within GoDaddy's aftermarket. These various channels provide a diverse inventory available to meet the demand from our customers. Our GoDaddy Investor mobile application helps investors watch and bid on domains at auction and stay on top of their current bids from their mobile devices. We operate a cross-registrar network that automates transaction execution across registrars thereby reducing the time required to complete a transaction.
Domain Name Add-Ons. Domain name add-ons are typically purchased concurrently with domain name registrations and have low costs associated with their delivery. In addition, where permissible, privacy features are included at no cost with every domain registered with GoDaddy. Domain names with privacy features are registered on an "unlisted" basis to help protect personal information, deter domain-related spam and allow our customers to confidentially secure a domain for an unannounced product, service or idea.
Registry. GoDaddy Registry is a world-leading provider of domain name registry services. GoDaddy Registry operates or provides back-end registry services to more than 200 registry TLDs including ccTLDs, such as .us, .tv and .co, city TLDs such as .nyc and .sydney, gTLDs such as .club, .health and .design, and branded TLDs such as .chase and .godaddy. Our integrated registry solutions provide policy and operational support, and domain marketing, sales and strategic planning.
Hosting and Security
For more technically sophisticated web designers, developers and customers, we provide high-performance, flexible hosting and security products that can be used with a variety of open source design tools as well as WordPress. We design these solutions to be easy to use, effective, reliable, flexible and provide great value. We offer a variety of hosting and security products enabling our customers to create and manage their identity, or in the case of WebPros, the identities of their end-customers.
During 2023, we have taken proactive steps to rationalize our hosting business and integrate or divest certain underperforming acquired hosting assets and brands. These efforts were undertaken to improve operational efficiency as we progress toward unifying our hosting platform under a single technology stack.
Our primary hosting and security products include:
Shared Website Hosting. The term "shared hosting" refers to the housing of multiple websites on the same server. Shared hosting is our most popular hosting product. We operate, maintain and support shared website hosting in our owned and operated data centers and our leased co-located data centers using either Linux or Windows operating systems. We currently offer several tiers of website hosting plans to suit the needs and resources of our customers, a majority of which use industry standard cPanel or Parallels Plesk control panels. We also bundle our hosting plans with a variety of applications and products such as web analytics, SSL certificates and WordPress. WordPress is the most used content management application on our shared hosting platform.
Virtual Private Servers. Our broad range of virtual private server (VPS) offerings allow our customers to select the server configuration best suited for their applications, requirements and growth. Our VPS solutions provide our customers with a single virtual machine which runs multiple other virtual machines for other customers. Our VPS is designed for customers who need greater control, more advanced technical capabilities and higher performance than offered by our shared hosting plans. Our customers can tailor their VPS plans based on a range of performance, storage, bandwidth and operating system needs.
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Managed WordPress Hosting. With our managed hosting products, we set up, monitor, maintain, secure and patch software and servers for our customers. We offer a variety of managed hosting plans to support our customers' needs including multiple tiers of Managed WordPress hosting on a platform optimized for WordPress. We also offer other managed environments that span across our VPS products like Joomla, Drupal and Magento and apps like Gallery.
Security. Our security product portfolio is a comprehensive suite of tools designed to help secure our customers' online presence. The portfolio includes (i) public key infrastructure (PKI) and SSL certificates to help ensure information is secure between browsers and servers through encryption; (ii) the use of a content delivery network (CDN) to improve a website's performance; (iii) a proprietary web application firewall (WAF) to help keep customers' websites safe from hackers; (iv) continuous malware scanning and site cleanups; and (v) a skilled team of security professionals to provide incident responses in the event of a disruption in service.
In 2023, 2022 and 2021, we derived approximately 66%, 69% and 70% of our total revenue, respectively, from sales of our Core Platform products.
Our Opportunity and Advantages
Our Opportunity—What Successful Ventures NeedEmpowering Entrepreneurs
Our customers represent a large and diverse market that we believe is fundamentally underserved by other Internet companies. The International Labour Organization, an agency of the United Nations, estimated in an October 2019 report that more than 90% of enterprises in many countries were small and medium size businesses (defined as having fewer than 250 employees). In the U.S., the U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy indicated that there were approximately 33.2 million small businesses in the U.S. (based on the Census Bureau's 2019 Statistics of U.S. Businesses), and they were estimated to have represented approximately 43.5% of total U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in 2014. Though these data points do not account for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on small and medium businesses, we believe the pre-pandemic data demonstrates a significant market exists for our products and services, and we believe our addressable market extends beyond small businesses and includes individuals and organizations, such as universities, community organizations, charities and hobbyists.
Our customers are consumers themselves, and use the Internet to get informed, research and shop for solutions, which makes them keenly aware of the need to have an impactful online presence. While our customers' needs change depending on where they are in their lifecycle,journey, the most common customer needs we serve include:
Getting online and looking greatIdentity. Our customers want to develop an online presenceidentity by finding a name perfectly identifyingthat distinctly identifies their business, hobby or passion. They want to create a digital identity so their customers can find, engage and transact with them online. We believe a complete digitaltheir identity includes an elegant,not just a simple, mobile-enabled website, andbut the ability to get found across various search engines, social media platforms and vertical marketplaces.
And while our customers' online identities start with creating and managing these points of presence, their identities are amplified through content generation and the ability to engage and transact online with their customers and audience.
GrowingPresence. Presence represents the need of our customers to present themselves to their businesscustomers, which they do through an ever-expanding set of options across social media, marketing channels, email, marketplaces and runningthrough their operationswebsite. Being able to seamlessly create and post content quickly is imperative. What it means for our customers to be online continues to evolve. Today, having an effective online presence often means having a combination of: (i) a secure and content-rich website viewable from any device; (ii) a presence on social media channels (e.g., Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, X (f/k/a Twitter) and WeChat); (iii) getting found by search engines (e.g., Google); and (iv) establishing a presence on: (a) an increasing number of horizontal marketplaces (e.g., Yelp and Eventbrite); (b) vertical marketplaces (e.g., Zillow, OpenTable and HomeAdvisor); and (c) e-commerce platforms (e.g., Amazon, eBay and Etsy).
Commerce. Commerce recognizes that our customers need commerce to work seamlessly for them both offline and online. Our customers' customer expectations are set by how they engage with enterprise-grade experiences, which means they expect to be able to buy online and pick up in the store in a matter of minutes. A customer in the store expects to be recognized online seamlessly, while a customer online expects to transition to a store experience seamlessly. For service commerce entrepreneurs, their customers expect to find products and services online, engage through online messaging, book appointments digitally and complete transactions in-person.
Interacting with customers as they grow their business. Our customers need to effectively communicate with their existing customers and find new customers. Theypotential customers across a communication landscape that is fragmented in both form and
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function. This landscape includes (i) branded email communication, originating with domain registration and email creation through an email client; (ii) online marketing in a variety of content types and channels; (iii) online commerce with reservation and scheduling, product catalogs and e-commerce and payment processing capabilities, including in-person point-of-sale payment processing; (iv) messaging capabilities across SMS, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and other platforms; (v) email marketing for audience engagement; and (vi) telephony, for inbound and outbound voice communication. Surrounding these channels and tactics, our customers also need easy-to-use products and tools to help run their businesses, including productivity, marketing, paymentbusinesses.
Technology that is easy-to-use, reliable, secure, performance enhancing and security tools.
Connectingevolves with a real person when they need help.their needs. Our customers sometimesvary significantly, but they remain the same in their need assistance to set up a website, launch a new feature or try something new. They need real people who are available 24/7/365 and in the manner that works best for them, whether by phone, by chat or in community forums.
Technology that grows with them and their customers. Our customers need a simple platform and set of tools enablingto enable their domain, website, marketing and othercommerce solutions to easily work together as their venture growsideas grow and becomesbecome more complex. The rightIn 2023, we launched GoDaddy Airo in the U.S. GoDaddy Airo is an AI-powered solution that is designed to build and help grow businesses online by delivering personalized website content, a logo, domain-based email, ready-to-use social media posts, a marketing calendar, email communications and more. Our products and services provide a platform that can meet the needs of entrepreneurs, who may not be technologically savvy, Web Pros withor WebPros, who have more complex requirements, and customers with athe range of needscustomers in between.
Reliability, securitybetween who have different demands and performance. Ourlevels of sophistication. All the while, our customers expect reliable products and want to be confident their digital presence is secure.secure, even as they insert customization that can create vulnerabilities. Our customers work on their venturesideas whenever and however they can and need solutions fitting their lifestyle and schedule.
Connecting with a real person when they need help. Depending on their journey, a customer may seek guidance on setting up a website, launching new features or trying a new product or service and they need that guidance on their time. Our customers need real people who are readily available and can provide care to customers who have different levels of technical sophistication. In addition to guiding our customers along their journey, we also provide support by handling the most difficult and arduous tasks for them through a collection of managed service offerings.
Affordable solutions. Our customers often have limited financial resources and aremay be unable to make large, upfront investments in the latest technology. Our customers need affordable solutions levelingto level the playing field and giving themwith the tools to lookappear and act like bigger ventures. We aim to provide affordable products and services for our customers at every level to support their businesses.
Serving these customer needs creates a deep relationship, where we are viewed as not just a solution provider, but also a guide and partner to their entrepreneurial journey. This makes for a favorable business and economic model, aligning the interests of GoDaddy and our customers.
Our Solution—What We DoAdvantages
Our customers serve many roles in their business; they simultaneously run marketing, accounting, service delivery operations, customer service, people operations and How We Do It
We built GoDaddy to servemany other tasks. Time is their most valuable resource and complexity is their hindrance; our customers by providing elegant, easy-to-use cloud-based products wrapped with personalized Customer Care.want an impactful online presence, but may not have the time and skills to make that happen. Our customers turn to us to:
Get a great domain name. Every great idea needs a great name. Staking a claim with a domain namegoal is an integral part of establishing an idea and presence online. When inspiration strikes, we are there to provide our customers with high-quality search, discovery and recommendation tools as well as the broadest selection of domains to help them find the right name for their venture.
Build a dynamic online presence. GoCentral and other GoDaddy offerings enable anyone to create an elegant website or online store, for both desktop and mobile, regardless of technical skill. Our products, powered by a unified cloud platform, enable our customers to get found online by helping to enhance the information on their website and extending their website and its content to where they need to be from search engine results (e.g. Google)a trusted partner to social media (e.g. Facebook)these entrepreneurs, bringing together the technology, ease of use and guidance necessary to vertical marketplaces (e.g. Yelp), all from one location. For more technically-sophisticated web designers, developers and customers, we provide high-performance, flexible hosting and security products that can be used with a variety of open source design tools. We design these solutionsbring their ideas to be easy to use, effective, reliable, flexible and a great value.
Add back-office and marketing products. Our customers want to spend their time on what matters most to them, selling their products or services or helping their customers do the same. We provide them with productivity tools such as domain-specific email, online storage and payment solutions to help run their ventures. We also provide robust marketing products, such as email marketing, to help them attract and retain customers.
Receive assistance from our highly-rated Customer Care team. Our Customer Care team consists of nearly 5,500 specialists worldwide who are available 24/7/365 and provide care to customers with different levels of technical

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sophistication. We strive to provide high-quality, consultative care and deliver a distinctive experience helping us create loyal customers who renew their subscriptions, purchase additional products and refer their family and friends to us. Our specialists are evaluated on customer outcomes and the quality of the experience they provide.
Receive high value. We price most of our products at a few dollars per month while providing our customers with robust features and functionality. We believe our high-quality products and personalized Customer Care provide our customers with an affordable bridge between their available resources and their aspirations.
Our Advantages—Why We Win
life online. We believe the following strengths provide us with competitive advantages in realizingserving these needs:
Global Brand Awareness. Our global brand benefits from high awareness as one of the potential of our opportunity:
We are the leadinglargest domain name marketplace, a key on-ramp in establishing a digital identity. We are the global market leader in domain name registrationproviders, with more than 75approximately 85 million domains under management as of December 31, 2017.2023. Based on information reported in VeriSign's most recent Domain Name Industry Brief, we held over 22% this represented approximately 24%of the approximately 332360 million worldwide domain names under managementregistered worldwide as of December 31, 2017.2023. Our global presence gives us the ability to leverage our brand — a competitive advantage when customers search for products and solutions. We have 21.0 million paying customers and an enduring customer retention rate of approximately 85%. We market and sell to customers in over 200 markets around the world and in 2023, 48% of our customer base and approximately a third of our revenue was derived from our international presence.
Seamlessly Intuitive Experiences. Our customers often self-identify as non-technical and inexperienced in areas such as marketing, content creation and customer management. Because they may lack the expertise to take full advantage of powerful tools, customers may be overwhelmed as they attempt to bring their idea online.
We believe the solution to this complexity is to radically simplify our solutions and services into seamlessly intuitive experiences like GoDaddy Airo. With Managed WordPress, we reduced the complexity of launching and managing WordPress sites so our customers can stay focused on growing their business, not managing complex WordPress hosting tasks. We provide this on a fully managed platform that delivers fast performance and AI-powered site creation. With Websites + Marketing, our
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own captive CMS, we incorporate seamlessly intuitive experiences by uniting marketing, content, commerce and customer management tools into a single experience.
We also seek to leverage data and insights to personalize the products and experiences of our customers as well as tailor our solutions and marketing efforts to each of our customer groups. Starting in 2023, we harnessed the foundational expertise we cultivated with respect to machine learning and AI to introduce multiple customer-facing capabilities in generative AI across our suite of products, including GoDaddy Airo. The automation and content creation abilities inherent in these tools elevate the discoverability of and engagement with our products, creating a true one-stop-shop experience. This further enhances our customers' capacity to market their products, sell online, manage their businesses and grow, all in a seamless, low-friction manner. We constantly seek to improve our website, marketing programs and customer care to intelligently respond to each stage of our customers' lifecycles and identify their specific product needs based on experimentation. This allows us to interact more frequently with our customers and understand what products work well for them. We intend to continue investing in our technology and data platforms to harness the power of generative AI to further enable our personalization efforts and make our products even more intuitive for our customers.
Personalized Guidance. Our customers deeply value expertise and know-how, which has been part of the GoDaddy DNA through our GoDaddy Guides since our founding. Our customers' needs are highly individualized and unique to their ventures, which we believe makes operating a guidance experience – at scale – a competitive advantage.
In recent years, we extended this competency into several new interfaces and subject matters. These interfaces allow us to take learnings and insights gained from customer interactions to build and grow our product and service offerings and drive more thoughtful engagements for our customers. For example, within our Websites + Marketing platform, we are now creating customized action plans for our customers as they seek to market their businesses in a number of different channels based on the type of their venture and their geography. Additionally, we significantly increased the training and engagement content available to our customers, through a number of different content forums and across platforms like YouTube and Instagram.
GoDaddy Venture Forward Research Initiative. Established in 2018, GoDaddy's Venture Forward research initiative analyzes more than 20 million online businesses with a digital presence (measured by a unique domain and an active website). Most of these businesses employ fewer than ten people, categorizing each as a microbusiness. While these microbusinesses may be small, their impact on economies is outsized even though they are often too informal or too new to show up in traditional government statistics. Venture Forward’s data helps those studying, reporting on or advocating for entrepreneurs understand developing themes and insights into microbusiness/digital entrepreneurship, and we share this data to download for free and update it quarterly.
Operations
Human Capital
Our people embody the same grit and determination as our customers. Our world-class engineers, designers, marketers and GoDaddy Guides share a passion for technology and its ability to change our customers' lives. We live by the same principles that enable our customers' ideas to survive and thrive, including owning outcomes, building value, joining forces, working courageously and living passionately. Our relentless pursuit of building value and doing right for our customers has been a crucial ingredient of our growth.
As of December 31, 2023, we employed 6,159 people worldwide, including 2,708 in care and services (who comprise a portion of our GoDaddy Guides), 2,259 in technology and development, 395 in marketing and advertising and 797 in general and administrative functions. In addition, GoDaddy partners with various third-party providers and vendors to provide contracted care and support services to our customers; approximately 3,500 individuals are employed with or engaged by our external partners while dedicated to GoDaddy as GoDaddy Guides. These third-party providers are primarily located in international markets, most significantly in India, the Philippines, and Malaysia. A majority of our employees are based in the U.S. and Europe. None of our U.S. employees are represented by a labor union or are party to any collective bargaining agreement in connection with his, her or their employment with us. Certain of our employees in Germany are represented by employee works councils and some other internationally based employees are represented by worker representatives in accordance with local regulations.
At GoDaddy, we strive for a workplace culture where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. We support this goal by focusing on key human capital initiatives including:
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Pay Parity. We actively work to attract a diverse employee population and are committed to providing equitable opportunity in all aspects of employment. Since 2015, we published an annual diversity and pay parity report and, according to our analysis, we believe we paid men and women substantially the same for performing similar jobs across the company for all entities included in the analysis. In 2017, we began reporting on our pay practices across U.S.-based race and ethnic minority and non-minority employee populations and reported each year that we believe, based on such data, that we paid minorities and non-minorities substantially the same for performing similar jobs across the company.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. Not only are we committed to increasing workforce diversity, but we launched various initiatives to further our goal of being a more diverse, inclusive and equitable workplace. We support several Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), which are employee-driven and led groups focused around common topics, identities, affinities, or interests. Our ERGs play a critical role in fostering diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging within GoDaddy. They help drive GoDaddy's vision, mission, values and strategic direction in the areas of recruitment and retention, learning and development and business/community development outreach. In addition, we actively work to eliminate unconscious bias in our company by providing training and recognizing and combating unconscious bias in our hiring, performance review and promotion processes. We also scored highly on the 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 Corporate Equality Index administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. Additionally, in April 2023, our Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Aman Bhutani signed the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion pledge, joining a coalition of more than 2,500 CEOs across the U.S. who have committed to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace.
Learning and Professional Development. We commit to providing fulfilling career development opportunities for our employees. We offer extensive learning opportunities to our employees spanning leadership, sales, service and technology and compliance training through e-learning, instructor-led content, video-based and blended platforms. For our GoDaddy Guides, we offer continuing education and training programs that are immersive with environments, technology, and tools that enable active learning.
Employee Engagement. We conduct an annual anonymous employee engagement survey, GoDaddy Voice. Approximately 80% of our employees participated in the survey in 2023. Approximately 90% of survey respondents say the employees on their team treat each other with respect. 89% say their manager supports them and models inclusive behavior. Additionally, we monitor employee responses to identify areas of opportunity and set goals and expectations for improvement to ensure employees feel connected and engaged with GoDaddy's mission, our customers and their own teams.
Community Rewards. Our social impact work, overseen by our Corporate Sustainability & ESG team, is an extension of our company vision and mission. Through our global volunteer and matching programs, we enable our employees to volunteer in their communities with paid time off, and we match employee donations to qualifying nonprofits of choice up to $1,500 per employee per year or country equivalent. In addition, our employees can earn funds for qualifying nonprofits they volunteer with through our volunteer rewards program.
Technology and Infrastructure
Our products, customer experiences and business systems are enabled by our technology and infrastructure to provide scalability, security and flexibility. Technology and development expenses, including those expenses related to our technology platform, were $840 million, $794 million and $706 million in 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. During the five years ended December 31, 2023, we invested to support our growth with $3,393 million in technology and development expenses. The growth in our technology and development expenses has been driven primarily by our focus on enhancing customer experiences through the use of software-driven products. Additionally, we offer Domain Registry and Corporate Domains solutions to our customers. We built a scalable infrastructure platform allowing us to optimize for economies of scale and enable next-generation hosting architecture for our customers, while investing in faster, denser and more efficient data centers, improved network connectivity and improved resiliency, both domestically and internationally.
We aim to provide a reliable and secure global platform and infrastructure. Our investments in technology, including engineers, patents, online security, customer privacy, reliable infrastructure and data science capabilities, enable us to innovate and deliver personalized solutions to our customers. Our API-driven technology platform is built on state-of-the-art, open source technologies like Hadoop, OpenStack and other large-scale, distributed systems. Additionally, our platform allows our developers to create new and enhanced products or product features assembled from common building blocks leading to faster deployment cycles. We believe our products work well together and are more valuable and easier to use together than if our customers purchased them individually from other companies and tried to integrate them. As of December 31, 2017,2023, we had 1,360 engineers, 2302,259 employees in technology
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and development and 368 issued patents in the U.S. and 150other countries covering various aspects of our product offerings. Additionally, as of December 31, 2023, we had 12 pending U.S. and international patent applications and intend to file additional patent applications in the U.S.
future.
Physical Infrastructure and Management
Our physical technology infrastructure supports our products, experiences and business systems through servers located in data centers around the world. As a leading website hosting platform, we invested significantly in our peering architecture and underlying infrastructure management to handle significant Internet traffic at low bandwidth costs. We operate an industry-leading Customer Care team that also drives bookings.invested in the automation of common physical data center components like servers, load balancers, switches and storage, and we use open source solutions when possible to automate manual processes and thereby reduce the risk of human error and lower costs. Additionally, we leverage a common automated infrastructure based on OpenStack and Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) to enable next-generation services. We givecontinue to migrate many of our non-hosting products and internal systems to AWS, which accelerated our ability to provide speed and reliability in both our product and customer experiences. These efforts and our large technology infrastructure footprint allow us to scale and provide our customers much more than typical customer support. with valuable products at affordable prices.
Customer Experience and Business Systems
Our team is unique, blending personalized Customer Careplatform provides our global customers easy-to-use products, by allowing us to experiment and quickly deploy improvements incorporating our data insights. Our investments in our platform capabilities include the following:
E-commerce Platform and Application Services. We invest in the architecture and capabilities of our e-commerce platform to create an ecosystem where we can rapidly scale up or down and integrate with third-party offerings. The platform broadens our distribution channels by being extensible and allowing resellers to easily sell our products. We seek to continuously launch new and relevant applications and streamline our existing offerings to provide the abilitybest user experience to evaluate our customers' needs,customers.
Data Platform. Our horizontal data platform helps us be a trusted source of data about our customers and their online ideas through accurate, meaningful and easily consumable data insights, which allows us to build best-in-class, personalized experiences for our customers. Our data platform is key to helping us deepen our customer and business insights, which enable innovation through instrumentation, experimentation and analysis.
Content and Marketing Platform. Our content and marketing platforms leverage the latest technology, operational and production models that enable us to deliver customer-centric digital experiences at an accelerated pace through multiple touchpoints and channels. Our content platform and content creation processes help us realize efficiencies and advise them as well asscalability, which enhance our ability to drive incremental bookings.new, high-quality products and customer experiences to market faster. We focus on driving advancements in experimentation, the speed and volume of content creation, localization and content self-service, while ensuring platform availability and performance. We also deliver new engagement marketing capabilities that improve business effectiveness and customer experiences.
Product Development
We continue to expand the ways we serve our customers to adjust to their changing needs from primarily domain name registration and hosting to a broader spectrum of offerings. Our Customer Care team contributed approximately 20% of our total bookings in 2017. Our customers respondprimary website building products (Websites + Marketing, Managed WordPress and GoDaddy Airo), website security suite, email offerings (Microsoft 365), commerce products and domain aftermarket each represent significant need states that are complementary to our personalized approach with high marks for customer satisfaction.long-standing offerings and benefit from our strengths as a company in human-infused technology. Our proactive Customer Care model iskey product development initiatives include:
Powering a key component helping create long-term customer relationships, which is reflected in our high retention rates.
Our brandSimple and marketing efficiencyEffortless Presence. We believeoffer a range of solutions that help our customers publish their ideas online, including Websites + Marketing and GoDaddy is oneAiro. Websites + Marketing combines a mobile-optimized website builder with an integrated set of the most recognizedmarketing and e-commerce tools. We continue to invest in Websites + Marketing and other tools, templates and technology brandsto make building, maintaining and updating a professional looking mobile or desktop presence simple and easy. In 2023, we launched GoDaddy Airo in the U.S. ThroughGoDaddy Airo is an AI-powered solution designed to build and help grow businesses online by delivering personalized website content, a combinationlogo, domain-based email, ready-to-use social media posts, a marketing calendar, email communications and more. We harnessed the foundational expertise we cultivated with respect to machine learning and AI to introduce multiple customer-facing capabilities in generative AI across our suite of cost-effective direct-marketing, brand advertisingproducts. The automation and customer referrals, we have added approximately one million net new customers organically each year from 2013 through 2017.content creation abilities inherent in these tools elevate the discoverability of and engagement with our products,
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creating a true one-stop-shop experience. This further enhances our customers' capacity to market their products, sell online, manage their businesses and grow, all in a seamless, low-friction manner.
Our financial modelMaking the Business of Business Easy. Our stablebusiness applications range from domain-specific email and predictable business modelemail marketing to telephony services and payment tools to help our customers communicate with their customers and grow their ideas. For example, GoDaddy Conversations is driven by efficient customer acquisition, high customer retention ratesa communications platform that helps small businesses support, engage and increasing lifetime spend.convert customers through email, text, online chat, social media, voice and video conversations. In each of2023, we integrated GoDaddy Conversations with Google's Business Messages, allowing entrepreneurs using Websites + Marketing plans to receive messages from consumers using Google Search and Maps. We intend to continue investing in the five years ended December 31, 2017, our customer retention rate exceeded 85% and our retention rate for customers who had been with us for over three years was approximately 91%. We believe the breadth and depth of our product offerings and the high quality and responsiveness of our Customer Care team builds strong customer relationships and are keys to our high customer retention rate.
Our people and our culture. We are a company whose people embody the grit and determination of our customers. Our world-class engineers, designers, marketers and Customer Care specialists share a passion for technology and its ability to change our customers' lives. We value hard work, extraordinary effort, living passionately, taking intelligent risks and working together toward successful customer outcomes. Our relentless pursuit of doing right forhelp our customers has been a crucial ingredient of our growth.
Our scale. We have achieved significant scale in our business enabling us to efficiently acquire new customers, serve our existingconnect with their customers and continue to invest in growth.
run their ventures.
In 2017, we generated $2,618 million in total bookings up from $1,250 million in 2012, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16%.
In 2017, we had $2,232 million of revenue up from $911 million in 2012, representing a CAGR of 20%.
In 2017, we had $476 million of net cash provided by operating activities.
In the five years ended December 31, 2017, we invested to support our growth with $1,371 million in technology and development expenses and $994 million in marketing and advertising expenses.

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Our Strategy—How We Grow
We're focused on helping our customers with individualized solutions for each phase of their journey. We leverage our team's deep understanding of what our customers need to develop new products and provide empathetic and targeted customer care. We are pursuing the following principal strategies to drive our business:
Expand and innovate our product and service offeringsto provide more comprehensive solutions for our customers and to offer more ways for new customers to find us. We are working both to grow our core product offerings and create innovative new products, including:
Delivering the next generationNext Generation of namingNaming. The first generation of domain naming included a limited set of generic top-level domains (gTLDs),gTLDs, such as .com and .net, and country code top-level domains (ccTLDs),ccTLDs, such as .uk and .in. Hundreds of new gTLDs have beenwere introduced in recent years,2013 through the Expansion Program, expanding the available inventory for usGoDaddy and our customers. Through GoDaddy Registry, we operate or provide back-end registry services to more than 200 TLDs. Additionally, we have invested to expand the secondary market to help match buyers to sellers who already own domains. Our GoDaddy Investor mobile application helps investors watch and bid on domains at auction and stay on top of current bids from their mobile devices. We continue to invest in search, discovery and recommendation tools and transfer protocols for both primary and secondary domains.
Powering elegant and effortless presence. We offer a range of products and services that help our customers get their ideas online. GoCentral combines a mobile-optimized website builder with an integrated set of marketing and e-commerce tools to help our customers create an audience In 2023, we launched the capability for their idea or business, enabling them to design a professional website in under an hour. We continue to invest in GoCentral and other tools, templates and technology to make building, maintaining and updating a professional looking mobile or desktop presence simple and easy. Additionally, we are investing in products to help our customers drive their customer acquisition, retention and communication efforts by managing their presence across search engines, social networks and vertical marketplaces and keep their online presence and information secure.
Making the business of business easy. Our business applications range from domain-specific email and email marketing to telephony services and payment tools to help our customers communicate with their customers and grow their ventures. In 2017, we introduced SmartLine, which allows our customers to addprovide business descriptions when searching for a second, separate phone linedomain, enabling GoDaddy to an existing iOS or Android phone. We intend to continue investing in the breadth of our product offerings to help our customers connect with their customersbetter understand intent and run their ventures.
Win the Web Pros. We are investing insuggest a suite of applications and services for web designers and developers to help them save time, make money and exceed client expectations. These client management applications make it easier for designers and developers to manage their clients' websites at any host, host websites on GoDaddy products such as Managed WordPress, and manage their overall business with capabilities such as client billing. Services for Web Pros also include administrative access and shopping features which make it easier to buy and manage multiple products for their clients, as well as enhanced technical support and discounts for reselling GoDaddy products. We support awide variety of control panelscreative domain and content management tools favored by Web Pros including cPanel, Plesk, Drupal, Joomla and more. As one of the largest global hosts of WordPress sites, many of our recent investments have focused on extending our reach into the WordPress community.
business name recommendations that suits a customer's needs.
Go global. As of December 31, 2017, approximately 42% of our customers were located in international markets, notably Canada, India and the United Kingdom. We have made significant investments in the localization of our service offerings in markets outside of the U.S. and, as of December 31, 2017, we offered localized products and Customer Care in over 50 markets. To support our international growth, we will continue investing to develop our local capabilities across products, marketing programs, data centers and Customer Care. Our recent international acquisitions, including our acquisition of HEG, are an important part of this international growth.
Make it personal. We seek to leverage data and insights to personalize the product and Customer Care experiences of our customers as well as tailor our solutions and marketing efforts to each of our customer groups. We are constantly seeking to improve our website, marketing programs and Customer Care to intelligently reflect where customers are in their lifecycle and identify their specific product needs. This allows us to interact more frequently with our customers. We intend to continue investing in our technology and data platforms to further enable our personalization efforts.
Wrap it with Care. We believe our highly-rated Customer Care team is distinctive and essential to the lifetime value proposition we offer our customers. We continue to invest in our Customer Care team, including investing to expand our Customer Care service, improve the quality of our Customer Care resources and introduce enhanced tools and processes across our expanding global footprint.

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Partner up.Partnering Up. Our flexible platform also enables us to acquire companiesform strategic partnerships and quickly launch new products and offerings for our customers, including through partnerships such as Microsoft Office 365 for emailemail. In 2023, to build on our offerings for our Independents customer segment, we expanded our partnerships to include Bask for IT support and PayPal and SquareZenBusiness for payments. Webusiness formations. Additionally, we have also acquired companies and technologies to complement our product and service offerings and expand our geographic footprint. We intendbuilt a robust pipeline of future partnership opportunities to continue identifying value-added technology acquisition targetsproduct and service offerings. Within Applications and Commerce, we launched our partnership opportunities.
with Worldpay and continued to support other banking partners including Elavon, Nexi and Evertec.
Products
Harnessing the power of generative AI for our customers. We have designeddesign our generative AI-powered tools and developed an extensive setexperiences to enhance our customers' discoverability of easy-to-use cloud-based technology products enablingand engagement with the full suite of our product offerings and reduce the friction inherent in establishing their online presence and growing their businesses. With such tools, our customers can go from idea to establishdomain to fully published website and content creation abilities in just minutes. In 2023, we introduced the following customer-facing generative AI-powered capabilities:
GoDaddy Airo: Launched a new AI-powered solution in the U.S. designed to build and help grow businesses online by delivering personalized website content, a logo, domain-based email, ready-to-use social media posts, a marketing calendar, email communications and more.
Instant Video: Introduced a new AI-powered feature within our GoDaddy Studio App, empowering small businesses to quickly create social media and video content, increase customer engagement and seize digital presence, connect withmarketing and social commerce opportunities.
Websites + Marketing: Implemented powerful generative AI tools into Websites + Marketing, helping microbusinesses run their customersbusiness and manage their ventures. We understandsite through auto-generated online store product descriptions, customer service messages, and Instagram and Facebook ads. Other new features that we added to our Websites + Marketing offering include a bookings feature for multi-day events, Google and Apple Pay for full payment and deposit and additional configurations for Pay Buttons using Pay Links from different businesses and store locations.
GoDaddy Pros: Brought AI-powered tools to GoDaddy Pros with GoDaddy's AI Assistant in the Pro Hub, using generative AI to expedite time consuming, repetitive tasks including generating suggested site content, proposals, invoicing and client communications.
Helping customers sell anything anywhere. Our commerce solutions are designed to grow with our customers' needs vary depending onbusinesses by enabling them to seamlessly sell both offline and online, from online marketplaces and social platforms, while easily managing their sales in one place. In 2023, we launched and upgraded the typefollowing commerce products and stage of their venture, which is why we offer our products both independently and bundled as suites of integrated products designed for specific activities.services:
OurPayable Domains: Released Payable Domains, branded pay links that create a secure checkout page, shareable via a link, that allow anyone to begin accepting payments the moment they purchase a new U.S.-based domain name, registration products enable useven if they do not yet have a website or online store.
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GoDaddy Payments Canada: Launched our first international market for GoDaddy Payments with the expansion into the Canadian market, offering Canadian merchants the same low-cost payment processing and payment acceptance solutions our U.S. merchants enjoy.
Tap to engagePay on GoDaddy App: Launched Tap-to-Pay capability in the GoDaddy Mobile App, lowering the barrier for millions of small businesses to start accepting in-person, contactless payments with only an iPhone or Android phone in a seamless, low-friction sign-up experience.
Microsoft Teams Integration: Partnered with Microsoft to introduce payment acceptance capabilities for businesses within the Microsoft Teams meeting platform.
Other AI Tools and Resources: Released GoDaddy.AI, a free online resource for customers, at the initial stage of establishing a digital identitywhich provides tips and often is an on-rampcurrent news on all things generative AI for our other products. We believe our hosting and presence and business applications products increase our revenue and margin growth opportunities, frequently servesmall businesses, as starting points for our customer relationships, improve customer retention and significantly improve our value proposition to customers.
Domains
We are the global market leader in domain name registration. Securing a domain is a key component to creating a complete digital identity and our domain products often servewell as the starting point in our customer relationships. AsSmall Business Generative AI Prompt Library, a growing catalog of December 31, 2017, approximately 92% of our customers had purchased a domainready-made prompts for small businesses to have the tools to start benefiting from us, and as of December 31, 2017, we had more than 75 million domains under management. In 2017, 2016 and 2015, we generated approximately 47%, 50% and 52% of our total revenue, respectively, from sales of our domain products.
Our primary domains product offerings are:
Primary Registrations. Using our website or mobile application, we offer customers the ability to search for and register available domain names with the relevant registry. Our inventory for primary registrations is defined by the number of top-level domains (TLDs) we offer. As of December 31, 2017, 401 different gTLDs (e.g. .com, .net and .org) and 69 different ccTLDs (e.g. .de, .ca, .in and .jp.) were available for purchase through GoDaddy. Since 2013, hundreds of new gTLDs have been launched, making it easier for companies and individuals to find and register new, easy-to-remember domain names tailored to their ventures, industry or interests. ccTLDs are important to our international expansion efforts as we have found international customers often prefer the ccTLD for the country or geographic market in which they operate. Our primary registration offering relies heavily on our search, discovery and recommendation tools which enable our customers to find a name matching their needs.generative AI. We also sell domain registrations through relationships with third-party resellers.launched AI-powered conversational onboarding, delivering an easier method to set up a new WordPress site.
Aftermarket. We operate one ofIn the world's largest domain aftermarkets, which processes aftermarket, or secondary, domain name sales. Our aftermarket platform is designedfuture we will continue to enable the seamless purchase and sale of an already registered domain name through an online auction, an offer and counter-offer transaction or a "buy now" transaction. Over the last three years, we have acquired more than 730,000 domain names to increase the inventory available to our customers. Our GoDaddy Investor mobile application helps investors watch and bid on domains at auction and stay on top of their current bids, all from their mobile devices. We operate a cross-registrar networkinnovate in commerce solutions that automates transaction execution across registrars thereby reducing the time required to complete a transaction. We receive a percentage of the sales price for each domain sold.
Domain Name Add-Ons. Domain name add-ons are features a customer can add to a domain name registration. Our domain name privacy product allows our customers to register a domain name on an "unlisted" basis helping prevent privacy intrusions, deter domain-related spam andeasy-to-use, allow our customers to confidentially secure a domain for an unannounced product, service or idea. Domain name add-ons are typically purchased concurrently with domain name registrationssell anywhere and have minimal costs associated with their delivery.
Hosting and Presence
We offer a variety of hosting and presence products enabling our customers to create and manage their digital identity, or in the case of Web Pros, the digital identities of their end-customers. In each of 2017, 2016 and 2015, we derived approximately 38%, 37% and 37%, respectively, of our total revenue from sales of our hosting and presence products.

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Our primary hosting products are:
Shared Website Hosting. The term "shared hosting" refers to the housing of multiple websites on the same server via the use of chroot environments. Shared hosting is our most popular hosting product. We operate, maintain and support shared website hosting in our owned and operated data centers and our leased co-located data centers using either Linux or Windows operating systems. We currently offer three tiers of shared website hosting plans to suit the needs and resources of our customers, all of which use industry standard cPanel or Parallels Plesk control panels. We also bundle our hosting plans with a variety of applications and products such as web analytics, secure sockets layer (SSL) certificates and WordPress. WordPress is the most used content management application on our shared hosting platform.
Website Hosting on Virtual Private Servers and Virtual Dedicated Servers. Our broad range of virtual private server (VPS) and virtual dedicated server offerings allows our customers to select the server configuration best suited for their applications, requirements and growth. Our virtual private servers provide customers with a single virtual machine running on a single bare metal server that is running multiple other virtual machines for other customers. Our VPS product is designed to meet the requirements of customers with a need for greater control, more advanced technical capabilities and higher performance than that offered by our shared hosting plans. Our customers have the ability to tailor their virtual dedicated server plan based on a range of performance, storage, bandwidth and operating system needs.
Managed Hosting. With our managed hosting products, we set up, monitor, maintain, secure and patch software and servers for our customers. We offer a variety of managed hosting plans to support our customers' needs including multiple tiers of Managed WordPress hosting on a platform optimized for WordPress. We also offer other managed environments that span across our VPS and Dedicated products like Joomla, Drupal and Magento and apps like Gallery. In addition to managed hosting plans tailored to our customers' needs, we also offer expert services, which provide additional support services.
Security. Our security products include SSL certificates, malware scanners and malware removal. According to Netcraft, we are one of the world's largest provider of SSLs. An SSL validates a customer's website identity and encrypts onlineat industry-low card transaction information, such as credit card numbers, and communications sent to or by the website. We offer a variety of SSLs all of which provide high-grade, 256-bit encryption. Our SSL offerings include multiple domain SSLs and "wildcard" SSLs, which secure a singular website URL as well as subdomains on that URL (e.g. protectmyvisitors.com and cart.protectmyvisitors.com). We also offer "code signing certificates" designed to prove the identity of software authors and validate that the software has not been tampered with since its original distribution. Our website security scanner checks a customer's website at predetermined intervals for malware, blacklists, and uptime. When malware is detected, and a cleanup request has been initiated, our security team runs a remediation process to remove the malware and restore the site. Our Web Application Firewall (WAF) is a cloud-based firewall service that screens and protects real-time website traffic from threats such as SQL injection attacks and comment spammers, while also thwarting distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks.
Our primary presence products are:
GoCentral. GoCentral is an easy-to-use, do-it-yourself mobile-optimized online tool enabling customers, irrespective of their technical skills, to build effective websites and online stores. We offer a variety of plans, with pricing dependent on business and marketing features. With each of these plans, customers have access to vertically targeted professional designs which can be further customized using our editor by adding intent-driven sections, photos, videos or text. Our designs cover a wide range of categories with professionally written content for small businesses, organizations, families, weddings, and other ventures. Our websites and our tools are all designed to work great on mobile devices, with a focus on performance, which is critical for websites to appear in search engine rankings.
Our GoCentral product includes online appointments and online store capabilities allowing customers to transact business directly on their websites, and is optimized for mobile shopping and secure checkout via credit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Square, or PayPal. Our online store allows customers to manage inventory and shipping, while online appointments manages staff availability and helps remind customers of appointments. Both are integrated into our social and email marketing tools, to help customers generate more business.
Marketing. Our GoCentral product line includes a range of marketing tools designed to help businesses acquire and engage customers. These capabilities are available in an integrated offering with our website and commerce tools, or as a stand-alone for customers using other website tools. The tools are designed for busy customers who may lack experience with online marketing, focusing on ease of use, mobile experience, and delivering business results. Search Engine Optimization helps our customers get their websites found on major search sites through search engine optimization using a simple step-by-step wizard with targeted recommendations on which search phrases are most likely to drive traffic to a customer's site. Business listings

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capabilities bring business information to where customers are looking, including Facebook and Google My Business. Email marketing lets people build targeted campaigns, either from scratch or using website or commerce content.
Business Applications
We offer a variety of products designed to make the business of business easier for our customers. The products we offer include those developed in-house as well as third-party applications which we distribute and support, such as Microsoft Office 365. In 2017, 2016 and 2015, we derived approximately 15%, 13% and 11% of our total revenue, respectively, from sales of our business applications products.
Our primary business applications products are:
Microsoft Office 365. We offer fully-supported Microsoft Office 365 accounts that are easy to set up and use with our customers' domains. We offer Microsoft Office 365 in multiple plans ranging from email with calendar and contacts connected to a custom domain to a full suite of productivity tools, including file sharing and full desktop versions of Microsoft productivity applications, including Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint. For customers wanting to protect their email data, we offer an email backup service (in partnership with SkyKick), and for customers needing to comply with regulatory requirements, we offer email add-on services such as HIPPA-enabled email, encryption services (in partnership with ProofPoint) and archiving services (in partnership with Sonian). We help make Microsoft Office 365 installation easy, allowing customers to get up and running in minutes, including "do-it-for-me" migrations services to move customers' existing email data to Office 365 accounts.
Email Accounts. We offer a range of email service plans with a multi-feature web interface that connects to our customers' domains. The pricing of these plans depends on the customer's desired amount of storage and number of email addresses. All of our email accounts are advertising-free and include security functionality designed to provide protection from spam, viruses and other forms of online fraud, such as phishing.
Email Marketing. Our email marketing product helps customers market their businesses through permission-based email. Customers can easily create and send newsletters, targeted advertising campaigns, promotions and surveys as well as connect email campaigns with their social media networks and track the results of campaigns.
Telephony. We provide internet-based telephone services that can be accessed with either IP phones, or traditional local or cellular telephone services. In 2017, we launched our SmartLine plan, which includes a virtual number phone and mobile application, enabling customers to have two numbers on one phone to separate business communications from personal communications. All of our plans allow customers to make and receive phone calls, send/receive text and MMS messages using their Smartline number and chosen caller ID.  In addition, Smartline offers customers a range of minutes and texts, a local or toll-free number and a mobile application to manage the service, as well as voicemail, voicemail transcription, email delivery of voicemail, customized business greetings, business hour settings and ability to block unwanted callers. We also offer single and multi-line VoIP phone systems, IP enabled phones, virtual phone numbers, virtual receptionist services, customizable phone tree, follow-me call forwarding and fax-on-demand.
Technology and Infrastructure
Our technology platform forms the core of many of our solutions, and we have invested significantly to develop a platform designed to be intelligent, fast, secure and scalable. Our technology and development expenses, including those expenses related to our technology platform, were $356 million, $288 million and $270 million in 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively. We have built a scalable platform allowing us to provide faster business insights at lower costs, develop and introduce new products quickly and leverage economies of scale to reduce costs and enable next-generation hosting architecture. Our technology stack, which consists of physical infrastructure, infrastructure-as-a-service, and platform-as-a-service, allows our customers to build and manage their digital identities and enable access across multiple devices. We seek to continuously enhance the performance and reliability of our technology infrastructure by investing in faster data centers, improved network connectivity and improved resiliency, both domestically and internationally.
Physical infrastructure
Our physical technology infrastructure includes servers located in data centers around the world. We have also invested significantly in our peering architecture and utilize multiple peering sites allowing us to handle high IP transit traffic at low bandwidth costs. Our large technology infrastructure footprint allows us to leverage economies of scale through low server,

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network, storage and processing costs by commoditizing hardware across various systems and leveraging virtualization where possible.
Infrastructure-as-a-Service
We leverage an Infrastructure-as-a-Service model geared toward the virtualization and automation of common physical data center components like servers, load balancers, switches and storage. We use open source solutions when possible to automate manual processes and thereby reduce the risk of human error as well as to lower costs. Additionally, we are beginning to use a single automated infrastructure based on OpenStack to enable next-generation services. In 2017, we started to leverage third-party public cloud offerings to augment our internal infrastructure-as-a-service model.
Platform-as-a-Service
Our platform provides our customers fast, simple and customer-centric products across the globe, by allowing us to easily and quickly build and deploy new products incorporating our data insights. Our investments in our platform capabilities include the following:

E-commerce Platform and Application Services. While we continue to use our existing platform, we have developed and begun to implement a new e-commerce platform. We expect this new platform to enhance our value proposition to our customers by offering comprehensive, flexible and integrated solutions that can be rapidly scaled up or down, used across multiple platforms and integrated with third-party offerings. Both our existing and new platforms also allow resellers to easily sell our products, thereby broadening our distribution channels. We seek to continuously launch new and relevant applications and streamline our existing offerings in order to provide the best user experience to our customers.

Data Platform. Our horizontal data platform helps us to be a trusted source of data about our customers and their online ventures through accurate, meaningful, and easily consumable data insights, which allows us to build best-in-class, personalized experiences for our customers. Our data platform is key to helping us deepen our customer and business insights; these insights enable innovation through instrumentation, experimentation and analysis.

Content and Marketing Platform. Our content and marketing platforms leverage the latest tools, technology and operational and production models that enable us to deliver customer-centric digital experiences at an accelerated pace through multiple touchpoints and channels. Our content platform and content creation processes help us realize efficiencies and scalability, which enhance our ability to drive new, high quality products and customer experiences to market faster. We are focused on driving advancements in experimentation, the speed and volume of content creation, localization and content self-service, while ensuring platform availability and performance. We are also delivering new engagement marketing capabilities that improve business effectiveness and customer experiences.

Customer Care
We have nearly 5,500 Customer Care specialists who provide technical assistance 24/7/365 to customers located around the world. Our specialists use a consultative approach to advise customers of products best suiting their individual needs. This ability to provide real-time product suggestions while providing a world-class support experience allows our Customer Care team to provide an impactful contribution to bookings through the sale of product subscriptions. In each of 2017, 2016 and 2015, at least 20% of our total bookings were generated from the sale of product subscriptions by our Customer Care team. Our revised merchandising strategies, such as free trials and an increased mix of monthly product subscriptions, drove more renewal billings to our website and away from the Customer Care team during 2017, which we expect to continue in the future. The majority of our Customer Care specialists are located in our Arizona and Iowa facilities in the U.S. We have additional international specialists providing in-region support in native languages. In addition, our easy-to-use website contains extensive educational content designed to demystify the process of establishing an online presence and to assist customers in choosing the products best meeting their needs. We also provide a variety of online tutorials through blogs and other services including The GoDaddy Garage Blog and third-party sites like YouTube.
Our Customer Care team operates through a variety of channels to provide tailored and timely support to our customers, handling approximately 20 million contacts in 2017. Our customers can choose their preferred Customer Care channel, including proactive and reactive chat and phone support. We take a consultative approach to our customer interactions, acting as a trusted partner to answer their questions, to guide them through technical solutions, to offer real-time product suggestions best suited to

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their needs and to support them at each phase of their lifecycle. The effectiveness of our model is reflected in the high ratings we receive from our customers, the bookings generated by our Customer Care team and strong customer referrals.
The strength of our Customer Care team is our people. Our hiring process is extensive and highly selective, designed to yield individuals who will thrive in our team based on core values, character, work ethic and ability. Our new Customer Care hires spend over a month moving from classroom to a live "nesting" environment where they refine their customer and technology skills. With a commitment to life-long learning, we offer hundreds of classes to our employees spanning leadership, sales, service and technology. Our incentive program rewards outcomes, across both customer satisfaction and bookings goals. For these and many other reasons, as of December 31, 2017, approximately 38% of our Customer Care specialists had been with us for at least three years.pricing.
Marketing
We believe GoDaddy is one of the most recognized technologyInternet brands in the U.S. with high brand awareness globally. We have established this high level of brand awareness primarily through our advertising campaigns across various platforms including television commercials, print, online and billboards. We havebillboards and supplemented these advertising campaigns with athleteour own entrepreneurial customers and celebrity sponsorships.social media influencers. Over the five years ended December 31, 2023, we invested $2,053 million in marketing and advertising expenses. Our strong brand has helped us attract and retain more than 1721.0 million customers as of December 31, 2017.2023. We intend to continue investing in our brand as we seek to further grow our total customers, particularly internationally. Customer referrals are another highly efficient and cost-effective channel for acquiring customers.
We complement our brand marketing efforts with focused and metric-driven direct response marketing to acquire new customers. We use a variety of targeted online marketing programs for lead generation, including search engine marketing, search engine optimization and targeted email and social media marketing campaigns, as well as more traditional direct marketing and indirect channel partner marketing programs, to drive interest in our products and traffic to our websites. As part of this effort, we regularly run numerous campaigns simultaneously and constantly refine our media mix across our channels.
International
Central to our international strategy is a philosophy of localizingscaling our product offerings and customer experience and deploying them through our global infrastructure. As of December 31, 2017,2023, we had over 7approximately 10.2 million customers outside of the U.S. and derived approximately 33%, 28%32% and 26%32% of our total bookings from international sales in 2017, 20162023, 2022 and 2015,2021, respectively.
We have built a dedicated team responsible for ensuring scaling and, when necessary, the internationalization and localization of our core product offerings as well as our Customer Carecustomer care and marketing efforts.
We have continued to expand our international employee presence and continue to expand our marketing efforts including through our acquisition of HEG in 2017. In conjunction with our localization efforts, we have added on-the-ground regional teams and increased our country and regional specific marketing spend.internationally. These investments have enabled us to successfully launch and expand our business outside the U.S. and as of December 31, 2017,2023, we provided localized productsmarket and Customer Caresell to customers in over 50200 markets around the world. We have takentook a rigorous approach to managing the level of investment we expect to make in each geographic market we enter based on a market tier approach. We expect to continue to strategically expand internationally, growing our share and increasing penetration of the international markets we'vewe entered in recent years.
Competition
We provide cloud-based solutions enabling individuals, businesses and organizations to establish an online presence, connect with customers and manage their ventures. The market for providing these solutionsour products and services is highly fragmented and competitive. These types of products and solutions are also rapidly evolving,continue to evolve, creating opportunity for new competitors to enter the market with point-solution products or address specific segments of the market. In some instances, we haveuse commercial partnerships with companies with which we also compete. GivenWe consider the following to be a representative list of competitors we face in some of the major areas we operate in:
With respect to our broad product portfolio, we compete with niche point-solutionCore Platform products and broader solution providers. Our competitors include providers of:
domain registration services and web-hosting solutions such as Endurance, Donuts, United Internet and Web.com;
website creation and management solutions such as Automattic, Shopify, Squarespace, and Wix;
cloud-infrastructure services and online security providers such as Comodo, Symantec,services: Newfold Digital, Namecheap, Tucows, Dynadot, GMO, Cloudflare, Let's Encrypt, SEDO, Comodo, Hostinger and WP Engine;
alternative web presence and marketing solutions such as Constant Contact, Etsy, OpenTable, Yelp and Zillow; and

Identity Digital;
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With respect to our A&C products and services: Shopify, Block, BigCommerce, Stripe, PayPal, Liquid Web, SiteGround, WP Engine, Zoho, Mindbody, Toast, Yelp, OpenTable, TikTok, Meta and WeChat; and
productivity tools such as business-class email, calendaringWith respect to both our Core Platform and file-sharing such as Dropbox, MicrosoftA&C products and Google.
We expect continued competition from companies in the domain, hosting and presence markets such asservices: Wix, Squarespace, Automattic, Endurance, Donuts, Squarespace, United Internet, Web.com and Wix. We also expect potential increased competition from companies likeIonos, Google, Amazon, FacebookMicrosoft, Alibaba and Microsoft, which are providers of web-hosting, Internet marketing, ecommerce and other cloud-based services.Tencent.
We believe the principal competitive factors include:include product capabilities meeting customer requirements, a secure, reliable and integrated technology platform, cost-effective customer acquisition, brand awareness and reputation, customer service and support and overall customer satisfaction. We believe we compete favorably with respect to each of these factors. For additional information, see "Risk Factors."
Regulation
Our business is subject to regulation by ICANN,the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), federal and state laws in the U.S. and the laws of other jurisdictions in which we do business.
ICANN. The registration of domain names is governed by ICANN. ICANN, is a multi-stakeholder private sector, not-for-profit corporation formed in 1998 for the express purposes of overseeing a number of Internet related tasks, including management of the DNS,Domain Name System (DNS), allocation of IP addresses, accreditation of domain name registrars and registries and the definition and coordination of policy development for all of these functions. We are accredited by ICANN as a domain name registrar and registry and thus our ability to offer domain name registration products is subject to our ongoing relationship with, and accreditation by, ICANN. The regulation of Internet domain names in the U.S. and in foreign countries is subject to change. For example, in 2016, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, or the NTIA, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, transitioned oversight of key Internet domain name functions to the global multi-stakeholder community.
ccTLD Authorities. The regulation of ccTLDs is governed by national regulatory agencies of the country underlying the specific ccTLDs, such as the U.S. (.us), Colombia (.co), China (.cn), Canada (.ca) and the United KingdomUK (.uk). Our ability to sell ccTLDs is dependent on our and our partners' abilityabilities to maintain accreditation in good standing with these various international authorities.
Advertising and promotional information presented on our websites and in our products, and our other marketing and promotional activities, are subject to federal and state consumer protection laws regulating unfair and deceptive practices. U.S. federal, state and foreign legislatures have also adopted laws and regulations regulating numerous other aspects of our business. Regulations relating to the Internet, including laws governing online content, user privacy and data protection, automatic renewal laws, taxation, and liability for third-party activities, and jurisdiction, are particularly relevant to our business. SuchA sample of such laws and regulations areis discussed below.
Communications Decency Act (CDA). The CDA regulates content of material on the Internet, and provides immunity to Internet service providers and providers of interactive computer services for certain claims based on content posted by third parties. The CDA and the case law interpreting it generally provide that domain name registrars and website hosting providers cannot be liable for defamatory or obscene content posted by customers on theirregistrars' servers unless they participate in creating or developing the content. The Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA) and Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017 (FOSTA), which became effective in April 2018, amend certain portions of the CDA, which may limit the immunity previously available to us under the CDA.
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The DMCA provides domain name registrars and website hosting providers a safe harbor from liability for third-party copyright infringement. To qualify for the safe harbor, however, registrars and website hosting providers must satisfy numerous requirements, including adoption ofadopting a user policy providing for termination of service access of users who are repeat infringers, informing users of this policy and implementing the policy in a reasonable manner. In addition, registrars and website hosting providers must expeditiously remove or disable access to content upon receiving a proper notice from a copyright owner alleging infringement of its protected works. A registrar or website hosting provider failing to comply with these safe harbor requirements may be found liable for copyright infringement.
Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act.Protection Act (ACPA). The ACPA was enacted to address piracy on the Internet by curtailing a practice known as "cybersquatting," or the bad-faith registration of a domain name identical or similar to another party's trademark, or to the name of another living person, in order to profit from that name or mark. The ACPA provides that registrars may not be held liable for damages for registration or maintenance of a domain name for another person absent a showing of the registrar's bad faith intent to profit. Registrars may, however, be held liable if their activities are deemed outside the scope of basic registrar functions.

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Lanham Act. The Lanham Act governs trademarks and false advertising. Case law interpreting the Lanham Act has limited liability for many onlineInternet service providers such as search engines and domain name registrars. Nevertheless, there is no statutory safe harbor for trademark violations comparable to the provisions of the DMCA, and we may be subject to a variety of trademark claims in the future.
Privacy and Data Protection. In the areas of personal privacy and data protection, the U.S. federal and various state and foreign governments have adopted or proposed limitations on, and requirements associated with, the collection, distribution, use, storage and security of personal information of individuals. If our practices with respect to the collection, distribution, storage, or security of personal information are challenged, we may not be able to demonstrate adequate compliance with existing or future laws or regulations. In addition, in the European Union member states and certain other countries outside the U.S.,several jurisdictions in which we operate, data protection is more highly regulated and rigidly enforced. Regulators inFor example, the European Union have approved(E.U.) has enacted the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a regulation that will take full effect on May 25, 2018, superseding at that time the 1995 European Union Data Protection Directive. The GDPRwhich includes stringent operational requirements for processors and controllers of E.U. personal data for companies established in the EUwith broad extra-territorial effect and those outside of the EU if they collect and use personal data, including payment card information, imposes significant penalties for non-compliancenon-compliance. In addition, California enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in 2018, effective January 1, 2020, which was further modified by the passage of the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA). The CCPA and has broader extra-territorial effect. Withits associated regulations require covered companies to provide new disclosures to California consumers and afford such consumers new abilities to opt-out of certain sales and sharing of personal information for advertising and other purposes. Several other U.S. states recently have adopted or are considering laws and regulations relating to processing of personal information that apply to our acquisition of HEG, and as we conduct and expand our business across Europe and elsewhere, webusiness. We expect compliance with the increasing number of these regulatory schemeslaws and regulations to be more burdensome and costly for us.
Payments Regulation. Various U.S. federal, state and international laws and regulations govern the payments industry, including the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 and state money transmitter licensing laws. Our payments services may be or become subject to regulation by authorities, which would subject us to, among other things, (i) record-keeping, reporting and bonding requirements, (ii) limitations on the investment of customer funds and (iii) inspection by state and federal regulatory agencies. In order to offer retail point-of-sale solutions that connect to payment networks, retail point-of-sale providers must certify their products and services with the payment card networks, financial institutions and payment processors, as well as comply with government and telecommunications company regulations including those imposed by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and similar telecommunications authorities worldwide.
Artificial Intelligence. AI is the subject of evolving review by various governmental and regulatory agencies around the globe, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and changes in laws, rules, directives and regulations governing the use of AI are evolving rapidly. For example, on October 30, 2023, the Biden administration issued an Executive Order to, among other things, establish extensive new standards for AI safety and security, and other jurisdictions may decide to adopt similar or more restrictive legislation that may render the use of such technologies challenging. Similarly, the intellectual property ownership and license rights, including copyright, surrounding AI technologies has not been fully addressed by U.S. courts or other federal or state laws or regulations. We will continue to monitor developing global AI laws and regulations and evaluate the potential implications for the operation of our business.
Laws and regulations relating to our activities are unsettled in many jurisdictions orand may prove difficult or impossible to comply with in some jurisdictions. Additionally, federal, state, local and foreign governments are also considering legislative and regulatory proposals that would regulate the Internet and our activities in more and different ways than exist today. It also is impossible to predict whether new taxes will be imposed on our services, and depending upon the type of such taxes, whether and how we would be affected. Laws and regulations in the U.S. or in foreign jurisdictions may be applied in new or different manners in pending or future litigation. Further, other existing bodies of law, including the criminal laws of various jurisdictions, may be deemed to apply to our activities, or new statutes or regulations may be adopted in the future. It is also impossible to predict whether new taxes will be imposed on our services, and depending upon the type of such taxes, whether and how we would be affected.
Intellectual Property and Proprietary Rights
Our intellectual property and proprietary rights are important to our business. We rely on a combination of trademark, patent, copyright and trade secret laws, confidentiality and access-related procedures and safeguards and contractual provisions to protect our proprietary technologies, confidential information, brands and other intellectual property.
We have also developed, acquired or licensed proprietary technologies for use in our business. As of December 31, 2017,2023, we had 230368 issued patents in the U.S. and other countries covering various aspects of our product offerings. Additionally, as of December 31, 2017,2023, we had 15012 pending U.S. and international patent applications and intend to file additional patent applications in the future. As of December 31, 2023, we had 583 registered and 25 pending trademarks in jurisdictions including the U.S., E.U., UK, China and Germany.
We have non-disclosure, confidentiality and license agreements with employees, contractors, customers and other third parties, which limit access to and use of our proprietary information. Though we rely in part upon these legal and contractual protections, as well as various procedural safeguards, we believe the skill and ingenuity of our employees, the functionality and
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frequent enhancements to our solutions and our ability to introduce new products and features meeting the needs of our customers are more important to maintaining our competitive position in the marketplace.
We have an ongoing trademark and service mark registration program pursuant to which we register our brand names and product names, taglines and logos in the U.S. and other countries to the extent we determine appropriate and cost-effective. We also have common law rights in some unregistered trademarks that were established over years of use. In addition, we have a trademark and service mark enforcement program pursuant to which we monitor applications filed by third parties to register trademarks and service marks that may be confusingly similar to ours, as well as the use of our major brand names in social media, domain names and other Internet sites.
Despite our efforts to preserve and protect our intellectual property, unauthorized third parties may attempt to copy, reverse engineer or otherwise obtain access to our proprietary rights, and competitors may attempt to develop solutions that could compete with us in the markets we serve. Unauthorized disclosure of our confidential information or proprietary technologies by our employees or third parties could also occur. The risk of unauthorized use of our proprietary and intellectual property rights may increase as we continue to expand outside of the U.S.
Third-party infringement claims are also possible in our industry, especially as functionality and features expand, evolve and overlap across industries. Third parties, including non-practicing patent holders, have from time to time claimed, and could

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claim in the future, that our processes, technologies or websites infringe patents they now hold or might obtain or be issued in the future.
Employees
As of December 31, 2017, we had 5,990 employees worldwide, including 3,588 in our Customer Care team, 1,360 in technology and development, 268 in marketing and advertising and 774 in general and administrative. Excluded from our employee figures are nearly 1,900 Customer Care specialists located in Bulgaria, China, Colombia, India, Mexico, the Philippines and the United Kingdom who are directly employed by third-party partners, but who are dedicated to GoDaddy on a full time basis. Substantially all of our employees are based in the U.S. and Europe. None of our employees is represented by a labor union or is party to any collective bargaining agreement in connection with his or her employment with us. However, certain of our employees in Germany are represented by an employee works council pursuant to local regulations.
Corporate Information
We were incorporated in Delaware on May 28, 2014. Our principal executive offices are located at 14455 N. Hayden Road, Scottsdale,2155 E. GoDaddy Way, Tempe, Arizona 8526085284, and our telephone number is (480) 505-8800.
Available Information
Our website is located at www.godaddy.com and our investor relations website is located at www.investors.godaddy.net.investors.godaddy.net. Our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and our Proxy Statements are available through our investor relations website, free of charge, as soon as reasonably practicable after we file them with the SEC. We also provide a link to the section of the SEC's website at www.sec.gov that has all of the reports, proxy and information statements we file or furnish with the SEC. You may read and copy any materials we file with the SEC at the SEC's Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20549. You can get information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330.

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Item 1A. Risk Factors
You should carefully consider the risks described below before making an investment decision in our common stock. Our operations and financial results are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including those described below. The risksbelow and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risksother information in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and uncertainties we are unaware of, or we currently believe are not material, may also become important factors affecting us.in our other public filings. If any of the following risks occur, our business, financial condition, reputation, operating results and growth prospects could be materially and adversely affected. InAdditional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that event,we currently deem immaterial may also materially adversely affect our business, operating results, financial condition, reputation and growth prospects.
Risk Factor Summary
The following is a summary of the principal risks that could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and growth prospects.
If we are unable to attract and retain customers and increase sales to new and existing customers, our business and operating results would be harmed.
If we are unable to continue to attract a diverse customer base for which we have developed more customized solutions and applications, our business, growth prospects and operating results could be adversely affected.
Our business will suffer if the small business market for our solutions proves less lucrative than projected or if we fail to effectively acquire and service small business customers.
We may not successfully develop and market products that meet or anticipate our customers' needs, whether organically or inorganically, or may not develop such products on a timely basis.
The use of new and evolving technologies, such as AI, in our offerings may result in reputational harm and liability.
Our brand is integral to our success. If we fail to protect or promote our brand, our business and competitive position may be harmed.
We face significant competition for our Applications and Commerce and Core Platform products, which we expect will continue to intensify, and we may not be able to maintain or improve our competitive position or market share.
Our restructuring activities may not adequately reduce our operating costs or improve our operating margins, may lead to additional workforce attrition and may cause operational disruptions.
The future growth of our business depends in part on our international bookings. Our continued international presence could subject us to additional risks.
We have taken significant actions to support profitable growth. These actions may not succeed. If we do not effectively manage future growth, our operating results will be adversely affected.
We may acquire other businesses or talent, which could require significant management attention, disrupt our business, dilute stockholder value and adversely affect our operating results.
We may enter into new lines of business that offer new products and services, which may subject us to additional risks.
We are exposed to the risk of system failures and capacity constraints.
We rely on third parties to perform certain key functions, and their failure to perform those functions could result in the interruption of our operations and systems and could result in significant costs and reputational damage to us.
A network attack, a security breach or other cybersecurity incident could delay or interrupt service to our customers, harm our reputation, cause us to incur substantial costs, or subject us to significant liability.
If the security of the confidential information or personal information we or our vendors or partners maintain, including that of our customers and the visitors to our customers’ websites stored in our systems, is breached or otherwise subjected to unauthorized access, our reputation may be harmed, we may be required to expend substantial resources to mitigate and remediate such breach, and we may be exposed to substantial liability.
We maintain an enterprise-wide cybersecurity program. Our failure to properly maintain this program for the company as a whole, or any part of the company, could cause us to experience a cybersecurity incident that could harm our reputation, cause us to incur substantial costs, or subject us to significant liability.
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We rely on our marketing efforts and channels to promote our brand and acquire new customers. These efforts may require significant expense and may not be successful or cost-effective.
Our ability to increase sales of our products is highly dependent on the quality of our customer care. Our failure to provide high-quality customer care would have an adverse effect on our business, brand and operating results.
Our future performance depends in part on the services and performance of our senior management, as well as our experienced and capable employees. If we are unable to attract, motivate, and retain our employees, our business could suffer.
Our failure to properly register or maintain our customers' domain names could subject us to additional expenses, claims of loss or negative publicity that could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Our payments-related operations, including GoDaddy Payments, are subject to various laws, regulations, restrictions and risks. Our failure to comply with such rules, regulations, and restrictions regarding our payments-related operations could materially harm our business.
Our quarterly and annual operating results may be adversely affected due to a variety of factors, which could make our future results difficult to predict and could cause our operating results to fall below investor or analyst expectations.
Our level of indebtedness could adversely affect our financial condition, our ability to raise additional capital to fund our operations, our ability to operate our business and our ability to react to changes in the economy or our industry, as well as divert our cash flow from operations for debt payments and prevent us from meeting our debt obligations.
Governmental and regulatory policies or claims concerning the domain name registration system and the Internet in general, and industry reactions to those policies or claims, may cause instability in the industry and disrupt our business.
We are subject to governmental regulation and other legal obligations, particularly related to privacy, data and information security and cybersecurity. Our failure to comply with these or any future laws, regulations or obligations could subject us to sanctions and damages and could harm our reputation and business.
Our business depends on our customers' continued and unimpeded access to the Internet and the development and maintenance of Internet infrastructure. Internet access providers may be able to block, degrade or charge for access to certain of our products, which could lead to additional expenses and the loss of customers.
Our business could be affected by new governmental regulations regarding the Internet.
We may face liability or become involved in disputes over registration and transfer of domain names and control over websites.
Our business could be negatively impacted by shareholder activism.
Our share price may be volatile, and you may lose all or part of your investment.
We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. If we are unable to remediate the material weakness, or if we identify additional material weaknesses in the future or otherwise fail to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, our ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements or comply with applicable regulations could be impaired, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and the market price of our Class A common stock could decline.stock.
Strategic Risks Related to Our Business
If we are unable to attract and retain customers and increase sales to new and existing customers, our business and operating results would be harmed.
Our success depends on our ability to attract and retain customers and increase sales to new and existing customers. We derive a substantial portion of our revenue from domains and our hosting and presence products. The rate at which new and existing customers purchase and renew subscriptions to our products depends on a number of factors, including those outside of our control. Although our total customers and revenue have grown rapidly in the past, in recent periods our slower growth rates have reflected the larger size, scale and scalematurity of parts of our business. We cannot be assured that we will achieve similar growth rates in future periods as our total customers and revenue could decline or grow more slowly than we expect. Our salesThe rate at which new and existing customers purchase and renew subscriptions to our products could fluctuate or decline as a result of a number of factors, such as lower demand for domain names, websites and related products, declines in our customers' level of satisfaction with our products and the support provided by our Customer Care,GoDaddy Guides, platform migration, divestitures, end of life related actions on
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previously acquired companies, the timeliness and success of product enhancements and introductions by us and those of our competitors, the pricing offered by us and our competitors and the frequency and severity of any system outages, breaches, andor technological change. changes.
Our revenue has grown historically due in large part to sustained customer growth rates and strong renewal salesrenewals of subscriptions to our domain name registration and hosting and presence products.subscriptions. Our future success depends in part on maintaining strong renewal sales.renewals. Our costs associated with renewal salesrenewals are substantially lower than costs associated with generating revenue fromacquiring new customers and costs associated with generating sales ofselling additional products to existing customers. Therefore, a reduction in renewals, even if offset by an increase in other revenue, wouldcould reduce our operating margins in the near term. Any failure by us to continue to attract new customers or maintain strong renewal salesrenewals could have a material adverse effect on our business, growth prospects and operating results.
If we are unable to continue to attract a diverse customer base for which we have developed more customized solutions and applications, our business, growth prospects and operating results could be adversely affected.
We aim to serve customers with new ventures and those with established small or medium-sized businesses that may need help growing and expanding their digital capabilities (Independents). We also serve and provide products for other customer populations, such as website designers and developers (WebPros), organizations with their own domain registration offerings (Domain Registrars), individuals or organizations that manage a portfolio of registered domains (Domain Investors) and third party registrars and corporate domain portfolio owners, including those that are more technically savvy. For these customers we aim to develop new features and applications that may be used to start or grow their businesses. For example, we offer tools for our technically sophisticated web designers, developers and customers, including high-performance, flexible hosting and security products that can be used with a variety of open source design tools such as WordPress. If we are unable to increase sales of additional products, such as personalized email accounts and other business applicationsour products to newall customer segments we may target, our estimated total addressable market may be overstated and existing customers, our business, growth prospects and operating results may be adversely affected.
Our business will suffer if the small business market for our solutions proves less lucrative than projected or if we fail to effectively acquire and service small business customers.
We focus our operations on small businesses, which frequently have limited budgets and may choose to allocate resources to items other than our solutions, especially in times of economic uncertainty or recessions. We believe that the small business market is underserved, and we intend to continue to devote substantial resources to it. We aim to grow our revenues by adding new small business customers, selling additional business solutions to existing small business customers and encouraging existing small business customers to continue to use and purchase our products and services. If the small business market fails to be as lucrative as we project or we are unable to market and sell our services to small businesses effectively, our ability to grow our revenues and maintain profitability will be harmed.
If we do not successfully develop and market products that anticipate or respond promptlytimely to the needs of our customers, our business and operating results may suffer.
The markets in whichwhere we compete are characterized by constant change and innovation, frequent new product and service introductions and evolving industry standards, and we expect them to continue to evolve rapidly. Our historical success has been based on our ability to identify and anticipate customer needs and design products providing small businesses and venturesthat provide our customers with the tools they need to create, managegrow their businesses. For example, in 2023 we launched GoDaddy Airo in the U.S. GoDaddy Airo is an AI-powered solution designed to save our customers time. We also expanded our commerce offerings through the years by enabling payments through GoDaddy Payments in all Websites + Marketing through 'Buy Buttons' and augment their digital identity.provided on-the-go solutions such as Tap-to-Pay capability in the GoDaddy Mobile App, Pay Links and Virtual Terminal. To the extent we are not able to continue to identify challenges faced by entrepreneurs, small businesses and ventures and provide products responding in a timely and effective manner to their evolving needs, our business, operating results and financial condition may be adversely affected.
The process of developingThere is no assurance we will continue to successfully identify new opportunities, develop and bring new products and technology is complex and uncertain.to market on a timely basis, or that products or technologies developed by others will not render our products or technologies obsolete or noncompetitive. If we fail to accurately predict customers' changing needs, such as the need for expanded online and offline commerce tools, or emerging technological trends, such as AI, or if we fail to achieve the benefits expected from our investments in technology, our business and operating results could be harmed. These product and technology investments include those we develop internally, such as our "do-it-yourself" website builder GoCentral,Websites + Marketing and our hosting platforms and our security products, those we acquire and develop as a result ofthrough acquisitions, such as SmartLineDan.com and Website Security,Poynt, and those related to our partner programs, such as Microsoft.
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We must continue to commit significant resources to develop our technology in order to maintain our competitive position, and these commitments will be madedoing so without knowing whether such investments will result in successful products for our customers will accept.customers. Our new products or product enhancements could fail to attain meaningful customer acceptance for many reasons, including:
 delays in releasing new products or product enhancements to the market;
our failure to accurately predict market demand or customer preferences;
defects, errors or failures in product design or performance;
negative publicity about product performance or effectiveness;effectiveness, including negative comments on social media;
introduction of competing products (or the anticipation thereof) by other market participants;

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poor business conditions for our customers or poor general macroeconomic conditions;
the perceived value of our products or product enhancements relative to their cost; and
changing regulatory requirements adversely affecting the products we offer.offer; and
There is no assurance we will successfully identify new opportunities, develop and bring new products to market on a timely basis,poor business conditions for our customers or that products and technologies developed by others will not render our products or technologies obsolete or noncompetitive, any of which could adversely affect our business and operating results. poor general macroeconomic conditions.
If our new products or enhancements do not achieve adequate acceptance by our customers, or if our new products do not result in increased sales or subscriptions,subsequent renewals, our competitive position will be impaired, our anticipated revenue growth may not be achieved and the negative impact on our operating results may be particularly acute because of the upfront technology and development, marketing and advertising and other expenses we may incur in connection with new products or enhancements. In addition, we may migrate our customers from a product that we intend to retire to another, substantially similar product. We may experience technical or other complications during such migration, which could result in a poor customer experience and which could have an adverse impact on our operating results.
The use of new and evolving technologies, such as AI, in our offerings may result in reputational harm and liability.
We are increasingly using new and evolving technologies, such as AI, to, among other things, develop new tools and products, and additional features in our existing products, including ongoing deployment and improvement of existing AI, and the development of new product technologies, such as generative AI. For example, in 2023 we launched GoDaddy Airo in the U.S. GoDaddy Airo is an AI-powered solution designed to save our customers time. There are significant risks involved in development and deploying AI, such as an increase in intellectual property infringement or misappropriation, data privacy, cybersecurity, operational and technological risks, harmful content, accuracy, bias and discrimination, any of which could affect our further development, adoption, and use of AI, and may cause us to incur additional research and development costs to resolve such issues. In addition, the introduction of AI technologies into new or existing products may result in new or enhanced governmental or regulatory scrutiny, litigation, privacy, confidentiality or security risks, ethical concerns or other complications that could adversely affect our business, reputation or financial results.
AI is the subject of evolving review by various governmental and regulatory agencies around the globe, including the SEC and the FTC, and changes in laws, rules, directives and regulations governing the use of AI are evolving rapidly. For example, on October 30, 2023, the Biden administration issued an Executive Order to, among other things, establish extensive new standards for AI safety and security, and other jurisdictions may decide to adopt similar or more restrictive legislation that may render the use of such technologies challenging. Similarly, the intellectual property ownership and license rights, including copyright, surrounding AI technologies has not been fully addressed by U.S. courts or other federal or state laws or regulations, and the use or adoption of AI technologies in our products and services may subject us to copyright infringement or other intellectual property misappropriation claims. We may not always be able to anticipate how to respond to these frameworks and we may have to expend resources to adjust our tools, products or other offerings in certain jurisdictions if the legal frameworks on AI are not consistent across jurisdictions. Any inability to appropriately respond to this evolving landscape could result in legal liability, regulatory action or brand and reputational harm. Our reliance on AI could also pose ethical concerns and lead to a lack of human oversight and control. If we enable or offer solutions that draw controversy, or these new offerings do not work as we describe them to our customers, we may experience brand or reputational harm, competitive harm or legal liability. The rapid evolution of AI will require the application of resources to develop, test and maintain our products and services to help ensure that AI is implemented ethically in order to minimize unintended, harmful impacts.
Further, AI technologies, including generative AI, may create content that appears correct but is factually inaccurate or flawed, or contains copyrighted or other protected material, and our customers or others may rely on or use this flawed content to their detriment. In addition, we face significant competition from other companies that are developing their own AI products and technologies. Our competitors may develop AI products and technologies that are similar or superior to our technologies or are more cost-effective to develop or deploy.
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It is not possible to predict all of the risks related to the use of AI, and changes in laws, rules, directives and regulations governing AI may adversely affect our ability to develop and use AI or subject us to legal liability.
Our brand is integral to our success. If we fail to protect or promote our brand, our business and competitive position may be harmed.
Protecting and maintaining awareness of our brand is important to our success, particularly as we seek to attract new customers globally.globally and to increase customer awareness of our full portfolio of products. We have invested, and expect to continue to invest, substantial resources to increase our brand awareness, both generally and in specific geographies and to specific customer groups, such as Web Pros. There can be no assurance that our brand development strategies will enhance the recognition of our brand or lead to increased sales. Furthermore, our international branding efforts may prove unsuccessful due to language barriersindividual entrepreneurs, WebPros (including designers, developers and cultural differences.agencies) and Domain Investors. If our efforts to protect and promote our brand are not successful, our operating results may be adversely affected. In addition, even if
GoDaddy could become the target of organized activist groups seeking to bring attention to elements of our brand, recognition and loyalty increases, our revenue may not increase at a level commensurate with our marketing spend.
A network attack, a security breachproducts, business model, employment practices, advertising, spokespeople, locations or other data security incident could delaymatters of our business in order to gain support for their interests or interrupt service todeter us from continuing practices with which they disagree. In the past, we have been successful in striking a balance in our customers, harm our reputation or subject us to significant liability.
Our operations depend on our ability to protect our network and systems against interruption or damage from unauthorized entry, computer viruses, denial of service attacks and other security threats beyond our control. We regularly experience DDOS attacks by hackers aimed at disrupting service to our customers and attempts to place illegal or abusive content on our or our customers' websites, and we may be subject to DDOS attacks or content abuse in the future. Our response to such DDOS attacksgroups, but we may not be insufficient to protect our network and systems, especially as attacks (such as the DYN attack in October 2016) increase in size. In addition, there has been an increase in the number of malicious software attacks in the technology industry, including malware and ransomware, such as WannaCry. In addition, from time to time, activities of our customers or other parties may cause us to suspend or terminate customer accounts. We have suspended and terminated, and willsuccessful in the future, suspendsuch that our brand, company culture or terminate,results of operations could be harmed.
Evolving technologies and administration of the Internet, and the resulting changes in customer behavior and customer practices may impact the value of and demand for our products, including domain names and our websites.
The domain name registration market continues to evolve and adapt to changing technology. This evolution has and may in the future include changes in the administration or operation of the Internet, including the creation and institution of alternate systems for directing Internet traffic without using the existing domain name registration system, or fundamental changes in the domain name resolution protocol used by web browsers and other Internet applications. The widespread acceptance of any alternative system, such as mobile applications or closed networks, could eliminate the need to register a customer's usedomain name to establish an online presence and could materially and adversely affect our business.
In addition, businesses are increasingly relying solely on social media channels, such as Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, X (f/k/a Twitter) and WeChat, to reach their customers, and consumers are accessing the Internet more frequently through applications on mobile devices. As reliance on these applications increases, domain names may become less prominent and their value may decline. We are dependent on the interoperability of our products when the activities on their site breach our terms of service (for example, phishing or resource misuse), interfere with or harm other customers' websites sharing the same resources or otherwise violate applicable law. We may also suspend or terminate a customer's website if it is repeatedly targeted by DDOS or other attacks disrupting other customers' websites or servers or otherwise impacts our infrastructure.
We cannot guarantee our backup systems, regular data backups, security protocols, network protection mechanismsthese applications and other procedures currently in place, or that may be in place in the future, will be adequatemobile devices. If we are unable to prevent or remedy network and service interruption, system failure, damage to one or more of our systems, data loss, security breaches or other data security incidents. Also,effectively integrate our products are cloud-based,within these applications or on these devices, we may lose market share. These evolving technologies and the amount of data we store for our customerschanges in customer behavior may have an adverse effect on our servers has been increasing as our business has grown. Despite the implementation of security measures, our infrastructure may be vulnerable to computer viruses, worms, other malicious software programs, illegal or abusive content or similar disruptive problems caused by our customers, employees, consultants or otherand growth prospects.
Historically, Internet users who attempt to invade or disrupt public and private data networks or to improperly access, use or obtain data. Any actual or perceived breach of our security, or any other data security incident, could damage our reputation and brand, expose usnavigated to a riskwebsite by directly typing its domain name into a web browser or navigation bar. The domain name serves as a branded, unique identifier not unlike a phone number or email address. However, over time, individuals' use of losssearch engines to find and access a website rather than using the web browser navigation bar has increased. If search engines modify their algorithms, our websites may appear less prominently or litigation and possible liability, subject usnot at all in search results, which could result in reduced traffic to regulatory or other government inquiries or investigations, require us to expend significant capital and other resources to alleviate problems caused bysuch websites. Additionally, if the breach, and deter customers from using our products, anycosts of which would harm our business, financial condition and operating results.

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If the security of the confidential information or personally identifiable information we maintain, including that of our customers and the visitors to our customers' websites stored in our systems, is breached or otherwise subjected to unauthorized access, our reputation may be harmed andsearch engine marketing services, such as Google Ads, increase, we may be exposed to liability.
Our business involves the storage and transmission of confidential information, including personally identifiable information. In addition, as nearly all of our products are cloud-based, the amount of data we store for our customers on our servers (including personally identifiable information and other potentially sensitive information) has been increasing. We take measures intended to protect the security, integrity and confidentiality of the personal information and other sensitive information, including payment card information, we collect, storeincur additional marketing expenses or transmit, but cannot guarantee that inadvertent or unauthorized use or disclosure will not occur or that third parties or our employees will not gain unauthorized access to this information despite our efforts. If third parties succeed in penetrating our security measures or those of our vendors and partners, or in otherwise accessing or obtaining without authorization the payment card information or other sensitive or confidential information we or our vendors and partners maintain, we could be subject to liability, loss of business, litigation, government investigations or other losses. Hackers or individuals who attempt to breach our security measures or those of our vendors and partners could, if successful, cause the unauthorized disclosure, misuse, or loss of personally identifiable information or other confidential information, including payment card information, suspend our web-hosting operations or cause malfunctions or interruptions in our networks.
If we or our partners experience any breaches of our security measures or sabotage, or otherwise suffer unauthorized use or disclosure of, or access to, personally identifiable information or other confidential information, including payment card information, we mightmay be required to expendallocate a larger portion of our marketing spend to this channel and our business and operating results could be adversely affected.
We face significant capitalcompetition for our Applications and resourcesCommerce and Core Platform products, which we expect will continue to protect against or address these problems. Weintensify, and we may not be able to remedy any problems causedmaintain or improve our competitive position or market share.
The market for our products and services is highly fragmented and competitive and we expect competition to increase in the future from our competitors. In addition, given our broad product portfolio, we compete with niche point-solution products and broader solution providers. These types of products and solutions continue to evolve, creating opportunity for new competitors to enter the market with point-solution products or address specific segments of the market. Our competitors include providers of domain registration services, web-hosting solutions, website creation and management solutions, e-commerce enablement providers, payment facilitation providers, cloud computing service and online security providers, alternative web presence and marketing solutions providers and providers of productivity tools such as business-class email. We consider the following to be a representative list of competitors we face in some of the major areas we operate in:
With respect to our Core Platform products and services: Newfold Digital, Namecheap, Tucows, Dynadot, GMO, Cloudflare, Let's Encrypt, SEDO, Comodo, Hostinger and Identity Digital;
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With respect to our A&C products and services: Shopify, Block, BigCommerce, Stripe, PayPal, Liquid Web, SiteGround, WP Engine, Zoho, Mindbody, Toast, Yelp, OpenTable, TikTok, Meta and WeChat; and
With respect to both our Core Platform and A&C products and services: Wix, Squarespace, Automattic, Ionos, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Alibaba and Tencent.
Some of our current and potential competitors have greater resources, more brand recognition and consumer awareness, more diversified product offerings, greater international scope and larger customer bases than we do, and we may therefore not be able to effectively compete with them. In addition, some of our competitors seek to disrupt the market by hackersoffering their services and products at low or other similar actorsno cost; for example, Cloudflare offers domains at wholesale cost and Let's Encrypt offers security certificates at no cost. If these competitors and potential competitors decide to devote greater resources to the development, promotion and sale of products in a timely manner,the markets in which we compete, or at all. Because techniques usedif the products offered by these companies are more attractive to obtain unauthorized access or to sabotage systems change frequentlybetter meet the evolving needs of our customers, our market share, growth prospects and generally are not recognized until after they are launched against a target, we and our vendors and partnersoperating results may be unableadversely affected. In addition, the extension of the Cooperative Agreement between VeriSign Inc. (VeriSign), the registry for .com and .net, and the U.S. Department of Commerce in 2018 gave VeriSign the right to anticipatebecome an ICANN-accredited registrar for any gTLD other than .com. While VeriSign has not publicly announced whether it will become a registrar, if it were to do so, it would become one of our competitors in this space, which could have a negative impact on our business and industry.
Increased competition in our industry could result in lower sales, price reductions, reduced margins, loss of market share and increased marketing expenses. Furthermore, conditions in our market could change rapidly and significantly as a result of technological advancements, partnering by our competitors or market consolidation. New or existing competitors, or groups of competitors working cooperatively, may invent similar or superior products and technologies competing with our products and technology. The continued entry of competitors into the domain name registration and web-hosting markets, and the rapid growth of some competitors already in each market, may make it difficult for us to maintain our market position. Our ability to compete will depend upon our ability to provide a better product than our competitors at a competitive price and supported by superior customer care. We may be required to make substantial additional investments in research, development, marketing and sales in order to respond to competition, and there can be no assurance that these techniquesinvestments will achieve any returns for us or that we will be able to implement adequate preventative measurescompete successfully in the future.
Our restructuring activities may not adequately reduce our operating costs or improve our operating margins, may lead to additional workforce attrition and may cause operational disruptions.
In February 2023, we announced a restructuring plan to reduce future operating expenses and improve cash flows through a combination of a reduction in force and a commitment to sell certain assets. As part of this plan, we announced a reduction in our then workforce of approximately 550 employees, representing approximately 8% of our total employee base at the time of announcement. In conjunction with this restructuring, during the year ended December 31, 2023, we recorded $35.1 million of pre-tax restructuring charges in our statement of operations related to severance, employee benefits and equity-based compensation. In addition, we recognized a pre-tax loss of $16.5 million upon the completion of the planned disposition of certain assets and liabilities of our hosting business within our Core segment, which occurred on June 30, 2023. In the third quarter of 2023, we implemented additional restructuring activities to further reduce operating expenses and improve cash flows through a timely basis. Advancesreduction in computer capabilities, discoveriesforce, which impacted approximately 250 employees. In conjunction with these restructuring efforts, we recognized $13.4 million of new weaknessespre-tax restructuring charges in our statement of operations related to severance and other developmentsemployee benefits during 2023.
The charges and expenditures that we expect to incur in connection with software generally used by the Internet community,restructuring activities, and timing thereof, are subject to a number of assumptions, including local law requirements in various jurisdictions, and we may incur costs that are greater than we currently expect in connection with the restructuring activities.
The restructuring activities may yield unintended consequences and costs, such as the Meltdownloss of institutional knowledge and Spectre vulnerabilities, which exploit security flawsexpertise, employee attrition beyond our intended reductions in chips manufacturedforce, a reduction in morale among our remaining employees, greater-than-anticipated costs incurred in connection with implementing the last 20 years, the Shellshock vulnerability in the Linux Bash shell, or WannaCry or Petya ransomware attacks, also increaserestructuring activities and the risk that we may not achieve the benefits from the restructuring activities to the extent or our customers using our servers, will suffer a security breach. Our partners andas quickly as we anticipate, all of which may also suffer security breaches or unauthorized access to personally identifiable information and other confidential information, including payment card information, due to employee error, rogue employee activity, unauthorized access by third parties acting with malicious intent or who commit an inadvertent mistake or social engineering. If a breach of our security or other data security incident occurs or is perceived to have occurred, the perception of the effectiveness of our security measures and our reputation could be harmed and we could lose current and potential customers.
Security breaches or other unauthorized access to personally identifiable information and other confidential information, including payment card information, could result in claims against us for unauthorized purchases with payment card information, identity theft or other similar fraud claims as well as for other misuses of personally identifiable information, including for unauthorized marketing purposes, which could result in a material adverse effect on our businessresults of operations or financial condition. Moreover, these claimsThese restructuring initiatives could causeplace substantial demands on our management and employees, which could lead to the diversion of our management’s and employees’ attention from other business priorities. In addition, while we eliminated certain positions in connection with the restructuring activities, certain functions necessary to our reduced operations remain, and we may be unsuccessful in distributing the duties and obligations of departed employees among our remaining employees or to external service providers, which could result in disruptions to our operations. We may also discover that the workforce reductions and other restructuring efforts will make it difficult for us to
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pursue new opportunities and initiatives and require us to hire qualified replacement personnel, which may require us to incur penalties from payment card associations (including thoseadditional and unanticipated costs and expenses. We may further discover that, despite the implementation of our restructuring activities, we may require additional capital to continue expanding our business, and we may be unable to obtain such capital on acceptable terms, if at all. Our failure to successfully accomplish any of the above activities and goals may have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The future growth of our business depends in part on increasing our international bookings. Our continued international presence could subject us to additional risks.
Bookings outside of the U.S. represented approximately 33% of our total bookings for each of the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021. We continue to review and add systems as necessary to accept payments in forms common outside of the U.S., optimize our marketing efforts in numerous non-U.S. geographies, equip our customer care team with the knowledge to serve these markets and maintain or establish customer care operations in overseas locations. Conducting and expanding international business subjects us to risks we generally do not face in the U.S., including:
management, communication and integration problems resulting from language barriers, cultural differences and geographic dispersion of our failurecustomers and personnel;
language translation of, and associated customer care guidance for, our products;
compliance with foreign laws, including laws regarding consumer protection, the Internet and e-commerce or mobile commerce, intellectual property, online disclaimers and advertising, liability of Internet service providers for activities of customers especially with respect to adherehosted content, competition, anti-bribery, and more stringent laws in foreign jurisdictions relating to industryconsumer privacy and protection of data security standards), termination by payment card associationscollected from individuals and other third parties;
accreditation and other regulatory requirements to do business and to provide domain name registration and registry services, web-hosting and other products in foreign jurisdictions;
greater difficulty in enforcing contracts, including our universal terms of service and other agreements due to differences in local legal regimes and court systems;
increased expenses incurred in establishing and maintaining office space and equipment for our international business;
greater costs and expenses associated with international marketing and operations;
greater risk of unexpected changes in regulatory practices, tariffs, trade disputes and tax laws and treaties;
increased exposure to foreign currency risks;
heightened risk of unfair or corrupt business practices in certain geographies, and compliance with anti-corruption laws, such as the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act;
compliance with market access regulations, tariffs and import, export and general trade regulations, including economic sanctions and embargoes;
the potential for political, social or economic unrest, terrorism, hostilities or war, including the current conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and in the Middle East; and
multiple and possibly overlapping tax regimes.
The expansion of our existing international business and entry into additional international markets has required and will continue to require significant management attention and financial resources. These additional costs may increase our cost of acquiring international customers, which may impair our ability to accept creditmaintain profitability in the future. We may also face pressure to lower our prices in order to compete in emerging markets, which could adversely affect revenue derived from our international business.
In addition, certain of our operations and business are in higher risk regions such as China, India and Ukraine. We do not have material operations in China or debit card payments, litigationUkraine but our operations have been, and adverse publicity,we expect may continue, growing in India. As a result, unanticipated events, such as geopolitical changes associated with our international business could impair our growth prospects and regulatoryadversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition. In addition, given the risks associated with our international business, we may decide to relocate international operations either to other foreign countries or domestically, which could require significant management attention and financial resources and may not prove to be successful and could
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adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition. For example, there is uncertainty as to the future of U.S. trade policy with respect to China; in February 2022, Russia launched a military assault in Ukraine which has expanded to a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops; and in October 2023, Hamas launched assaults against Israel and Israel responded with operations against Hamas. Although we have not seen a material impact, these and other factors associated with our international business could impair our growth prospects and adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition. In particular, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S., UK and E.U. governments, among others, developed coordinated financial and economic sanctions targeting Russia that, in various ways, constrain transactions with numerous Russian entities, including major Russian banks, and individuals. We have no employees or facilities in Russia or Ukraine. We have a limited number of contractors in Ukraine and as a result, a prolonging of this conflict could cause delays in future product launches if such contractors are unable to work and/or it becomes necessary to locate and train new contractors to support these products. In addition, we opted to shut down our GoDaddy website in Russia and removed support for the Ruble. Our business has not been materially impacted to date by the ongoing conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and in the Middle East, however it is impossible to predict the extent to which our operations will be impacted or the ways in which the conflicts may impact our business in the long term. Furthermore, a widening of the conflict in the Middle East could lead to broader geopolitical destabilization and macro-economic impacts.
We have taken significant actions to support profitable growth. These actions may not succeed. If we do not effectively manage future growth, our operating results will be adversely affected.
We continue to work to increase the breadth and scope of our business, operations and our product offerings. To support future growth, we must continue to improve our information technology and financial infrastructure, operating and administrative systems and our ability to effectively manage headcount, capital and processes. We are likely to recognize the costs associated with these actions earlier than some of the anticipated benefits, and the return on these actions may be lower or may develop more slowly than we expect. If we do not achieve the benefits anticipated from these actions, or if the achievement of these benefits is delayed, our operating results may be adversely affected.
We have incurred, and will continue to incur, expenses relating to our investments in international business and infrastructure, such as: (i) our offerings and marketing presence in India, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, and Asia; (ii) our marketing spend to attract new customers, such as WebPros and Independents in non-U.S. markets; and (iii) investments in software systems and additional data center resources to keep pace with the growth of our cloud infrastructure and cloud-based product offerings. We have made significant investments in product development, corporate infrastructure and technology and development, and intend to continue investing in the development of our products and infrastructure and our marketing and GoDaddy Guides.
As we continue to grow, our management, administrative, operational and financial infrastructure may be strained. The scalability and flexibility of our infrastructure depends on the functionality and bandwidth of our data centers, peering sites and servers. The growth in our total customers over the years and the increase in the number of transactions we process have increased the amount of our stored customer data. Any loss of data or disruption in our ability to provide our product offerings due to disruptions in our infrastructure, services or third parties we rely on could result in harm to our brand or reputation. Moreover, as our customer base continues to grow and uses our platform for more complicated tasks, we will need to devote additional resources to improve our infrastructure and to enhance its scalability and security. If we do not manage the growth of our business and operations effectively, the quality of our platform and efficiency of our operations could suffer, which could harm our operating and business results.
We review and make enhancements as necessary to existing platforms and tools to support our growth. While we are engaged in this work, we may experience difficulties in managing our existing systems and processes, which could disrupt our operations, the management of our finances and the reporting of our financial results. In addition, if we determine new systems or system updates are necessary, we may need to rely on legacy systems while we plan for implementation of such new or updated systems; such legacy systems may not be able to scale efficiently as our business grows, which may delay future product launches or enhancements. Our failure to improve our systems and processes or complete such system implementations or enhancements on a timely basis, or their failure to operate in the intended manner, may result in our inability to manage the growth of our business, successfully integrate our acquisitions and to accurately forecast and report our results.
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We may acquire other businesses or talent, which could require significant management attention, disrupt our business, dilute stockholder value and adversely affect our operating results.
As part of our business strategy, we have in the past made, and may in the future make, acquisitions or investments in companies, talent, products, domain portfolios and technologies that we believe will complement or supplement our business and address the needs of our customers, such as our acquisitions of Dan.com and GoDaddy Payments. We cannot ensure we will be able to successfully integrate the acquired products, talent and technology or achieve the revenue and expense synergies we expect as a result of these acquisitions. Even if we do successfully integrate acquired products, we may not successfully integrate the associated brands into our portfolio or may decide to modify, retire or change the direction of the associated brands, which could adversely affect our operating results. If we fail to properly evaluate, execute or integrate acquisitions or investments, the anticipated benefits may not be realized, we may be exposed to unknown or unanticipated liabilities and our business and growth prospects could be harmed. In addition, any future acquisitions we complete could be viewed negatively by our customers, investors or industry analysts.
We may have to pay cash, incur debt or issue equity securities to pay for future acquisitions, each of which could adversely affect our financial condition or the value of our Class A common stock. Equity issuances in connection with potential future acquisitions may also result in dilution to our stockholders. In addition, our future operating results may be impacted by performance earn-outs, contingent bonuses or other government inquiriesdeferred payments. Furthermore, acquisitions may involve contingent liabilities, adverse tax consequences, additional equity-based compensation expense, the recording and subsequent amortization of amounts related to certain purchased intangible assets and, if unsuccessful, impairment charges resulting from the write-off of goodwill or investigations,other intangible assets associated with the acquisition, any of which could negatively impact our future results of business. We may also face competition for acquisitions from larger competitors that may have more extensive financial resources, which may increase the cost or limit the availability of acquisitions.
We may fail to identify all of the problems, liabilities or other shortcomings or challenges of an acquired company, including issues related to intellectual property, solution quality or architecture, privacy, data protection, information security practices, regulatory compliance practices, employment practices, customer or sales channels and integrations of prior acquisitions. We are also required to integrate, operate and manage an acquired company's security infrastructure, which may be particularly challenging when acquired businesses utilize heavily customized or outdated systems or if we face a loss of personnel of the acquired business. Challenges with acquired systems and/or the loss of personnel familiar with and responsible for such acquired systems could increase our vulnerability to network attacks, security incidents or similar events.
We may encounter difficulties assimilating or integrating the companies, solutions, technologies, accounting systems, personnel or operations we acquire, particularly if the key personnel are geographically dispersed or choose not to work for us once they are acquired. For example, in the future we may enter into transition services agreements with a seller for the provision of support services to assist with the orderly integration of the business. We may never realize the benefits of these transition services agreements and we may be unable to manage and coordinate the performance of personnel providing services to us under these agreements. Leaders and personnel at acquired companies may focus on achieving performance earn-outs or contingent payments rather than integrating with us. Additionally, we may not integrate an acquired company into our systems as planned, requiring us to depend on their legacy systems or a transition services agreement for longer than anticipated.
We may enter into new lines of business that offer new products and/or services, which may subject us to additional risks.
From time to time, we may enter into new lines of business that offer new products and/or services. Our lack of experience with or knowledge of new lines of business we choose to enter, as well as external factors, such as competitive alternatives, potential conflicts of interest, either real or perceived, and shifting market preferences, may impact our implementation and operation of such new lines of business. Other risks of implementing new lines of business include:
potential diversion of management's attention, available cash and other resources from our existing business;
any determination by governmental agencies that any acquisition we undertake is anticompetitive in any relevant market;
unanticipated liabilities or contingencies;
compliance with new or increased regulatory burdens;
potential damage to existing customer relationships, lack of customer acceptance or inability to attract new customers; and
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the inability to compete effectively in the new line of business.
Failure to successfully manage these risks in the implementation or acquisition of new lines of business or the offering of new products or services could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, results of operations and financial condition.
Our corporate culture has contributed to our success, and if we cannot maintain this culture as we grow, we could lose the innovation, creativity, passion and teamwork that we believe contribute to our success and our business may be harmed.
We expectbelieve a critical contributor to our success has been our company culture, which we rely on to foster innovation, creativity, a customer-centric focus, passion, teamwork, collaboration and loyalty. We have invested substantial time and resources in building our team within this company culture. Any failure to preserve our culture could negatively affect our ability to retain and recruit personnel and to ensure employees effectively focus on and pursue our company objectives. Our corporate culture is central to our devoted GoDaddy Guides, which are a key component of the value we offer our customers. As we continue to expend significant resourcesevolve our business, expand our global footprint and product portfolio and rely more on remote and foreign workers, we may find it difficult to protect against security breachesmaintain these important aspects of our culture, which could limit our ability to innovate and operate effectively. We believe we provide a workplace in which employees are best served by direct discussion with management regarding pay, benefits and other workplace practices. Currently none of our workforces in the U.S. are subject to collective bargaining agreements, however, if areas of our workforce were to organize, we may find it difficult to maintain our culture, cost structure and control over the delivery of our products, which could adversely impact our culture and results of operations. Certain of our employees in Germany are represented by employee works councils and elsewhere some international employees are represented by worker representatives in accordance with local regulations.
In February 2023, we effected a workforce reduction impacting approximately 8% of our then employee count as part of a restructuring plan. In the third quarter of 2023, we implemented additional restructuring activities to further reduce operating expenses and improve cash flows through a reduction in force, which impacted approximately 250 employees. The effects of these workforce reductions may make it more difficult to preserve our company culture and may negatively impact employee morale. In addition, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, a substantial portion of our personnel, including our GoDaddy Guides, began working remotely. We anticipate working arrangements for most of our employees will continue to differ from the arrangements before the COVID-19 pandemic and the majority of our employees will continue to work from home on a full- or part-time basis. We continue to evaluate the effectiveness of these working arrangements on our employees and our business. The full or partial return to in-office work and the potential transition to permanent remote working arrangements for some employees may result in increased costs, decreased efficiency, deterioration of company culture and/or other unforeseen challenges. Any failure to preserve our culture could also negatively affect our ability to retain and recruit personnel, continue to perform at current levels or execute on our business strategy. The remote work environment has also increased our vulnerability to consumer privacy, data security incidents. Theand fraud risks as a result of our personnel working remotely, which may require us to invest in risk mitigation efforts that these types of events could seriously harm our business is likely to increase as we expand the number of cloud-based products we offer and operate in more countries.may not be successful.
Operational Risks
We are exposed to the risk of system failures and capacity constraints.
We have experienced, and may in the future experience, system failures and outages disrupting the operation of our websites or our products such as web-hosting and email, or the availability of our Customer Carecustomer care operations. Our revenue depends in large part on the volume of traffic to our websites, the number of customers whose websites we host on our servers and the availability of our Customer Carecustomer care operations. Accordingly, the performance, reliability and availability of our websites and servers for our corporate operations and infrastructure, as well as in the delivery of products to customers, are critical to our reputation and our ability to attract and retain customers. Any such system failure or outage could generate negative publicity, which could negatively impact our reputation and financial results. As we continue to transition many of our services to Amazon Web Services (AWS) to host our products, we have become, and will become, more dependent on third parties to accommodate the high volume of traffic to our websites and those of our customers.
We are continually workingwork to expand and enhance our website features, technology and network infrastructure and other technologies to accommodate substantial increases in (i) the volume of traffic on our godaddy.com and affiliated websites, (ii) the number of customer websites we host and (iii) our overall total customers. We may be unsuccessful in these efforts, or we may be unable to project accurately the rate or timing of these increases.increases or to successfully allocate resources to address such increases, which could have a negative impact on
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customer experience and our financial results. In the future, we may be required to allocate additional resources, including

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spending substantial amounts to build, purchase or lease data centers and equipment and upgrade our technology and network infrastructure in order to handle increased customer traffic, as well as increased traffic to customer websites we host. We also expect to increasingly rely on third-party cloud computing and hosting providers such as AWS as we transition to the public cloud. We cannot predict whether we will be able to continue to add network capacity from third-party suppliers or otherwise as we require it. In addition, our network or our suppliers' networks might be unable to achieve or maintain data transmission capacity high enough to process orders or download data effectively or in a timely manner. Our failure, or our suppliers' failure, to achieve or maintain high data transmission capacity could significantly reduce consumer demand for our products. Such reduced demand and resulting loss of traffic, cost increases, or failure to accommodate new technologies could harm our business, revenue and financial condition. Our systems, including those of our data centers and Customer Care operations, are also vulnerable to damage from fire, power loss, telecommunications failures, computer viruses, physical and electronic break-ins and similar events. The property and business interruption insurance coverage we carry may be subject to fact-dependent and incident-specific exclusions or may not be adequate to compensate us fully for losses that may occur.
We rely on third parties to perform certain key functions, and their failure to perform those functions could result in the interruption of our operations and systems and could result in significant costs and reputational damage to us.
We rely on third parties, and other parties with which those third parties contract, to perform certain technology, processing, servicing and support functions on our behalf, and may in the future choose to transition a function previously managed by us to such third parties. For example,In particular, we are in 2018 we intend to transitionthe process of transitioning a portion of our workloads from a combination of company-owned and co-located data centers to third-party cloud computing and hosting providers, for the delivery of most of our products and storage of our data. In addition in 2018, we also intend to transition certain transactional accounting functions to a professional services firm.including AWS. When we choose to transition a function to a third party, we may spend significant time and effort, incur higher costs than originally expected and experience delays in completing such transition. We may never realize any of the anticipated benefits of relying on such third parties, including acquisition of new customers, improved product features and positive financial results. In addition, theseWhile we use various methods to manage the cybersecurity risk of using third parties to perform key functions, third parties we use are vulnerable to operational and technological disruptions, including from cybersecurity incidents, which may negatively impact our ability to provide services to our customers, operate our business and fulfill our financial reporting obligations. We may have limited remedies against these third parties in the event of service disruptions. If third parties are unable to perform these functions on our behalf because of service interruptions or extended outages, or because those services are no longer available on commercially reasonable terms, our expenses could increase and our customers' use of our products could be impaired until equivalent services, if available, are identified, obtained and implemented, all of which could adversely affect our business.
Evolving technologiesWe substantially rely upon AWS to operate our platform, and resultingany disruption of or interference with our use of AWS would adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
A substantial portion of our cloud infrastructure is provisioned through AWS, which hosts some of our products and platforms. Our customers need to be able to access our platform at any time, without interruption or degradation of performance. AWS runs its own platform that we access, and we are, therefore, vulnerable to service interruptions at AWS. We may experience interruptions, delays and outages in service and availability of AWS services due to a variety of factors, including infrastructure changes, human or software errors, website hosting disruptions and capacity constraints due to any number of potential causes, including technical failures, natural disasters, pandemics such as the COVID-19 pandemic, fraud or cybersecurity attacks, all of which could impact our service to our customers. In addition, if security of AWS is compromised, or our products or platform are unavailable or our users are unable to use our products within a reasonable amount of time or at all, then our business, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected. In some instances, AWS or we may not be able to identify the cause or causes of these performance problems within a period of time acceptable to our customers. It may become increasingly difficult to maintain and improve our platform performance, especially during peak usage times, as our products become more complex and the usage of our products increases. To the extent that we do not effectively address capacity constraints, either through AWS or alternative providers of cloud infrastructure, our business, results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected. In addition, any changes in service levels from AWS may adversely affect our ability to meet our customers’ requirements, result in negative publicity which could harm our reputation and brand and may adversely affect the usage of our platform.
We use AWS primarily for cloud-based server capacity and, to a lesser extent, storage and other optimization offerings. AWS enables us to order and reserve server capacity in varying amounts and sizes distributed across multiple regions. We access AWS infrastructure through standard IP connectivity. AWS provides us with computing and storage capacity pursuant to an agreement that continues until terminated by either party. AWS may terminate the agreement for cause upon notice and upon our failure to cure a breach within 45 days from the date of such notification and may, in some cases, suspend the agreement immediately for cause upon notice. Although we expect that we could receive similar services from other third parties, if any of our arrangements with AWS are terminated, we could experience interruptions on our platform and in our ability to make our products available to customers, as well as delays and additional expenses in arranging alternative cloud infrastructure services.
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Any of the above circumstances or events may harm our reputation, erode customer trust, cause customers to stop using our products, impair our ability to increase revenue from existing customers, impair our ability to grow our customer base, subject us to financial penalties and liabilities under our service level agreements and otherwise harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.
A network attack, a security breach or other cybersecurity incident could delay or interrupt service to our customers, harm our reputation, cause us to incur substantial costs, or subject us to significant liability.
We maintain an enterprise-wide cybersecurity program to manage the risks to our information systems from cybersecurity threats and incidents. Our operations depend on our ability to protect our information systems against interruption, a breach of confidentiality, or other damage from unauthorized entry, computer viruses, denial of service attacks and other security threats both within and beyond our control. These cybersecurity threats may arise from human error, fraud, or malice on the part of our employees, insiders, or third parties, or they may result from accidental technological failure. Any of these parties may also attempt to fraudulently induce employees, customers, or other third-party users of our systems to disclose sensitive information, wittingly or unwittingly, to gain access to our data or that of our customers or third parties with whom we interact.
As an operator of a large Internet infrastructure, the company is frequently targeted and experiences a high rate of attacks. These include the most sophisticated forms of attacks, such as advanced persistent threat attacks and zero-day threats. These forms of attacks include situations where the threat is not compiled or does not have detection signatures within our observation and threat indicators space until the moment it is launched. For example, we have experienced, and may experience in the future, distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks aimed at disrupting service to our customers, attempts to place illegal or abusive content on our or our customers' websites, and other attacks on our systems by sophisticated threat actors. In addition, there has been an increase in the number of malicious software attacks in the technology industry generally, including newer strains of malware, ransomware and cryptocurrency mining software exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities in open source and third-party software. Moreover, retaliatory acts by Russia in response to economic sanctions or other measures taken by the international community against Russia arising from the Russia-Ukraine military conflict could include an increased number or severity of cyber attacks from Russia or its allies. For example, we have seen an increasing number of cyber attacks from threat actor groups located in or leveraging systems, sites and infrastructure hosted in the Russian region to target attacks on our infrastructure. Our response to any such attacks may be insufficient to protect our network and systems, especially as attacks increase in size and nation-state actors use attacks against political and economic adversaries.
Social engineering efforts may compromise our personnel or those of our third-party vendors, leading to unauthorized access to information systems we have a responsibility to protect, which could lead to the unauthorized acquisition of information, the unavailability of our information systems (or information contained on those systems) or the compromise of customer accounts. Despite efforts to promote security awareness and training for our personnel and vendors, malicious actors are increasingly sophisticated and successful in their use of social engineering techniques. We have experienced, and may continue to experience, social engineering attempts, some of which have been successful, including by a persistent threat actor group, which, among other things, has attempted to transfer customer domain names and has targeted customer domains related to cryptocurrency. Recent advances in AI may increase the sophistication of these types of attacks; for example, as attackers are able to create more personalized and targeted communications using information derived from people’s relationships, online behavior and preferences. We have taken steps and continue to work to enhance our cybersecurity and resilience against social engineering, requiring additional engineering efforts and modifications to our technology architecture as well as the expenditure of time and additional cost. We cannot guarantee that our efforts will be successful or customer practicesthat future social engineering incidents will not cause financial, operational and/or reputational harm.
We cannot guarantee that our backup systems and regular data backups will be adequate to protect against loss of our information or information of our customers and third parties. In addition, we cannot guarantee that our cybersecurity program, including our related security protocols, network protection mechanisms, cybersecurity awareness training, insider threat protection program, access controls, and other procedures and measures currently in place, or that may impactbe in place in the valuefuture, will be adequate to prevent or remedy network and service interruptions, system failure, third-party operating systems and software vulnerabilities, damage to one or more of our systems, data loss, cybersecurity breaches or other cybersecurity incidents. Also, our products are cloud-based and demand for domain names.
Historically,we store our customers' data on our servers. Despite the implementation of cybersecurity measures, our information systems may be vulnerable to computer viruses, worms, other malicious software programs, social engineering attacks, insider threats, credential theft and related abuse, illegal or abusive content or similar disruptive problems caused by our customers, employees, consultants or other Internet users navigatedwho attempt to invade or disrupt public and private data networks or to improperly access, use or obtain data.
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We experience cybersecurity incidents, and any actual or perceived breach of our security could expose us to a website by directly typing its domain name into a web browserrisk of loss or navigation bar. The domain name serves as a branded, unique identifier not unlike a phone numberlitigation and possible liability, and could subject us to regulatory or email address. However, people now use multiple methodsother government inquiries or investigations, which will require us to access websites.expend significant capital and other resources to remediate the breach, any of which would harm our business, financial condition and operating results. For example, people increasinglyin March 2020, we discovered that a threat actor group had compromised the hosting login credentials of approximately 28,000 hosting customers to their hosting accounts as well as the login credentials of a small number of our personnel. We subsequently identified more than 5,000 additional hosting customers whose hosting login credentials were compromised in this incident. These hosting login credentials did not provide access to the hosting customers' main GoDaddy account. We have expended resources investigating and responding to this activity, notified the impacted customers, reported the activity to applicable regulatory authorities, and are responding to requests for information regarding our data privacy and security practices, including from the FTC pursuant to Civil Investigative Demands issued in July 2020 and October 2021. The timing of resolution and the outcome of these matters are uncertain and could result in our being subject to substantial monetary or other costs to our business. In November 2021, using a compromised password, an unauthorized third party accessed the provisioning system in our legacy code base for Managed WordPress (MWP), which impacted up to 1.2 million active and inactive MWP customers across multiple GoDaddy brands. We reported the MWP incident to applicable regulatory authorities and have responded to inquiries from customers, strategic partners, regulators, and the media. The timing of resolution and outcome of this matter are uncertain. In December 2022, an unauthorized third party gained access to and installed malware on our cPanel hosting servers. The malware intermittently redirected random customer websites to malicious sites. Based on our investigation, we believe these incidents are part of a multi-year campaign by a sophisticated threat actor group which, among other things, installed malware on our systems and obtained pieces of code related to some services within GoDaddy. To date, these incidents as well as other cyber threats and attacks have not resulted in any material adverse impact to our business or operations, but such threats are constantly evolving, increasing the difficulty of detecting and successfully defending against them. In case of a future incident, a history of past incidents, such as those mentioned herein, may subject us to a greater risk of significant costs and sanctions, or investigations into past incidents may be re-invigorated.
If the security of the personal, sensitive or confidential information, including payment card information, we or our vendors or partners maintain, including that of our customers and the visitors to our customers' websites stored in our information systems, is breached or otherwise subjected to unauthorized access, our reputation may be harmed and we may be exposed to liability.
Our business involves the storage and transmission of confidential information, including personal information and payment card information. In addition, nearly all of our products are cloud-based and we process such data for our customers on our servers, and on servers used by our vendors and partners, such as AWS. We take measures intended to protect the security, integrity and confidentiality of the personal information or other information, including payment card information, that we collect, store or transmit, but cannot guarantee that inadvertent or unauthorized use search enginesor disclosure of such information will not occur or that third parties, including nation-states and bad actors, or our personnel, or those of our vendors will not gain unauthorized or other malicious access to findthis information or systems where personal information is processed despite our preventative efforts or those of our vendors or partners.
If third parties succeed in penetrating our security measures or those of our vendors and access websites as an alternativepartners, or in otherwise accessing or obtaining without authorization the personal, sensitive or confidential information, including payment card information we or our vendors and partners maintain, we could be subject to typing a website address directly into a web browser navigation bar. People increasingly use social networking and microblogging sites to find and access websites. Further, as peopleliability, loss of business, litigation, government investigations or other losses. As we continue to rely more on third-party and public-cloud infrastructures, such as AWS and other third-party service providers, we have become, and will become, more dependent on third-party security measures to protect against unauthorized access, cyber attacks and the mishandling of customer data. Increased handling of personal, sensitive or confidential information, including payment card information, by third parties may create increased risks of unauthorized disclosure, misuse or loss of these types of information and may require us to expend significant time and resources to address incidents of failure in such third parties' security measures. We also anticipate being required to expend significant resources to maintain and improve our oversight of vendors and other third parties with whom we share data or otherwise process data on our behalf. In addition, our customers and partners have in the past and may in the future request we produce evidence of our cybersecurity program as part of their own compliance programs. Responding to such requests may be costly and time consuming.
If we or our partners experience any breaches or sabotage of our security measures, or otherwise suffer unauthorized use or disclosure of, or access to, personal, sensitive or confidential information, including payment card information, we might be required to expend significant capital and resources to remediate these problems and protect against additional breaches or sabotage. We may not be able to remedy any problems caused by threat actors in a timely manner, or at all, due to, among other things, a lack of qualified personnel to handle such problems or the failure of our personnel to follow internal policies and
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procedures. Because techniques used to obtain unauthorized access or to sabotage systems change frequently and generally are not recognized until after they are launched against a target, we and our vendors and partners may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures on a timely basis. Advances in computer capabilities, discoveries of new weaknesses, increased likelihood of nation-state cyber attacks (including retaliatory cyber attacks by Russia in response to economic sanctions resulting from the Russia-Ukraine military conflict), and other developments with software generally used by the Internet more frequently through applicationscommunity, such as the Zenbleed and Downfall vulnerabilities, which exploit security flaws in processors manufactured by both AMD and Intel, continually evolving ransomware attacks, or developments related to vendor software (e.g., SolarWinds Orion product incident), also increase the risk that we, or our customers using our servers and services, will suffer a security breach. We or our partners may also suffer security breaches or unauthorized access to personal, sensitive or confidential information, including payment card information, due to employee error, rogue employee activity, unauthorized access by third parties acting with malicious intent or committing an inadvertent mistake, or social engineering. If a breach of our security or other cybersecurity incident occurs or is perceived to have occurred, the perception of the effectiveness of our security measures and our reputation could be harmed and we could lose current and potential customers.
Security breaches or other unauthorized access to personal, sensitive or confidential information, including payment card information, could result in mandatory customer, regulator, contractual, and/or payment card provider notifications, litigation, government investigations, adverse publicity, and claims against us for unauthorized purchases with payment card information, identity theft or other similar fraud claims, and claims for other misuses of personal information, including for unauthorized marketing purposes, which could result in a material adverse effect on mobile devices, domain names may become less prominent and their value may decline. These evolving technologies and changes in customer behavior mayour business, financial condition or reputation. Moreover, these claims could cause us to incur penalties from payment card associations (including those resulting from our failure to adhere to industry cybersecurity standards), or termination by payment card associations of our ability to accept credit or debit card payments, any of which could have ana material adverse effect on our business and growth prospects.financial condition. Although we maintain cyber liability insurance coverage that may cover certain liabilities in connection with a security breach or other security incident, we cannot be certain our insurance coverage will be adequate for liabilities actually incurred, that insurance will continue to be available to us on commercially reasonable terms (if at all) or that any insurer will not deny coverage as to any future claim. In addition, certain insurers have denied coverage if a nation-state is declared the sponsor or perpetrator of such security breach or incident. For example, following the U.S., the UK, Canadian and Australian governments' attribution of Russia for the NotPetya ransomware attack, Zurich American Insurance Co. denied Mondelez International, Inc.'s claim for damages from that attack, which resulted in litigation between Zurich and Mondelez that was eventually settled prior to trial. In January 2022, a court in New Jersey permitted Merck & Co. to recover under its cyber insurance policies for a NotPetya attack, leading to a settlement prior to trial that was publicly announced in January 2024. These examples suggest there continues to be uncertainty across the cyber insurance market regarding the availability of coverage for nation-state-led cyber attacks. The successful assertion of one or more large claims against us that exceed available insurance coverage, the occurrence of changes in our insurance policies, including premium increases or the imposition of large deductible or co-insurance requirements, or denials of coverage based on "act of war" or similar exclusions triggered by attribution of an attack to a nation-state, particularly given the heightened risk of cyber attacks due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine military conflict, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our financial condition, results of operations and reputation.
We expect to continue to expend significant resources to protect against security breaches and other cybersecurity incidents. The risk that these types of events could seriously harm our business is likely to increase as we expand the number of cloud-based products we offer and as we operate or expand our business into more countries.
If we experience fraudulent activity relating to our, or our third-party vendors' products and services, we could suffer service interruptions or incur substantial costs.
Our products and services, and the products and services of our third-party vendors and partners, may be subject to fraudulent usage, including but not limited to domain name hijacking, revenue share fraud, and other fraudulent schemes. In addition, although our customers are required to set passwords or personal identification numbers to protect their accounts, third parties have in the past been, and may in the future be, able to access and use our customers' accounts through fraudulent means. Fraudulent activity can result in, among other things, interruption of our services to our customers, and substantial and reputational harm. Although we implement multiple fraud prevention and detection controls, we cannot be certain that our efforts to address external fraudulent activity, such as revenue share fraud, domain name hijacking or other fraudulent use of our, or our third parties' and vendors' products and services, will be successful in eliminating these threats, any of which could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
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We rely on our marketing efforts and channels to promote our brand and acquire new customers. These efforts may require significant expense and may not be successful or cost-effective.
We use a variety of marketing channels to promote our brand, including online keyword search, sponsorships and celebrity endorsements, television, radio and print advertising, email and social media marketing. Our GoDaddy Guides also market our brand through their recommendations of our products or solutions to specifically meet the needs of our customers. In order to maintain and grow our revenues, we need to continuously optimize and diversify our marketing campaigns and strategies and increase our efforts to expand customer awareness of our portfolio of products. There can be no assurance that our marketing efforts will succeed. If we lose access to one or more of these channels, such as online keyword search, because the costs of advertising become prohibitively expensive or for other reasons, we may becomebe unable to promote our brand effectively, which could limit our ability to grow our business. Further, if our marketing activities fail to generate traffic to our website, attract new customers andor lead to new and renewal sales or renewals of our subscriptionsproducts at the levels we anticipate or our efforts to personalize our marketing efforts are not successful, our business and operating results wouldcould be adversely affected. There can be no assurance
In the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, our marketing efforts will succeedand advertising expenses were $352.9 million, $412.3 million and $503.9 million, respectively. If these costs or be cost-efficient, and if our customer acquisition costs increase or we fail to generate additional sales as a result of our marketing efforts, our business, operating results and financial performance could be adversely affected.
Our ability to increase sales of our products is highly dependent on the quality of our Customer Care.customer care. Our failure to provide high-quality Customer Carecustomer care would have an adverse effect on our business, brand and operating results.
We believe our focus on high-quality customer care is critical to retaining, expanding and further penetrating our customer base, as well as generating additional sales of products to our customers. Our Customer Care team hasGoDaddy Guides have historically contributed significantly to our total bookings. In each of 2017, 2016For the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2015, at least 20%2021, approximately 9%, 10%, and 11% of our total bookings, respectively, were generated from the sale of product subscriptions by our Customer Care team.

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The majorityGoDaddy Guides. Most of our current offerings are designed for customers who often self-identify as having limited to no technology skills. Our customers depend on our Customer CareGoDaddy Guides to assistguide them as they create, manage and grow their digital identities. After launchingidentities, support their sitespresence, both online and leveragingoffline, and enable them with products to meet their commerce needs. Our GoDaddy Guides engage with customers through direct calls and/or via other communication channels, such as chat, social media and webcasts, and we continue to increase our product offerings, customers depend onself-serve solutions. As our Customer Care teamcustomer base continues to quickly resolve any issues relating to those offerings. Further, asgrow, we must continue to broaden our portfolio of solutions, increase the size of our customer base and increase the sizescope of our solution deployments within our customers' IT infrastructure, we must continue toand adapt our customer support organization to ensure our customers continue to receive the high level of customer service which they have come to expect. If we fail to maintain high quality customer care across our communications platforms to support our growing customers' needs, our reputation, financial results and business prospects may be materially harmed. Notwithstanding our commitment to Customer Care,customer care, our customers willmay occasionally encounter interruptions in service and other technical challenges, including those resulting from our GoDaddy Guides working remotely. An interruption in service and itother challenges could negatively impact our business.
A portion of our GoDaddy Guides is therefore critical we are there to provide ongoing, high-quality support to help our customers. engaged through third parties and not directly by us.
We must continue to refine our efforts in Customer Carecustomer care so we can adequately serve our domestic and international customers.
A portion of our GoDaddy Guides is engaged through third parties and not directly employed by us. If weour agreements with such third parties are terminated for any reason, including a breach of agreement, if such third parties or the GoDaddy Guides engaged through the third parties do not provide effective ongoing Customer Care,perform the level of service expected of GoDaddy or our customers, or if such GoDaddy Guides engage in misconduct, our business and reputation could be harmed and we may need to find and/or train alternative providers, which could increase our costs and delay services to our customers. In addition, such a disruption could adversely impact our ability to serve our customers and to sell our products to new and existing customers could be harmed, and we may experience a decline in our high subscription renewal rates and cross-selling ofin our ability to cross-sell our products may decline and our reputation may suffer, any of which could adversely affect our business, reputation and operating results.
We face significant competition forOur future performance depends in part on the services and performance of our productssenior management, as well as our experienced and capable employees. If we are unable to attract, motivate, and retain our employees, our business could suffer.
Our future performance depends on the services and contributions of our senior management and key employees to execute on our business plan and to identify and pursue new opportunities and product innovations. The loss of services of senior management or other key employees and the hiring of new senior leaders and key employees, especially in the domain name registrationa competitive labor
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market, could significantly delay or prevent our achievement of strategic objectives, business plans and web-hosting marketsproduct development as we transition to new leaders and other marketscould adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.
Our future success and ability to innovate also depends, in which we compete, which we expect willpart, on our ability to continue to intensify,hire, retain, manage and motivate highly skilled personnel. The loss of the services of any of our key personnel, the inability to attract or retain qualified personnel or delays in hiring required personnel, may seriously harm our business, financial condition and operating results. We may need to invest significant amounts of cash and equity to retain our employees or attract new employees, and we may not be ablenever realize returns on these investments. Historically, equity awards have been a key component of our employee compensation program, and as a result, any decline in the price of our Class A common stock (directly or relative to maintain or improve our competitive position or market share.
We provide cloud-based solutions enabling individuals, businesses and organizations to establish an online presence, connect with customers and manage their ventures. The market for these solutions is highly fragmented and competitive. These solutions are also rapidly evolving, creating opportunity for new competitors to enter the market with point-solution products or address specific segmentsstock price of the market. In some instances, we have commercial partnerships withother companies with which we also compete. Givencompete for talent) may adversely impact our broad product portfolio,ability to retain employees or to attract new employees.
Due to the workforce reductions implemented as part of our restructuring activities in the first and third quarters of 2023, our ability to attract, retain, and motivate highly qualified employees may be impacted and our reputation with current or prospective employees may be harmed. In addition, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, a substantial portion of our personnel, including our GoDaddy Guides, began working remotely. We anticipate working arrangements for most of our employees will continue to differ from the arrangements before the COVID-19 pandemic and the majority of our employees will continue to work from home on a full- or part-time basis. We continue to evaluate the effectiveness of these working arrangements on our employees and our business. With these alternate work arrangements we compete with niche point-solution productsmay experience difficulties onboarding and broader solution providers. Our competitors include providers of domain registration services, web-hosting solutions, website creationmanaging new employees and management solutions, e-commerce enablement providers, cloud computing service and online security providers, alternative web presence and marketing solutions providers and providers of productivity toolsmaintaining our corporate culture. Additionally, significant modifications to these arrangements, such as business-class email.
We expect competitionrequiring our employees to increase inreturn to the future from competitors inoffice on a full-time basis, may prove unpopular and impair our ability to attract or retain qualified personnel. As we expand our product offerings through acquisitions, we may become dependent on the domain and hosting and presence markets, such as Endurance, United Internet, Web.com and Donuts, as well as competition from companies such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft, which provide web-hosting, other cloud-based services and domain name registration,contributions of key personnel who join us through such acquisitions. If we are unable to integrate and eBay and Facebook, which offer Internet marketing platforms. In addition, we face competition in the website and e-commerce site building market from competitorsretain such as Wix, Squarespace and Shopify, and from providers of social media networks and applications including Facebook and Tencent. Some ofpersonnel, our current and potential competitors have greater resources, more brand recognition and consumer awareness, more diversified product offerings, greater international scope and larger customer bases than we do, and we may therefore not be able to effectively compete with them. If these competitors and potential competitors decide to devote greater resources to the development, promotion and sale of products in the markets in which we compete, or if the products offered by these companies are more attractive to or better meet the evolving needs of our customers, our market share, growth prospectsfinancial condition and operating results may be adversely affected.
In addition,Competition for highly skilled personnel, particularly employees with technical and engineering skills, is frequently intense, particularly in an attempt to gain market share, competitors may offer aggressive price discounts or alternative pricing models on the products they offer,U.S. tech hubs such as so-called freemium pricingthe San Francisco Bay area, Seattle and Austin. We are limited in which a basic offering is provided for free with advanced features provided for a fee, or increase commissions paid to their referral sources. As a result, increased competition could result in lower sales, price reductions, reduced margins and the loss of market share. Moreover, competitors and other third-parties may aggressively bid on Google AdWords, which could result in increased marketing expenses making it difficult for us to compete.
Furthermore, conditions in our market could change rapidly and significantly as a result of technological advancements, partnering by our competitors or continuing market consolidation. Innovative new start-up companies and large competitors making significant investments in technology and development may invent similar or superior products and technologies competing with our products and technology. Our current and potential competitors may also establish cooperative relationships among themselves or with third parties that may further enhance their ability to compete. The continued entry of competitors into the domain name registration and web-hosting markets, and the rapid growth of some competitors that have already entered each market, may make it difficult for us to maintain our market position. Our ability to compete will depend upon our ability to provide a better productrecruit global talent by U.S. immigration laws, including those related to H-1B visas. The demand for H-1B visas to fill highly-skilled IT and computer science jobs is greater than our competitors at a competitive price and supported by superior Customer Care. To remain competitive, wethe number of H-1B visas available each year. In addition, immigration laws may be requiredmodified to make substantial additional investments in research, development, marketing and sales in order to respond to competition, and there can be no assurance that these investments will achieve any returns for usfurther limit the availability of H-1B visas. If a new or that we will be able to compete successfully in the future.

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The future growth of our business depends in significant part on increasing our international bookings. Our recent and continuing international expansion efforts subject us to additional risks.
Bookings outside of the U.S. represented approximately 33%, 28% and 26% of our totals for 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively. In 2012, we began the process of localizing our products in numerous markets, languages and currencies, expanding our systems to accept payments in forms common outside of the U.S., focusing our marketing efforts in numerous non-U.S. geographies, tailoring our Customer Care offerings to serve these markets, expanding our infrastructure in various non-U.S. locations and establishing Customer Care operations in overseas locations. We have continued our international expansion efforts, such as our acquisition of HEG. Our international expansion efforts may be slow or unsuccessful to the extent we experience difficulties in recruiting, training, managing and retaining qualified personnel with international experience, language skills and cultural competencies in the geographic markets we target. Furthermore, as we continue to expand internationally,revised visa program is implemented, it may prove difficult to maintain our corporate culture, which we believe has been critical to our success. In addition, we have limited experience operating in foreign jurisdictions. Conducting and expanding international operations subjects us to new risks we have not generally faced in the U.S., including the following:
 management, communication and integration problems resulting from language barriers, cultural differences and geographic dispersion of our customers and personnel;
language translation of, and associated Customer Care support for, our products;
compliance with foreign laws, including laws regarding online disclaimers, advertising, liability of online service providers for activities of customers especially with respect to hosted content,and more stringent laws in foreign jurisdictions relating to consumer privacy and protection of data collected from individuals and other third parties;
accreditation and other regulatory requirements to do business and to provide domain name registration, web-hosting and other products in foreign jurisdictions;
greater difficulty in enforcing contracts, including our universal terms of service and other agreements;
increased expenses incurred in establishing and maintaining office space and equipment for our international operations;
greater costs and expenses associated with international marketing and operations;
greater risk of unexpected changes in regulatory practices, tariffs and tax laws and treaties;
different or lesser degrees of protection for our or our customers' intellectual property and free speech rights in certain markets;
increased exposure to foreign currency risks;
increased risk of a failure of employees to comply with both U.S. and foreign laws, including export and antitrust regulations, anti-bribery regulations and any trade regulations ensuring fair trade practices;
heightened risk of unfair or corrupt business practices in certain geographies; and
the potential for political, social or economic unrest, terrorism, hostilities or war; and multiple and possibly overlapping tax regimes.
In addition, the expansion of our existing international operations and entry into additional international markets has required and will continue to require significant management attention and financial resources. In particular, we have invested, and intend to continue to invest, in product marketing, infrastructure and personnel to support our international expansion efforts. These increased marketing costs may increase our cost of acquiring international customers, which may delayimpact our ability to achieve profitability or reduce our profitability in the future. We may also face pressure to lower our prices in order to compete in emerging markets,recruit, hire and retain qualified skilled personnel, which could adversely affect revenue derived from our international operations. These and other factors associated with our international operations could impair our growth prospects and adversely affectimpact our business, operating results and financial condition.
Mobile devices are increasingly used to access To the Internet, and our cloud-based and mobile support products may not operate or be as effective when accessed through these devices, which could harm our business.
Historically,extent we designed our web-based products for use on a desktop or laptop computer; however, mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, are increasingly being used as the primary means for accessing the Internet and conducting e-commerce. We are dependent on the interoperability of our products with third-party mobile devices and mobile operating

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systems, as well as web browsers we do not control. Any changes in such devices, systems or web browsers degrading the functionality of our products or giving preferential treatment to competitive products could adversely affect usage of our products. In the event our customers have difficulty accessing and using our products on mobile devices, our customer growth, business and operating results could be adversely affected.
We have made significant investments in recent periods to support our growth strategy. These investments may not succeed. If we do not effectively manage future growth, our operating results will be adversely affected.
We continue to increase the breadth and scope of our product offerings and operations. To support future growth, we must continue to improve our information technology and financial infrastructure, operating and administrative systems and ability to effectively manage headcount, capital and processes. We must also continue to increase the productivity of our existing employees and hire train and manage new employees while maintaining our unique corporate culture. If we fail to manage our growth or change in a manner that fails to preserve the key aspects of our corporate culture, the quality of our platform, products and Customer Care may suffer, which could negatively affect our brand and reputation and harm our ability to retain and attract customers and employees.
We have incurred, and will continue to incur, expenses relating to our investments in international operations and infrastructure, such as the expansion of our offerings and marketing presence in India, Europe, Latin America and Asia; our targeted marketing spending to attract new customer groups, such as Web Pros and customers in non-U.S. markets; and investments in software systems and additional data center resources to keep pace with the growth of our cloud infrastructure and cloud-based product offerings. We have made significant investments in product development, corporate infrastructure and technology and development, and intend to continue investing in the development of our products and infrastructure and our marketing and Customer Care teams.
We are likely to recognize the costs associated with these investments earlier than some of the anticipated benefits, and the return on these investments may be lower or may develop more slowly than we expect. If we do not achieve the benefits anticipatedpersonnel from these investments, or if the achievement of these benefits is delayed, our operating results may be adversely affected.
We have experienced rapid growth over the last several years, which has the potential to strain our management, administrative, operational and financial infrastructure. The scalability and flexibility of our infrastructure depends on the functionality and bandwidth of our data centers, peering sites and servers. The significant growth in our total customers and the increase in the number of transactions we process have increased the amount of our stored customer data. Any loss of data or disruption in our ability to provide our product offerings due to disruptions in our infrastructure or services could result in harm to our brand or reputation. Moreover, as our customer base continues to grow and uses our platform for more complicated tasks, we will need to devote additional resources to improve our infrastructure and continue to enhance its scalability and security. If we do not manage the growth of our business and operations effectively, the quality of our platform and efficiency of our operations could suffer, which could harm our operating and business results.
In January 2016, we selected a new enterprise resource planning system. During the fourth quarter of 2016, we completed the human capital management portion of our system implementation. We began work on the system implementation of the financial portion in 2017, and expect to continue that work through late 2018. As we plan for and implement a new system, we may experience difficulties in managing our existing systems and processes, which could disrupt our operations, the management of our finances and the reporting of our financial results. We may also experience difficulties in implementing this new system at the same time we work on several other initiatives, such as transitioning certain transactional accounting functions to a professional services firm, implementing a new revenue recognition system and implementing controls and procedures over financial reporting at HEG pursuant to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the Sarbanes-Oxley Act). Our failure to improve our systems and processes or complete such system implementation on a timely basis, or their failure to operate in the intended manner, may result in our inability to manage the growth of our business and successfully integrate our acquisitions, and to accurately forecast and report our results.
The failure to integrate successfully our businesses and operations with those of HEG in the expected time frame may adversely affect our future results.
On April 3, 2017, we completed the acquisition of all of the outstanding shares of HEG and certain loan notes issued by Host Europe Finance Co. Ltd. for €1.7 billion (approximately $1.9 billion) (the Transaction). GoDaddy and HEG operated as independent companies until the closing of the acquisition. We may not achieve the expected revenue and cost synergies associated with the HEG acquisition. We may face significant challenges in consolidating our functions with those of HEG and its

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subsidiaries, integrating our technologies, organizations, procedures, policies, financial reporting and operations, as well as addressing differences in the business cultures of the two companies and retaining key personnel. The integration is complex and time consuming, and requires substantial resources and effort. We incurred transaction fees and professional service costs in connection with the Transaction, and we expect to incur significant integration and restructuring costs as we continue integrating operations. Although we expect that the realization of efficiencies related to the Transaction will offset incremental transaction, acquisition-related and restructuring costs over time, this net benefit may not be achieved in the near term, or at all.
The integration process and other disruptions resulting from the Transaction may negatively impact our ongoing operations or cause inconsistencies in standards, controls, financial reporting, procedures and policies, adversely affecting our relationships with our customers and other market participants, employees, regulators and others with whom we have business or other dealings. In addition, difficulties in integrating our businesses or regulatory functions with those of HEG could harm our reputation and adversely affect our growth prospects.
We may acquire other businesses or talent, which could require significant management attention, disrupt our business, dilute stockholder value and adversely affect our operating results.
As part of our business strategy, we have in the past made, and may in the future make, acquisitions or investments in companies, talent, products, domain portfolios and technologies we believe will complement our business and address the needs of our customers, such as our recent acquisitions of HEG, FreedomVoice and Sucuri, and our proposed acquisition of Main Street Hub. We cannot ensure we will be able to successfully integrate the acquired products, talent and technology, benefit from increased subscriptions and revenue and achieve desired revenue and expense synergies. In the future, we may not be able to find suitable acquisition candidates, and we may not be able to complete such acquisitions on favorable terms, if at all. If we do complete acquisitions,competitors, we may be unsuccessful in achieving the anticipated benefits of the acquisition and may failsubject to integrate the acquired business and operations effectively. In addition, any future acquisitions we complete could be viewed negatively by our customers, investors and industry analysts.
We mayallegations that they have to pay cash, incur debtbeen improperly solicited or issue equity securities to pay for future acquisitions, each of which could adversely affect our financial condition or the value of our Class A common stock. Equity issuances in connection with potential future acquisitions may also result in dilution to our stockholders. In addition, our future operating results may be impacted by performance earn-outs or contingent bonuses. Furthermore, acquisitions may involve contingent liabilities, adverse tax consequences, additional equity-based compensation expense, adjustments for fair value of deferred revenue, the recording and subsequent amortization of amounts related to certain purchased intangible assets and, if unsuccessful, impairment charges resulting from the write-off of goodwilldivulged proprietary or other intangible assets associated with the acquisition, any of which could negatively impact our future results of operations.
In addition, if we are unsuccessful at integrating the operations or technologies associated with such acquisitions, into our company, the revenue and operating results of the combined company could be adversely affected. We may fail to identify all of the problems, liabilities or other shortcomings or challenges of an acquired company, including issues related to intellectual property, solution quality or architecture, regulatory compliance practices, employment practices, customer or sales channel issues and failure to integrate prior acquisitions. Any integration process may result in unforeseen operating difficulties and require significant time and resources, and we may not be able to manage the process successfully. In particular, we may encounter difficulties assimilating or integrating the companies, solutions, technologies, accounting systems, personnel or operations we acquire, particularly if the key personnel are geographically dispersed or choose not to work for us. Additionally, acquired companies may focus on achieving performance earn-outs or contingent payments rather than integrating with us. We may also experience difficulty in effectively integrating or preserving the different cultures and practices of the companies we acquire. Acquisitions may also disrupt our core business, divert our resources and require significant management attention that would otherwise be available for development of our existing business. We may not successfully evaluate or utilize the acquired technology, intellectual property or personnel, or accurately forecast the financial impact of an acquisition transaction, including accounting charges. If we fail to properly evaluate, execute or integrate acquisitions or investments, the anticipated benefits may not be realized, we may be exposed to unknown or unanticipated liabilities, and our business and growth prospects could be harmed.
If the rate of growth of small businesses and ventures is significantly lower than our estimates or if demand for our products does not meet expectations, our ability to generate revenue and meet our financial targets could be adversely affected.
Although we expect continued demand from small businesses and ventures for our products, it is possible the rate of growth may not meet our expectations, or the market may not grow, either of which would adversely affect our business. Our expectations for future revenue growth are based in part on assumptions reflecting our industry knowledge and experience serving

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small businesses and ventures, as well as our assumptions regarding demographic shifts, growth in the availability and capacity of Internet infrastructure internationally and the general economic climate. If any of these assumptions proves to be inaccurate, our revenue growth could be significantly lower than expected.
Our ability to compete successfully depends on our ability to offer an integrated and comprehensive suite of products enabling our diverse base of customers to get their ideas online and start, grow and run their businesses and ventures. The success of our domains, hosting and presence and business applications offerings is predicated on the assumption that an online presence is, and will continue to be, an important factor in our customers' abilities to establish, expand and manage their businesses quickly, easily and affordably. If we are incorrect in this assumption, for example due to the introduction of a new technology or industry standard superseding the importance of an online presence or renders our existing or future products obsolete, then our ability to retain existing customers and attract new customers could be adversely affected, which could harm our ability to generate revenue and meet our financial targets.
We rely on search engines to attract a meaningful portion of our customers. If search engines change their search algorithms or policies regarding advertising, increase their pricing or suffer problems, our ability to attract new customers may be impaired.
Many of our customers locate our website and products through Internet search engines such as Google, Yahoo! and Bing. The prominence of our website in response to search inquiries is a critical factor in attracting potential customers to our websites. Search engines revise their algorithms from time to time in an attempt to optimize their search results. If search engines on which we rely for algorithmic listings modify their algorithms, our websites may appear less prominently or not at all in search results, which could result in reduced traffic to our websites that we may not be able to replace. Additionally, if the costs of search engine marketing services, such as Google AdWords, increase, we may incur additional marketing expenses or be required to allocate a larger portion of our marketing spend to this channel and our business and operating results could be adversely affected.
Furthermore, competitors may in the future bid on our brand names and other search terms we use to drive traffic to our websites. Such actions could increase our advertising costs and result in decreased traffic to our websites. In addition, search engines or social networking sites may change their advertising policies from time to time. Moreover, the use of voice recognition technology such as Alexa, Google Assistant or Siri may drive traffic away from search engines, potentially resulting in reduced traffic to our website. If any change to these policies delays or prevents us from advertising through these channels, it could result in reduced traffic to our website and sales of our subscriptions.confidential information.
If we are unable to maintain our contractual relationships with existing partners or establish new contractual relationships with potential partners, we may not be able to offer the products and related functionality our customers expect.
We maintain a network of different types of partners, some of which create integrations with our products. For example, we partneredpartner with Microsoft Corporation to offer OfficeMicrosoft 365 email and otherrelated productivity tools and with Worldpay to our customersoffer certain Commerce products and we workedservices to Worldpay's customers. We also work to make certain of our products interoperable with services such as Yelp, Facebook PagesGoogle, Amazon, WhatsApp and Google.Instagram. In addition, we providedprovide payment options for customers' websites through providers such as PayPal, Stripe, SquareBlock and Mercado Libre. We have invested and will continue to invest in partner programs to provide new product offerings to our customers and help us attract additional customers. However, our relationships with our partners may not be as successful in generating new customers as we anticipate, which could adversely affect our ability to increase our total customers. Further, these programsintegrated products could require substantial investment while providing no assurance of return or incremental revenue. We also rely on some of our partners to create integrations with third-party applications and platforms used by our customers, such as the email encryption service provided by our partner ProofPoint.Proofpoint, Inc., email backup and migration services provided by SkyKick and email archiving services provided by Barracuda. If our partners fail to create such integrations, or if they change the features of their applications or alter the terms governing use of their applications in an adverse manner, demand for our products could decrease, which would harm our business and operating results. If we are unable to maintain our contractual relationships with existing partners or establish new contractual relationships with potential partners, we may not be able to offer the products and related functionality our customers expect, and we may experience delays and increased costs in adding customers, and we may lose existing customers. Any ineffectiveness of our partner programs could materially adversely affect our business and results of operations and may cause reputational harm. In addition, our partners may increase the fees they charge us or offer their services on terms that are less than favorable to us, including in connection with renewal negotiations. Such increased costs or less than favorable terms could result in increased costs to customers and potential loss of customers, which could have an adverse impact on our results of operations.
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Our failure to properly register or maintain our customers' domain names could subject us to additional expenses, claims of loss or negative publicity that could have a material adverse effect on our business.
System and process failures related to our domain name registration service may result in inaccurate and incomplete information in our domain name database. Despite testing, system and process failures and other vulnerabilities may remain undetected or unknown, which could result in compromised customer data, loss of or delay in revenues, failure to achieve market acceptance, injury to our reputation or increased product costs, any of which could harm our business. Furthermore, the requirements for securing and renewing domain names vary from registry to registry and are subject to change. We cannot guarantee we will be able to readily adopt and comply with the various registry requirements. Our failure or inability to properly register or maintain our customers' domain names, whether as a result of the actions of our customers or us, might result in significant expenses and subject us to claims of loss or to negative publicity, which could harm our business, brand and operating results.
We rely heavily on the reliability, security and performance of our internally developed systems and operations. Any difficulties in maintaining these systems may result in damage to our brand, service interruptions, decreased customer service or increased expenditures.
The reliability and continuous availability of the software, hardware and workflow processes underlying our internal systems, networks and infrastructure and the ability to deliver our products are critical to our business. Any interruptions resulting in our inability to timely deliver our products or customer care, or materially impacting the efficiency or cost with which we provide our products and customer care, would harm our brand, profitability and ability to conduct business. In addition, many of the software and other systems we currently use will need to be enhanced over time or replaced with equivalent commercial products or services, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Enhancing or replacing our systems, networks or infrastructure could entail considerable effort and expense. If we fail to develop and execute reliable policies, procedures and tools to operate our systems, networks or infrastructure, we could face a substantial decrease in workflow efficiency and increased costs, as well as a decline in our revenue.
We rely on a limited number of data centers to deliver many of our products. If we are unable to renew our data center agreements on favorable terms, or at all, our operating margins and profitability could be adversely affected and our business could be harmed.
We own one of our data centers and lease our remaining data center capacity from wholesale providers. We occupy our leased data center capacity pursuant to co-location service agreements with third-party data center facilities, which have built and maintain the co-located data centers for us and other parties. Although we have begun to service some of our customers through our cloud infrastructure as part of our partnership with AWS, we still serve customers from our GoDaddy-owned, Arizona-based data center as well as domestic and international co-located data center facilities in various locations. Although we own the servers in these co-located data centers and engineer and architect the systems upon which our platforms run, we do not control the operation of these facilities, and we depend on the operators of these facilities to ensure their proper security, maintenance and insurance.
Despite precautions taken at our data centers, these facilities may be vulnerable to damage or interruption from break-ins, computer viruses, crypto-jacking, DDoS or other cyber attacks, acts of terrorism, vandalism or sabotage, power loss, telecommunications failures, fires, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and similar events or any other type of loss or failure. The occurrence of any of these events or other unanticipated problems at these facilities could result in loss of data (including personal or payment card information), lengthy interruptions in the availability of our services and harm to our reputation and brand. While we have disaster recovery arrangements in place, they have been tested in only very limited circumstances and not during any large-scale or prolonged disasters or similar events.
The terms of our existing co-located data center agreements vary in length and expire on various dates through 2033. Only some of our agreements with our co-located data centers provide us with options to renew under negotiated terms. We also have agreements with other critical infrastructure vendors which provide all of our facilities, including our data centers, with bandwidth, fiber optics and electrical power. None of these infrastructure vendors are under any obligation to continue to provide these services after the expiration of their respective agreements with us, nor are they obligated to renew the terms of those agreements. If we are unable to renew these agreements on commercially reasonable terms, or if the service providers close such facilities or cease providing such services, we may be required to transfer to a new service provider, which may cause us to incur costs and service interruptions.
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In addition, our existing co-located data center agreements may not provide us with adequate time to transfer operations to a new facility in the event of a termination. If we were required to move our equipment to a new facility without adequate time to plan and prepare for such migration, we would face significant challenges due to the technical complexity, risk and high costs of the relocation. Any such migration could result in significant costs for us and may result in data loss and significant downtime for a significant number of our customers which could damage our reputation and brand, cause us to lose current customers or become unable to attract new customers and adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.
Our business is exposed to risks associated with credit card and other payment chargebacks, fraud and new payment methods.
A significant percentage of our revenue is processed through credit cards and other online payments. If our refunds or chargebacks increase, our processors could require us to create reserves, increase fees or terminate their contracts with us, which would have an adverse effect on our financial condition. Our failure to limit fraudulent transactions conducted on our websites, such as the fraudulent sale of domains on our aftermarket platform using stolen account credentials and credit card numbers, could increase the number of refunds we have to process and could also subject us to liability and adversely impact our reputation. Under credit card association rules, penalties may be imposed at the discretion of the association for inadequate fraud protection or excessive chargebacks. Any such potential penalties would be imposed on our credit card processor by the association. Under our contracts with our payment processors, we are required to reimburse them for such penalties. However, we face the risk that we may fail to maintain an adequate level of fraud protection or chargebacks and that one or more credit card associations or other processors may, at any time, assess penalties against us or terminate our ability to accept credit card payments or other forms of online payments from customers, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results. In addition, as we expand our presence in commerce through our GoDaddy Payments products and services, we face additional risks in payment processing due to customer screening, hardware failures, hardware servicing, manufacturing costs, and the procurement of hardware parts and materials and risks associated with the interface of our hardware products with third-party mobile devices.
We could also incur significant fines or lose our ability to give customers the option of using credit cards to pay for our products if we fail to follow payment card industry data security standards, even if there is no compromise of the cardholder information covered by these standards. Although we believe we are in compliance with payment card industry data security standards, it is possible that at times either we or any of our acquired companies may not have been in full compliance with these standards. Accordingly, we could be fined, which could impact our financial condition, or certain of our products could be suspended, which would cause us to be unable to process payments using credit cards. If we are unable to accept credit card payments, our business, financial condition and operating results may be adversely affected.
In addition, we could be liable if there is a breach of the payment information we store. Online commerce and communications depend on the secure transmission of confidential information over public networks. Additionally, with the expansion of our offerings through GoDaddy Payments products and services, we face additional burdens in securing and transmitting payment information. We rely on encryption and authentication technology to authenticate and secure the transmission of confidential information, including cardholder information. However, we cannot ensure this technology will prevent breaches of the systems we use to protect cardholder information. Although we maintain network security insurance, we cannot be certain our coverage will be adequate for liabilities actually incurred or insurance will continue to be available to us on reasonable terms, or at all. In addition, some of our partners also collect or possess information about our customers, and we may be subject to litigation or our reputation may be harmed if our partners fail to protect our customers' information or if they use it in a manner inconsistent with our policies and practices. Data breaches can also occur as a result of non-technical issues. Under our contracts with our processors, if there is unauthorized access to, or disclosure of, credit card information we store, we could be liable to the credit card issuing banks for their cost of issuing new cards and related expenses.
Moreover, in the future we may explore accepting various forms of payment that may have higher fees and costs than our current payment methods. If our customers utilize alternative payment methods, our payment costs could increase and our operating results could be adversely impacted.
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Financial Risks
Our quarterly and annual operating results may be adversely affected due to a variety of factors, which could make our future results difficult to predict and could cause our operating results to fall below investor or analyst expectations.
Our quarterly and annual operating results and key metrics have varied from period to period in the past, and may fluctuate in the future as a result of a number of factors, many of which are outside of our control, including:including, among other things:
our ability to attract new customers and retain existing customers;

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the timing and success of introductions of new products;
changes in the growth rate of small businesses and ventures;
changes in renewal rates for our subscriptions and our ability to sell additional products to existing customers;
higher than expected refunds to our customers could be higher than expected;customers;
the timing of revenue recognition relative to the recording of the related expense;
any negative publicity or other actions which harm our brand;
the timing of our marketing expenditures;
the mix of products sold;sold and our use of "freemium" promotions for those products;
our ability to maintain a high level of personalized Customer Carecustomer care and resulting customer satisfaction;
competition in the market for our products;
our ability to expand internationally;
changes in foreign currency exchange rates;
rapid technological change, frequent new product introductions and evolving industry standards;
our ability to implement new financial and other administrative systems, including our new enterprise resource planning system;systems;
actual or perceived cybersecurity incidents;
systems, data center and Internet failures, breaches and service interruptions;
actions by foreign governments that reduce access to the Internet for their citizens;
changes in U.S. or foreign regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR),CCPA and GDPR, that could impact one or more of our product offerings or changes to regulatory bodies, such as ICANN, as well as increased regulation by governments or multi-governmental organizations, such as the International Telecommunications Union, a specialized agency of the United Nations or the European Union,E.U., that could affect our business and our industry;
a delay in the authorization of new TLDs by ICANN or our ability to successfully on-boardsecure operator rights for new TLDs, both of which would impact the breadth of our customer offerings;
any changes in industry rules restricting our ability to hold domains for sale on the aftermarket;
shortcomings in, or misinterpretations of, our metrics and data which cause us to fail to anticipate or identify market trends;
terminations of, disputes with, or material changes to our relationships with third-party partners, including referral sources, product partners and payment processors;
reductions in the selling prices for our products;
costs and integration issues associated with our acquisition of HEG and any other acquisitions we may make;
changes in legislation affecting our collection of indirect taxes both in the U.S. and in foreign jurisdictions;
changes in legislation affecting exposure to liability resulting from actions of our customers;
increases in rates of failed sales on our aftermarket platform for transactions in which we act as the primary obligor, resulting in higher than expected domain portfolio assets;
timing of expensesexpenses;
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macroeconomic conditions and tax distributions;the related impact on the worldwide economy, including the effects of inflation, deflation or a recession or other adverse economic conditions;
threatened or actual litigation; and
loss of key employees.
Any one of the factors above, or the cumulative effect of some of the factors referred to above, may result in significant fluctuations in our quarterly or annual operating results, including fluctuations in our key financial and operating metrics, our ability to forecast those results and our ability to achieve those forecasts. This variability and unpredictability could result in our failing to meet our revenue, bookings or operating results expectations or those of securities analysts or investors for any period. In addition, a significant percentageportion of our operating expenses are fixed in nature and based on forecasted revenue and bookings trends. Accordingly, in the event of revenue or bookings shortfalls, we are generally unable to mitigate the negative impact onwith commensurate reductions in operating resultsexpenses in the short term.

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term, which could adversely impact our operating results.
We may release guidance in our quarterly earnings conference calls, quarterly earnings releases, or otherwise, based on predictions by management, which are necessarily speculative in nature. Our guidance may vary materially from actual results for a variety of reasons, including that our cash generation may be uneven across quarters.reasons. If our revenue, bookings or other operating results, or the rate of growth of our revenue, bookings or operating results, fall below the expectations of our investors or financialsecurities analysts, or below any forecasts or guidance we may provide to the market, or if the forecasts we provide to the market are below the expectations of analysts or investors, the price of our common stock could decline substantially. Such a stock price decline could occur even when we have met our own or other publicly stated revenue, bookings or earnings forecasts. Our failure to meet our own or other publicly stated revenue, bookings or earnings forecasts, or failure to meet securities analyst or investor expectations even when we meet our own forecasts, but fall short of analyst or investor expectations, could cause our stock price to decline and expose us to lawsuits, including securities class action suits. Such litigation could impose substantial costs and divert management's attention and resources.
We have a history of operating losses and may not be able to maintain profitability in the future.
We had net income of $140$1,376 million, in 2017; however, we had net losses of $22$353 million and $120$243 million in 2016for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2015,2021 respectively. While we have experienced revenue growth over these same periods, we may not be able to sustain or increase our growth or maintain profitability in the future or on a consistent basis. We have in the past, and may in the future, experience lower growth rates in customer demand due to factors including inflation, foreign currency headwinds and other factors that may not be known to us at this time. We have incurred substantial expenses and expended significant resources upfront to market, promote and sell our products. We also expect to continue to invest for future growth.growth and to expand our product offerings. In addition, we expect to continue to incur significant accounting, legal and other expenses as a public company. Furthermore, we have incurred in recent periods, and may incur in future periods, large expenses which are not recurring, but which nonetheless negatively impact our operating results.
As a result of our increased expenditures, we will have to generate and sustain increased revenue to maintain future profitability. Maintaining profitability will require us to ensure revenues continue to increase while managing our cost structure and avoiding significant liabilities. Revenue growth may slow or decline, or we may incur significant losses in the future for a number of possible reasons,any reason, including deteriorating general macroeconomic conditions, increased competition, a decrease in the growth of the markets in which we operate or have business, or if we fail for any reason to continue to capitalize on growth opportunities. Additionally, we may encounter unforeseen operating expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other unknown factors that may result in losses in future periods. If these losses exceed our expectations or our revenue growth expectations are not met in future periods, our financial performance will be harmed and our stock price could be volatile or decline.
We may need additional equity, debt or other financing in the future, which we may not be able to obtain on acceptable terms, or at all, and any additional financing may result in restrictions on our operations or substantial dilution to our stockholders.
We may need to raise funds in the future, for example, to develop new technologies, expand our business, respond to competitive pressures, refinance our existing indebtedness and make acquisitions.acquisitions or other strategic arrangements. We may try to raise additional funds through public or private financings, strategic relationships or other arrangements. Althougharrangements or by refinancing our credit agreements limit our ability to incur additional indebtedness, these restrictions are subject to a number of qualifications and exceptions and may be amended with the consent of our lenders. Accordingly, under certain circumstances, we may incur substantial additional debt.existing indebtedness.
Our ability to obtain debt or equity fundingany financing will depend on a number of factors, includingsuch as market conditions, interest rates, our operating performance, investor interest and, in the case of debt financing, our then-current debt levels, expected debt amortization, interest
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rates and our credit rating. Volatility in the credit markets, including due to the recent bank failures, including the closures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in March 2023, as well as the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank's actions and implementation of higher interest rates to combat inflation in the U.S., may have an adverse effect on our ability to obtain debt financing. Our credit rating and investor interest. Additional fundingmay also be affected by our liquidity, financial results, economic risk or other factors, which may increase the cost of future financings. Any additional financing may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. If adequate funds arefinancing is not available, we may be required to reduce expenditures, including curtailing our growth strategies, foregoingforgoing acquisitions or reducing our product development efforts. If we succeed in raising additional funds through the issuance of equity or equity-linked securities, then existing stockholders could experience substantial dilution. If we raise additional funds through the issuance of debt securities or preferred stock, these new securities would have rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of the holders of our Class A common stock. In addition, any such issuance could subject us to restrictive covenants relating to our capital raising activities and other financial and operational matters, which may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital, respond to competitive pressures and to pursue business opportunities, including potential acquisitions. Further, to the extent we incur additional indebtedness or such other obligations, the risks associated with our substantial leveragesignificant debt described elsewhere in this 10-K,below, including our possible inability to service our debt, would increase. Additionally, events and circumstances may occur that would cause us to not be able to satisfy applicable draw-down conditions and utilize our revolving line of credit. Although we are subject to restrictions in the agreements governing our indebtedness, including our secured credit agreement (the Credit Facility) and our 5.250% Senior Notes due 2027 (the 2027 Senior Notes) and 3.500% Senior Notes due 2029 (the 2029 Senior Notes and collectively, the Senior Notes), on our ability to incur additional indebtedness, these restrictions are subject to a number of qualifications and exceptions and may be amended with the consent of the requisite lenders or holders, as applicable. Accordingly, under certain circumstances, the amount of additional indebtedness that we may incur may be substantial.
Because we are generally required to recognize revenue for our products over the term of the applicable agreement, changes in our sales may not be immediately reflected in our operating results.
As described in Note 2 to our consolidatedaudited financial statements, we generally recognize revenue from our customers ratably over the respective terms of their subscriptions in accordance with GAAP.generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S. (GAAP). Our subscription terms are typically one year, butsubscriptions can range from monthly terms to multi-annual terms of up to 10 years, depending on the product. Accordingly, increases in sales during a particular period do not translate into immediate, proportional increases in revenue during such period, and a substantial portion of the revenue we recognize during a quarter is derived from deferred revenue from customer subscriptions we

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entered into during previous quarters. As a result, our margins may suffer despite substantial sales activity during a particular period, sincebecause GAAP does not permit us to recognize all of the revenue from our sales immediately. Conversely, a decline in new or renewed subscriptions in any one quarter may not be reflected in our revenue for that quarter and the existence of substantial deferred revenue may prevent deteriorating sales activity from becoming immediately observable in our consolidated statements of operations. In addition, we may not be able to adjust spending in a timely manner to compensate for any unexpected bookingssales shortfall, and any significant shortfall in bookings relative to planned expenditures could negatively impact our business and results of operations.
Unanticipated changes in effective tax rates or adverse outcomes resulting from examination of our income or other tax returns could adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.
We are subject to income taxes in the U.S. and various foreign jurisdictions, and our domestic and international tax liabilities will be subject to the allocation of expenses in differing jurisdictions. Significant judgment is required in determining our global provision for income taxes, deferred tax assets (DTAs) or liabilities (DTLs) and in evaluating our tax positions worldwide. While we believe our tax positions are consistent with the tax laws in the jurisdictions in which we conduct our business, it is possible these positions may be contested or overturned by jurisdictional tax authorities, which may have a significant impact on our global provision for income taxes. Tax laws are dynamic and subject to change as new laws are passed and new interpretations of the laws are issued or applied. Numerous countries have agreed to a statement in support of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) model rules that propose a global minimum tax rate of 15% for companies with revenue above €750 million, calculated on a country-by-country basis, and E.U. member states have agreed to implement the global minimum tax. Certain countries have enacted or are expected to enact legislation to be effective as early as 2024, with widespread implementation of a global minimum tax expected by 2025. We are unable to predict when and how such rules will be enacted into law in these countries; however, it is possible that the implementation of relevant legislation could have a material effect on our liability for taxes. We will continue to monitor pending legislation and implementation by individual countries and evaluate the potential impact on our business in future periods.
Our future effective tax rates could be subject to volatility or adversely affected by several factors, including:
changes in the valuation of our DTAs and DTLs;
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expected timing and amount of the release of any tax valuation allowances;
tax effects of equity-based compensation;
costs related to intercompany restructurings;
changes in tax laws, regulations or interpretations thereof; and
future earnings being lower than anticipated in countries where we have lower statutory tax rates and higher than anticipated earnings in countries where we have higher statutory tax rates.
In addition, we may be subject to audits of our income, sales and other transaction taxes by federal and state and foreign tax authorities. Outcomes from these audits could have an adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition.
Under certain tax receivable agreements, we will not be reimbursed for any payments made to our pre-IPO owners in the event any related tax benefits are later disallowed, or if sufficient profitability to utilize the related tax savings is not achieved.
We entered into certain Tax Receivable Agreements (TRAs) with our pre-IPO owners. Subsequently, we entered into settlement and release agreements with respect to these TRAs (TRA Settlement Agreements), pursuant to which we settled all liabilities under the TRAs in exchange for aggregate payments totaling $850.0 million. If the Internal Revenue Service challenges the tax basis or net operating losses (NOLs) giving rise to payments under the TRAs, and the tax basis or NOLs are subsequently disallowed, the recipients of payments under those agreements will not reimburse us for any payments previously made to them under the TRA Settlement Agreements. Also, if we cannot achieve sufficient profitability in future periods, we will be unable to fully utilize the anticipated tax savings. Any such disallowance of estimated future tax reductions or failure to properly registerachieve anticipated tax savings could have a substantial negative impact on our liquidity and limit our ability to invest further in our business, including our ability to pursue future acquisition opportunities and share repurchases.
Our level of indebtedness could adversely affect our financial condition, our ability to raise additional capital to fund our operations, our ability to operate our business and our ability to react to changes in the economy or maintain our customers' domain names could subjectindustry, as well as divert our cash flow from operations for debt payments and prevent us to additional expenses, claimsfrom meeting our debt obligations.
We have a significant amount of loss or negative publicity thatindebtedness, including our Credit Facility and Senior Notes. Our level of indebtedness could have a material adverse effect on our business.business and financial condition, including:
Systemrequiring a substantial portion of cash flow from operations to be dedicated to the payment of principal and process failures relatedinterest on our indebtedness, thereby reducing our ability to use our cash flow to fund our operations and capital expenditures and pursue future business opportunities;
increasing our vulnerability to adverse economic, industry or competitive developments;
exposing us to increased interest expense, as our degree of leverage may cause the interest rates of any future indebtedness, whether fixed or floating rate interest, to be higher than they would be otherwise;
exposing us to the risk of increased interest rates because certain of our indebtedness bears interest at variable rates;
creating a risk of foreclosure if we default on our indebtedness and are unable to pay any accelerated obligations;
making it more difficult for us to satisfy our obligations with respect to our domain name registration service may result in inaccurateindebtedness, and incomplete information inany failure to comply with the obligations of any of our domain name database. Despite testing, system and process failures may remain undetected or unknown, whichdebt instruments, including restrictive covenants, could result in compromised customer data, lossa default accelerating our obligations to repay indebtedness;
restricting us from making strategic acquisitions and/or redeeming or repurchasing shares of our capital stock;
limiting our ability to obtain additional financing for working capital, capital expenditures, product development, satisfaction of debt service requirements, acquisitions and general corporate or delayother purposes; and
limiting our flexibility in revenues, failureplanning for, or reacting to, achievechanges in our business or market acceptance, injuryconditions and placing us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our reputation or increased product costs, anycompetitors who may be better positioned to take advantage of which could harmopportunities our business. Furthermore,leverage prevents us from exploiting.
We may incur significant additional indebtedness in the requirements for securingfuture. Although the agreements governing our indebtedness contain restrictions on our incurrence of additional indebtedness and renewing domain names vary from registry to registry andentry into certain types of other transactions, these restrictions are subject to change. We cannota number of qualifications and exceptions, and we may amend such agreements with the consent of the
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requisite parties thereto. In addition, these restrictions also do not prevent us from incurring certain obligations, such as trade payables.
The agreements governing our indebtedness impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us and our subsidiaries, which may prevent us from capitalizing on business opportunities and making payments on our indebtedness.
The agreements governing our indebtedness, including our Credit Facility and the Senior Notes, impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us. These restrictions limit the ability of our subsidiaries, and effectively place restrictions on our ability to, among other things:
incur or guarantee additional debt or issue disqualified equity interests;
pay dividends and make other distributions on, or redeem or repurchase, capital stock;
prepay, redeem or repurchase certain junior debt;
make certain investments;
incur certain liens;
enter into transactions with affiliates;
merge, consolidate or make certain other fundamental changes;
enter into agreements restricting the ability of restricted subsidiaries to make certain intercompany dividends, distributions, payments or transfers; and
transfer or sell assets.
In addition, our Credit Facility requires us to comply with a specified leverage ratio under certain circumstances. Our ability to comply with these provisions may be affected by events beyond our control, and these provisions could limit our ability to plan for or react to market conditions, meet capital needs or otherwise conduct our business.
As a result of the restrictions described above, we may be limited as to how we conduct our business and we may be unable to raise additional debt or equity financing to compete effectively or to take advantage of new business opportunities. In addition, the terms of any future indebtedness we may incur could include additional restrictive covenants. There can be no assurance that we will be able to readily adopt and comply with current or additional covenants in the various registry requirements.future and, if we fail to do so, that we will be able to obtain waivers from the applicable lenders or holders or amend the covenants. Our failure to comply with current or inabilityfuture restrictive covenants or other current or future terms of indebtedness could result in a default, which, if not cured or waived, could result in our being required to properly register or maintain our customers' domain names, even ifrepay these borrowings before their due date. If we are forced to refinance these borrowings on less favorable terms or are unable to refinance these borrowings, our results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.
Our ability to make interest payments on our indebtedness, repay such indebtedness at maturity and pay our other expenses, tax liabilities and dividends (if and when declared by our board of directors) will depend on our cash flow from operations and our compliance with the agreements governing our indebtedness.
Economic, financial, competitive, legislative, regulatory and other factors, many of which are beyond our control, may have an adverse effect on our future operating performance and cash flows, which could adversely affect our ability to service our indebtedness and repay such indebtedness at maturity. If we do not generate sufficient cash to service our indebtedness and repay such indebtedness at fault, mightmaturity, we may have to undertake alternative financing plans, such as refinancing or restructuring our debt, selling assets, reducing or delaying capital investments or seeking to raise additional capital. Our ability to restructure or refinance our debt will depend on the credit or capital markets and our financial condition at such time. Any refinancing of our debt could result in significant expenseshigher interest rates and subjectmay require us to claimscomply with more onerous covenants, which could further restrict our business operations. Global economic conditions have in the past resulted in the actual or perceived failure or financial difficulties of lossmany financial institutions. As such, it may be difficult to find other sources of capital if needed. The terms of the agreements governing our indebtedness or any such future agreements we may enter into may restrict us from adopting some of these alternatives. In addition, any failure to negative publicity,make scheduled payments on our indebtedness would likely result in a reduction of our credit rating, which could harm our business, brand and operating results.
We rely heavily on the reliability, security and performance of our internally developed systems and operations. Any difficulties in maintaining these systems may result in damage to our brand, service interruptions, decreased customer service or increased expenditures.
The reliability and continuous availability of the software, hardware and workflow processes underlying our internal systems, networks and infrastructure and the ability to deliver our products are critical to our business. Any interruptions resulting in our inability to timely deliver our products or Customer Care, or materially impacting the efficiency or cost with which we provide our products and Customer Care, would harm our brand, profitability and ability to conduct business. In addition, many of the software and other systems we currently use will need to be enhanced over time or replaced with equivalent commercial products or services, which may not be availableaccess additional capital on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Enhancing
We conduct operations worldwide through subsidiaries in various jurisdictions. Each of our subsidiaries is a distinct legal entity and may be subject to legal or replacingcontractual restrictions limiting their ability to make distributions to us, which could
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negatively affect our systems, networksability to make interest payments on our indebtedness, repay such indebtedness at maturity and pay our other expenses, tax liabilities and dividends (if and when declared by our board of directors). For example, our restricted subsidiaries may be able to incur encumbrances containing restrictions on their ability to pay dividends or infrastructuremake other intercompany payments to us. In the event we do not receive sufficient cash from our subsidiaries, we will be unable to make required payments on our indebtedness, satisfy our other expenses and tax liabilities and fund our operations, which would materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. In addition, if we repatriate funds from our international subsidiaries, we may be subject to a higher effective tax rate, which could entail considerable effortnegatively affect our results of operations and expense. If we failfinancial condition.
In the event of a default under our Credit Facility, our Senior Notes or any future agreements governing our indebtedness and our failure to developobtain a waiver of such default, our lenders or note holders could exercise their right to declare all the funds borrowed thereunder to be due and execute reliable policies, procedurespayable, together with accrued and toolsunpaid interest, which could have a negative impact on our ability to operate our systems, networksbusiness. In addition, the lenders under our Credit Facility could also elect to terminate their commitments, cease making further loans and institute foreclosure proceedings, and we may, as a result, seek protection under the U.S. bankruptcy code.
We may be required to repurchase some of the Senior Notes upon a change of control triggering event.
Holders of the Senior Notes can require us to repurchase the Senior Notes upon a change of control of our company. Our ability to repurchase the Senior Notes may be limited by law or infrastructure,the terms of other agreements relating to our indebtedness. In addition, we may not have sufficient funds to repurchase the Senior Notes or have the ability to arrange necessary financing on acceptable terms, if at all. A change of control of our company may also constitute a default under, or result in the acceleration of the maturity of, our other then-existing indebtedness, including our Credit Facility. Our failure to repurchase the Senior Notes would result in a default under the Senior Notes, which may result in the acceleration of the Senior Notes and other then-existing indebtedness, including our Credit Facility. We may not have sufficient funds to make any payments triggered by such acceleration, which could faceresult in foreclosure proceedings and our seeking protection under the U.S. bankruptcy code.
Legal and Regulatory Risks
Governmental and regulatory policies or claims concerning the domain name registration system and the Internet in general, and industry reactions to those policies or claims, may cause instability in the industry and disrupt our business.
ICANN is a substantial decreasemulti-stakeholder, private sector, not-for-profit corporation formed in workflow efficiency1998 for the express purposes of overseeing a number of Internet related tasks, including managing the DNS allocation of IP addresses, accreditation of domain name registrars and increased costs,registries and the definition and coordination of policy development for all of these functions. We are accredited by ICANN as a domain name registrar and thus our ability to offer domain name registration products is subject to our ongoing relationship with, and accreditation by, ICANN. ICANN has been subject to strict scrutiny by the public and governments around the world, as well as multi-governmental organizations such as the United Nations, with many of those bodies becoming increasingly interested in Internet governance. If ICANN is not seen as adequately responsive to stakeholder concerns, governments around the world may decide to implement regulatory frameworks independent of ICANN, leading to a declinefragmentation of the domain name registration system, which could negatively affect our operations and financial results.
Additionally, we continue to face the following possibilities:
the structure and accountability mechanisms contained in ICANN's bylaws, amended in November 2019, are not fully tested, which may result in ICANN not being accountable to its stakeholders and unable to make, implement or enforce its policies;
the Internet community, key commercial industry participants, the U.S. government or other governments may (i) refuse to recognize ICANN's authority or support its policies, (ii) attempt to exert pressure on ICANN, or (iii) enact laws in conflict with ICANN's policies, each of which could create instability in the domain name registration system;
governments, via ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), may seek greater influence over ICANN policies and contracts with registrars and may advocate changes that may adversely affect our business;
the terms of the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) under which we are accredited as a registrar or the Registry Agreement (RA) under which we are accredited as a registry, could change in ways that are disadvantageous to us or under certain circumstances could be terminated by ICANN, thereby preventing us from
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operating our registrar or registry service, or ICANN could adopt unilateral changes to the RAA or RA that are unfavorable to us, that are inconsistent with our current or future plans, or that affect our competitive position;
international regulatory or governing bodies, such as the International Telecommunications Union, a specialized agency of the United Nations, or the E.U., may gain increased influence over the management and regulation of the domain name registration system, leading to increased regulation in areas such as taxation, privacy and the monitoring of our customers' hosted content;
ICANN or any third-party registries may implement policy changes impacting our ability to run our current business practices throughout the various stages of the lifecycle of a domain name;
the U.S. Congress or other legislative bodies in the U.S. could take action unfavorable to us, influencing customers to move their business from our products to those located outside the U.S.;
the U.S. Congress or other legislative bodies in the U.S. could adopt regulations that are in direct conflict with other jurisdictions (e.g., the E.U.), which could fragment our platform and product offerings;
the U.S. Congress or other legislative bodies in the U.S. or in other countries could adopt laws that erode the safe harbors from third-party liability in the CDA (Section 230) and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act;
ICANN could fail to maintain its role, potentially resulting in instability in DNS services administration and operation;
our business as a vertically integrated operation of a registrar and registry could lead to increased regulatory scrutiny;
governments and governmental authorities may impose requirements for, or prohibit, the registration of domain names containing certain words or phrases;
some governments and governmental authorities outside the U.S. have in the past disagreed, and may in the future disagree, with the actions, policies or programs of ICANN and registries relating to the DNS, which could fragment the single, unitary Internet into a loosely-connected group of one or more networks, each with different rules, policies and operating protocols;
multi-party review panels established by ICANN's bylaws may take positions unfavorable to our business; and
changes in ICANN leadership could introduce uncertainty that could delay or postpone programs, such as the next round of new gTLD applications, and that could have a material impact on our business.
If any of these events occur, they could create instability in the domain name registration system and may make it difficult for us to continue to offer existing products and introduce new products, or serve customers in certain international markets. These events could also disrupt or suspend portions of our domain name registration product and subject us to additional restrictions on how the registrar and registry products businesses are conducted, which would result in reduced revenue.
We rely onIn addition, the requirements of the privacy laws around the world, including the GDPR and laws within the U.S., are known to be in conflict with ICANN's policies and contracts related to how registrars collect, transmit and publish the personal information of domain name registrants in publicly accessible WHOIS directories. Although ICANN implemented a limited numbertemporary policy to alleviate some of data centersthese conflicts, we are working with ICANN and our industry counterparts to deliver most ofreconcile these conflicts. If ICANN is unable or unwilling to harmonize these policies and contracts with applicable privacy laws, our products. Ifefforts to comply with applicable laws may cause us to violate our existing ICANN contractual obligations. As a result, we could experience difficulties in selling domain names and keeping our existing customer domain names under management if we are unable to renewreach an amicable contractual solution with ICANN, which could have a material adverse effect on our data center agreementsoperations and revenue.
ICANN periodically authorizes the introduction of new TLDs. A delay in access to new TLDs could adversely impact our business, results of operations and reputation.
ICANN has periodically authorized the introduction of new TLDs and made domain names related to them available for registration. In 2012, ICANN significantly expanded the number of gTLDs through the first application round of the Expansion Program. This resulted in the delegation of new gTLDs in 2014. Since 2014, ICANN has not yet opened the second round of applications for new gTLDs, but continues to work towards doing so.
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Our competitive position depends in part on favorable terms,our ability to gain access to these new TLDs. A significant portion of our business relies on our ability to sell domain name registrations to our customers, and any limitations on our access to newly created TLDs could adversely impact our ability to sell domain name registrations to customers, and thus could adversely impact our business. Furthermore, GoDaddy Registry is also impacted by delays of future gTLD application rounds. Although we expect to continue to sell and pursue operator rights for new gTLDs as they are introduced, our ability to obtain these rights, gain contracts to provide backend registry services, or at all,sell new domains to our operating margins and profitability couldcustomers may be adversely affectedimpacted if the Expansion Program does not continue. In addition, if a new application round of the Expansion Program is not opened in the future, the reputation of the industry and our business couldand the financial and operational aspects of our business may be harmed.
We own oneThe relevant domain name registry and ICANN impose a charge upon each registrar for the administration of each domain name registration. If these fees increase, it would have a significant impact upon our data centersoperating results.
Each registry typically imposes a fee in association with the registration of each domain name. For example, VeriSign, the registry for .com and lease our remaining data center capacity.net, has a current list price of $9.59 annually for each .com registration, and ICANN currently charges $0.18 annually for most domain names registered in the gTLDs falling within its purview. In 2016, VeriSign and ICANN agreed that VeriSign will continue to be the exclusive registry for the .com gTLD through November 2024. In 2018, VeriSign and the U.S. Department of Commerce agreed to extend their Cooperative Agreement through 2024. As part of that extension, VeriSign has the right to raise .com wholesale prices up to 7% (per registration year) each year starting in November 2020, subject to ICANN's approval. In March 2020, VeriSign and ICANN amended the .com registry agreement to allow fees to be increased to no more than $10.26 annually for each .com registration. VeriSign has increased such fees in recent years and in February 2024, VeriSign announced it would increase the annual registry-level wholesale fee for new and renewal .com domain name registrations from wholesale providers. We occupy our leased data center capacity pursuant$9.59 to co-location service agreements with third-party data center facilities, which have built and maintain the co-located data centers for us and other parties. We currently serve all$10.26, effective September 1, 2024. If fees continue to increase, costs to our customers fromcould be higher, which could have an adverse impact on our GoDaddy-owned, Arizona-based data center as well as domesticresults of operations. We have no control over ICANN, VeriSign or other domain name registries and international co-located data center facilities located in Arizona, California, Missouri, Virginia, New York, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Singapore and the United Kingdom. Although we own the servers in these co-located data centers and engineer and architect the systems upon which our platforms run,cannot predict their future fee structures.
While we do not controlcurrently do so, we have the operationdiscretion to impose service fees on our customers in the future. In addition, pricing of new gTLDs is generally not set or controlled by ICANN, which in certain instances has resulted in aggressive price increases on certain particularly successful new gTLDs. The increase in these facilities, andfees with respect to any new gTLD either must be included in the prices we depend on the operators of these facilitiescharge to ensure their proper security and maintenance.
Despite precautions taken at our data centers, these facilities may be vulnerable to damagecustomers, imposed as a surcharge or interruption from break-ins, computer viruses, DDOSabsorbed by us. If we absorb such cost increases or other cyber-attacks, acts of terrorism, vandalism or sabotage, power loss, telecommunications failures, fires, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and similar events. The occurrence of any of these events or other unanticipated problems at these facilities couldif surcharges result in loss of data (including personal or payment card information), lengthy interruptionsdecreases in the availability ofdomain registrations, our services and harm to our reputation and brand. While we have disaster recovery arrangements in place, they have been tested in only very limited circumstances and not during any large-scale or prolonged disasters or similar events.
The terms of our existing co-located data center agreements vary in length and expire on various dates through 2028. Only some of our agreements with our co-located data centers provide us with options to renew under negotiated terms. We also have agreements with other critical infrastructure vendors which provide all of our facilities, including our data centers, with bandwidth, fiber optics and electrical power. None of these infrastructure vendors are under any obligation to continue to provide

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these services after the expiration of their respective agreements with us, nor are they obligated to renew the terms of those agreements.
Our existing co-located data center agreements may not provide us with adequate time to transfer operations to a new facility in the event of early termination. If we were required to move our equipment to a new facility without adequate time to plan and prepare for such migration, we would face significant challenges due to the technical complexity, risk and high costs of the relocation. Any such migration could result in significant costs for us and may result in data loss and significant downtime for a significant number of our customers which could damage our reputation, cause us to lose current and potential customers and adversely affect ourbusiness, operating results and financial condition.
Undetected or unknown defects in our products could harm our business and future operating results.
The products we offer or develop, including our proprietary technology and technology provided by third parties, could contain undetected defects or errors. For example, in early 2017 we discovered a small number of recently issued SSL certificates failed due to a software bug inadvertently introduced during a routine code change. We revoked the SSL certificates potentially affected by the bug as a precautionary matter, remedied the bug, contacted affected customers, and initiated a new certificate request on their behalf at no additional cost. The performance of our products could have unforeseen or unknown adverse effects on the networks over which they are delivered as well as, more broadly, on Internet users and consumers and third-party applications and services utilizing our solutions. These adverse effects, defects and errors, and other performance problems relating to our products could result in legal claims against us that harm our business and damage our reputation. The occurrence of any of the foregoing could result in compromised customer data, loss of or delay in revenues, an increase in our annual refund rate, which has ranged from 7.2% to 6.5% of total bookings from 2015 to 2017, loss of market share, failure to achieve market acceptance, diversion of development resources, injury to our reputation or brand and increased costs. In addition, while our terms of service specifically disclaim certain warranties, and contain limitations on our liability, courts may still hold us liable for such claims if asserted against us.
Privacy concerns relating to our technology could damage our reputation and deter existing and new customers from using our products.
From time to time, concerns have been expressed about whether our products or processes compromise the privacy of customers and others. Concerns about our practices with regard to the collection, use, disclosure or security of personally identifiable information, including payment card information, or other privacy related matters, even if unfounded, could damage our reputation andbe adversely affect our operating results. As we continue to grow our business organically and through acquisitions, the amount of data we store for our customers and related to our employees on our servers (including personally identifiable information) has been increasing. Any systems failure or compromise of our security resulting in the release of our users' or customers' data could seriously limit the adoption of our product offerings, as well as harm our reputation and brand and, therefore, our business. We expect to continue to expend significant resources to protect against security breaches. The risk that these types of events could seriously harm our business is likely to increase as we expand the number of cloud-based products we offer and operate in more countries.affected.
We are subject to governmental regulation and other legal obligations, particularly related to privacy, data and data protection lawsinformation security and regulations as well as contractual privacy and data protection obligations.cybersecurity. Our failure to comply with these or any future laws, regulations or obligations could subject us to sanctions and damages and could harm our reputation and business.
We are subject to a variety of laws and regulations, including regulation by various federal government agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Federal Communications Commission,FTC, FCC and state and local agencies.agencies, as well as privacy, data protection and cybersecurity laws in jurisdictions outside of the U.S. We collect personally identifiablepersonal, sensitive and confidential information, including payment card information and other data from our current and prospective customers, website users and employees. The U.S. federal and various U.S. state and foreign governments have adopted or proposed limitations on, or requirements regarding, the collection, distribution, use, security and storage of personally identifiablepersonal, sensitive and confidential information, of individuals, including payment card information, and the FTC and many state attorneys general are applying federal and state consumer protection laws to impose standards on the online collection, use and dissemination of data.personal, sensitive and confidential information, including payment card information. Self-regulatory obligations, other industry standards, policies and other legal obligations may apply to our collection, distribution, use, security or storage of personally identifiablepersonal, sensitive and confidential information, or other data relating to individuals, including payment card information. These obligations may be interpreted and applied inconsistently from one jurisdiction to another and may conflict with one another, other regulatory requirements or our internal practices. Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with U.S., E.U. or other foreign privacy or security laws, policies, industry standards or legal obligations or any security incident resulting in the unauthorized access to, or acquisition, release or transfer of, personally identifiablepersonal, sensitive and confidential information, or other data relating toincluding payment card information of our customers, employees andor others, including payment card information, may result in governmental enforcement actions,

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litigation, fines and penalties or adverse publicity and could cause our customers to lose trust in us, which could have an adverse effect on our reputation and business.
We expect there will continue to be newly enacted and proposed laws and regulations andas well as emerging industry standards concerning privacy, data protection, cybersecurity and information securityAI in the U.S., the European UnionE.U. and other jurisdictions, and we cannot yet determine the impact such future laws, regulations and standards may have on our business. Such laws, regulations, standards and other obligations could impair our ability to, or the manner in which we, collect or use information we utilize to target advertising to our
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customers, thereby having a negative impact on our ability to maintain and grow our total customers and increase revenue. For example, California enacted the California Consumer Protection Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA, and collectively, CCPA) that, among other things, requires covered companies to provide certain disclosures to California residents and afford such residents certain rights, including the right to opt-out of the sale or sharing of their personal information, or opt-into certain financial incentive programs. Several other states have enacted, and others are considering enacting, similar data privacy and cybersecurity laws that may require disclosures or notices to consumers and the recognition of certain rights relating to personal information, any of which may require us to modify our data processing practices in the future, for which the cost and impact are currently not predictable. Future restrictions on the collection, use, sharing or disclosure of our users' data or additional requirements for express or implied consent of users for the use, and disclosure or other processing of such information could increase our operating expenses, require us to modify our products, possibly in a material manner, or stop offering certain products, and could limit our ability to develop and implement new product features.
In particular, with regard to transfers to the U.S. of personal data (as such term is used in the 1995 EU Data Protection DirectiveGDPR and applicable European UnionE.U. member state legislation, and as similarly defined under the GDPR and the proposed ePrivacy Regulation) from our employees based in Europe and European customers and users, we relyhistorically relied upon the U.S.-EUE.U.-U.S. Privacy Shield, (a replacement framework for the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework adopted in July 2016), as well as EUE.U. Model Clauses in certain circumstances. Both the U.S.-EUThe E.U.-U.S. Privacy Shield was invalidated by the Court of Justice of the E.U. (CJEU) in July 2020 (Schrems II), and EUthe E.U. Model Clauses may behave been subject to legal challenge and were updated in June 2021. Following Schrems II, we have an ongoing process to utilize Data Processing Agreements with our customers and vendors, where there is a transfer involving a third country, to incorporate other data transfer mechanisms, such as the 2021 Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), for personal data transfers between E.U. and non-E.U. countries without an adequacy decision from the European Commission. We will continue to transfer personal data pursuant to the SCCs, but the CJEA has indicated that sole reliance on SCCs for transfers of personal information outside the European Economic Area may not be sufficient in all circumstances and the transfers must be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
On July 10, 2023, the European Commission’s adequacy decision for the E.U.-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (DPF) entered into effect and the E.U.-U.S. DPF Principles (DPF Principles) entered into effect the same date. The DPF and the DPF Principles provide a new mechanism for transferring personal data from the European Economic Area (EEA) to the U.S., with the European Commission having determined that data transfers to the U.S. made by companies who have self-certified their adherence to the DPF and DPF Principles provides a level of data protection comparable to the protection offered in the E.U. However, this decision is facing legal challenges and ultimately may be modifiedinvalidated by the CJEU just as was the E.U.-U.S. Privacy Shield. On July 17, 2023, the U.S. Department of Commerce recognized several GoDaddy entities, including Go Daddy Operating Company, LLC, as having self-certified their adherence to the DPF by virtue of their prior self-certification under the E.U.-U.S. Privacy Shield. We have updated our global privacy notice and certain other documents, as required by the DPF. If the E.U.-U.S. DPF is invalidated or it is determined that we are not eligible to continue to transfer personal data pursuant to the DPF, we intend to continue to rely upon the 2021 SCCs as an alternative transfer mechanism. In addition, the UK and the U.S. recently entered into an agreement regarding an extension of the E.U.-U.S. Data Privacy Framework to provide a new mechanism for transfer of personal data from the UK to the U.S., which is described as the UK-U.S. Data Bridge. We have self-certified our compliance with the UK-U.S. Data Bridge. If the UK-U.S. DPF is invalidated or it is determined that we are not eligible to continue to transfer personal information pursuant to the DPF, we intend to continue to rely upon the UK International Data Transfer Agreement for transfers of personal data from the UK to the U.S. Our failure or inability to comply with all requirements of the DPF or a challenge to our use of the 2021 SCCs could limit our ability to transfer data from the E.U., EEA, and UK to the U.S. However, we continue to implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure a level of security appropriate to the risks associated herewith.
Notwithstanding the aforementioned measures, we may be unsuccessful in maintainingunable to maintain legitimate means for our transfer and receipt of personal data from the European Economic Area (EEA).E.U. and the EEA. We may, in addition to other impacts, experience additional costs associated with increased compliance burdens, and we and our customers face the potential for regulators in the EEA to apply different standards to the transfer of personal data from the EEA to the U.S., and to block, or require ad hoc verification of measures taken with respect to certain data flows from the EEA to the U.S. We also may be required to engage in new contract negotiations with third parties that aid in processing data on our behalf. We may experience reluctance or refusal by current or prospective European customers to use our products, and we may find it necessary or desirable to make further changes to our handling of personal data of EEA residents. The regulatory environment applicable to the handling of EEA residents' personal data, and our actions taken in response, may cause us to assume additional liabilities or incur additional costs and could result in our business, operating results and financial condition being harmed. Additionally, we and our customers may face a risk of enforcement actions by data protection authorities in the EEA relating to personal data transfers to us and by us from the EEA. Any such enforcement actions could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources, distract management and technical personnel and negatively affect our business, operating results and financial condition.
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In addition, several other foreign countries and governmental bodies including the European Union and Canada, have laws and regulations concerning the collection, use, transfer and useother processing of personally identifiabletheir residents' personal information, obtained from their residents, including payment card information, which are often more restrictive than those in the U.S. Laws and regulations in these jurisdictions apply broadly to the collection, use, storage, disclosure and security of personally identifiable information, including payment card information identifying, or which may be used to identify, an individual, such as names, email addresses and, in some jurisdictions, Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. Although we are working tobelieve we comply with those laws and regulations applicable to us, these and other obligations may be modified and interpreted in different ways by courts, and new laws and regulations may be enacted in the future. Within the EEA, the GDPR will taketook full effect on May 25, 2018, and at that time, will supersede the 1995 European Union Data Protection Directive and will bebecame directly applicable to companies established across EUE.U. member states. The GDPR includes more stringent operational requirements for processors and controllers of personal data, for companies established in the EEA and those outside the EEA that collect and use personal data, including payment card information, imposes significant penalties for non-compliance and has broader extra-territorial effect. As the GDPR is a regulation rather than a directive, it applies throughout the EEA, but permits member states to enact certain supplemental requirements if they so choose. The GDPR also has broad extraterritorial effect on companies established outside the EEA, with stringent requirements for processors and controllers of personal data, and imposes significant penalties for non-compliance. Noncompliance with the GDPR can trigger fines of up to the greater of €20 million or 4% of global annual revenues. Further, following a referendum in June 2016 inThe UK exited the E.U. effective January 31, 2020, which voters in the United Kingdom approved an exit from the EU, the United Kingdom has initiated a process to leave the EU. This has created uncertainty with regard to the future regulation of data protection in the United Kingdom.UK. In June 2021, the European Commission adopted an adequacy decision for data transfers from the E.U. to the UK. Nevertheless, this adequacy decision may be revisited and it remains to be seen how the UK's withdrawal from the E.U. will impact the manner in which UK data protection laws or regulations will develop and how data transfers to and from the UK will be regulated and enforced by the UK Information Commissioner's Office, E.U. data protection authorities, or other regulatory bodies in the longer term. In addition, some countries, such as India, are considering or have enacted legislation requiring local storage and processing of data that could increase the cost and complexity of delivering our services.
On October 27, 2022, the E.U. published the Digital Services Act (DSA) in its Official Journal. The DSA, which requires governed companies to comply with its provisions beginning the first quarter of 2024, imposes new content moderation obligations, notice obligations, advertising restrictions and other requirements on digital intermediaries, including providers of intermediary services, hosting services and online platforms, which will cover certain products and services provided by the company and affiliate brands operating within the E.U. Noncompliance with the DSA could result in fines of up to 6% of annual global revenues, which are in addition to the ability of civil society organizations and non-governmental organizations to lodge class action lawsuits.
Any new laws, regulations, other legal obligations or industry standards, or any changed interpretation of existing laws, regulations or other standards may require us to incur additional costs and restrict our business operations. For example, many jurisdictions have enacted laws requiring companies to notify individuals of data securitycybersecurity breaches involving certain types of personal data. These mandatory disclosures regarding a security breach, or any other disclosures we may choose to undertake, could result in an increased risk of litigation and/or negative publicity to us, which may cause our customers to lose confidence in the effectiveness of our data securitycybersecurity measures which could impact our operating results. In addition, we are required under the GDPR and other privacy laws (including the UK version of the GDPR and U.S. state privacy laws) to respond to certain customers' data subject access requests (DSARs), each within a certain time period, which can entail responding to requests to know, access, correct, delete or transfer personal information we process. We may also be required to disclose what specific data we disclose or sell to, or share with, third parties. We are also required under the GDPR and other data privacy laws (including the UK version of the GDPR and U.S. state privacy laws) to honor certain customers' requests relating to our use of customers’ personal information for marketing and advertising purposes. We may dedicate significant resources to responding to our customers' DSARs, which could have a negative impact on our operating results. In addition, a failure to respond to DSARs properly could result in fines, negative publicity and damage to our business.
If our privacy or data securitycybersecurity measures fail to comply with current or future laws, regulations, policies, legal obligations or industry standards, or are perceived to have done so, we have in the past been, and may be in the future, subject to litigation and/or regulatory investigations (including the FTC investigation discussed above), and may incur fines or other liabilities, as well as negative publicity and a potential loss of business. Moreover, if future laws, regulations, other legal obligations or industry standards, or any changed interpretations of the foregoing, limit our customers' ability to use and share personally identifiablepersonal information, including payment card information, or our ability to store, process and share such personally identifiablepersonal information or other data, demand for our products could decrease, our costs could increase and our business, operating results and financial condition could be harmed.

Activities of customers or the content of their websites could damage our reputation and brand or harm our business and financial results.
As a provider of Core Platform and Applications and Commerce products, we may be subject to potential liability and negative publicity for our customers' activities on or in connection with their domain names, their websites or for the data they store on our servers. In addition, as we expand our social media management and professional web services, we may be subject to potential liability for content we create on behalf of our customers. Although our terms of service prohibit the illegal use of our
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products by our customers and permit us to take down or suspend websites or take other appropriate actions in response to illegal uses, customers may nonetheless engage in prohibited activities or upload or store content on our products in violation of applicable law or the customer's own policies, which could subject us to liability. Furthermore, our reputation and brand may be negatively impacted by customer actions and website content that are deemed hostile, offensive or inappropriate. We do not proactively monitor or review the appropriateness of the domain names our customers register or the content of their websites, and we do not have control over customer activities. The safeguards we have in place may not be sufficient to avoid harm to our reputation and brand, especially if such hostile, offensive or inappropriate customer content is high profile or misinterpreted as content supported by us.
Several U.S. federal statutes may apply to us with respect to various activities of our customers, including:
The Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) provides recourse for trademark owners against cybersquatters. Under the safe harbor provisions of the ACPA, domain name registrars are shielded from liability in many circumstances, including cybersquatting, although the safe harbor provisions may not apply if our activities are deemed outside the scope of registrar functions.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) provides recourse for owners of copyrighted material whose rights under U.S. copyright law have been infringed on the Internet. The safe harbor provisions of the DMCA, however, shield Internet service providers and other intermediaries from direct or indirect liability for copyright infringement, provided that we follow the procedures for handling copyright infringement claims set forth in the DMCA. These include expeditiously removing or disabling access to the allegedly infringing material upon the receipt of a proper notice from, or on behalf of, a copyright owner alleging infringement of copyrighted material located on websites we host.
The Communication Decency Act (CDA) generally protects Internet service providers that do not create or develop website content posted by customers from liability for certain activities of customers through regulation of Internet content unrelated to intellectual property. Under the CDA, we are generally not responsible for the customer-created content hosted on our servers and thus are generally immunized from liability for torts arising from, for example, the posting of defamatory or obscene content. As we increasingly create content for our customers, we may not be able to rely on such safe harbors, and we may be held liable for such content under the DMCA and the CDA.
Notwithstanding the exculpatory language of these bodies of law, the activities of our customers have resulted in, and may in the future result in, threatened or actual litigation against us. Although the ACPA, DMCA, CDA and relevant U.S. case law have generally shielded us from liability for customer activities to date, court rulings in pending or future litigation or future regulatory or legislative amendments may narrow the scope of protection afforded us under these laws. Additionally, neither the DMCA nor the CDA generally apply to claims of trademark violations, and thus they may be inapplicable to many of the claims asserted against our company. Furthermore, there have been, and continue to be, various Congressional and executive efforts to remove or restrict the scope of the protections available under Section 230 of the CDA, which if successful could decrease our current protections from liability for third-party content and increase our litigation costs.
In addition, other bodies of law, including state criminal laws, may be deemed to apply or new statutes or regulations may be adopted in the future, any of which could expose us to further liability and increase our costs of doing business. If such claims are successful, our business and operating results could be adversely affected, and even if the claims do not result in litigation or are resolved in our favor, these claims, and the time and resources necessary to resolve them, could divert the resources of our management and adversely affect our business and operating results. For example, the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act and the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act may limit the immunity previously available to us under the CDA, which could subject us to investigations or penalties if our customers' activities are deemed illegal or inappropriate. In addition, the DSA, a package of legislation intended to update the liability and safety rules for digital platforms, products and services, could negatively impact the scope of the limited immunity provided by the E-Commerce Directive in the E.U.
Our business depends on our customers' continued and unimpeded access to the Internet and the development and maintenance of Internet infrastructure. Internet access providers may be able to block, degrade or charge for access to certain of our products, which could lead to additional expenses and the loss of customers.
Our products depend on the ability of our customers to access the Internet. Currently, this access is provided by companies having significant market power in the broadband and Internet access marketplace, including incumbent telephone companies, cable companies, mobile communications companies and government-owned service providers. Some of these
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providers can take measures including legal actions, that could degrade, disrupt or increase the cost of user access to certain of our products by restricting or prohibiting the use of their infrastructure to support our offerings, charging increased fees to our users to provide our offerings, or regulating online speech. In some jurisdictions, such as China, our products and services may be subject to government-initiated restrictions, fees or blockages. Such interference could result in a loss of existing users, advertisers and goodwill or increased costs, or could impair our ability to attract new users, thereby harming our revenue and growth. Moreover, the adoption of any laws or regulations adversely affecting the growth, popularity or use of the Internet, including laws impacting Internet neutrality, could decrease the demand for our products and increase our operating costs. The legislative and regulatory landscape regarding the regulation of the Internet and, in particular, Internet neutrality, in the U.S. is subject to uncertainty.
To the extent any laws, regulations or rulings permit Internet service providers to charge some users higher rates than others for the delivery of their content, Internet service providers could attempt to use such law, regulation or ruling to impose higher fees or deliver our content with less speed, reliability or otherwise on a non-neutral basis as compared to other market participants, and our business could be adversely impacted. Internationally, government regulation concerning the Internet, and in particular, network neutrality, may be developing or non-existent. Within such a regulatory environment, we could experience discriminatory or anti-competitive practices impeding both our and our customers' domestic and international growth, increasing our costs or adversely affecting our business. Additional changes in the legislative and regulatory landscape regarding Internet neutrality, or otherwise regarding the regulation of the Internet, could harm our business, operating results and financial condition.
Our business could be affected by new governmental regulations regarding the Internet.
To date, government regulations have not materially restricted use of the Internet in most parts of the world. However, the legal and regulatory environment relating to the Internet is uncertain, and governments may impose regulation in the future. New laws may be passed, courts may issue decisions affecting the Internet, existing but previously inapplicable or unenforced laws may be deemed to apply to the Internet or regulatory agencies may begin to more rigorously enforce such formerly unenforced laws, or existing legal safe harbors may be narrowed, both by U.S. federal or state governments and by governments of foreign jurisdictions. The adoption of any new laws or regulations, or the narrowing of any safe harbors, could hinder growth in the use of the Internet and online services generally, and decrease acceptance of the Internet and online services as a means of communications, e-commerce and advertising. In addition, such changes in laws could increase our costs of doing business or prevent us from delivering our services over the Internet or in specific jurisdictions, which could harm our business and our results of operations.
From time to time, we are involved in lawsuits, including class action lawsuits, which are expensive and time consuming and could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition to intellectual property claims, we are also involved in other types of litigation and claims, including claims relating to commercial disputes, consumer protection and employment, such as harassment. For example, we have faced or continue to face claims related to the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act (and similar federal, state and international consumer protection statutes, including the Brazil Consumer Protection Code). In particular, in the past, we have settled class action complaints alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Plaintiffs in such current and future litigation matters often file such lawsuits on behalf of a putative or certified class and typically claim substantial statutory damages and attorneys' fees, and often seek changes to our products, features or business practices. Although the results of any such current or future litigation, regardless of the underlying nature of the claims, cannot be predicted with certainty, the final outcome of any current or future claims or lawsuits we face could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Any negative outcome from claims or litigation, including settlements, could result in payments of substantial monetary damages or fines, attorneys' fees or costly and significant and undesirable changes to our products, features, marketing efforts or business practices. As we expand our international business, we have experienced an increase in litigation occurring outside of the U.S., due in part to consumer-friendly laws and regulations in certain countries and legal systems with limited experience with claims related to the domain industry. Defending such litigation is costly and time consuming. The outcome of such litigation may not be the same as similar litigation in the U.S., which may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Further, claims or litigation brought against our customers or business partners may subject us to indemnification obligations or obligations to refund fees to, and adversely affect our relationships with, our customers or business partners. Such indemnification or refund obligations or litigation judgments or settlements that result in the payment of substantial monetary damages, fines and attorneys' fees may not be sufficiently covered by our insurance policies, if at all.
In addition, during the course of any litigation, regardless of its nature, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions, preliminary rulings or other interim proceedings or developments. If securities analysts or investors
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perceive these results to be negative, it could have a substantial adverse effect on the trading price of our Class A common stock. Regardless of whether any claims against us have any merit, these claims are time-consuming and costly to evaluate and defend, and can impose a significant burden on management and employees. Further, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential business or other proprietary information could be compromised by disclosure.
Failure to adequately protect and enforce our intellectual property rights could substantially harm our business and operating results.
The success of our business depends in part on our ability to protect and enforce our patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and other intellectual property rights. We attempt to protect our intellectual property under patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret laws, and through a combination of confidentiality procedures, contractual provisions and other methods, all of which offer only limited protection.
As of December 31, 2017,2023, we had 230368 issued patents in the U.S. and other countries covering various aspects of our product offerings. Additionally, as of December 31, 2017,2023, we had 15012 pending U.S. and international patent applications and intend to file additional patent applications in the future. The process of obtaining patent protection is expensive and time-consuming, and we may not be able to prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner. We may choose not to seek patent protection for certain innovations and may choose not to pursue patent protectionor in certain jurisdictions, and may choose to abandon patents that are no longer of strategic value to us, in each case even if those innovations have financial value to us. In addition, under the laws of certain jurisdictions, patents or othersother intellectual property rights may be unavailable or limited in scope. Furthermore, it is possible that our patent applications may not issue as granted patents, that the scope of our issued patents will be insufficient or not have the coverage originally sought, that our issued patents will not provide us with any competitive advantages, and that our patents and other intellectual property rights may be challenged by others or invalidated through administrative processes or litigation. In addition, issuance of a patent does not assure that we have an absolute right to practice the patented invention, or that we have the right to exclude others from practicing the claimed invention. As a result, we may not be able to obtain adequate patent protection or to enforce our issued patents effectively.
In addition to patented technology, we rely on our unpatented proprietary technology and confidential proprietary information, including trade secrets and know-how. Despite our efforts to protect the proprietary and confidential nature of such technology and information, unauthorized parties may attempt to misappropriate, reverse engineer or otherwise obtain and use them. The contractual provisions in confidentiality agreements and other agreements we generally enter into with employees, consultants, partners, vendors and customers may not prevent unauthorized use or disclosure of our proprietary technology or intellectual property rights and may not provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure of our proprietary technology or intellectual property rights. Moreover, policing unauthorized use of our technologies, products and intellectual property rights is difficult, expensive and time-consuming, particularly in foreign countries where the laws may not be as protective of intellectual property rights as those in the U.S. and where mechanisms for enforcement of intellectual property rights may be weak. To the extent we expand our international activities, our exposure to unauthorized copying and use of our products and proprietary information may increase. We may be unable to determine the extent of any unauthorized use or infringement of our products, technologies or intellectual property rights.
As of December 31, 2017,2023, we had 406583 registered and 25 pending trademarks in 63 countries,jurisdictions including the U.S., E.U., UK, China and Germany; we have also filed a trademark application for GoDaddy logo and mark in all international markets in which we operate or intend to operate.Airo. We have also registered, or applied to register, the trademarks associated with several of our leading brands in the U.S. and in certain other countries.countries, including for our logo launched in January 2020, the "Go." Competitors and others may have adopted, and in the future may adopt, tag lines or service or product names similar to ours, which could impede our ability to build our brands' identities and possibly lead to confusion. In addition, there could be potential trade name or trademark infringement claims brought by owners of other registered and common law trademarks or trademarks incorporating variations of the terms or designs of one or more of our trademarks and opposition filings made when we apply to register our trademarks.
From time to time, legal action by us may be necessary to enforce our patents, trademarks and other intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets, to determine the validity and scope of the intellectual property rights of others or to defend against claims of infringement or invalidity. Such litigation could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources, distract management and technical personnel and negatively affect our business, operating results and financial condition. If we are unable to protect our intellectual property rights, we may find ourselves at a competitive disadvantage. Any inability on our part to protect adequately our intellectual property may have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.
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We may be a party toare involved in intellectual property claims and litigation asserted by third parties and may be subject to additional claims and litigation in the future, which could result in significant costs and substantiallysubstantial harm to our business and results of operations.
In recent years, there has been significant litigation in the U.S. and abroad involving patents and other intellectual property rights. Companies providing web-based and cloud-based products are increasingly bringing, and becoming subject to, suits alleging infringement of proprietary rights, particularly patent rights. The possibility of intellectual property infringement claims also may increase to the extent we face increasingheightened competition and become increasinglymore visible. Any claims we assert

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against perceived infringers could provoke these parties to assert counterclaims against us alleging that we infringe their intellectual property rights. In addition, our exposure to risks associated with the use of intellectual property may increase as a result of acquisitions we make or our use of software licensed from or hosted by third parties, as we have less visibility into the development process with respect to such technology or the care taken to safeguard against infringement risks. Third parties may make infringement and similar or related claims after we have acquired or licensed technology that had not been asserted prior to our acquisition or license. Many companies are devoting significant resources to obtaining patents that could affect many aspects of our business. This may prevent us from deterring patent infringement claims, and our competitors and others may now and in the future have larger and more mature patent portfolios than we have.
We have faced in the past, are currently facing, and expect to face in the future, claims and litigation by third parties that we infringe upon or misappropriate their intellectual property rights. Defending patent and other intellectual property claims and litigation is costly and can impose a significant burden on management and employees, and there can be no assurances that favorable final outcomes will be obtained in all cases. In addition, plaintiffs may seek, and we may become subject to, preliminary or provisional rulings in the course of any such litigation, including potential preliminary injunctions requiring us to cease offering certain of our products or features. We may decide to settle such lawsuits and disputes on terms that are unfavorable to us. Similarly, if any litigation to which we are a party is resolved adversely, we may be subject to an unfavorable judgment that may not be reversed upon appeal. The terms of such a settlement or judgment may require us to cease offering certain of our products or features or pay substantial amounts to the other party. In addition, we may have to seek a license to continue practices found to be in violation of a third party's rights, which may not be available on reasonable terms, or at all, and may significantly increase our operating costs and expenses. As a result, we may also be required to develop alternative non-infringing technology or discontinue offering certain products or features. The development of alternative non-infringing technology, products or features could require significant effort and expense or may not be feasible. Our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected by intellectual property claims or litigation.
We are involved in numerous lawsuits, including putative class action lawsuits, that are expensive and time consuming and could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition to intellectual property claims, we are also involved in other types of litigation and claims, including employment, commercial and consumer protection claims. For example, we have faced or continue to face claims related to the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the American with Disabilities Act and the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act (and similar state consumer protection statutes). Plaintiffs in such current and future litigation matters often file such lawsuits on behalf of a putative class and typically claim substantial statutory damages and attorneys' fees, and often seek changes to our products, features or business practices. As a result, although the results of any such current or future litigation, regardless of the underlying nature of the claims, cannot be predicted with certainty, the final outcome of any current or future claims or lawsuits we face could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Any negative outcome from claims or litigation, including settlements, could result in payments of substantial monetary damages or fines, attorneys' fees or costly and undesirable changes to our products, features or business practices. Further, claims or litigation brought against our customers or business partners may subject us to indemnification obligations or obligations to refund fees to, and adversely affect our relationships with, our customers or business partners. Such indemnification or refund obligations or litigation judgments or settlements that result in the payment of substantial monetary damages, fines and attorneys' fees may not be sufficiently covered by our insurance policies if at all.
In addition, during the course of any litigation, regardless of its nature, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions, preliminary rulings or other interim proceedings or developments. If securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a substantial adverse effect on the trading price of our Class A common stock. Regardless of whether any claims against us have any merit, these claims are time-consuming and costly to evaluate and defend, and can impose a significant burden on management and employees. Further, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential business or other proprietary information could be compromised by disclosure.
Activities of customers or the content of their websites could damage our reputation and brand or harm our business and financial results.
As a provider of domain name registration and hosting and presence products, we may be subject to potential liability for the activities of our customers on or in connection with their domain names or websites or for the data they store on our servers. Although our terms of service prohibit illegal use of our products by our customers and permit us to take down or suspend websites or take other appropriate actions for illegal use, customers may nonetheless engage in prohibited activities or upload or store content with us in violation of applicable law or the customer's own policies, which could subject us to liability.

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Furthermore, our reputation and brand may be negatively impacted by the actions of customers that are deemed to be hostile, offensive or inappropriate. We do not proactively monitor or review the appropriateness of the domain names our customers register or the content of their websites, and we do not have control over customer activities. The safeguards we have in place may not be sufficient to avoid harm to our reputation and brand, especially if such hostile, offensive or inappropriate use is high profile.
Several U.S. federal statutes may apply to us with respect to various activities of our customers, including: the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (the DMCA), which provides recourse for owners of copyrighted material who believe their rights under U.S. copyright law have been infringed on the Internet; the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (the CDA), which regulates content on the Internet unrelated to intellectual property; and the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (the ACPA), which provides recourse for trademark owners against cybersquatters. The DMCA and the CDA generally protect online service providers like us that do not own or control website content posted by customers from liability for certain activities of customers, such as the posting of defamatory or obscene content, unless the online service provider is participating in the unlawful conduct. For example, the safe harbor provisions of the DMCA shield Internet service providers and other intermediaries from direct or indirect liability for copyright infringement. However, under the DMCA, we must follow the procedures for handling copyright infringement claims set forth in the DMCA including expeditiously removing or disabling access to the allegedly infringing material upon the receipt of a proper notice from, or on behalf of, a copyright owner alleging infringement of copyrighted material located on websites we host. Under the CDA, we are generally not responsible for the customer-created content hosted on our servers and thus are generally immunized from liability for torts committed by others. Consequently, we do not monitor hosted websites or prescreen the content placed by our customers. Under the safe harbor provisions of the ACPA, domain name registrars are shielded from liability in many circumstances, including cybersquatting, although the safe harbor provisions may not apply if our activities are deemed outside the scope of registrar functions.
Although these statutes and case law in the U.S. have generally shielded us from liability for customer activities to date, court rulings in pending or future litigation or future regulatory or legislative amendments may narrow the scope of protection afforded us under these laws. For example, there are currently efforts underway in Congress to amend the CDA in ways that could expose us to an increased risk of litigation, which could have a material adverse effect on our business. Neither the DMCA nor the CDA generally apply to claims of trademark violations, and thus they may be inapplicable to many of the claims asserted against our company. Furthermore, notwithstanding the exculpatory language of these bodies of law, the activities of our customers have resulted in, and may in the future, result in threatened or actual litigation against us. If such claims are successful, our business and operating results could be adversely affected, and even if the claims do not result in litigation or are resolved in our favor, these claims, and the time and resources necessary to resolve them, could divert the resources of our management and adversely affect our business and operating results.
In addition, laws governing these activities are unsettled in many international jurisdictions and it may be difficult or impossible for us to comply with such laws. Also, other existing bodies of law, including the criminal laws of various states, may be deemed to apply or new statutes or regulations may be adopted in the future, any of which could expose us to further liability and increase our costs of doing business.
We may face liability or become involved in disputes over registration and transfer of domain names and control over websites.
As a provider of web-based and cloud-based products, including as a registrar of domain names and related products, we may become aware of disputes over ownership or control of customer accounts, websites or domain names. We could face potential liability for our failure to renew a customer's domain. We could also face potential liability for our role in the wrongful transfer of control or ownership of accounts, websites or domain names. The safeguards and procedures we have adopted may not be successful in insulating us against liability from such claims in the future. Moreover, any future amendment to Section 230 of the CDA may increase our liability and could expose us to civil or criminal liability for the actions of our customers, if we do not effectively detect and mitigate these risks. In addition, we may face potential liability for other forms of account, website or domain name hijacking, including misappropriation by third parties of our customer accounts, websites or domain names and attempts by third parties to operate accounts, websites or domain names or to extort the customer whose accounts, websites or domain names were misappropriated. Furthermore, we are exposed to potential liability as a result of our domain privacy product, whereinwhereby the identity and contact details for the domain name registrant are masked. Although our terms of service reserve our right to take certain steps when domain name disputes arise related to our privacy product, including the removal of our privacy service, the safeguards we have in place may not be sufficient to avoid liability, which could increase our costs of doing business.
Occasionally, one of our customers may register a domain name identical, or similar, to a third party's trademark or the name of a living person. These occurrences have in the past and may in the future lead to our involvement in disputes over such domain names. Disputes involving registration or control of domain names are often resolved through the Uniform Domain Name

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Dispute Resolution Policy (the UDRP)(UDRP), ICANN's administrative process for domain name dispute resolution, or less frequently through litigation under the ACPA, or under general theories of trademark infringement or dilution. The UDRP generally does not impose liability on registrars, and the ACPA provides that registrars may not be held liable for registration or maintenance of a domain name absent a showing of the registrar's bad faith intent to profit from the trademark at issue. However, we may face liability if we act in bad faith or fail to comply in a timely manner with procedural requirements under these rules, including
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forfeiture of domain names in connection with UDRP actions. In addition, domain name registration disputes and compliance with the procedures under the ACPA and UDRP typically require at least limited involvement by us and, therefore, increase our cost of doing business. The volume of domain name registration disputes may increase in the future as the overall number of registered domain names increases. Moreover, as the owner or acquiror of domain name portfolios containing domains we provide for resale, we may face liability if one or more domain names in our portfolios, or our resellers' portfolios, are alleged to violate another party's trademark. WhileAlthough we screen the domainsdomain names we acquire to mitigate the risk of third-party infringement claims, we, or our resellers, may inadvertently register or acquire domains that infringe or allegedly infringe third-party rights. If intellectual property laws diverge internationally or are interpreted inconsistently by local courts, we may be required to devote additional time and resources to enhancing our screening program in international markets. For example, we are involved in a large number of claims in India involving the registration of domain names alleged to incorporate strings of text matching third-party trademarks. While these claims are individually and collectively immaterial, they may require additional time and resources to resolve, and as we expand internationally, we face additional intellectual property claims. Moreover, advertisements displayed on websites associated with domains registered by us may contain allegedly infringing content placed by third parties. We may face liability and increased costs as a result of such third-party infringement claims.
Our use of open source technology could impose limitations on our ability to commercialize our products.
We use open source software in our business, including in our products. It is possible that some open source software is governed by licenses containing requirements that we make available source code for modifications or derivative works we create based upon the open source software, and that we license such modifications or derivative works under the terms of a particular open source license or other license granting third parties certain rights of further use. By the terms of certain open source licenses, we could be required to release the source code of our proprietary software, and to make our proprietary software available under open source licenses, if we combine our proprietary software with open source software in certain manners.
Although we monitor our use of open source software in an effort to avoid subjecting our products to conditions we do not intend, we cannot be certain all open source software is reviewed prior to use in our proprietary software, that programmers working for us have not incorporated open source software into our proprietary software, or that they will not do so in the future. Any requirement to disclose our proprietary source code or to make it available under an open source license could be harmful to our business, operating results and financial condition. Furthermore, the terms of many open source licenses have not been interpreted by U.S. courts. As a result, there is a risk that these licenses could be construed in a way that could impose unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to commercialize our products. In such an event, we could be required to seek licenses from third parties to continue offering our products, to make our proprietary code generally available in source code form, to re-engineer our products or to discontinue the sale of our products if re-engineering could not be accomplished on a timely basis, any of which could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.
OurData localization requirements in certain jurisdictions in which we operate or maintain business depends on our customers' continuedmay increase data center and unimpeded accesscompany operating costs.
In some jurisdictions in which we operate or maintain business, such as India and China, laws and regulations may require us to locally host at least an instance of the data collected in that jurisdiction and in some cases may apply restrictions to the Internetexport or transfer of that data across borders. Such data localization laws and regulations may increase our overall data center operating costs by requiring duplicative local facilities, network infrastructure and personnel, and by potentially increasing the development and maintenance of Internet infrastructure. Internet access providers may be ableresources required to block, degrade or chargeprocess governmental requests for access to certain of our products, which could lead to additional expenses and the loss of customers.
Our products depend on the ability of our customers to access the Internet. Currently, this access is provided by companies having significant market power in the broadband and Internet access marketplace, including incumbent telephone companies, cable companies, mobile communications companies and government-owned service providers. Some of these providers have the ability to take measures including legal actions, that could degrade, disrupt, or increase the cost of user access to certain of our products by restricting or prohibiting the use of their infrastructure to support our offerings, charging increased fees to our users to provide our offerings, or regulating online speech.  In some jurisdictions, our products and servicesdata. This may be subject to government-initiated restrictions or blockages. Such interference could result in a loss of existing users, advertisers, goodwill, and increased costs, and could impair our ability to attract new users, thereby harming our revenue and growth.  Moreover, the adoption of any laws or regulations adversely affecting the growth, popularity or use of the Internet, including laws impacting Internet neutrality, could decrease the demand for our products andalso increase our operating costs. The legislative and regulatory landscape regarding the regulation of the Internet and, in particular, Internet neutrality, in the U.S. is subjectexposure to uncertainty.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) passed Open Internet rules in February 2015, effective in June 2015, generally providinggovernment requests for Internet neutrality with respect to fixed and mobile broadband Internet service. On December 14, 2017, the FCC voted to repeal these Internet neutrality regulations and return to a "light touch" regulatory framework. However, the repeal has not yet taken effect and a number of parties have stated their intent to appeal this order; thus the future impact of such repeal and any changes thereto remains uncertain. Any changes in the legislative and regulatory landscape regarding Internet neutrality, or otherwise regarding the regulation of the Internet, could harm our business. For example, to the extent any laws,

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regulations or rulings permit Internet service providers to charge some users higher rates than others for the delivery of their content, Internet service providers could attempt to use such law, regulation or ruling to impose higher fees or deliver our content with less speed, reliability or otherwise on a non-neutral basis as compared to other market participants, and our business could be adversely impacted. Internationally, government regulation concerning the Internet, and in particular, network neutrality, may be developing or non-existent. Within such a regulatory environment, we could experience discriminatory or anti-competitive practices impeding both our and our customers' domestic and international growth, increasing our costs or adversely affecting our business.
Our business is exposed to risks associated with credit card and other online payment chargebacks, fraud and new payment methods.
A majority of our revenue is processed through credit cards and other online payments. If our refunds or chargebacks increase, our processors could require us to create reserves, increase fees or terminate their contracts with us, which would have an adverse effect on our financial condition.
Our failure to limit fraudulent transactions conducted on our websites, such as through the use of stolen credit card numbers, could also subject us to liability and adversely impact our reputation. Under credit card association rules, penalties may be imposed at the discretion of the association for inadequate fraud protection. Any such potential penalties would be imposed on our credit card processor by the association. Under our contracts with our payment processors, we are required to reimburse them for such penalties. However, we face the risk that we may fail to maintain an adequate level of fraud protection and that one or more credit card associations or other processors may, at any time, assess penalties against us or terminate our ability to accept credit card payments or other form of online payments from customers, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
We could also incur significant fines or lose our ability to give customers the option of using credit cards to pay for our products if we fail to follow payment card industry data security standards, even if there is no compromise of customer information. Although we believe we are in compliance with payment card industry data security standards and do not believe there has been a compromise of customer information, it is possible that at times either we or any of our acquired companies may not have been in full compliance with these standards. Accordingly, we could be fined, which could impact our financial condition, or certain of our products could be suspended, which would cause us to be unable to process payments using credit cards. If we are unable to accept credit card payments, our business, financial condition and operating results may be adversely affected.
In addition, we could be liable if there is a breach of the payment information we store. Online commerce and communications depend on the secure transmission of confidential information over public networks. We rely on encryption and authentication technology to authenticate and secure the transmission of confidential information, including customer credit card numbers. However, we cannot ensure this technology will prevent breaches of the systems we use to protect customer payment data. Although we maintain network security insurance, we cannot be certain our coverage will be adequate for liabilities actually incurred or insurance will continue to be available to us on reasonable terms, or at all. In addition, some of our partners also collect or possess information about our customers, and we may be subject to litigation or our reputation may be harmed if our partners fail to protect our customers' information or if they use it in a manner inconsistent with our policies and practices. Data breaches can also occur as a result of non-technical issues. Under our contracts with our processors, if there is unauthorized access to, or disclosure of, credit card information we store, we could be liable to the credit card issuing banks for their cost of issuing new cards and related expenses.
Moreover, in the future we may explore accepting various forms of payment that may have higher fees and costs than our current payment methods. If our customers utilize alternative payment methods, our payment costs could increase and our operating results could be adversely impacted.
We are dependent on the continued services and performance of our senior management and other key employees, the loss of any of whom could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.
Our future performance depends on the continued services and contributions of our senior management and other key employees to execute on our business plancensorship and to identify and pursue new opportunities and product innovations. The loss of services of senior management or other key employees could significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our development and strategic objectives. The loss of the services of our senior management or other key employees for any reason could adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

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Our corporate culture has contributed to our success, and if we cannot maintain this culture, we could lose the innovation, creativity and teamwork fostered by our culture, and our business may be harmed.
We believe a critical contributor to our success has been our corporate culture, which we believe fosters innovation, creativity, a customer-centric focus, collaboration and loyalty. Our corporate culture is central to our devoted Customer Care team which is a key component of the value we offer our customers. As we continue to evolve our business, we may find it difficult to maintain these important aspects of our corporate culture, which could limit our ability to innovate and operate effectively. Difficultydata breaches in preserving our corporate culture will be exacerbated as we continue to expand internationally, grow our employee base and expand our solutions. Any failure to preserve our culture could also negatively affect our ability to retain and recruit personnel, continue to perform at current levels or execute on our business strategy.
If we are unable to hire, retain and motivate qualified personnel, our business would suffer.
Our future success and ability to innovate depends, in part, on our ability to continue to attract and retain highly skilled personnel. The loss of the services of any of our key personnel, the inability to attract or retain qualified personnel or delays in hiring required personnel, may seriously harm our business, financial condition and operating results. Our ability to continue to attract and retain highly skilled personnel, specifically employees with technical and engineering skills and employees with language skills and cultural knowledge of the geographic markets we have recently expanded to or that we intend to expand to in the near future, will be critical to our future success. Competition for highly skilled personnel is frequently intense, particularly in U.S. tech hubs such as the San Francisco Bay area, Seattle and the Boston area. To the extent we hire personnel from competitors, we may be subject to allegations that they have been improperly solicited or divulged proprietary or other confidential information. We are limited in our ability to recruit global talent by U.S. immigration laws, including those related to H1-B visas. The demand for H-1B visas to fill highly-skilled IT and computer science jobs is greater than the number of H-1B visas available each year; for the U.S. government's 2018 fiscal year, the U.S. issued 85,000 H-1B visas out of 199,000 requests. In addition, the regulatory environment related to immigration under the new presidential administration may increase the likelihood that immigration laws may be modified to further limit the availability of H1-B visas. If a new or revised visa program is implemented, it may impact our ability to recruit, hire and retain qualified skilled personnel, which could adversely impact our business, operating results and financial condition.
We issue equity awards to certain of our employees as part our hiring and retention efforts. As a public company, the ability of our employees to sell their stock received pursuant to equity awards in the public market may lead to a larger than normal turnover rate. In addition, we are required under GAAP to recognize compensation expense in our operating results for employee equity-based compensation under our equity grant programs, which may negatively impact our operating results and may increase the pressure to limit equity-based compensation.
The requirements of being a public company may strain our resources.
As a public company, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the listing standards of the New York Stock Exchange (the NYSE). We expect the requirements of these rules and regulations will continue to increase our legal, accounting and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time-consuming and costly, and place significant strain on our personnel, systems and resources. Management's attention may be diverted from other business concerns, which could adversely affect our business and operating results.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires us, among other things, to maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting.general. We continue to develop and refine our disclosure controls and other procedures designedexplore strategies to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports we will file with the SEC is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms, and that information required to be disclosed in reports under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our principal executive and financial officers. We also continue to improve our internal control over financial reporting. In order to maintain and improve the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting, we have expended, and anticipate we will continue to expend, significant resources, including legal and accounting-related costs and significant management oversight.
If we fail to maintain an effective system of disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting, our ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements or comply with applicable regulations could be impaired.
In our management's report for 2017, we determined our internal control over financial reporting is effective. In addition, our independent registered public accounting firm provided an unqualified attestation report to that effect. In the event that our

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chief executive officer, chief financial officer, or independent registered public accounting firm determines in the futurelimit such risks, but cannot guarantee that our internal control over financial reporting is not effective as defined under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, we could be subject to one or more investigations or enforcement actions by state or federal regulatory agencies, stockholder lawsuits or other adverse actions requiring us to incur defense costs, pay fines, settlements or judgments, thereby causing investor perceptions to be adversely affected and potentially resulting in restatement of our financial statements for prior periods and a decline in the market price of our stock.
In addition, our current internal controls and any new controls we implement may become inadequate because of changes in conditions in our business or information technology systems or changes in the applicable laws, regulations and standards. We have also recently acquired, and may acquire in future, companies that were not subject to the Sarbanes-Oxley regulations and accordingly were not required to establish and maintain an internal control infrastructure meeting the standards promulgated under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Any failure to design or operate effective controls, any difficulties encountered in their implementation or improvement, or any failure to implement adequate internal controls for our acquired companies could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. Not correctly designing controls nor fully recognizing, understanding or testing the state of or changes in our internal control environment could also adversely affect the results of management evaluations and independent registered public accounting firm audits of our internal control over financial reporting, about which we are required to include in our periodic reports filed with the SEC. Ineffective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial and other information, which would likely have a negative effect on the trading price of our Class A common stock. In addition, if we are unable to continue to meet these requirements, we may not be able to remain listed on the NYSE in the future.
Economic conditions in the United States and international economies may adversely impact our business and operating results.
General macro economic conditions, such as a recession or economic slowdown in the U.S. or internationally, could adversely affect demand for our products and make it difficult to accurately forecast and plan our future business activities. Spending patterns of small businesses and ventures are difficult to predict and are sensitive to the general economic climate, the economic outlook specific to small businesses and ventures, the then-current level of profitability experienced by these groups and overall consumer confidence. To the extent conditions in the national and global economy change, our business could be harmed as customers may reduce or postpone spending or choose not to purchase or renew subscriptions to our products as they may be considered discretionary by many of our current and potential customers. In particular, the United Kingdom held a referendum in June 2016 in which voters approved an exit from the EU, commonly referred to as "Brexit." In March 2017, the United Kingdom notified the EU of its intention to exit as provided in Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. The terms of the withdrawal are subject to negotiation and it is unclear what economic impact Brexit will have. It is possible the level of economic activity in this regionefforts will be adversely impacted, which could adversely affect our operating results. Uncertain and adverse economic conditions may also lead to a decline in the ability of our customers to use or access credit, including through credit cards, as well as increased refunds and chargebacks, any of which could adversely affect our business. In addition, changing economic conditions may also adversely affect third parties with which we have entered into relationships and upon which we depend in order to grow our business. As a result, we may be unable to continue to grow in the event of future economic slowdowns.successful.
We are subject to certain export controls, including economic and economictrade sanctions lawsregulations that could impair our ability to compete in international markets and subject us to liability if we are not in full compliance with applicable laws.
Our business activities are subject to various restrictions under U.S. export controls and trade and economic sanctions laws, including the U.S. Commerce Department's Export Administration Regulations and economic and trade sanctions regulations maintained by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). These also include U.S., UK and E.U. financial and economic sanctions targeting Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. If we fail to comply with these laws and regulations, we could be subject to civil or criminal penalties and reputational harm. U.S. export control laws and economic sanctions laws also prohibit certain transactions with U.S. embargoed or sanctioned countries, governments, persons and entities.
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We employ a number ofcountry-specific log-in and/or cart blocks in comprehensively sanctioned jurisdictions, customer screening, and other remedial measures designed to prevent users in embargoed countries and prohibited persons from purchasingensure regulatory compliance. When we screen customers against such sanctions lists, we rely on the data provided to us by our customers; if customers do not provide complete or accessingaccurate data, our products or services. Even though we take precautionsscreening process may fail to prevent transactions with U.S. sanctions targets,identify customers who are denied parties. As such, there is risk that in the future we could provide our products to such targetsdenied parties despite such precautions. Changes in the list of embargoed countriessanctioned jurisdictions and regions or prohibited personsOFAC and other sanctions lists may require us to modify these proceduresmeasures in order to comply with governmental regulations. Our failure to screen customers properly could result in negative consequences to us, including government investigations, penalties and reputational harm.

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Changes in our products or changes in export and import regulations may create delays in the introduction and sale of our products in international markets or, in some cases, prevent the sale of our products to certain countries, governments or persons altogether. Any change in export or import regulations, shift in the enforcement or scope of existing regulations, or change in the countries, governments, persons or technologies targeted by such regulations, could result in decreased use of our products or decreased ability to sell our products to existing or potential customers. Any decreased use of our products or limitation on our ability to sell our products internationally could adversely affect our growth prospects.
If we are found to be in violation of the export controls laws and regulations or economic sanctions laws and regulations, penalties may be imposed against us and our employees, including loss of export privileges and monetary penalties, which could have a material adverse effect on our business. We could also be materially and adversely affected through penalties, reputational harm, loss of access to certain markets, or otherwise if we are found to have violated these laws and regulations.
Due to the global nature of our business, we could be adversely affected by violations of anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws.
The global nature of our business creates various domestic and local regulatory challenges. The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended (the FCPA), the U.K. Bribery Act 2010 (the U.K. Bribery Act), U.S. Travel Act and similar anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws in other jurisdictions generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to foreign government officials and other persons for the corrupt purpose of obtaining or retaining business, directing business to any person or securing any advantage. In addition, companies are required to maintain records accurately and fairly representing their transactions and having an adequate system of internal accounting controls. We face significant risks if we fail to comply with the FCPAU.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended (FCPA), the UK Bribery Act 2010 (UK Bribery Act), the U.S. Travel Act of 1961 and other anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws prohibiting companies and their employees and third-party intermediaries from authorizing, offering or providing, directly or indirectly, improper payments or benefits to foreign government officials, political parties and private-sector recipients for an illegal purpose.
We operate and maintain business in areas of the world in which corruption by government officials exists to some degree and, in certain circumstances, compliance with anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws may conflict with local customs and practices. We operate and maintain business in several countries and sell our products to customers around the world, which results in varied and potentially conflicting compliance obligations. In addition, changes in laws could result in increased regulatory requirements and compliance costs which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. While we are committed to complying with, and we provide training to help our employees to comply with, all applicable anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws, we cannot assure that our employees or other agents will not engage in prohibited conduct and render us responsible under the FCPA or the U.K.UK Bribery Act.
If we are found to be in violation of the FCPA, the U.K.UK Bribery Act or other anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws (either due to acts or inadvertence of our employees, or due to the acts or inadvertence of others), we could suffer criminal or civil penalties or other sanctions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business. Any violation of the FCPA or other applicable anti-corruption or anti-bribery laws could result in whistleblower complaints, adverse media coverage, investigations, loss of export privileges, severe criminal or civil sanctions and, in the case of the FCPA, suspension or debarment from U.S. government contracts, which could have a material and adverse effect on our reputation, business, operating results and growth prospects. In addition, responding to any enforcement action may result in a materially significant diversion of management's attention and resources and significant defense costs and other professional fees.
Unanticipated changes in effective tax rates or adverse outcomes resulting from examination of our income or other tax returns could adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.
We are subject to income taxes in the U.S. and various foreign jurisdictions, and our domestic and international tax liabilities will be subject to the allocation of expenses in differing jurisdictions. Our future effective tax rates could be subject to volatility or adversely affected by a number of factors, including:
changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets (DTAs) and liabilities (DTLs);
expected timing and amount of the release of any tax valuation allowances;
expiration of, or detrimental changes in, research and development tax credit laws;
tax effects of equity-based compensation;
costs related to intercompany restructurings;
changes in tax laws, regulations or interpretations thereof; or
future earnings being lower than anticipated in countries where we have lower statutory tax rates and higher than anticipated earnings in countries where we have higher statutory tax rates.
In addition, we may be subject to audits of our income, sales and other transaction taxes by federal and state and foreign tax authorities. Outcomes from these audits could have an adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition.

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In December 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TJCA) was enacted, making many significant changes to U.S. tax laws. The consequences of these changes, including whether and how state, local and foreign jurisdictions will react to such changes, have not yet been fully determined. Changes in corporate tax rates, the realizability of the net DTAs relating to our U.S. operations, the taxation of foreign earnings and the deductibility of expenses contained in the TJCA or other tax reform legislation could have a material impact on the value of our DTAs, could result in significant one-time charges and could increase our future U.S. tax expense. Furthermore, changes to the taxation of undistributed foreign earnings could change our future intentions regarding reinvestment of such earnings. The foregoing items could have an adverse effect on our operating results, cash flow or financial condition.
Our business is subject to the risks of earthquakes, fire, power outages, floods and other catastrophic events and to interruption by man-made events such as terrorism.
A significant natural disaster, such as an earthquake, fire or flood could have a material adverse impact on our business, operating results and financial condition. Natural disasters could lead to significant power outages and otherwise affect our data centers as well as our infrastructure vendors' abilities to provide connectivity and perform services on a timely basis. In the event our or our service providers' IT systems' abilities are hindered by any of the events discussed above, we and our customers' websites could experience downtime, and our products could become unavailable. In addition, acts of terrorism and other geopolitical unrest could cause disruptions in our business or the business of our infrastructure vendors, partners or customers or the economy as a whole. Any disruption in the business or operations of our data center hosting providers or customers could have a significant adverse effect on our operating results and financial performance. All of the aforementioned risks may be further increased if our disaster recovery plans prove to be ineffective in the event of such a disaster.
Risks Related to Our Industry
Governmental and regulatory policies or claims concerning the domain name registration system and the Internet in general, and industry reactions to those policies or claims, may cause instability in the industry and disrupt our business.
ICANN is a multi-stakeholder, private sector, not-for-profit corporation formed in 1998 for the express purposes of overseeing a number of Internet related tasks, including managing the DNS allocation of IP addresses, accreditation of domain name registrars and registries and the definition and coordination of policy development for all of these functions. We are accredited by ICANN as a domain name registrar and thus our ability to offer domain name registration products is subject to our ongoing relationship with, and accreditation by, ICANN.
ICANN has been subject to strict scrutiny by the public and governments around the world, as well as multi-governmental organizations such as the United Nations, with many of those bodies becoming increasingly interested in Internet governance.
Additionally, we continue to face the possibility that:
the new structure and accountability mechanisms contained in ICANN's new bylaws are not fully tested, which may result in ICANN not being accountable to its stakeholders and unable to make, implement or enforce its policies;
the U.S. or another government or intergovernmental organization may reassess ICANN's role in overseeing the domain name registration market;
the Internet community, the U.S. government or other governments may (i) refuse to recognize ICANN's authority or support its policies, (ii) attempt to exert pressure on ICANN, or (iii) enact laws in conflict with ICANN's policies, each of which could create instability in the domain name registration system;
governments, via ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), may seek greater influence over ICANN policies and contracts with registrars and may advocate changes that may adversely affect our business;
some of ICANN's policies and practices, such as ICANN's position on privacy and proxy domain name registrations, and the policies and practices adopted by registries and registrars, could be found to conflict with the laws of one or more jurisdictions, or could be materially changed in a way that negatively impacts the sale of our products;
the terms of the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (the RAA) under which we are accredited as a registrar, could change in ways that are disadvantageous to us or under certain circumstances could be terminated by ICANN, thereby preventing us from operating our registrar service, or ICANN could adopt unilateral changes to the RAA that are unfavorable to us, that are inconsistent with our current or future plans, or that affect our competitive position;

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International regulatory or governing bodies, such as the International Telecommunications Union, a specialized agency of the United Nations, or the European Union, may gain increased influence over the management and regulation of the domain name registration system, leading to increased regulation in areas such as taxation, privacy and the monitoring of our customers' hosted content;
ICANN or any third-party registries may implement policy changes impacting our ability to run our current business practices throughout the various stages of the lifecycle of a domain name;
the U.S. Congress or other legislative bodies in the U.S. could take action unfavorable to us or influencing customers to move their business from our products to those located outside the U.S.;
ICANN could fail to maintain its role, potentially resulting in instability in DNS services administration;
some governments and governmental authorities outside the U.S. have in the past disagreed, and may in the future disagree, with the actions, policies or programs of ICANN and registries relating to the DNS, which could fragment the single, unitary Internet into a loosely-connected group of one or more networks, each with different rules, policies and operating protocols; and
multi-party review panels established by ICANN's new bylaws may take positions unfavorable to our business.
If any of these events occur, they could create instability in the domain name registration system and may make it difficult for us to continue to offer existing products and introduce new products, or serve customers in certain international markets. These events could also disrupt or suspend portions of our domain name registration product and subject us to additional restrictions on how the registrar and registry products businesses are conducted, which would result in reduced revenue.
In addition, the requirements of the GDPR are known to be in conflict with ICANN's policies and contracts related to how registrars collect, transmit and publish the personal information of domain name registrants in publicly accessible WHOIS directories. We are working with ICANN and our industry counterparts to reconcile these differences. If ICANN is unable or unwilling to harmonize these policies and contracts with the GDPR, our efforts to comply with the GDPR may cause us to violate our existing ICANN contractual obligations. The result is we could experience difficulties in selling domain names and keeping our existing customer domain names under management if we are unable to reach an amicable contractual solution with ICANN, which could have a material adverse effect on our operations and revenue.
ICANN periodically authorizes the introduction of new TLDs, and we may not have the right to register new domain names to our customers based on such TLDs, which could adversely impact our business and results of operations.
ICANN has periodically authorized the introduction of new TLDs and made domain names related to them available for registration. Our competitive position depends in part on our ability to secure access to these new TLDs. A significant portion of our business relies on our ability to sell domain name registrations to our customers, and any limitations on our access to newly-created TLDs could adversely impact our ability to sell domain name registrations to customers, and thus adversely impact our business.
In 2013, ICANN significantly expanded the number of gTLDs, which resulted in the delegation of new gTLDs commencing in 2014, which we refer to as the Expansion Program. We and certain of our competitors have expended resources filing gTLD applications under the Expansion Program to pursue the acquisition of gTLD operator rights. For example, we secured the rights to become the registry for .godaddy, a gTLD. The Expansion Program could substantially change the domain name industry in unexpected ways and is expected to result in an increase in the number of domains registered by our competitors. If we do not properly manage our response to the change in business environment, and accurately predict the market's preference for specific gTLDs, it could adversely impact our competitive position or market share.
The relevant domain name registry and ICANN impose a charge upon each registrar for the administration of each domain name registration. If these fees increase, it would have a significant impact upon our operating results.
Each registry typically imposes a fee in association with the registration of each domain name. For example, VeriSign, Inc. (VeriSign), the registry for .com and .net, has a current list price of $7.85 annually for each .com registration, and ICANN currently charges $0.18 annually for most domain names registered in the gTLDs falling within its purview. The fee charged by VeriSign for each .com registration increased from $6.86 per year to $7.34 per year in July 2010 and increased again to $7.85 per year in January 2012. In 2016, VeriSign and ICANN agreed VeriSign will continue to be the exclusive registry for the .com gTLD through November 2024. As part of this agreement, the current list price of $7.85 annually for each .com registration will remain in place, unless VeriSign can demonstrate to the U.S. Department of Commerce that technology changes or market conditions no

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longer warrant pricing restrictions. If efforts to remove these pricing restrictions were successful, costs to our customers could be higher, which may have an adverse impact on our results of operations.
We have no control over ICANN, VeriSign or any other domain name registries and cannot predict their future fee structures. While we do not currently do so, we have the discretion to impose service fees on our customers in the future. In addition, pricing of new gTLDs is generally not set or controlled by ICANN, which in certain instances has resulted in aggressive price increases on certain particularly successful new gTLDs. The increase in these fees with respect to any new gTLD either must be included in the prices we charge to our customers, imposed as a surcharge or absorbed by us. If we absorb such cost increases or if surcharges result in decreases in domain registrations, our business, operating results and financial performance may be adversely affected.
Our business and financial condition could be harmed materially if small consumers and small businesses and ventures were no longer able to rely upon the existing domain name registration system.
The domain name registration market continues to develop and adapt to changing technology. This development may include changes in the administration or operation of the Internet, including the creation and institution of alternate systems for directing Internet traffic without using the existing domain name registration system. The widespread acceptance of any alternative system, such as mobile applications or closed networks, could eliminate the need to register a domain name to establish an online presence and could materially and adversely affect our business.
Changes in state taxation laws and regulations may discourage the registration or renewal of domain names for e-commerce.
Due to the global nature of the Internet, it is possible that any U.S. or foreign federal, state or local taxing authority might attempt to regulate our transmissions or levy transaction, income or other taxes relating to our activities. Tax authorities at the international, federal, state and local levels are regularly reviewing the appropriate treatment of companies engaged in e-commerce. New or revised international, federal, state or local tax regulations may subject either us or our customers to additional sales, income and other taxes. In particular, after the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in South Dakota v. Wayfair, U.S. states may require an online retailer with no in-state property or personnel to collect and remit sales tax on sales to such states' residents. We cannot predict the effect of current attempts to impose sales, income or other taxes on e-commerce. New or revised taxes, in particularparticularly sales and other transaction taxes, would likely increase the cost of doing business online and decrease the attractiveness of advertising and selling goods and services over the Internet. New taxes could also create significant increases in
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internal costs necessary to capture data and to collect and remit taxes. Any of these events could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
Risks RelatedOur payments-related operations, including GoDaddy Payments, are subject to various laws, regulations, restrictions and risks. Our Companyfailure to comply with such rules, regulations, and Our Organizational Structure
Our only material asset isrestrictions regarding our economic interest in Desert Newco, and we are accordingly dependent upon distributions from Desert Newco to paypayments-related operations could materially harm our expenses, taxes and dividends (if and when declared by our board of directors).business.
We are subject, and may become subject, to various restrictions with respect to our payments-related operations and payments products and services, including under U.S. federal, U.S. state and international laws and regulations, as well as restrictions set forth in agreements we have with payment card networks and third-party payment service providers.
Payments Regulations. The processing and acceptance of a holding companyvariety of payment methods is subject to various laws, rules, regulations, legal interpretations, and regulatory guidance, including those governing (i) cross-border and domestic money transmission and funds transfers, (ii) foreign exchange, (iii) payment services, and (iv) consumer protection. If we or our GoDaddy Payments business were found to be in violation of applicable laws or regulations, we could be subject to additional operating requirements and/or civil and criminal penalties or forced to cease providing certain services.
Payment Card Networks. We partner with payment card networks including Visa, MasterCard and American Express to conduct both our and GoDaddy Payments' payment processing. These payment card networks have noadopted rules and regulations that apply to all merchants who accept their payment cards including special operating rules that apply to GoDaddy Payments as a "payment facilitator" providing payment processing services to our GoDaddy Payments' customers. Each payment card network has discretion to interpret its own network operating rules and may make changes to such rules at any time. Changes to such rules could include increasing the cost of, imposing restrictions on, or otherwise impacting the development of, our GoDaddy Payments' retail point-of-sale solutions, which may negatively affect their deployment and adoption and could ultimately harm our business. In addition, these payment card networks may in the future increase the interchange fees and assessments that they charge for each transaction on their networks, and may impose special fees or assessments on any transactions on their networks. Our payment card networks have the right to pass any increases in interchange fees and assessments on to us, which could increase our costs and thereby adversely affect our financial performance.
We may also be subject to fines assessed by the payment card networks resulting from any rule violations by us or our GoDaddy Payments' customers. For instance, we could be subject to penalties from payment card networks if we fail to detect that our GoDaddy Payments' customers are engaging in activities that are illegal, contrary to the payment card network operating rules, or considered "high risk." Any such penalties could become material assets other thanand could result in termination of our ownership of limited liability company units of Desert Newco (LLC Units)ability to accept payment cards or could require changes in our process for registering new GoDaddy Payments' customers. Any such penalties or fines could materially and adversely affect our business.
Third-Party Payment Service Providers. We have no independent means of generating revenue or cash flows. We intendagreements in place with companies that process credit and debit card transactions on our and GoDaddy Payments' behalf. These agreements allow these payment processors, under certain conditions, to cause Desert Newco to make distributions to us, as its managing member, inhold an amount sufficient to cover all expenses, applicable taxes payable and dividends, if any, declared byof our, board of directors. To the extent we need funds and Desert Newco is restricted from making such distributions under applicable law or regulation or under any present or future debt covenants or is otherwise unable to provide such funds, it could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Our ability to pay taxes and expenses, including payments under the TRAs, may be limited by our structure.
Our principal asset, either directly or through our wholly owned subsidiary GD Subsidiary Inc., is a controlling equity interest in Desert Newco. As such, we have no independent means of generating revenue or cash flows. Desert Newco is treated as a partnership for U.S. income tax purposes and, as such, is generally not subject to income tax in most jurisdictions. Instead, taxable income is allocated to holders of its LLC Units, including us. Accordingly, we incur income taxes on our allocable share of any net taxable income of Desert Newco.
Pursuant to the amended and restated limited liability company agreement of Desert Newco (the New LLC Agreement), Desert Newco will make cash distributions to the owners of LLC Units, calculated using an assumed tax rate, to help fund their tax obligations in respect of the cumulative taxable income in excess of cumulative taxable losses of Desert Newco allocated to them. In addition to tax expenses, we also incur expenses related to our operations, plus payments under the TRAs, which we expect will be significant. We intend to cause Desert Newco to make distributions or in the case of certain expenses,GoDaddy Payments its customers' cash (referred to as a "holdback") or require us to otherwise post security equal to a portion of bookings that have been processed by that company. These payment processors may be entitled to a holdback or suspension of processing services upon the occurrence of specified events, including material adverse changes in our financial condition. An imposition of a holdback or suspension of payment processing services by one or more of our payment processors could materially reduce our liquidity. Further, the software and services provided by payment processors may fail to meet our expectations, contain errors or vulnerabilities, be compromised, or experience outages. Any of these risks could cause us to lose our ability to process payments, inand our business and operating results could be adversely affected.

GoDaddy Payments' risk management efforts may not be effective, and we could be exposed to substantial losses and liability which could substantially harm our business.
GoDaddy Payments offers payment processing and other payments products and services to our customers. We have programs to vet and monitor these customers and the transactions we process for them as part of our risk management efforts, but such programs require continuous improvement and may not be effective in detecting and preventing fraud and illegitimate transactions. When GoDaddy Payments' payments services are used to process illegitimate transactions, and we settle those funds to customers and are unable to recover them, we suffer losses and liability. As a greater number of sellers, including customers with larger sale volumes, use GoDaddy Payments' services, our exposure to material losses from a single seller, or from a small number of sellers, will increase.
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an amount sufficientIn addition, customers could attempt to use our payments products and services for illegal activities or improper uses. While our terms of service prohibit the use of our products by our customers for illegal or improper activities and allow us to paytake appropriate actions in response to such activities, any use of our taxespayments platform for illegal or improper activities or failure by us to detect or prevent illegal or improper activity by our customers may subject us to claims, individual and operating expenses, including distributions to fund any ordinary course payments due under the TRAs. However, Desert Newco's ability to make such distributions may be subject to various limitationsclass action lawsuits, and restrictions.
We are a holding company with no operationsgovernment and rely on Desert Newco to provide us with funds necessary to meet any financial obligations. If we do not have sufficient funds to pay taxregulatory requests, inquiries, or other liabilities or to fundinvestigations that could result in liability, restrict our operations, (as a result of Desert Newco's inability to make distributions to us due to various limitations andimpose additional restrictions or as a result of the acceleration oflimitations on our obligations under the TRAs), we may havebusiness or require us to borrow fundschange our business practices, harm our reputation, increase our costs, and thusnegatively impact our liquidity and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected. To the extent we are unablebusiness.
Risks Related to make payments under the TRAs for any reason, such payments will be deferred and will accrue interest at a rate equal to one year LIBOR plus 500 basis points until paid.
We are required to pay certain pre-IPO owners for certain tax benefits we may claim, and we expect the payments we are required to make to be substantial.
Any exchanges of LLC Units (together with the corresponding shares of Class B common stock) for shares ofOwning our Class A common stock or cash are expectedCommon Stock
Our business could be negatively impacted by shareholder activism.
In recent years, shareholder activists have become involved in numerous public companies. Shareholder activists frequently propose to produce favorable tax attributes for us. When we acquire LLC Units from our pre-IPO owners through these exchanges, both the existing tax basis and anticipated tax basis adjustments are likely to increase (for tax purposes) our depreciation and amortization deductions and therefore reduce the amount of income tax we would be required to payinvolve themselves in the future in the absencegovernance, strategic direction and operations of this existingcompanies, including companies' efforts regarding environmental, sustainability and increased basis. This existing and increased tax basis may also decrease gain (or increase loss) on future dispositionsgovernance standards. For example, Starboard Value L.P., an activist investor, has reported, as of certain assets to the extent the tax basis is allocated to those assets. In addition, certain acquired net operating losses (NOLs) and other tax attributes are available to us as a result of the pre-IPO organizational transactions. Under the TRAs, we generally expect to retain the benefit ofJanuary 2024, that it holds an approximately 15% of the applicable tax savings after our payment obligations below are taken into account.
We are a party to five TRAs with our pre-IPO owners. Under four of these agreements, we are generally required to pay to certain pre-IPO owners, in the aggregate, approximately 85% of the amount of savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income tax we are deemed to realize (using the actual applicable U.S. federal income tax rate and an assumed combined state and local income tax rate) as a result of (1) any existing tax attributes of LLC Units acquired in the pre-IPO organizational transactions, the benefit of which is allocable to us as a result of such transactions (including the allocable share of Desert Newco's existing tax basis in its assets), (2) NOLs available as a result of such transactions and (3) tax benefits related to imputed interest.
Under the fifth of these agreements, we are generally required to pay to certain pre-IPO owners approximately 85% of the applicable savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income tax we are deemed to realize (using the actual applicable U.S. federal income tax rate and an assumed combined state and local income tax rate) as a result of (1) any step-up in tax basis created as a result of exchanges of their LLC Units for shares of our Class A common stock or cash, (2) any existing tax attributes associated with their LLC Units, the benefit of which is allocable to us as a result of such exchanges (including the allocable share of Desert Newco's existing tax basis in its assets), (3) tax benefits related to imputed interest and (4) payments under the TRA.
The TRAs allow our pre-IPO owners to transfer their rights under the TRAs to third parties, who would then succeed to the rights of our pre-IPO owners under the TRAs. In the event of such a transfer, we would be required to make the payments described above to the new TRA parties in accordance with the terms of the TRAs.
As of December 31, 2017, we have recorded a liability under the TRAs of $153.0 million payable to certain pre-IPO owners. This is the amount of liability we currently deem probable and estimable, which takes into account limitations on the use of the favorable tax attributes due to limitations of taxable income. Because we anticipate these favorable tax attributes being greater than our taxable income, the excess deductions allocated to us will increase the amount of our NOL carryforwards. We have determined it is more-likely-than- not we will be unable to utilize all of our DTAs subject to the TRAs; therefore, we have not recorded a liability under the TRAs related to the tax savings we may realize from the utilization of NOL carryforwards and the amortization related to basis adjustments under Code Section 754 created by exchanges of LLC Units. If utilization of these DTAs becomes more-likely-than-not in the future, at such time, we will record liabilities under the TRAs of up to an additional $559.5 million as a result of basis adjustments under Code Section 754 and up to an additional $224.4 million related to the utilization of NOL and credit carryforwards, which will be recorded through charges to our statements of operations. However, if these tax attributes are not utilized in future years, it is reasonably possible no amounts would be paid under the TRAs. In this scenario, the reduction of the liability under the TRAs would result in a benefit to our statements of operations. These potential additional liabilities were calculated considering the U.S. federal corporate tax rate reduction enacted in December 2017 as part of the TCJA, as discussed in Note 14 to our consolidated financial statements.

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The payment obligations under the TRAs are obligations of GoDaddy Inc., and we expect the payments we are required to make under the TRAs will be substantial. Assuming no material changes in the relevant tax law and that we earn sufficient taxable income to realize all tax benefits subject to the TRAs, we expect the tax savings associated with (1) the pre-IPO organizational transactions and (2) future exchanges of LLC Units (together with the corresponding shares of Class B common stock) as described above would aggregate to approximately $1.9 billion over 15 years, based on the December 29, 2017 closing price of $50.28 per share of our Class A common stock and assuming all exchanges occurred on the last day of 2017. Under such scenario, we would be required to pay the other parties to the TRAs approximately 85% of such amount, or approximately $1.6 billion, over such 15 year period. The actual amounts will materially differ from these hypothetical amounts, as the potential future tax savings we will be deemed to realize, and TRA payments to be made by us, will be calculated based in part on the market value of our Class A common stock at the time of exchange and the prevailing applicable U.S. federal tax rate (plus the assumed combined state and local tax rate) applicable to us over the life of the TRAs and will be dependent on our generating sufficient future taxable income to realize the benefit. Payments under the TRAs are not conditioned on Desert Newco's pre-IPO owners' continued ownership of LLC Units. These hypothetical amounts were calculated considering the U.S. federal corporate tax rate reduction enacted in December 2017 as part of the TCJA, as discussed in Note 14 to our consolidated financial statements.
The actual existing tax basis and increase in tax basis, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under the TRAs, will vary depending upon a number of factors, including the timing of exchanges by the holders of LLC Units, the price of our Class A common stock at the time of the exchange, whether such exchanges are taxable, the amount and timing of the taxable income we generate in the future, the U.S. federal tax rate then applicable and the portion of our payments under the TRAs constituting imputed interest. Payments under the TRAs are expected to give rise to certain additional tax benefits attributable to either further increases in basis or in the form of deductions for imputed interest, depending on the TRA and the circumstances. Any such benefits are covered by the TRAs and will increase the amounts due thereunder. In addition, the TRAs will provide for interest, at a rate equal to one year LIBOR plus 100 basis points, accrued from the due date (without extensions) of the corresponding tax return to the date of payment specified by the TRAs. Under the TRAs, to avoid interest charges, we have the right, but not the obligation, to make TRA payments in advance of the date the payments are otherwise due.
Payments under the TRAs will be based on the tax reporting positions we determine. Although we are not aware of any issue that would cause the IRS to challenge existing tax basis, a tax basis increase or other tax attributes subject to the TRAs, if any subsequent disallowance of tax basis or other benefits were so determined by the IRS, we would not be reimbursed for any payments previously made under the applicable TRAs (although we would reduce future amounts otherwise payable under such TRAs). In addition, the actual state or local tax savings we realize may be different than the amount of such tax savings we are deemed to realize under the TRAs, which will be based on an assumed combined state and local tax rate applied to our reduction in taxable income as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a result of the tax attributes subject to the TRAs. As a result, payments could be made under the TRAs in excess of the tax savings we realize in respect of the attributes to which the TRAs relate.
In certain cases, payments under the TRAs may be accelerated or significantly exceed the actual benefits we realize in respect of the tax attributes subject to the TRAs.
The TRAs provide (1) in the event we materially breach any of our material obligations under the agreements, whether as a result of failure to make any payment within three months of when due (provided we have sufficient funds to make such payment), failure to honor any other material obligation required thereunder or by operation of law as a result of the rejection of the agreements in a bankruptcy or otherwise or (2) if, at any time, we elect an early termination of the agreements, our (or our successor's) obligations under the applicable agreements (with respect to all LLC Units, whether or not LLC Units have been exchanged or acquired before or after such transaction) would accelerate and become payable in a lump sum amount equal to the present value of the anticipated future tax benefits calculated based on certain assumptions, including that we would have sufficient taxable income to fully utilize the deductions arising from the tax deductions, tax basis and other tax attributes subject to the applicable TRAs. Under the terms of the TRAs, we may not elect an early termination of the TRAs without the consent of (i) each of certain affiliates of the Sponsors and Bob Parsons until such affiliate has exchanged all of its LLC Units (together with the corresponding shares of Class B common stock) for shares of Class A common stock and (ii) a majority of our directors, other than directors designated or nominated by stockholders affiliated with the Sponsors and Bob Parsons.
Additionally, the TRAs provide that upon certain mergers, asset sales, other forms of business combinations or other changes of control, our (or our successor's) tax savings under the applicable agreements for each taxable year after any such event would be based on certain assumptions, including that we will have sufficient taxable income to fully utilize the deductions arising from the tax basis and other tax attributes subject to the applicable TRAs. Furthermore, the TRAs will determine the tax

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savings by excluding certain future tax attributes we obtain the use of as a result of acquiring other entities to the extent such tax attributes are the subject of tax receivable agreements we enter into in connection with such acquisitions.
As a result of the foregoing, (1) we could be required to make payments under the TRAs that are greater than or less than the specified percentage of the actual tax savings we realize in respect of the tax attributes subject to the agreements and (2) if we materially breach a material obligation under the agreements or if we elect to terminate the agreements early, we would be required to make an immediate lump sum payment equal to the present value of the anticipated future tax savings, which payment may be made significantly in advance of the actual realization of such future tax savings. In these situations, our obligations under the TRAs could have a substantial negative impact on our liquidity and could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing certain mergers, asset sales, other forms of business combinations or other changes of control. There can be no assurance we will be able to fund or finance our obligations under the TRAs.
In certain circumstances, Desert Newco will be required to make distributions to us and to its pre-IPO owners. The distributions Desert Newco will be required to make may be substantial.
Desert Newco is treated as a partnership for U.S. income tax purposes and, as such, is generally not subject to income tax in most jurisdictions. Instead, taxable income is allocated to holders of its LLC Units, including us. Pursuant to the New LLC Agreement, Desert Newco will make pro rata cash distributions, or tax distributions, to the owners of LLC Units, including us, calculated using an assumed tax rate, to help each of the holders of the LLC Units to pay taxes on such holder's allocable share of the cumulative taxable income, reduced by cumulative taxable losses. Under the tax rules, Desert Newco is required to allocate net taxable income disproportionately to its owners in certain circumstances. Because tax distributions will be determined based on the holder of LLC Units who is allocated the largest amount of taxable income on a per unit basis, but will be made pro rata based on ownership, Desert Newco will be required to make tax distributions that, in the aggregate, will likely exceed the amount of taxes Desert Newco would have paid if it were taxed on its net income at the assumed rate.
Funds used by Desert Newco to satisfy its tax distribution obligations will not be available for reinvestment in our business. Moreover, the tax distributions Desert Newco will be required to make may be substantial, and may exceed (as a percentage of Desert Newco's income) the overall effective tax rate applicable to a similarly situated corporate taxpayer. In addition, because these payments will be calculated with reference to an assumed tax rate, and because of the disproportionate allocation of net taxable income, these payments will likely significantly exceed the actual tax liability for many of the owners of Desert Newco.
As a result of potential differences in the amount of net taxable income allocable to us and to the other owners of Desert Newco, as well as the use of an assumed tax rate in calculating Desert Newco's distribution obligations, we may receive distributions significantly in excess of our tax liabilities and obligations to make payments under the TRAs. To the extent, as currently expected, we do not distribute such cash balances as dividends on our Class A common stock and instead, for example, hold such cash balances or lend them to Desert Newco, our existing shareholders would benefit from any value attributable to such accumulated cash balances as a result of their ownership of Class A common stock.
We will not be reimbursed for any payments made to our pre-IPO owners under the TRAs in the event any tax benefits are disallowed.
If the IRS challenges the tax basis or NOLs giving rise to payments under the TRAs, and the tax basis or NOLs are subsequently disallowed, the recipients of payments under those agreements will not reimburse us for any payments we previously made to them. Any such disallowance would be taken into account in determining future payments under the TRAs and would, therefore, reduce the amount of any such future payments. Nevertheless, if the claimed tax benefits from the tax basis or NOLs are disallowed, our payments under the TRAs could exceed our actual tax savings, and we may not be able to recoup payments under the TRAs that were calculated on the assumption that the disallowed tax savings were available.
Our pre-IPO owners continue to have significant influence over our company, and their interests may differ from those of our public stockholders.
As of December 31, 2017, funds affiliated with the Sponsors as well as Bob Parsons controlled approximately 28% of the combined voting power of our Class A and Class B common stock. In 2017, we ceased to be a controlled company within the meaning of the NYSE listing standards and are now required to comply with additional NYSE corporate governance standards, including: that a majority of our board of directors consists of "independent directors," as defined under the rules of the NYSE; that the compensation of our executive officers be determined, or recommended to the board of directors for determination, by majority vote of the independent directors or by a compensation committee comprised solely of independent directors; and that

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director nominees be selected, or recommended to the board of directors for selection, by majority vote of the independent directors or by a nomination committee comprised solely of independent directors.
A majority of our board currently consists of "independent directors" as defined by the NYSE, and we have a fully independent compensation committee. We have taken advantage of phase-in provisions permitting our nominating and corporate governance committee not to consist of a majority of independent directors during the year following loss of controlled company status. We intend to have a fully independent nominating and corporate governance committee within that time period.
GoDaddy Inc. and Desert Newco are parties to a stockholder agreement with funds affiliated with the Sponsors as well as Bob Parsons and certain specified other holders of LLC Units from time to time, including our executive officers. The stockholder agreement provides that our stockholders affiliated with KKR, Silver Lake and Bob Parsons are entitled to nominate members of our board of directors. The parties to the stockholder agreement agree to vote for these nominees as well as other directors recommended by our nominating and corporate governance committee.
As a result, based on their ownership of our voting stock and the approval rights in the stockholder agreement, such affiliated owners have the ability to nominate five members of our board of directors, and thereby to exercise significant influence over our management and affairs. In addition, they are able to significantly influence the outcome of all matters requiring stockholder approval, including mergers and other material transactions, and are able to significantly influence a change in the composition of our board of directors or prevent a change in control of our company that could deprive our stockholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for their Class A common stock as part of a sale of our company and might ultimately affect the market price of our Class A common stock.
As of December 31, 2017, the Continuing LLC Owners owned approximately 21% of the outstanding LLC Units. Because they hold their6.2% beneficial ownership interest in our business through Desert Newco, rather than through the public company, the Continuing LLC Owners may have conflicting interests with our public stockholders. For example, the Continuing LLC Owners may have different tax positions from us which could influence their decisions regarding whether and when to dispose of assets, whether and when to incur new or refinance existing indebtedness, especially in light of the existence of the TRAs, and whether and when GoDaddy Inc. should terminate the TRAs and accelerate its obligations thereunder; provided that any decision to terminate the TRAs and accelerate the obligation thereunder would also require the approval of a majority of the directors of GoDaddy Inc., other than directors designated or nominated by stockholders affiliated with the Sponsors or Bob Parsons. In addition, the structuring of future transactions may take into consideration these Continuing LLC Owners' tax or other considerations even where no similar benefit would accrue to us.
Further, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the doctrine of corporate opportunity will not apply to the Sponsors, Bob Parsons or their respective affiliates, the directors they nominate or our other non-employee directors in a manner that would prohibit them from investing in competing businesses or doing business with our partners or customers.
In addition, under the terms of the TRAs, we may not elect an early termination of the TRAs without the consent of each of certain affiliates of the Sponsors and Bob Parsons until such affiliate has exchanged all of its LLC Units (and Class B common stock) for shares of Class Aoutstanding common stock. Accordingly, we may be prevented from terminating the TRAs in circumstances where we determine it would be beneficial for usResponding to do so, including potentially in connection with future strategic transactions.
Our substantial indebtedness could adversely affect our financial condition, our ability to raise additional capital to fund our operations, our ability to operate our business, our ability to react to changes in the economy or our industry, divert our cash flow from operations for debt payments and prevent us from meeting our debt obligations.
As of December 31, 2017, our total indebtedness was approximately $2.5 billion. In February 2017, we amended our credit facility to provide for: (i) the refinancing of our existing $1,072.5 million seven-year term loan (the Refinanced Term Loan), (ii) a second $1,425.0 million tranche (the Acquisition Term Loan), which we drew down upon on April 3, 2017 to provide a portion of the financing for our acquisition of HEG, and (iii) the refinancing of our existing $150.0 million five-year revolving credit facility, which increased to $200.0 million upon the closing of our acquisition of HEG (the Refinanced Revolving Credit Loan). In November 2017, we further amended our credit facility to refinance the term loans at a lower interest rate margin. All other terms, including the maturity date of February 15, 2024, were unchangedactions by this refinancing.

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Our substantial indebtedness could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition, including:
requiring a substantial portion of cash flow from operations to be dedicated to the payment of principal and interest on our indebtedness, thereby reducing our ability to use our cash flow to fund our operations, capital expenditures and pursue future business opportunities;
increasing our vulnerability to adverse economic, industry or competitive developments;
exposing us to increased interest expense, as our degree of leverage may cause the interest rates of any future indebtedness, whether fixed or floating rate interest, to be higher than they would be otherwise;
exposing us to the risk of increased interest rates because certain of our indebtedness bears interest at variable rates;
creating a risk of foreclosure if we default on our debt and are unable to pay any accelerated obligations;
making it more difficult for us to satisfy our obligations with respect to our indebtedness, and any failure to comply with the obligations of any of our debt instruments, including restrictive covenants, could result in an event of default accelerating our obligation to repay indebtedness;
restricting us from making strategic acquisitions;
limiting our ability to obtain additional financing for working capital, capital expenditures, product development, satisfaction of debt service requirements, acquisitions and general corporate or other purposes; and
limiting our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business or market conditions and placing us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors who may be better positioned to take advantage of opportunities our leverage prevents us from exploiting.
We may incur significant additional indebtedness in the future. Although the credit agreement governing substantially all of our indebtedness contain restrictions on the incurrence of additional indebtedness and entering into certain types of other transactions, these restrictions are subject to a number of qualifications and exceptions. Additional indebtedness incurred in compliance with these restrictions could be substantial. These restrictions also do not prevent us from incurring obligations,activist shareholders, such as trade payables. To the extent we incur additional indebtedness, the substantial leverage risks described above would be exacerbated.
Certain of our debt agreements impose significant operating and financial restrictions on us and our subsidiaries, which may prevent us from capitalizing on business opportunities.
The credit agreement governing our credit facility imposes significant operating and financial restrictions on us. These restrictions limit the ability of our subsidiaries, and effectively place restrictions on our ability to, among other things:
incur or guarantee additional debt or issue disqualified equity interests;
pay dividends and make other distributions on, or redeem or repurchase, capital stock;
make certain investments;
incur certain liens;
enter into transactions with affiliates;
merge or consolidate;
enter into agreements restricting the ability of restricted subsidiaries to make certain intercompany dividends, distributions, payments or transfers; and
transfer or sell assets.
As a result of the restrictions described above, we will be limited as to how we conduct our business and we may be unable to raise additional debt or equity financing to compete effectively or to take advantage of new business opportunities. The terms of any future indebtedness we may incur could include more restrictive covenants. We cannot assure you that we will be able to maintain compliance with these covenants in the future and, if we fail to do so, that we will be able to obtain waivers from the lenders or amend the covenants.

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Our failure to comply with the restrictive covenants described above as well as other terms of our indebtedness or the terms of any future indebtedness from time to time could result in an event of default, which, if not cured or waived, could result in our being required to repay these borrowings before their due date. If we are forced to refinance these borrowings on less favorable terms or are unable to refinance these borrowings, our results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.
Some provisions of Delaware law and our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may deter third parties from acquiring us and diminish the value of our Class A common stock.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws providerequests for among other things:
a classified board of directors with staggered three year terms;
the ability of our board of directors to issue one or more series of preferred stock with voting or other rights or preferences that could have the effect of impeding the success of an attempt to acquire us or otherwise effect a change in control;
advance notice forspecial meetings, potential nominations of directors by stockholders and for stockholders to include matters to be considered at stockholder meetings;
certain limitations on convening special stockholder meetings; and
certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws that may be amended only by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least two-thirds in voting power of all outstanding shares of our stock entitled to vote thereon, voting together as a single class, if affiliates of KKR and Silver Lake collectively own less than 40% in voting power of our stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors.
In addition, while we have opted out of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the DGCL), our amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains similar provisions providing that we may not engage in certain business combinations with any interested stockholder for a three year period following the time the stockholder became an interested stockholder, unless:
prior to such time, our board of directors approved either the business combination or the transaction resulting in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder;
upon consummation of the transaction resulting in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, the interested stockholder owned at least 85% of the votes of our voting stock outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, excluding certain shares; or
at or subsequent to that time, the business combination is approved by our board of directors and by the affirmative vote of holders of at least two-thirds of the votes of our outstanding voting stock not owned by the interested stockholder.
Generally, a business combination includes a merger, asset or stock sale or other transaction resulting in a financial benefit to the interested stockholder. Subject to certain exceptions, an interested stockholder is a person who, together with that person's affiliates and associates, owns, or within the previous three years owned, 15% or more of the votes of our outstanding voting stock. For purposes of this provision, voting stock means any class or series of stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that KKR, Silver Lake, Bob Parsons, their respective affiliates and any of their respective direct or indirect designated transferees (other than in certain market transfers and gifts) and any group of which such persons are a party do not constitute interested stockholders for purposes of this provision.
Under certain circumstances, this provision will make it more difficult for a person who would be an interested stockholder to effect various business combinations with our company for a three year period. This provision may encourage companies interested in acquiring us to negotiate in advance with our board of directors because the stockholder approval requirement would be avoided if our board of directors approves either the business combination or the transaction resulting in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder. These provisions also may have the effect of preventing changes in our board of directors and may make it more difficult to accomplish transactions stockholders may otherwise deem to be in their best interests.
These provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may discourage, delay or prevent a transaction involving a change in control of our company that is in the best interest of our minority stockholders. Even in the absence of a takeover attempt, the existence of these provisions may adversely affect the prevailing market price of our Class A common stock if they are viewed as discouraging future takeover attempts. These provisions could

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also make it more difficult for stockholders to nominate directorscandidates for election to our board of directors, requests to pursue a strategic combination or other transaction, or other special requests may disrupt our business and takedivert the attention of management and employees. In addition, any perceived uncertainties as to our future direction resulting from such a situation could result in the loss of potential business opportunities, be exploited by our competitors, cause concern to our current or potential customers and make it more difficult to attract and retain qualified personnel and business partners, any of which could negatively impact our business. Shareholder activism could result in substantial costs. In addition, actions of activist shareholders may cause significant fluctuations in our stock price based on temporary or speculative market perceptions or other corporate actions.
Risks Relating to Owning Our Class A Common Stockfactors that do not necessarily reflect the underlying fundamentals of our business.
Our share price may be volatile, and you may be unable to selllose all or part of your shares.investment.
Technology stocks have historically experienced high levels of volatility. The trading price of our Class A common stock has in the past been, and is likely to continue to be, highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control and may not be related to our operating performance. Thesethese fluctuations could cause you to lose all or part of your investment in our common stock. Since shares of our Class A common stock were sold in our initial public offering (IPO) in AprilApril 2015 at a price of $20.00 per share, the reported high and low sales prices of our Class A common stock have ranged from $23.59$21.04 to $61.77$115.07 per share through February 23, 2018.2024. Factors that may cause the market price of our Class A common stock to fluctuate include:include:
price and volume fluctuations in the overall stock market from time to time;
significant volatility in the market price and trading volume of technology companies in general, and of companies in our industry;
actual or anticipated changes in our results of operations or fluctuations in our operating results;
whether our operating results meet the expectations of securities analysts or investors;
failure of securities analysts to initiate or maintain coverage of our company, changes in financial estimates or ratings by any securities analysts who follow our company or our failure to meet the estimates or the expectations of investorsinvestors;
announcements of new products or securities analysts;technologies, commercial relationships, acquisitions or other events by us or our competitors;
actual or anticipated developments in our competitors' businesses or the competitive landscape generally;
actual or perceived privacy or cybersecurity incidents;
litigation involving us, our industry or both;
regulatory developments in the U.S., foreign countries or both;
general economic conditions and trends;
major catastrophic events;the commencement or termination of any share repurchase program;
new laws or regulations or new interpretations of existing laws or regulations applicable to our business;
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network or service outages, Internet disruptions, the availability of our service, security breaches or perceived security breaches and vulnerabilities;
changes in accounting standards, policies, guidelines, interpretations or principles;
actions instituted by activist shareholders or others;
sales of large blocks of our stock; or
departures of key personnel.personnel; or
major catastrophic events, including those resulting from war, incidents of terrorism, outbreaks of pandemic diseases, such as COVID-19, or responses to these events.
In addition, if the market for technology stocks or the stock market in general experiences a loss of investor confidence, the trading price of our Class A common stock could decline for reasons unrelated to our business, operating results or financial condition. The trading price of our Class A common stock might also decline in reaction to events affecting other companies in our industry even if these events do not directly affect us.
In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of a company's securities, securities class action litigation has often been brought against that company. If our stock price is volatile, we may become the target of securities litigation. Securities litigation, which could result in substantial costs and divert oura diversion of management's attention and resources from our business, and this could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.resources.
Sales of outstanding sharesProvisions of our Class A common stock into the marketcharter, bylaws and Delaware law may have anti-takeover effects that could prevent a change in the future could cause the market price of our Class A common stock to drop significantly.
If certain of our existing stockholders sell, or indicate intent to sell, substantial amounts of our Class A common stock in the public market after the market standoff and other legal restrictions on resale lapse, the trading price of our Class A common stock could decline.
Pursuant to the stockholder agreement, eachcontrol of the Sponsorscompany even if the change in control would be beneficial to our stockholders.
Our charter and Bob Parsons have agreed, subject to certain limited exceptions, not to transfer, sell, exchange, assign, pledge, hypothecate, convey or otherwise disposebylaws provide for, among other things:
the ability of or encumber any shares of our Class A common stock (including shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exchange of LLC Units) during the three-year period following our IPO without the consent of each of KKR and Silver Lake, for so long as each of KKR and Silver Lake is entitled to nominate at least one director to our board of directors. If these additional shares are sold,directors to issue one or if it is perceived theymore series of preferred stock with voting or other rights or preferences that could have the effect of impeding the success of an attempt to acquire us or otherwise effect a change in control of the company;
advance notice for nominations of directors by stockholders and for stockholders to include matters to be considered at stockholder meetings; and
certain limitations on convening special stockholder meetings.
At our 2022 annual meeting of stockholders, our stockholders approved certain amendments to our charter, including the recommendation of our board of directors to eliminate its classified structure.
The declassification of the board of directors will be sold, ina phased-in approach. Beginning with the public market,2023 annual meeting of stockholders, each director nominated to serve on our board of directors has been nominated to serve for one-year terms. Our board of directors will be completely declassified, and all directors will be elected on an annual basis to serve one-year terms, beginning with the trading price2025 annual meeting of sharesstockholders. In all cases, each director will hold office until his or her successor is elected and qualified, or until his or her earlier resignation or removal. Until the board of directors is fully declassified at the 2025 annual meeting of stockholders, the classification of our Class A common stockboard of directors prevents our stockholders from changing the membership of the entire board of directors at a single annual meeting.
Our bylaws designate the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the exclusive forum for certain litigation that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could decline. This restrictionlimit our stockholders' ability to obtain a favorable judicial form for disputes with us.
Our bylaws provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on transferour behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of or based on a breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our current or former directors, officers, or other employees to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against us or any of our current or former directors, officers, employees, or stockholders arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law, our charter, or our bylaws, or (iv) any other action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine shall be the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if the Court of Chancery does not have jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware), in all cases subject to the court having jurisdiction over indispensable parties named as defendants. Our bylaws provide that the U.S. federal district courts will terminate on April 7, 2018.

be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action under the Securities Act.
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If securities analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or if they downgrade our stock, the priceThis choice of our stock could decline.
The trading marketforum provision may limit a stockholder's ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for our Class A common stock could be influenced by any research and reports securities or industry analysts publish aboutdisputes with us or our business. Indirectors, officers or other employees and may discourage these types of lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find the event securities analysts coverchoice of forum provision contained in our company and onebylaws to be inapplicable or more of these analysts downgrade our stock or publish unfavorable research about our business, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our stock could decrease, which could cause our stock price and trading volume to decline.unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions.
We currently do not intend to pay dividends on our Class A common stock.
We have never declared or paid any dividends on our common stock, and we currently do not expectintend to pay dividends to the holders of our Class A common stock for the foreseeable future.stock. Our ability to pay dividends on our Class A common stock is limited by our existing indebtedness and may be further restricted by the terms of any future debt incurred or preferred securities issued by us or our subsidiaries or by law. Payments of future dividends, if any, will be at the discretion of our board of directors after taking into account various factors, including our business, operating results and financial condition, current and anticipated cash needs, plans for expansion and any legal or contractual limitations on our ability to pay dividends. As a result, any capital appreciation in the price of our Class A common stock may be your only source of gain on your investment in our Class A common stock.
We cannot guarantee we will make any additional repurchases of our Class A common stock.
In the past, our board of directors has approved the repurchase of shares of our Class A common stock. In August 2023, our board of directors approved the repurchase of up to an additional $1,000.0 million of our Class A common stock. Such approval was in addition to the amount remaining available for repurchases under prior approvals of our board of directors, such that our total approved authority under the program is $4,000.0 million of shares of our Class A common stock through 2025. Under this or any other future share repurchase programs, we may make share repurchases through a variety of methods, including open market share purchases, accelerated share repurchase programs, block transactions or privately negotiated transactions, in accordance with applicable federal securities laws. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we repurchased shares of our Class A common stock in the open market, which were retired upon repurchase, for an aggregate purchase price of $1,264.4 million. Of the $4,000.0 million authorized for repurchase, we have repurchased shares representing a cumulative total of $2,564.5 million and as of December 31, 2023, we had $1,435.5 million of remaining authorization available for repurchases. Future share repurchase programs may have no time limit, may not obligate us to repurchase any specific number of shares and may be suspended at any time at our discretion and without prior notice. The timing and amount of any repurchases, if any, will be subject to liquidity, stock price, market and economic conditions, compliance with applicable legal requirements such as Delaware surplus and solvency tests and other relevant factors. Any failure to repurchase stock after we have announced our intention to do so may negatively impact our reputation and investor confidence in us and may negatively impact our stock price.
The existence of these share repurchase programs could cause our stock price to be higher than it otherwise would and could potentially reduce the market liquidity for our stock. Although these programs are intended to enhance long-term stockholder value, there is no assurance they will do so because the market price of our Class A common stock may decline below the levels at which we repurchased shares of Class A common stock and short-term stock price fluctuations could reduce the effectiveness of the programs.
Other Risks
Economic conditions in the U.S. and international economies may adversely impact our business and operating results.
General macro-economic conditions, such as higher interest rates, inflation in the cost of goods and services including labor, a recession or an economic slowdown in the U.S. or internationally could adversely affect our operations as well as demand for our products and services, including our aftermarket and hosting services, which may make it difficult to accurately forecast and plan our future business activities. For example, U.S. and global markets have been experiencing volatility and disruption due to interest rate and inflation increases, such as higher inflation rates in the U.S., which rose in the second half of 2021 and have remained above the Federal Reserve's inflation target, as well as the continued escalation of geopolitical tensions, including those as a result of the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and in the Middle East. We have experienced and continue to experience inflationary pressures in certain areas of our business. Although our business has not yet been materially negatively impacted by such inflationary pressures, we cannot be certain that neither we nor our customers will be materially impacted by continued pressures. To the extent conditions in the domestic and global economy change, our business could be harmed as current and potential customers may reduce or postpone spending or choose not to purchase or renew subscriptions to our products, or may choose not to use certain of our other services, which they may consider discretionary. If however,our customers face decreased consumer demand, increased regulatory burdens or more limited access to international markets, we decidemay face a decline in the demand for our products and services, and our operating results could be adversely impacted.
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Uncertain and adverse economic conditions may also lead to pay a dividenddecline in the ability of our customers to use or access credit, including through credit cards, as well as increased refunds and chargebacks, any of which could adversely affect our business. In addition, changing economic conditions may also adversely affect third parties with which we have entered into relationships and upon which we depend in order to grow our business. As a result, we may be unable to continue to grow in the event of future economic slowdowns.
Reporting requirements for which we must comply may continue to increase our costs, become too time-consuming or could divert management's attention, which could adversely affect our business and operating results.
As a public company, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Sarbanes-Oxley Act) and the listing standards of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). We expect the requirements of these rules and regulations will continue to increase our legal, accounting and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time-consuming and costly, and place significant strain on our personnel, systems and resources. In addition, complying with these rules and regulations may divert management's attention from other business concerns, which could adversely affect our business and operating results.
Increased scrutiny from investors, regulators and other stakeholders relating to environmental, social and governance issues could result in additional costs for us and may adversely impact our reputation.
Investors, regulators, customers, employees and other stakeholders are increasingly focused on environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters. If we fail, or are perceived to fail, to make progress or achievements, or to maintain ESG practices that meet evolving regulations and stakeholder expectations, or if we revise any of our ESG commitments, initiatives or goals, our reputation and our ability to attract and retain employees could be harmed, we may receive negative media attention and we may be negatively perceived by our investors or our customers. To the extent that our required and voluntary disclosures about ESG matters increase, we could also be questioned about the accuracy, adequacy, or completeness of such disclosures and our reputation could be negatively impacted. In addition, regulatory requirements with respect to climate change and other aspects of ESG may result in increased compliance requirements on our business and supply chain, and may increase our operating costs.
We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. If we are unable to remediate the material weakness, or if we identify additional material weaknesses in the future or otherwise fail to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, our ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements or comply with applicable regulations could be impaired, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and the market price of our stock.
As a public company, we would needare required to cause Desert Newcomaintain internal control over financial reporting and to make distributionsreport any material weaknesses in such internal control. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and determine the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, and our independent registered public accounting firm is required to GoDaddy Inc.audit such internal control.
As discussed below in an amount sufficient to cover such dividend. DeteriorationPart II, Item 9A, “Controls and Procedures,” our management (i) identified a material weakness in the design of our controls related to the accounting for income taxes and related disclosures with regard to management review controls and the completeness and accuracy of information used in the execution of those controls and (ii) concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2023 due to this material weakness.
This material weakness did not result in any material misstatements to our consolidated financial statements or any changes to previously filed financial statements, and we have concluded that our financial statements and other financial information included in this Annual Report and other periodic filings present fairly, in all material respects, our financial condition, earningsresults of operations, and cash flows for the periods presented in accordance with GAAP.
We have drafted documentation to respond to, and are developing a comprehensive plan to remediate as soon as possible, this material weakness. However, we may not be successful in remediating this material weakness in the near-term, or cash flowat all, or be able to identify and remediate any additional control deficiency, including any material weakness, that may arise in the future. If we fail to remediate the material weakness or any future deficiencies or fail to otherwise maintain the adequacy of Desert Newcoour internal controls, that could result in a restatement of our financial statements for any reason could limit or impair its ability to make distributions to us.

prior periods, a decline in the market price of
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our stock, one or more investigations or enforcement actions by state or federal regulatory agencies, stockholder lawsuits, or other adverse actions requiring us to incur defense costs or pay fines, settlements, or judgments.
In addition, any failure to design or operate effective controls, any difficulties encountered in their implementation or improvement, or any failure to implement adequate internal controls for our acquired companies could (i) harm our operating results, (ii) cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations, (iii) adversely affect the results of management evaluations and independent registered public accounting firm audits of our internal control over financial reporting, which we are required to include in our periodic reports filed with the SEC, or (iv) cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial and other information, any of which could have a negative effect on our stock. In addition, if we are unable to continue to meet these requirements, we may not be able to remain listed on the NYSE in the future.
Our business is subject to the risks of earthquakes, fire, power outages, floods and other catastrophic events, whether due to climate change or otherwise, and to interruption by man-made events such as terrorism and civil unrest.
Our continued growth depends on the ability of our customers to access our products, services and customer support at any time and within an acceptable amount of time. In addition, our ability to access certain third-party solutions is important to our operations and the delivery of our products, services and customer support. Although we have disaster recovery plans in place, a significant natural disaster, such as an earthquake, fire or flood or other unusual or prolonged adverse weather patterns, whether due to climate change or otherwise, or acts of terrorism, civil unrest, pandemics, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, international conflicts, such as the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and in the Middle East, or other similar events beyond our control could cause disruptions in our business or the business of our infrastructure vendors, data center hosting providers, partners or customers, our infrastructure vendors' abilities to provide connectivity and perform services on a timely basis or the economy as a whole. In the event our or our service providers' IT systems' abilities are hindered by any of the events discussed above, we and our customers' websites could experience downtime, and our products could become unavailable. A prolonged service disruption for any of the foregoing reasons would negatively impact our ability to serve our customers and could damage our reputation with current and potential customers, expose us to liability, cause us to lose customers or otherwise harm our business. We may also incur significant costs for using alternative equipment or taking other actions in preparation for, or in reaction to, events that damage the services we use.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
Item 1C. Cybersecurity
GoDaddy maintains an enterprise-wide cybersecurity program designed to manage risks to the company's information systems from cybersecurity threats and cybersecurity incidents.
Board and Audit and Finance Committee Governance
Our board of directors (the Board) is committed to managing data privacy and cybersecurity risks as part of the company's overall risk management framework. The Board oversees the company's cybersecurity risk management program through the Board's Audit and Finance Committee (the Audit Committee). The Audit Committee is responsible for overseeing and reviewing with management GoDaddy's cybersecurity matters. The Audit Committee receives verbal and written reports at least quarterly from GoDaddy's Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) regarding the state of the company's cybersecurity risk management program, the company's current material cybersecurity risks, and general cybersecurity-related risks. The Audit Committee consists of Board members with a diversity of expertise in risk management, technology, finance and cybersecurity, including oversight of security teams. In addition, the company's CISO and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) provide the full Board with written quarterly and annual reports on the state of the company's cybersecurity program and material cybersecurity-related risks, and the chair of the Audit Committee provides a quarterly summary of the Audit Committee's cybersecurity discussion to the full Board.
Management of Cybersecurity Risk
GoDaddy management is responsible for identifying, assessing, and managing the company's material cybersecurity risks on an ongoing basis, establishing processes designed to ensure that potential cybersecurity risk exposures are monitored, putting in place appropriate mitigation and remediation measures and maintaining the company's cybersecurity programs.
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GoDaddy's CISO has primary responsibility for overseeing the company's programs for identifying, assessing, and managing the company's cybersecurity risks. The CISO reports directly to the company's CTO and also regularly provides reports and updates to the company's CEO on significant cybersecurity-related matters relevant to the company's cybersecurity risk. The company's CISO has more than 18 years' experience in cybersecurity, networking, and related technologies. The company's CTO has more than 25 years' experience in network security and other related technologies. The company's CEO has more than 27 years' experience in ecommerce technology, engineering, and other related areas.
The CISO, CTO, and CEO work together to assess and manage cybersecurity-related risks. The CISO is responsible for day-to-day operations working with an enterprise-wide cybersecurity team that provides 24/7/365 support. The CISO regularly confers with the CTO and CEO on cybersecurity matters, including providing notice of cybersecurity threats and incidents, including those that have the potential to have material effects. The CISO also provides written monthly and quarterly reports on the state of the company's cybersecurity program and cybersecurity risks to the CTO, CEO, and other key executives. As noted above, the CISO and CTO also provide regular reports to the Audit Committee and the Board.
The company's cybersecurity policies, procedures, and strategies primarily are implemented by the company's information security department, which reports directly to the CISO. The company's information security department performs functions that include but are not limited to general security operations, event monitoring, incident response, vulnerability management, policy and procedure development, security compliance, product development support, product security readiness testing, third-party vendor security assessments, and penetration testing. Other personnel and departments in the company also assist with cybersecurity risk management, including but not limited to the company's technology organization and the company's privacy, legal, third-party risk management, and corporate audit services teams. The company also has developed processes to integrate cybersecurity risk management within the company's product and software development processes.
In addition, product teams and business unit leaders are involved in cybersecurity risk management during product development with support from our enterprise-wide security team supervised by the CISO.
Third-Party Consultants and Auditors
GoDaddy maintains industry certifications for some of the services we provide, including certifications relating to our GoDaddy Registrar, Registry, Domains, and Commerce businesses. We use third-party auditors and consultants in connection with obtaining and maintaining our certifications for certain products and services. We also have engaged third-party consultants in the past and may engage third-party consultants in the future for specific projects and engagements, such as responding to cybersecurity incidents. Our third-party financial auditors also include material cybersecurity risks and events as part of their financial audits.
Third-Party Cybersecurity Risk Management
We engage with third parties to provide us with hardware, software, and services to operate our information systems and run our business. In particular, we host a substantial portion of our IT infrastructure and data on services maintained by Amazon Web Services. When engaging a third-party vendor or service provider, we use a variety of processes and controls to identify and oversee risks relating to that engagement, which may include one or more of the following depending on the scope and nature of the engagement:
incorporating provisions in vendor contracts that require third parties meet certain minimum cybersecurity standards based on the nature of the product or service provided;
installing monitoring software and other tools to detect malicious software and activities in systems operated by third parties;
maintaining processes for monitoring for and applying updates and patches to third-party hardware and software to address vulnerabilities; and
performing security and data privacy assessments before engaging new vendors or acquiring new hardware and software.
We also rely on third parties to provide hardware, software, and services relating to our cybersecurity program. We apply similar controls to third-party providers of cybersecurity services that we apply to other IT hardware, software, and services described above. Our control over and ability to monitor the security posture of third parties with whom we do business remains limited and there can be no assurance that we can prevent, mitigate or remediate the risk of any compromise or failure in the security infrastructure owned or controlled by such third parties. Additionally, any contractual protections with such third parties,
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including our right to indemnification, if any at all, may be limited or insufficient to prevent a negative impact on our business from such compromise or failure.
Cybersecurity Threat Monitoring and Incident Response
GoDaddy monitors for threats to our information systems on an ongoing basis through a combination of automated intrusion detection monitoring solutions, review of log data, and other related activities. We also require security training for all GoDaddy personnel, including instructions regarding the proper methods for reporting potential cybersecurity incidents that are not captured through our monitoring solutions. We also provide mechanisms for interested third parties, including security researchers and law enforcement to provide us notice of potential cybersecurity threats.
Potential and actual cybersecurity incidents primarily are handled by our internal incident response team, which is supervised by our CISO. Our incident response team is responsible for assessing the potential risk posed by an incident, providing notice to appropriate stakeholders in the company based on the perceived risk, and coordinating the assessment, containment, mitigation, and remediation efforts. Depending on the severity and scope of the incident, we may also engage external consultants. Security personnel and consultants retained by our service providers may also be involved in cases where our vendors experience a cybersecurity incident. In the event of a potentially material cybersecurity incident, we have defined processes for escalating the incident for determination of whether the incident is material and requires filing of a notification on Form 8-K or other notification required under applicable laws and regulations.
Item 2. Properties.
Our corporate headquarters, arewhich we lease, is located in Scottsdale, Arizona and consist of approximately 153,000 square feet of owned office space. We also own our offices in Hiawatha, Iowa, which consist of approximately 75,000 square feet used primarily for Customer Care and product development.Tempe, Arizona. We lease additional Customer Carecustomer care centers and offices located throughout the U.S. as well as internationally, most significantly in Australia, Bulgaria, Colombia, China, Germany, India, Mexico, the Philippines, Romania, Serbia Spain and the United Kingdom.UK.
We provide our cloud-based products via a network of data centers including (i) an approximately 320,000 square foot data center we own and operate in Phoenix, Arizona; (ii) co-locatedco-location data centers located throughout the U.S., most significantly in Arizona, California, Missouri, Virginia and New York;Virginia; and (iii) co-locatedco-location international data centers, located internationallymost significantly in France, Germany, the Netherlands Singapore and the United Kingdom.Singapore. Our data center leases expire on various dates through 2028.2033.
We believe our existing facilities are sufficient for our current needs. InAlthough we have recently closed or consolidated certain of our facilities, in the future, we may need to add new facilities andor expand our existing facilities as we increase our employee base, grow our infrastructure, further expand our international operations and evolve our business. We believe suitable additional or substitute space will be available on commercially reasonable terms to meet our futureevolving business needs.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
On June 7, 2022, IBEW Local Union 481 Defined Contribution Plan and Trust, a purported shareholder (the Plaintiff), filed a shareholder derivative complaint in the Delaware Court of Chancery against certain current and former officers and directors of the company and the company as a nominal defendant. The complaint asserts claims of breach of fiduciary duty and corporate waste relating to the approval of the TRA Settlement Agreements (defined above) described in the section titled "Risk Factors" above. The complaint seeks awards of monetary damages and restitution from the defendants on behalf of the company, an order directing the company to implement changes to its corporate governance and internal procedures, and an award of attorneys’ fees and costs. Plaintiff filed an amended complaint in lieu of opposing the company's initial motion on November 4, 2022. The company filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint on January 6, 2023; briefing was completed on April 27, 2023. On August 24, 2023, the Court denied the company's motion to dismiss the amended complaint. On September 21, 2023, the company's Board of Directors resolved to form a Special Litigation Committee (the SLC) that is vested with the full authority of the Board to take any such action with respect to this litigation that the SLC in its sole discretion deems to be in the best interests of the company. The matter is currently stayed pending the SLC's investigation of the allegations.
Other information regarding our legal proceedings required by this item is provided in Note 13 to our financial statements and is incorporated herein by reference.
We are currently subject to litigationinvolved in, and may in the future be involved in, legal proceedings, claims, regulatory inquiries, audits, and governmental investigations incidental to our business (Proceedings), including patent infringement litigation and trademark infringement claims, as well as putative class actions, employment, commercial and consumer protection claims and other litigation of a non-material nature.Proceedings. Although the results of any such current or future litigation,Proceedings, regardless of the underlying nature of the
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claims or facts, cannot be predicted with certainty, the final outcome of any current or future claims or lawsuitsProceedings we face could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Regardless of the final outcome, defending lawsuits, claims and proceedingsother Proceedings in which we are involved is costly and can impose a significant burden on management and employees. We may receive unfavorable preliminary or interim rulings in the course of litigation,such Proceedings, and there can be no assurances that favorable final outcomes will be obtained.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.

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Part II.
Item 5.     Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Our Class A common stock has tradedtrades on the NYSE under the symbol "GDDY" since April 1, 2015. Prior to that date, there was no public market for our Class A common stock. The following table sets forth, for the period indicated, the range of high and low sales prices per share of our Class A common stock, as reported by the NYSE.
  2017 2016
  High ($) Low ($) High ($) Low ($)
         
First quarter 38.00
 34.40
 33.23
 23.88
Second quarter 44.22
 36.02
 33.58
 28.11
Third quarter 45.37
 40.78
 35.53
 28.13
Fourth quarter 51.35
 43.12
 37.40
 31.63
The closing sales price of our Class A common stock, as reported by the NYSE, on February 23, 2018 was $61.48 per share..
Stock Performance Graph
The following performance graph and related information shall not be deemed to be "soliciting material" or "filed" for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act nor shall such information be incorporated by reference into any filing of GoDaddy Inc. under the Exchange Act or the Securities Act, except to the extent we specifically incorporate it by reference in such filing.
The following graph set forth below compares, for the five year period ending December 31, 2023, the cumulative total return to stockholders on our Class A common stock relative to the cumulative total returns of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index (the S(S&P 500) and the Dow JonesNASDAQ Internet Composite Index. An investment of $100 (with reinvestment of all dividends) is assumed to have been made in our Class A common stock and in each index on April 1, 2015, the date our Class A common stock began trading on the NYSE, with relative performance is tracked through December 31, 2017.index. The returns shown are based on historical results and are not intended to suggest future performance. See the disclosures in Part I, Item 1A. "Risk Factors."

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stock graph 2023.jpg
Holders of Record
As of December 31, 2017,2023, there were 1120 holders of record of our Class A common stock, although we believe there are a significantly larger number of beneficial owners of our Class A common stock because many shares are held by brokers and other institutions on behalf of stockholders.
Dividend Policy
We have not paid any dividends on our Class A common stock and we currently do not intend to pay dividends on our Class A common stock in the foreseeable future.dividends. If, however, we decide to pay a dividend in the future, we would need to cause Desert Newcoour subsidiaries to make distributions to us in an amount sufficient to cover such dividend. If Desert Newco makes such distributions to us, the other holders of LLC Units will be entitled to receive pro rata distributions.
Our ability to pay dividends on our Class A common stock is limited by the covenantsEach of our indebtednesssubsidiaries is a distinct legal entity and may be further restricted by the terms of any future debtsubject to legal or preferred securities incurred or issued by us or our subsidiaries. See "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources." In addition,contractual restrictions limiting their ability to make distributions to us. For example, Desert Newco is generally prohibited under Delaware law from making a distribution to unit holders (including us)us to the extent that, at the time of the distribution, after giving effect to the
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distribution, liabilities of Desert Newco (with certain exceptions) exceed the fair value of its assets. Subsidiaries of Desert NewcoNewco's subsidiaries are generally subject to similar legal limitations on their ability to make distributions to Desert Newco.

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Item 6.     Selected Financial Data
You should read the following selected consolidated financial data in conjunction withour existing indebtedness. See "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations"Operations—Liquidity and our consolidated financial statements andCapital Resources."
Share Repurchases
Our board of directors has authorized the related notes appearing in "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data."
We were incorporated in May 2014 and, pursuant to the organizational transactionsshare repurchase programs described in Note 65 to our consolidated financial statements, became a holding company whose principal asset is a controlling equity interest in Desert Newco. Asstatements. Share repurchase activity during the sole managing member of Desert Newco, we operate and control the business and affairs of Desert Newco and its subsidiaries. As a result, we consolidate Desert Newco's financial results and report non-controlling interests related to the portion of Desert Newco not owned by us. Because the pre-IPO organizational transactions were considered transactions between entities under common control, the financial statements for periods prior to our April 2015 IPO have been adjusted to combine the previously separate entities for presentation purposes.
The consolidated statements of operations data for the yearsthree months ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015 and the consolidated balance sheets data as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 are derived from our audited consolidated financial statements and the related notes appearing in "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data." The consolidated statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013, and the consolidated balance sheets data as of December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013 are derived from our audited consolidated financial statements not included in this Form 10-K. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected in any future period.

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 Year Ended December 31,
 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013
          
Consolidated Statements of Operations Data:(in millions, except shares in thousands and per share amounts)
Total revenue$2,231.9
 $1,847.9
 $1,607.3
 $1,387.3
 $1,130.8
Costs and operating expenses: (1)
         
Cost of revenue (excluding depreciation and amortization)775.5
 657.8
 565.9
 518.4
 473.9
Technology and development355.8
 287.8
 270.2
 250.8
 206.0
Marketing and advertising253.2
 228.8
 202.2
 164.7
 145.5
Customer care292.3
 242.1
 221.5
 190.5
 150.9
General and administrative282.4
 221.2
 219.7
 172.0
 145.8
Depreciation and amortization205.8
 160.1
 158.8
 152.8
 140.6
Total costs and operating expenses2,165.0
 1,797.8
 1,638.3
 1,449.2
 1,262.7
Operating income (loss)66.9
 50.1
 (31.0) (61.9) (131.9)
Interest expense(83.0) (57.2) (69.2) (85.0) (71.0)
Loss on debt extinguishment(7.3) 
 (21.4) 
 
Tax receivable agreements liability adjustment123.2
 (12.5) 
 
 
Other income (expense), net7.0
 (1.9) 1.0
 0.8
 1.9
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes106.8
 (21.5) (120.6) (146.1) (201.0)
Benefit (provision) for income taxes18.9
 (0.4) 0.2
 2.8
 1.1
Income (loss) from continuing operations125.7

(21.9)
(120.4)
(143.3)
(199.9)
Income from discontinued operations, net of income taxes (includes $33.2 gain on disposal, net of tax)14.1
 
 
 
 
Net income (loss)139.8
 (21.9) (120.4) (143.3) (199.9)
Less: net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests3.4
 (5.4) (44.8) 
 
Net income (loss) attributable to GoDaddy Inc.$136.4
 $(16.5) $(75.6) $(143.3) $(199.9)
Net income (loss) attributable to GoDaddy Inc. per share of Class A common stock—basic(2):
         
Continuing operations$1.17
 $(0.21) $(0.81) $(1.11) $(1.58)
Discontinued operations0.08
 
 
 
 
Net income (loss) attributable to GoDaddy Inc.$1.25

$(0.21)
$(0.81)
$(1.11)
$(1.58)
Net income (loss) attributable to GoDaddy Inc. per share of Class A common stock—diluted(2):
         
Continuing operations$0.71
 $(0.21) $(0.81) $(1.11) $(1.58)
Discontinued operations0.08
 
 
 
 
Net income (loss) attributable to GoDaddy Inc.$0.79

$(0.21)
$(0.81)
$(1.11)
$(1.58)
Weighted-average shares of Class A common stock outstanding(2):
         
Basic108,779
 79,835
 58,676
 38,826
 38,826
Diluted177,054
 79,835
 58,676
 38,826
 38,826

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(1)Costs and operating expenses include equity-based compensation expense as follows:
Technology and development$37.1
 $23.2
 $18.2
 $10.4
 $4.7
Marketing and advertising7.3
 8.1
 6.1
 6.1
 2.6
Customer care3.6
 3.9
 2.9
 0.8
 0.6
General and administrative28.4
 21.6
 13.2
 12.8
 8.5
(2)
Amounts for periods prior to our IPO have been retrospectively adjusted to give effect to the pre-IPO organizational transactions described in Note 6 to our consolidated financial statements. The prior period amounts do not consider the 26,000 shares of Class A common stock sold in our IPO. See Note 16 to our consolidated financial statements.
 December 31,
 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013
          
Consolidated Balance Sheets Data:(in millions)
Cash and cash equivalents$582.7
 $566.1
 $348.0
 $139.0
 $95.4
Prepaid domain name registry fees532.3
 479.1
 456.3
 425.6
 404.1
Property and equipment, net297.9
 231.0
 225.0
 220.9
 183.2
Total assets5,738.3
 3,786.9
 3,498.8
 3,260.7
 3,208.1
Deferred revenue1,861.6
 1,576.2
 1,416.2
 1,250.6
 1,086.2
Total debt(1)
2,482.3
 1,072.5
 1,083.5
 1,469.5
 1,132.9
Total liabilities5,191.8
 3,072.7
 2,817.8
 2,850.3
 2,337.6
(1)Total debt includes long-term debt, unamortized original issue discount and unamortized debt issuance costs.
Key Metrics
In addition2023 pursuant to our results determined in accordance with GAAP, we believe the following operating metrics are usefulshare repurchase programs was as supplements in evaluating our ongoing operational performance and help provide an enhanced understanding of our business.follows:
PeriodTotal Number of Shares Purchased (in thousands)Average Price Paid Per ShareTotal Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Programs (in thousands)Approximate Dollar Value of Shares that May Yet be Purchased under the Programs (in millions)
October 1 - October 311,601 $73.66 1,601 
November 1 - November 3016 $73.19 16 
December 1 - December 31— — 
Total1,617 1,617 $1,435.5
Item 6.     [Reserved]
 Year Ended December 31,
 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013
          
 (unaudited)
Total bookings (in millions)$2,618.2
 $2,155.5
 $1,914.2
 $1,675.2
 $1,397.9
Total customers at period end (in thousands)17,339
 14,740
 13,774
 12,709
 11,584
Average revenue per user$139
 $130
 $121
 $114
 $104
Total bookings. Total bookings represents cash receipts from the sale of products to customers in a given period adjusted for products where we recognize revenue on a net basis and without giving effect to certain adjustments, primarily net refunds granted in the period. Total bookings provides valuable insight into the sales of our products and the performance of our business since we typically collect payment at the time of sale and recognize revenue ratably over the term of our customer contracts. We report total bookings without giving effect to refunds granted in the period because refunds often occur in periods different from the period of sale for reasons unrelated to the marketing efforts leading to the initial sale. Accordingly, by excluding net refunds, we believe total bookings reflects the effectiveness of our sales efforts in a given period.
Total customers. We define a customer as an individual or entity, as of the end of a period, having an account with one or more paid product subscriptions. A single user may be counted as a customer more than once if the user maintains paid subscriptions in multiple accounts. Total customers is an indicator of the scale of our business and is a critical factor in our ability to increase our revenue base.

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Average revenue per user (ARPU). We calculate ARPU as total revenue during the preceding 12 month period divided by the average of the number of total customers at the beginning and end of the period. ARPU provides insight into our ability to sell additional products to customers, though the impact to date has been muted due to our continued growth in total customers.
Reconciliation of Bookings
The following table reconciles total bookings to total revenue, its most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.
 Year Ended December 31,
 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013
          
Total Bookings:(unaudited; in millions)
Total revenue$2,231.9
 $1,847.9
 $1,607.3
 $1,387.3
 $1,130.8
Change in deferred revenue (1)
214.4
 163.5
 165.9
 166.4
 169.1
Net refunds170.0
 141.9
 137.8
 116.2
 96.1
Other1.9
 2.2
 3.2
 5.3
 1.9
Total bookings$2,618.2

$2,155.5

$1,914.2
 $1,675.2

$1,397.9
(1)Change in deferred revenue also includes the impact of realized gains or losses from the hedging of bookings in foreign currencies.

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Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
You should read theThe following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read together with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included in "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data." Some of the information contained in this discussion and analysis, including information with respect to our plans and strategies for our business, includes forward-looking statements involving significant risks and uncertainties. As a result of many factors, such as those set forth in "Risk Factors," our actual results may differ materially from the results described in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements.
This section generally discusses 2023 and 2022 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2023 and 2022. Discussion of 2021 items and comparisons between 2022 and 2021 that are not included in this Form 10-K can be found in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022.
(Throughout the tables and this discussion and analysis, dollars are in millions, excluding ARPU or unless otherwise noted.average revenue per user (ARPU), and shares are in thousands.)
Overview
We are a global leader serving a large market of entrepreneurs, developing and delivering easy-to-use products in a one-stop shop solution alongside personalized guidance. We serve small businesses, individuals, organizations, developers, designers and domain investors. We manage and report our business in the global market leaderfollowing two segments:
Applications and Commerce (A&C), which primarily consists of sales of products containing proprietary software, notably our website building products, as well as our commerce products and third-party email and productivity solutions and sales of certain products when they are included in domain registration. Securing a domain is a necessary first step to creating a digital identity and our domain products often serve as the starting point in our customer relationships. As of December 31, 2017, approximately 92%bundled offerings of our customers had purchased aproprietary software products.
Core Platform (Core), which primarily consists of sales of domain from usregistrations and we had approximately 75.0 million domains under management. Based on information reported in VeriSign's Domain Name Industry Brief, we had over 22% of the world's domains registered as of December 31, 2017.
We also offerrenewals, aftermarket domain sales, website hosting presence and business applications products and services enhancing our value proposition to our customers by enabling them to create, manage and syndicate their, or their customers', digital identities. While thesewebsite security products are often purchasedwhen not included in conjunction with, or subsequent to, an initial domain registration, they are also frequently the starting points in our customer relationships. As we have grown, our hosting, presence and business applications products have become increasingly important partsbundled offerings of our business, constituting nearly 53%proprietary software products as well as sales of total revenue in 2017.products not containing a software component.
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Financial Highlights
Below are our key consolidated financial highlights for 2017,2023, with comparisons to 2016.2022.
Total revenue of $2,231.9$4,254.1 million, an increase of 20.8%4.0%, or approximately 4.6% on a constant currency basis(1).
International revenue of $727.4$1,381.1 million, an increase of 46.1%3.5%, or approximately 5.3% on a constant currency basis(1).
Total bookings(1) of $2,618.2 million, an increase of 21.5%.
Total bookings of $4,603.1 million, an increase of 4.3%, or approximately 4.7% on a constant currency basis(1).
Operating income of $547.4 million, an increase of 9.7%.(2)
Net income of $139.8$1,375.6 million, an increase of 289.8%.
(2)
Total customers increased 17.6% to 17.3 million.Normalized EBITDA(3) of $1,134.5 million, an increase of 12.0%.
ARPU increased 7.4% to $139.
Net cash provided by operating activities of $475.6$1,047.6 million, an increase of 23.1%6.9%.
(1) Discussion of constant currency is set forth in "Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk."
(2) Our operating results for the year ended December 31, 2023 included $90.8 million in restructuring and other charges, as further discussed in Note 14 to our financial statements. Net income for the year ended December 31, 2023 included a $971.8 million benefit for income taxes primarily due to a $1,014.0 million release of the majority of our domestic valuation allowance.
(3) A reconciliation of total bookingsNormalized EBITDA to total revenue,net income, its most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, is set forth in "Selected Financial Data—Reconciliation"Reconciliation of Bookings."NEBITDA" below.

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Our Financial Model
We have developed a stable and predictabledurable business model driven by strong brand recognition, efficient customer acquisition, high customer retention rates and increasing lifetime spend. spend of our customers. We have broadened our business model over the past several years to encompass a meaningful set of transactional relationships with our customers in areas such as aftermarket, commerce and payments and reseller agreements where one account may give us access to many users. We have also observed an increase in users that have converted from owning paid to free subscriptions during this time, coinciding with our experimentation with freemium services as our customers engage in more varied types of business with us.
We grew our total customers from 13.820.1 million as of December 31, 20152020 to 17.321.0 million as of December 31, 2017, primarily2023, through a combination of our industry leading products built on a single cloud platform, brand advertising, direct marketing efforts, customer referrals, and world-class customer care. We also added approximately 1.6 million customers from our acquisition of HEG in April 2017.care and acquisitions. In each of the five years ended December 31, 2017,2023, our customer retention rate exceededwas approximately 85%, and in 2023, our retention rate for customers who had been with us for over three years was approximately 91%92%. We believe the breadth and depth of our product offerings and the high quality and responsiveness of our Customer Carecustomer care team build strong relationships with our customers and are key to our high level of customer retention.
We generate bookings and revenue from sales of product subscriptions, including domain products, hosting and presence offerings and business applications, as described below.subscriptions. We offer our product subscriptions on a variety of terms, which are typically one year, but can range from monthly to multi-annual terms of up to ten years depending on the product. We monitor total bookings as we typically collect payment at the time of sale and generally recognize revenue ratably over the term of our customer contracts. Accordingly, we believe total bookings is an indicator of the expected growth in our revenue and is a supplemental measure of the operating performance of our business. See "Selected Financial Data—Reconciliation of Bookings" for a reconciliation of total revenue to total bookings.
DomainsApplications and Commerce. We generated 47%33.6% of our 20172023 total revenue from the sale of domainA&C products. A&C revenue primarily consists of revenue from sales of products primarily from domain registrations and renewals, domain add-onscontaining proprietary software such as privacyWebsites + Marketing and aftermarket sales.Managed WordPress and commerce products such as payment processing fees and point-of-sale (POS) hardware as well as sales of third-party email and productivity solutions such as Microsoft 365. Total revenue from domainA&C products grew at a CAGRcompound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.5%15.6% over the three years ended December 31, 2017.2023.
Hosting and PresenceCore Platform. We generated 38%66.4% of our 20172023 total revenue from the saleour Core platform. Core revenue primarily consists of hostingrevenue from sales of domain registrations and presence products, primarily from a variety ofrenewals, aftermarket domain sales, website hosting offerings,products and website builder products, security products and e-commercewhen not included in bundled offerings of our proprietary software products. These products generally have higher margins than conventional domain registrations. Total revenue from hosting and presenceCore Platform products grew at a CAGR of 18.6%5.7% over the three years ended December 31, 2017.
Business Applications. We generated 15% of our 2017 total revenue from the sale of business applications products, primarily from productivity tools such as domain-specific email accounts, which generally also have higher margins than conventional domain registrations. Total revenue from business applications products grew at a CAGR of 41.2% over the three years ended December 31, 2017.2023.
Revenue derived from eachboth of our product categories has increased in each of the last three years, ended December 31, 2017, with many of our hosting, presence and business applicationsnon-domains products growing faster in recent periods. This mix shift has favorably impacted our margins.
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In each of the five years ended December 31, 2017,2023, greater than 85% of our total revenue excluding the impact of purchase accounting, was generated by customers who were also customers in the prior year. To track our growth and the stability of our customer base, we monitor, among other things, revenue and retention rates and ARPU generated by our annual customer cohorts over time, as well as corresponding marketing and advertising spend. We define an annual customer cohort to include each customer who first became a customer during a calendar year. For example, in calendar year 2010,2017, we acquired 2.3approximately 5.0 million gross customers, who we collectively refer to as our 2010 cohort. During the same time period, we2017 cohort, and spent $94$253.2 million in marketing and advertising expenses. By the end of 2017,2023, the 20102017 cohort had generated an aggregate of $1,250 millionapproximately $1.9 billion of total bookings and we expect this cohort will continue to generate bookings and revenue in the future. For the sixfive years ended December 31, 2017,2023, the average bookingsannual revenue retention rate of the 20102017 cohort was approximatelymore than 93%. Over this period, ARPU, excluding, which is calculated by averaging the impactratio of purchase accounting,the cohort's annual revenue for each of the 2010 cohort grew from $91 in 2012five years to $170 in 2017, representing a CAGR of 13%.its annual revenue for each respective preceding year. We selected the 20102017 cohort as an example for this analysis, becausewhich we believe the 2010 cohort is representative of the spending patterns and revenue impact of our other cohorts. We believe our cohort analysis is importanthelps to illustrate the long-term value of our customers.


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Key Metrics
As described in "Selected Financial Data," we monitor the following key metrics to help us evaluate our business and assess operational performance. These operational measures are supplemental to our GAAP results and we believe they are useful in evaluating our business. A reconciliation of total bookings to total revenue, its most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, is set forth in "Selected Financial Data—Reconciliation of Bookings."
 Year Ended December 31,
 2017 2016 2015
      
 (unaudited; customers in thousands)
Total bookings$2,618.2
 $2,155.5
 $1,914.2
Total customers at period end17,339
 14,740
 13,774
Average revenue per user$139
 $130
 $121
Total bookings. Total bookings increased 12.6% from $1,914.2 million in 2015 to $2,155.5 million in 2016 and increased 21.5% to $2,618.2 million in 2017. These increases were primarily driven by increases in total customers and domains under management, continued increases in aftermarket domain sales, broadened customer adoption of non-domain products and an increased growth rate associated with our greater international presence, partially offset by the impact of adverse movements in foreign currency exchange rates. Additionally, the acquisition of HEG in April 2017 contributed to our bookings growth in 2017.
Total customers. As of December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, we had 17,339, 14,740 and 13,774 total customers, respectively. Our customer growth primarily resulted from our increased international presence, our ongoing marketing and advertising initiatives, our enhanced and expanded product offerings and approximately 1.6 million customers added from our acquisition of HEG in April 2017.
Average revenue per user. ARPU increased 6.8% from $121 in 2015 to $130 in 2016 and increased 7.4% to $139 in 2017, primarily due to broadened customer adoption of our products resulting in increased customer spend and revenue from acquired businesses, partially offset by the impact of adverse movements in foreign currency exchange rates. Our ARPU growth in 2017 is muted by the impact of the acquisition of HEG as our trailing 12 month revenue includes only nine months of HEG's results, while all of the customers acquired from HEG are included in the average customers calculation.


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Results of Operations
The following table sets forth our consolidated results of operations for the periods presented and as a percentage of our total revenue for those periods. The period-to-period comparison of financial results is not necessarily indicative of future results.
Year Ended December 31,
202320222021
$% of Total Revenue$% of Total Revenue$% of Total Revenue
Revenue:
A&C$1,430.4 33.6 %$1,279.7 31.3 %$1,128.3 29.6 %
Core2,823.7 66.4 %2,811.6 68.7 %2,687.4 70.4 %
Total revenue4,254.1 100.0 %4,091.3 100.0 %3,815.7 100.0 %
Costs and operating expenses:
Cost of revenue (excluding depreciation and amortization)1,573.6 37.0 %1,484.5 36.3 %1,372.2 36.0 %
Technology and development839.6 19.7 %794.0 19.4 %706.3 18.5 %
Marketing and advertising352.9 8.3 %412.3 10.1 %503.9 13.2 %
Customer care304.5 7.2 %305.9 7.5 %306.1 8.0 %
General and administrative374.0 8.9 %385.5 9.4 %345.8 9.1 %
Restructuring and other90.8 2.1 %15.7 0.4 %(0.3)— %
Depreciation and amortization171.3 3.9 %194.6 4.7 %199.6 5.2 %
Total costs and operating expenses3,706.7 87.1 %3,592.5 87.8 %3,433.6 90.0 %
Operating income547.4 12.9 %498.8 12.2 %382.1 10.0 %
Interest expense(179.0)(4.2)%(146.3)(3.6)%(126.0)(3.3)%
Loss on debt extinguishment(1.5)— %(3.6)(0.1)%— — %
Other income (expense), net36.9 0.8 %7.6 0.2 %(2.5)(0.1)%
Income before income taxes403.8 9.5 %356.5 8.7 %253.6 6.6 %
Benefit (provision) for income taxes971.8 22.8 %(3.6)(0.1)%(10.8)(0.3)%
Net income1,375.6 32.3 %352.9 8.6 %242.8 6.3 %
Less: net income attributable to non-controlling interests0.8 — %0.7 — %0.5 — %
Net income attributable to GoDaddy Inc.$1,374.8 32.3 %$352.2 8.6 %$242.3 6.3 %
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 Year Ended December 31,
 2017 2016 2015
 $% of Total Revenue $% of Total Revenue $% of Total Revenue
Revenue:        
Domains$1,057.2
47.4% $927.8
50.2% $840.8
52.3 %
Hosting and presence847.9
38.0% 678.7
36.7% 592.0
36.8 %
Business applications326.8
14.6% 241.4
13.1% 174.5
10.9 %
Total revenue2,231.9
100.0% 1,847.9
100.0% 1,607.3
100.0 %
Costs and operating expenses:        
Cost of revenue (excluding depreciation and amortization)775.5
34.7 % 657.8
35.6 % 565.9
35.2 %
Technology and development355.8
15.9 % 287.8
15.5 % 270.2
16.8 %
Marketing and advertising253.2
11.3 % 228.8
12.4 % 202.2
12.6 %
Customer care292.3
13.1 % 242.1
13.1 % 221.5
13.8 %
General and administrative282.4
12.8 % 221.2
12.0 % 219.7
13.7 %
Depreciation and amortization205.8
9.2 % 160.1
8.7 % 158.8
9.9 %
Total costs and operating expenses2,165.0
97.0 % 1,797.8
97.3 % 1,638.3
102.0 %
Operating income (loss)66.9
3.0 % 50.1
2.7 % (31.0)(2.0)%
Interest expense(83.0)(3.7)% (57.2)(3.1)% (69.2)(4.3)%
Loss on debt extinguishment(7.3)(0.3)% 
 % (21.4)(1.3)%
Tax receivable agreements liability adjustment123.2
5.5 % (12.5)(0.7)% 
 %
Other income (expense), net7.0
0.3 % (1.9)(0.1)% 1.0
0.1 %
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes106.8
4.8 % (21.5)(1.2)% (120.6)(7.5)%
Benefit (provision) for income taxes18.9
0.8 % (0.4) % 0.2
 %
Income (loss) from continuing operations125.7
5.6 % (21.9)(1.2)% (120.4)(7.5)%
Income from discontinued operations, net of income taxes14.1
0.6 % 
 % 
 %
Net income (loss)139.8
6.2 %
(21.9)(1.2)%
(120.4)(7.5)%
Less: net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests3.4
0.1 % (5.4)(0.3)% (44.8)(2.8)%
Net income (loss) attributable to GoDaddy Inc.$136.4
6.1 % $(16.5)(0.9)% $(75.6)(4.7)%
Non-GAAP Financial Measure and Other Operating Metrics
ComparisonIn addition to our results determined in accordance with GAAP, we believe that Normalized EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure, and the following other operating metrics are useful as supplements in evaluating our ongoing operational performance and help provide an enhanced understanding of Years Endedour business:
Year Ended December 31,
202320222021
Normalized EBITDA$1,134.5 $1,013.0 $872.2 
Annualized recurring revenue$3,729.3 $3,570.1 $3,433.7 
Total bookings$4,603.1 $4,413.8 $4,231.7 
Total customers at period end (in thousands)21,026 20,897 20,701 
Average revenue per user$203 $197 $187 
Normalized EBITDA (NEBITDA). NEBITDA is a supplemental measure of our operating performance used by management and investors to evaluate our business. We calculate NEBITDA as net income excluding depreciation and amortization, interest expense (net), provision or benefit for income taxes, equity-based compensation expense, acquisition-related costs, restructuring-related expenses and certain other items. We believe that the inclusion or exclusion of certain recurring and non-recurring items provides a supplementary measure of our core operating results and permits useful alternative period-over-period comparisons of our operations but should not be viewed as a substitute for comparable GAAP measures.
Annualized recurring revenue (ARR). ARR is an operating metric defined as quarterly recurring revenue (QRR) multiplied by four. QRR represents the quarterly recurring GAAP revenue, net of refunds, from new and renewed subscription-based services. ARR is exclusive of any revenue that is non-recurring, including, without limitation, domain aftermarket, domain transfers, one-time set-up or migration fees and non-recurring professional website services fees. We believe ARR helps illustrate the scale of certain of our products and facilitates comparisons to other companies in our industry.
Total bookings. Total bookings is an operating metric representing the total value of customer contracts entered into during the period, excluding refunds. We believe total bookings provides additional insight into the performance of our business and the effectiveness of our marketing efforts since we typically collect payment at the inception of a customer contract but recognize revenue ratably over the term of the contract.
Total customers. We define a customer as an individual or entity with paid transactions in the trailing twelve months or with paid subscriptions as of the end of the period. A single user may be counted as a customer more than once if they maintain paid subscriptions or transactions in multiple accounts. Total customers is one way we measure the scale of our business and is an important part of our ability to increase our revenue base.
Average revenue per user. We calculate ARPU as total revenue during the preceding 12 month period divided by the average of the number of total customers at the beginning and end of the period. ARPU provides insight into our ability to sell additional products to customers, though the impact to date has been muted due to our continued growth in total customers.
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Reconciliation of NEBITDA
The following table reconciles NEBITDA to net income, its most directly comparable GAAP financial measure:
Year Ended December 31,
202320222021
Net income$1,375.6 $352.9 $242.8 
Depreciation and amortization171.3 194.6 199.6 
Equity-based compensation(1)
294.0 264.4 207.9 
Interest expense, net155.4 135.0 124.9 
Acquisition-related expenses(2)
12.1 35.1 78.2 
Restructuring and other(3)
97.9 27.4 8.0 
Provision (benefit) for income taxes(971.8)3.6 10.8 
NEBITDA$1,134.5 $1,013.0 $872.2 

(1)The year ended December 31, 2017, 20162023 excludes $2.3 million of equity-based compensation expense associated with our restructuring plan, which is included within restructuring and 2015other.
(2)The year ended December 31, 2023 includes an adjustment of $6.0 million to a previously-recognized acquisition milestone liability.
(3)In addition to the restructuring and other charges in our statement of operations, other charges include lease-related expenses associated with closed facilities, charges related to certain legal matters, adjustments to the fair value of our equity investments, expenses incurred in relation to the refinancing of our long-term debt and incremental expenses associated with certain professional services.
Year-Over-Year Comparison
Revenue
We generate substantially allthe majority of our revenue from sales of product subscriptions, including domain registrations and renewals, hosting and presence offerings and business applications.as described in Note 2 to our financial statements. Our subscription terms are typically one year, butsubscriptions can range from monthly terms to multi-annual terms of up to ten years, depending on the product. We generally collect the full amount of subscription fees at the time of sale, but recognize revenue ratably over the applicable contract term.

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Domains revenue primarily consists of revenue from the sale of domain registration subscriptions, domain add-ons and aftermarket domain sales. Domain registrations provide a customer with the exclusive use of a domain during the applicable contract term. After the contract term expires, unless renewed, the customer can no longer access the domain.
Hosting and presence revenue primarily consists of revenue from the sale of subscriptions for our website hosting products, website building products and services, website security products, an online shopping cart and online visibility products.
Business applications revenue primarily consists of revenue from the sale of subscriptions for third-party productivity applications, email accounts and email marketing tools.
Revenue is presented net of refunds, and we maintain a reserve to provide for refunds granted to customers. Our reserve is an estimate based on historical refund experience. Refunds reduce deferred revenue at the time they are granted and result in a reduced amount of revenue recognized over the applicable subscription terms compared to the amount originally expected.
The following table presents our revenue for the periods indicated:
 Year Ended December 31, 2017 to 2016 2016 to 2015
 2017 2016 2015 $ change % change $ change % change
Domains$1,057.2
 $927.8
 $840.8
 $129.4
 14% $87.0
 10%
Hosting and presence847.9
 678.7
 592.0
 169.2
 25% 86.7
 15%
Business applications326.8
 241.4
 174.5
 85.4
 35% 66.9
 38%
Total revenue$2,231.9
 $1,847.9
 $1,607.3
 $384.0
 21% $240.6
 15%
2017 compared to 2016
Year Ended December 31,2023 to 20222022 to 2021
202320222021$ change% change$ change% change
Applications & commerce$1,430.4 $1,279.7 $1,128.3 $150.7 12 %$151.4 13 %
Core platform$2,823.7 $2,811.6 $2,687.4 $12.1 %$124.2 %
Total revenue$4,254.1 $4,091.3 $3,815.7 $162.8 %$275.6 %
Total revenue increased $384.0 million, or 20.8%4.0%, from $1,847.9 milliondue to the increases in 2016our A&C and Core revenues, as described below:
A&C. The 11.8% increase in A&C revenue was primarily driven by: (i) 11.2% growth in revenue related to $2,231.9 millionour productivity applications, most notably our email solutions; (ii) 8.2% growth in 2017. revenue due to continued customer adoption of our subscription-based products designed to establish and grow online presence; and (iii) 54.0% growth in revenue related to our commerce solutions, as continued customer adoption has resulted in an increase in payment volume.
Core. The 0.4% increase in Core revenue was primarily driven by $155.1 million4.1% growth in domain-related revenues and the continued growth of our registry business, partially offset by a 7.8% decrease in hosting revenues primarily due to end-of-life migrations from certain products, and the divestiture of certain hosting assets during the year.
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Bookings
The following table presents our total bookings for the periods indicated:
 Year Ended December 31,2023 to 20222022 to 2021
 202320222021$ change% change$ change% change
Total bookings$4,603.1 $4,413.8 $4,231.7 $189.3 %$182.1 %
The 4.3% increase in total revenue from our acquisition of HEG in April 2017 as well as growth in total customers and ARPU. The increase in customers impacted each of our revenue lines, as the additional customers purchased subscriptions across our product portfolio.
Domains. Domains revenue increased $129.4 million, or 13.9%, from $927.8 million in 2016 to $1,057.2 million in 2017. This increasebookings was primarily driven by our acquisition of HEG, the increase in domains under management from 63.5 million as of December 31, 2016 to 75.0 million as of December 31, 2017, international growth, strong renewals and increased aftermarket domain sales. Domains under management in 2017 includes approximately 1.0 million .uk domains for which we provided free initial registration to the owners of the associated third-level domains (e.g. .co.uk) following the 2017 launch of the .uk ccTLD.
Hosting and presence. Hosting and presence revenue increased $169.2 million, or 24.9%, from $678.7 million in 2016 to $847.9 million in 2017. The increase was primarily driven by our acquisition of HEG as well as increased revenue from our website hosting, website building and website security products and services.
Business applications. Business applications revenue increased $85.4 million, or 35.4%, from $241.4 million in 2016 to $326.8 million in 2017. The increase was primarily driven by increasedcontinued customer adoption of our expanded emailproductivity solutions and productivity solutions.
2016 comparedour Websites + Marketing product, partially offset by decreased hosting bookings following the divestiture of certain hosting assets during 2023. Our bookings growth rate was also impacted by uneven demand patterns related to 2015
Total revenue increased $240.6 million, or 15.0%,inflation and continued economic uncertainty. Our annual refund rate has declined from $1,607.3 million5.3% of total bookings in 20152021 to $1,847.9 million4.4% in 2016. The increase was primarily driven by growth in total customers and ARPU, as well as revenue from acquired businesses. The increase in customers impacted each of our revenue lines, as the additional customers purchased subscriptions across our product portfolio.
Domains. Domains revenue increased $87.0 million, or 10.3%, from $840.8 million in 2015 to $927.8 million in 2016. This increase was primarily attributable to the 3.1% increase in domains under management from 61.6 million as of

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December 31, 2015 to 63.5 million as of December 31, 2016 driven by our international growth and strong renewals. Increased aftermarket domain sales driven by our domain portfolio acquisitions also contributed to the revenue increase.
Hosting and presence. Hosting and presence revenue increased $86.7 million, or 14.6%, from $592.0 million in 2015 to $678.7 million in 2016. The increase was primarily attributable to increased revenue from our website hosting, website building and website security products and services.
Business applications. Business applications revenue increased $66.9 million, or 38.3%, from $174.5 million in 2015 to $241.4 million in 2016. The increase was primarily driven by increased customer adoption of our expanded email and productivity solutions.2023.
Costs and Operating Expenses
Cost of revenue
Costs of revenue are primarily the direct costs we incurincurred in connection with selling an incremental product to our customers. Substantially all cost of revenue relates to domain registration fees, paid to the various domain registries, payment processing fees, third-party commissions and licensing fees for third-party productivity applications. Similar to our billing practices, we pay domain costs at the time of purchase for the life of each subscription but recognize the costs of service ratably over the term of our customer contracts. The terms of registry pricingfor domain costs are established by agreements between registries and registrars and can vary significantly depending on the TLD. We expect cost of revenue to increase in absolute dollars in future periods as we expand ourdue to increased sales of domains business, increase our sales ofand third-party productivity applications increaseas well as continued growth in our customer base and expand our international presence. Costbase. However, cost of revenue may increase or decreasefluctuate as a percentage of total revenue, depending on the mix of products sold in a particular period and the sales and marketing channels used.period.
 Year Ended December 31,2023 to 20222022 to 2021
 202320222021$ change% change$ change% change
Cost of revenue$1,573.6 $1,484.5 $1,372.2 $89.1 %$112.3 %
 Year Ended December 31, 2017 to 2016 2016 to 2015
 2017 2016 2015 $ change % change $ change % change
Cost of revenue$775.5
 $657.8
 $565.9
 $117.7
 18% $91.9
 16%
2017 compared to 2016. CostThe 6.0% increase in cost of revenue increased $117.7 million, or 17.9%, from $657.8 million in 2016 to $775.5 million in 2017. This increase was primarily attributable to our acquisition of HEG, increased domain costs driven by the increase in domains under management, higher registration costs associated with many new gTLDs and increased aftermarket domain sales,(i) increased software licensing fees primarily related to increasedresulting from higher sales of email and productivity solutions, and increased third-party commissions(ii) higher domain costs, which were primarily driven by the increased aftermarket domain sales.
2016 compared to 2015. Cost ofregistration revenue increased $91.9 million, or 16.2%, from $565.9 million in 2015 to $657.8 million in 2016. This increase was primarily attributable to increased domain costs drivenas well as cost increases implemented by the increase in domains under management, higher registrationvarious TLD registries and (iii) increased costs associated with many new gTLDs and increased aftermarket domain sales, increased software licensing fees primarilythe growth of our payment processing business. These increases were partially offset by a decrease in cost of revenue related to increased sales of email and productivity solutions, increased third-party commissions driven by increased aftermarket domain sales as well as increased payment processing feesour hosting business, which is consistent with the decline in revenue for this business due to end of life migrations away from certain products, the overall bookings increase.divestiture of certain hosting assets during 2023 and lower demand amid the uncertain macroeconomic environment.
Technology and development
Technology and development expenses represent the costs associated with the creation, development and distribution of our products and websites. These expenses primarily consist of personnel costs associated with the design, development, deployment, testing, operation and enhancement of our products, as well as costs associated with the data centers and systems infrastructure supporting those products, excluding depreciation expense. We expect technology and development expense to increase in absolute dollars as we continue to enhance existing products, develop new products and geographically diversify our data center footprint. Technology and development expenses may increase or decrease as a percentage of total revenue depending on our levelin future periods following a period of investment in additional personnelproduct development and the expansion of our globalmigration toward a unified infrastructure footprint. Our investmentsplatform.
 Year Ended December 31,2023 to 20222022 to 2021
 202320222021$ change% change$ change% change
Technology and development$839.6 $794.0 $706.3 $45.6 %$87.7 12 %
The 5.7% increase in additional technology and development expenses are made to enhance our integrated technology infrastructure and to support our new and enhanced product offerings and the overall growth of our business.

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 Year Ended December 31, 2017 to 2016 2016 to 2015
 2017 2016 2015 $ change % change $ change % change
Technology and development$355.8
 $287.8
 $270.2
 $68.0
 24% $17.6
 7%
2017 compared to 2016. Technology and development expenses increased $68.0 million, or 23.6%, from $287.8 million in 2016 to $355.8 million in 2017. This increase was primarily attributabledue to our acquisition of HEG as well as increased compensation-relatedpersonnel costs driven by higher average headcount associated with theour continued growth of our business.
2016 compared to 2015. Technology and development expenses increased $17.6 million, or 6.5%, from $270.2 millioninvestment in 2015 to $287.8 million in 2016.product development. This increase was primarily attributablepartially offset by an adjustment recognized during 2023 to increased compensation-related costs driven by increased average headcount associated with the continued growtha previously-recognized acquisition milestone liability following reassessment of our business.its achievement probability, cloud provider credits recognized in 2023 and decreases in professional fees and infrastructure migration costs.
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Marketing and advertising
Marketing and advertising expenses represent the costs associated with attracting and acquiring customers, primarily consisting of fees paid to third parties for marketing and advertising campaigns across television and radio, search engines, online display, social media and event sponsorships.a variety of channels. These expenses also include personnel costs and affiliate program commissions. We expect marketing and advertising expenses to fluctuate both in absolute dollars and as a percentage of total revenue depending on both the mix of internal and external marketing resources used, and the size and scope of our future campaigns particularly related to new product introductions and the growthlevel of our international business.discretionary investments we make in marketing to drive future sales.
 Year Ended December 31,2023 to 20222022 to 2021
 202320222021$ change% change$ change% change
Marketing and advertising$352.9 $412.3 $503.9 $(59.4)(14)%$(91.6)(18)%
 Year Ended December 31, 2017 to 2016 2016 to 2015
 2017 2016 2015 $ change % change $ change % change
Marketing and advertising$253.2
 $228.8
 $202.2
 $24.4
 11% $26.6
 13%
2017 compared to 2016. MarketingThe 14.4% decrease in marketing and advertising expenses increased $24.4 million, or 10.7%, from $228.8 million in 2016 to $253.2 million in 2017. The increase was primarily attributable to increaseda lower level of discretionary advertising spend driven byspending and headcount reductions resulting from our international growth and new product launchesrestructuring activities as well asdiscussed in Note 14 to our acquisition of HEG.
2016 compared to 2015. Marketing and advertising expenses increased $26.6 million, or 13.2%, from $202.2 million in 2015 to $228.8 million in 2016. The increase was primarily attributable to increased discretionary advertising spend driven by our international growth and new product launches.financial statements.
Customer Carecare
Customer care expenses represent the costs to adviseguide and service our customers, primarily consisting of personnel costs. We expect these expenses to increase in absolute dollars in the future as we expand our domestic and international Customer Care teams due to increases in total customers. We expect Customer Carecustomer care expenses to fluctuate as a percentage of total revenue depending on the methods of customer interaction utilized as well as the level of personnel required to support the continued growth of our business.
 Year Ended December 31,2023 to 20222022 to 2021
 202320222021$ change% change$ change% change
Customer care$304.5 $305.9 $306.1 $(1.4)%$(0.2)%
 Year Ended December 31, 2017 to 2016 2016 to 2015
 2017 2016 2015 $ change % change $ change % change
Customer care$292.3
 $242.1
 $221.5
 $50.2
 21% $20.6
 9%
2017 compared to 2016. CustomerThere were no material changes in customer care expenses increased $50.2 million, or 20.7%, from $242.1 million in 2016 to $292.3 million in 2017. The increase was primarily driven by headcount additions to support the continued growth of our business and our international expansion as well as our acquisition of HEG.
2016 compared to 2015. Customer care expenses increased $20.6 million, or 9.3%, from $221.5 million in 2015 to $242.1 million in 2016. The increase was primarily driven by the continued growth of our business as well as increased costs associated with the continued expansion of our international third-party Customer Care locations.

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expenses.
General and administrative
General and administrative expenses primarily consist of personnel costs for our administrative functions, professional service fees, office rent for all locations, all employee travel expenses, acquisition-related expenses and other general costs. We expect general and administrative expenses to increase in absolute dollars influctuate depending on the future as a resultlevel of our overall growth, increased personnel and other administrative costs and public company expenses.
In 2015, general and administrative expenses include $29.7 million of additional expenses relatedrequired to certain payments made following the completion of the IPO, including $26.7 million paid to the Sponsors in connection with the termination of the transaction and monitoring fee agreement and $3.0 million paid to Bob Parsons in connection with the termination of the executive chairman services agreement. Following these payments, we were no longer obligated to make future payments under either of these agreements.
 Year Ended December 31, 2017 to 2016 2016 to 2015
 2017 2016 2015 $ change % change $ change % change
General and administrative$282.4
 $221.2
 $219.7
 $61.2
 28% $1.5
 1%
2017 compared to 2016. General and administrative expenses increased $61.2 million, or 27.7%, from $221.2 million in 2016 to $282.4 million in 2017. The increase was primarily due to our acquisition and integration of HEG, increased professional service fees primarily associated with our debt financings and the sale of PlusServer, increased compensation-related costs associated with the continued growth ofsupport our business as well as an increasethe significance of any strategic acquisitions we choose to pursue.
 Year Ended December 31,2023 to 20222022 to 2021
 202320222021$ change% change$ change% change
General and administrative$374.0 $385.5 $345.8 $(11.5)(3)%$39.7 11 %
The 3.0% decrease in indirect tax accruals associated with our international operations.
2016 compared to 2015. General and administrative expenses increased $1.5 million, or 0.7%, from $219.7 million in 2015 to $221.2 million in 2016. Excluding the termination payments discussed above, general and administrative expenses increased $31.2 million, or 16.4%, from $190.0 million in 2015 to $221.2 million in 2016. This increase was primarily due to increased compensation-relateddecreases in acquisition-related costs drivenand facilities expenses, partially offset by increased average headcount associated withincreases in indirect tax-related reserves and equity-based compensation expense.
Restructuring and other
 Year Ended December 31,2023 to 20222022 to 2021
 202320222021$ change% change$ change% change
Restructuring and other$90.8 $15.7 $(0.3)$75.1 478 %$16.0 (5333)%
Restructuring and other of $90.8 million during 2023 primarily includes costs incurred pursuant to restructuring activities in the continued growthfirst and third quarters of 2023, as further discussed in Note 14 to our businessfinancial statements, as well as increased acquisition-related expenses.a charge of $17.0 million related to the termination of a revenue sharing agreement.
Restructuring and other of $15.7 million during 2022 primarily includes the impairment and loss on disposition of certain assets.
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Depreciation and amortization
Depreciation and amortization expenses consist of charges relating to the depreciation of the property and equipment used in our operations and the amortization of acquired intangible assets. Depreciation and amortizationThese expenses may increase or decrease in absolute dollars in future periods depending on our future level of capital investments in hardware and other equipment as well as amortization expense associated withthe significance of any future acquisitions.
 Year Ended December 31,2023 to 20222022 to 2021
 202320222021$ change% change$ change% change
Depreciation and amortization$171.3 $194.6 $199.6 $(23.3)(12)%$(5.0)(3)%
 Year Ended December 31, 2017 to 2016 2016 to 2015
 2017 2016 2015 $ change % change $ change % change
Depreciation and amortization$205.8
 $160.1
 $158.8
 $45.7
 29% $1.3
 1%
2017 compared to 2016. Depreciation and amortization expenses increased $45.7The $23.3 million or 28.5%, from $160.1 million in 2016 to $205.8 million in 2017. This increase primarily results from the finite-lived intangible assets and property and equipment acquired as part of our acquisition of HEG in April 2017.
2016 compared to 2015. There were no material changesdecrease in depreciation and amortization expense.expenses was primarily due to technology and customer-related intangible asset dispositions in conjunction with the restructuring activities in 2023 and certain acquired intangibles reaching the end of their useful lives.
Interest expense
 Year Ended December 31,2023 to 20222022 to 2021
 202320222021$ change% change$ change% change
Interest expense$179.0 $146.3 $126.0 $32.7 22 %$20.3 16 %
 Year Ended December 31, 2017 to 2016 2016 to 2015
 2017 2016 2015 $ change % change $ change % change
Interest expense$83.0
 $57.2
 $69.2
 $25.8
 45% $(12.0) (17)%
2017 compared to 2016. InterestThe 22.4% increase in interest expense increased $25.8 million, or 45.1%, from $57.2 million in 2016 to $83.0 million in 2017. The increase was primarily driven by additionalthe higher effective interest fromrates on the Acquisition Term Loan entered into in April

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2017 to finance aunhedged portion of our acquisition of HEG,variable-rate debt partially offset by interest savings resulting from the refinancing of the 2029 Term Loans which reduced our debt in February and November 2017 as well as the benefit frominterest margin. See Note 10 to our cross-currency and interest rate swaps.
2016 compared to 2015. Interest expense decreased $12.0 million, or 17.3%, from $69.2 million in 2015 to $57.2 million in 2016, primarily driven by interest savings resulting from our repayment of a $300.0 million senior note to YAM in April 2015.financial statements for additional discussion.
Loss on debt extinguishment
In 2017,2023, we recognized a $7.3 million loss on debt extinguishment of $1.5 million, primarily related to the refinancings of our term loans and the August 2017 prepaymentrefinancing of the Bridge Loan.2029 Term Loans. See Note 10 to our consolidated financial statements for additional discussion.
Benefit (provision) for income taxes
During 2023, we released a majority of our domestic valuation allowance on a portion of our deferred tax assets resulting in a $1,014.0 million non-cash income tax benefit, as discussed in Note 16 to our financial statements. This release was related to our U.S. federal and state domestic NOLs, credit carryforwards and other deferred tax assets (DTAs). In April 2015,determining the need for a valuation allowance, we recognizedconsider both the positive and negative evidence including our ability to forecast future operating results, historical tax losses and our ability to utilize DTAs within the requisite carryforward periods. In December 2023, management applied judgement and determined the positive evidence outweighed the negative evidence and released the majority of our valuation allowance due to the following factors: we have been in a $21.4 million lossthree year cumulative consolidated book income position for two years, our operating results and profitability continue to improve, our projections showed sufficient utilization of tax attributes within their requisite carryforward periods and we have not had a history of expiration of tax attributes. We continue to maintain a valuation allowance against the DTAs for which we concluded it is more-likely-than-not they will not be realized due to certain limitations on debt extinguishment ascharacter or carryforward period. The ultimate realization of our DTAs is dependent upon a resultnumber of uncertainties including future taxable income of the repaymentappropriate character during the requisite carryforward periods.
Our ability to project future operating results was an important factor in determining the need for our valuation allowance. To assess the amount of a senior note to YAM, which consistedtax attributes that could be utilized in the requisite carryforward periods, we prepared projections based on historical results, assessment of prepayment premium of $13.5 millionbusiness initiatives and the write-offcurrent macroeconomic environment. Over the last few years, we have continued to grow revenues, expand our profit margins and increase pre-tax income which was used as the basis to form our projections. In addition, we considered various sensitivities to our projections that included scenarios below our current projections. In such scenarios, we were able to utilize substantially all our DTAs within the allowed carryforward periods on a more-likely-than-not basis.
Segment Results of $7.9 millionOperations
Our two operating segments, A&C and Core, reflect the way we manage and evaluate the performance of unamortized original issue discountour business. Our chief operating decision maker evaluates segment performance based upon several factors, of which the primary financial measures are revenue and deferred debt issuance costs.Segment EBITDA, our segment measure of profitability. See Note 18 to our financial statements for a reconciliation of Segment EBITDA to net income, its most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.
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Applications & Commerce
The following table presents the results for our A&C segment for the periods indicated:
 Year Ended December 31,2023 to 20222022 to 2021
 202320222021$ change% change$ change% change
Revenue$1,430.4 $1,279.7 $1,128.3 $150.7 12 %$151.4 13 %
Segment EBITDA$594.2 $522.8 $447.7 $71.4 14 %$75.1 17 %
The 11.8% increase in A&C revenue was primarily driven by: (i) 11.2% growth in revenue related to our productivity applications, most notably our email solutions; (ii) 8.2% growth in revenues due to continued customer adoption of our subscription-based products designed to establish and grow online presence; and (iii) 54.0% growth in commerce-related revenue.
The 13.7% increase in A&C Segment EBITDA primarily resulted from the revenue increases noted above, in conjunction with lower discretionary marketing spend. These increases were partially offset by increased personnel costs resulting from a higher average headcount made to support the continued development of our A&C products.
Core Platform
The following table presents the results for our Core segment for the periods indicated:
 Year Ended December 31,2023 to 20222022 to 2021
 202320222021$ change% change$ change% change
Revenue$2,823.7 $2,811.6 $2,687.4 $12.1 %$124.2 %
Segment EBITDA$816.4 $783.7 $679.7 $32.7 %$104.0 15 %
The 0.4% increase in Core revenue was primarily driven by 4.1% growth in domain-related revenues and the continued growth of our registry business, partially offset by a 7.8% decrease in hosting revenues primarily due to end-of-life migrations from certain products, and the divestiture of certain hosting assets during the year.
The 4.2% increase in Core Segment EBITDA primarily resulted from the revenue increases noted above, in conjunction with lower discretionary marketing spend. These increases were partially offset by cost increases implemented by various TLD registries.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Overview
Other than the receipt of proceeds from our IPO in April 2015, ourOur principal sources of liquidity have been cash flow generated from operations, long-term debt borrowings, and stock option exercises.exercises and Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) proceeds. Our principal uses of cash have been to fund operations, acquisitions and capital expenditures, as well as to make interest payments and mandatory principal and interest payments on our long-term debt. We have also used our cashdebt and to repurchase LLC Unitsshares of our Class A common stock. Our liquidity position also benefits from U.S. and make distributionsstate DTAs such that we have not historically paid a significant amount of U.S. federal or state income taxes. We acquired the right to holdersbenefit from the majority of LLC Units.our DTAs when we settled the Tax Receivable Agreements (collectively TRA Settlement Agreements) in 2020. In connection with executing the TRA Settlement Agreements, we paid $850.0 million for approximately $1,400.0 million of cash tax benefits, with substantially all of them expected to be realized within the next ten years.
In general, we seek to deploy our capital in a systematically prioritized manner focusingfocusing first on requirements for our operations, then on growth investments, and finally on equity holderstockholder returns. Our strategy is to deploy capital, from any potential source, whether debt, equity or internally generated cash, depending on the adequacy and availability of the source of capital and which source may be used most efficiently and at the lowest cost at such time. Therefore, while cash from operations is our primary source of operating liquidity and we believe our internally-generated cash flows are sufficient to support our day-to-day operations, we may use a variety of capital sources to fund our needs for less predictable investment decisions such as strategic acquisitions and share repurchases.
We have incurred significant long-term debt, as described below,primarily to fund acquisitions, share repurchases and for our working capital needs.the TRA Settlement Agreements. As a result, of our debt, we are limited as to how we conduct our business and we may be unable to raise additional debt or equity
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financing to compete effectively or to take advantage of new business opportunities, strategic acquisitions or share repurchases. However, the restrictions under our long-term debt agreements are subject to a number of qualifications and may be amended with lender consent.the consent of the lenders and the holders of the Senior Notes, as applicable.
We believe our existing cash and cash equivalents and internally-generated cash flowsgenerated by operating activities will be sufficient to meet our anticipated operating cash needs for at least the next 12 months. However, our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including our growth rate, macroeconomic activity, the timing and extent of spending to support domestic and international development efforts, continued brand development and advertising spend, the expansionlevel of Customer Carecustomer care and general and administrative activities, the introduction of new and enhanced product offerings, the costs to support new and replacement capital equipment, the completion of strategic acquisitions or share repurchases.repurchases and other factors. Should we pursue additional strategic acquisitions or share repurchases, we may need to raise additional capital, which may be in the form of additional long-term debt or equity financings.
Acquisition of HEG
On April 3, 2017, we completed the acquisition of HEG, as described in Note 3 to our consolidated financial statements, for €1.7 billion. The acquisition was financed using the Acquisition Term LoanCredit Facility and the Bridge Loan, both of which are discussed below.
Credit FacilitySenior Notes
Our Credit Facilitylong-term debt consists of the Term Loan and the Acquisition Term Loan, both maturing on February 15, 2024, and the Revolving Credit Loan maturing on February 15, 2022. See further discussion of the Credit Facility, which includes two tranches of term loans and a revolving credit facility, and the Senior Notes. In May 2023, we entered into an amendment to the Credit Facility to replace LIBOR on our 2027 Term Loans with the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR), beginning in July 2023. In July 2023, we entered into an amendment to the Credit Facility to refinance the 2029 Term Loans. See Note 10 to our consolidatedfinancial statements for additional information regarding our long-term debt. In January 2024, we entered into an amendment to the Credit Facility to refinance the 2029 Term Loans, as discussed in Note 20 to our financial statements.

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The Credit Facility is subject to customary fees for loan facilities of this type, including a commitment fee on the Revolving Credit Loan. The term loans are required to be repaid in quarterly installments of 0.25% of the original principal, with the balance due at maturity. The term loans must be repaid with proceeds from certain asset sales andOur long-term debt issuances and with a portion of our excess cash flow, up to 50.0%, depending on our net leverage ratio. The Credit Facility is guaranteed by all of our material domestic subsidiaries and is secured by substantially all of our and such subsidiaries' real and personal property.
The Credit Facility containsagreements contain covenants restricting, among other things, our ability, or the ability of our subsidiaries, to incur indebtedness, issue certain types of equity, incur liens, enter into fundamental changes including mergers and consolidations, sell assets, make restricted payments including dividends, distributions and investments, prepay junior indebtedness and engage in operations other than in connection with acting as a holding company, subject to customary exceptions. The refinanced Revolving Credit Loan also contains a financial covenant requiring us to maintain a maximum net leverage ratio of 5.75:1.00 when our usage exceeds 35.0% of the maximum capacity. The net leverage ratio is calculated as the ratio of first lien secured debt less cash and cash equivalents to consolidated EBITDA (as defined in the Credit Facility). As of December 31, 2017,2023, we were in compliance with all such covenants and had no amounts drawn on the Revolving Credit Loan.our revolving credit facility.
As further discussed in Note 11 to our consolidated financial statements, we have hedged a portion of our long-term debt through the use of cross-currency and interest rate swap derivative instruments. These instruments help us manage and mitigate our risk of exposure to changes in foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates. See "Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk" for additional discussion of our hedging activities.
Bridge Loan and Sale of PlusServer
On April 3, 2017, we entered into the Bridge Loan to finance a portion of the HEG acquisition, as described in Note 10 to our consolidated financial statements. In connection with the acquisition, we committed to a formal plan to sell PlusServer as its business model differs from ours, and therefore its operating results are reported within discontinued operations. The terms of the Bridge Loan required that, in the event of a sale or other disposition of PlusServer, 100% of the net cash proceeds from such sale or disposition be used to prepay the Bridge Loan. As described in Note 4 to our consolidated financial statements, on August 31, 2017, we sold all of the outstanding shares of PlusServer, receiving net proceeds of $447.7 million. As a result of the sale, we recorded a gain on disposal of $33.2 million, which is included in discontinued operations. The proceeds, in combination with an additional $148.9 million of our existing cash and cash equivalents, were used to prepay the Bridge Loan in its entirety. Following this prepayment, the underlying bridge credit agreement was canceled. In addition, we have recorded an income tax liability of approximately €19.0 million owed under German income tax laws as a result of the sale. We expect to pay this tax in 2018.
Secondary Offerings and LLC Unit RepurchaseShare Repurchases
As discussed in Note 65 to our consolidated financial statements, we have completed several underwritten public offerings in which certain stockholders, including the Sponsors, YAM and certainare authorized to repurchase up to $4,000.0 million of our executive officers soldClass A common stock. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we repurchased a total of 17,356 shares of our Class A common stock. We did not receive any proceeds fromstock in the shares sold by the selling stockholders in these offerings. We used the net proceeds from the shares sold by us to pay expenses incurred in connection with the offerings. Each offering included the exchange of LLC Units (together with the corresponding shares of Class B common stock) for Class A common stock by the selling stockholders, which resulted in increases in additional paid-in capital, with offsetting reductions in non-controlling interests, and material increases to the liability under the TRAs.
In May 2017, we repurchased 7.3 million LLC units from the Sponsors and YAMopen market for an aggregate purchase price of $275.0 million, or $37.44 per share, which is the same per share price, net$1,264.4 million.
As of discounts and commissions, paid by the underwriters to the selling stockholders in the offering. In connection with this repurchase, the corresponding shares of Class B common stock held by the Sponsors and YAM were canceled. The repurchase did not result in an incremental liability under the TRAs; however, it did increase the per unit basis of the remaining LLC Units held by each of the selling stockholders. This results in a deferral of the recording of the liability under the TRAs until the future exchange of LLC Units by such selling stockholders.
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017
On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 was signed into law making significant changes to the Internal Revenue Code, including a U.S. federal corporate tax rate decrease from 35% to 21% effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2017. This rate decrease resulted in an $86.22023, we had $1,435.5 million reduction in the liability under the TRAs, as described in Note 15 to our consolidated financial statements,of remaining authorization available for repurchases.
Restructuring and a $7.9 million net benefit for income taxes, as describedOther
As further discussed in Note 14 to our consolidated financial statements.

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Tablestatements, we undertook restructuring activities in 2023 to reduce future operating expenses and improve cash flows through a combination of Contents


Tax Receivable Agreements
As describedreductions in "Critical Accounting Policiesforce and Estimates—Payablea commitment to Related Parties Pursuant to the TRAs," we are a party to five TRAs. Assell certain assets and liabilities of December 31, 2017, the liability under the TRAs was $153.0our hosting business within our Core segment. Cash payments of $38.7 million as described in Note 15 to our consolidated financial statements. We currently do not expect to begin making payments related to the existing liability under the TRAs until 2021.
We may record additional liabilities under the TRAs when LLC Units are exchangedrestructuring activities were made during 2023, with approximately $7.4 million remaining to be paid in the future and as our estimates of the future utilization of the tax attributes, NOLs and other tax benefits change.2024. We expect to make substantially all remaining restructuring payments underpursuant to these activities by the TRAs,end of the second quarter of 2024. In addition, we made a cash payment of $17.0 million related to the extent they are required, within 150 days after our U.S. federal income tax return is filed for each fiscal year. Interest on such payments will begin to accrue from the due date (without extensions)termination of such tax return at a rate equal to the one-year LIBOR plus 100 basis points. Under the TRAs, to avoid interest charges, we have the right, but not the obligation, to make TRA payments in advancerevenue sharing agreement during 2023.
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Table of the date the payments are otherwise due.Contents
Because we are a holding company with no operations, we rely on Desert Newco to provide us with funds necessary to meet any financial obligations. If we do not have sufficient funds to pay TRA, tax or other liabilities or to fund our operations (as a result of Desert Newco's inability to make distributions to us due to various limitations and restrictions or as a result of the acceleration of our obligations under the TRAs), we may have to borrow funds and thus our liquidity and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected. To the extent we are unable to make payments under the TRAs for any reason, such payments will be deferred and will accrue interest at a rate equal to one-year LIBOR plus 500 basis points until paid.
Tax Distributions to Desert Newco's Owners
Tax distributions are required under the terms of Desert Newco's limited liability company agreement. Any required payments are calculated each quarter based on a number of variables, including Desert Newco's taxable income or loss, allocations of taxable income among Desert Newco's owners based on principles detailed within the Treasury Regulations, tax deductions for stock option exercises and vested RSUs and changing ownership percentages among Desert Newco's owners. In addition, under the tax rules, Desert Newco is required to allocate taxable income disproportionately to its unit holders. Because tax distributions are determined based on the holder of LLC Units who is allocated the largest amount of cumulative taxable income on a per unit basis, but are made pro rata based on ownership, Desert Newco is required to make tax distributions that, in the aggregate, will likely exceed the amount of taxes Desert Newco would have otherwise paid.
During 2017 and 2016, Desert Newco paid total distributions of $10.0 million and $18.4 million, respectively, as discussed in Note 18 to our consolidated financial statements. Distributions paid in 2015 were not material. An accrual for tax distributions was not required at December 31, 2017.
Cash Flows
The following table summarizes our cash flows for the periods indicated:
 Year Ended December 31,
 2017 2016 2015
Net cash provided by operating activities$475.6
 $386.5
 $259.2
Net cash used in investing activities(1,570.1) (183.4) (144.4)
Net cash provided by financing activities1,107.5
 15.1
 94.4
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents3.6
 (0.1) (0.2)
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents$16.6
 $218.1
 $209.0
 Year Ended December 31,
 202320222021
Net cash provided by operating activities$1,047.6 $979.7 $829.3 
Net cash used in investing activities(102.4)(132.0)(635.6)
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities(1,261.7)(1,326.7)298.1 
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents1.3 (2.7)(1.3)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents$(315.2)$(481.7)$490.5 
Operating Activities
Our primary source of cash from operating activities has been cash collections from our customers. We expect cash inflows from operating activities to be primarily affected by increases in total bookings. Our primary uses of cash from operating activities have been for domain registration costs paid to registries, software licensing fees related to third-party productivity solutions, personnel costs, discretionary marketing and advertising costs, technology and development costs and interest payments. We expect cash outflows from operating activities to be affected by the timing of payments we make to registries andas well as increases in personnel and other operating costs as we continue to grow our business and increase our international presence.

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business.
Net cash provided by operating activities increased $89.1$67.9 million from $386.5$979.7 million in 20162022 to $475.6$1,047.6 million in 2017,2023, primarily resulting from our bookings growth and the contribution from HEG.
Net cash provided by operating activities increased $127.3 million from $259.2 million in 2015 to $386.5 million in 2016, driven by the growth in total bookings as well as lower discretionary marketing spending. These increases were partially offset by payments made pursuant to our bookingsrestructuring activities, as discussed in Note 14 to our financial statements, higher software licensing fees related to increased sales of third-party productivity solutions, increased costs associated with the growth of our payment processing business and a reduction inincreased cash interest payments primarily resulting from the repayment of a senior note to YAM in April 2015.payments.
Investing Activities
Our investing activities primarilygenerally consist of strategic acquisitions and purchases of property and equipment related to growth in our data centers and to support the overall growth of our business and our increased international presence.business. We expect our investing cash flows to be affected by the timing of payments we make for capital expenditures, and the strategic acquisitionacquisitions or other growth opportunities we decide to pursue.
Net cash used in investing activities increased $1,386.7decreased $29.6 million from $183.4$132.0 million in 20162022 to $1,570.1$102.4 million in 2017. This increase was2023, primarily due to a $1,758.4$72.5 million increasedecrease in spending for business acquisitions, partially offset by a $50.7$35.0 million increase in purchases of intangible assets and a $21.7 million increase in capital expenditures, partially offset by $447.7 million in net proceeds received from the salepurchase of PlusServer in August 2017.
Net cash used in investing activities increased $39.0 million from $144.4 million in 2015 to $183.4 million in 2016. This increase was primarily due to a $53.8 million increase in business acquisitions and a $5.7 million increase in capital expenditures, partially offset by $23.5 million of intangible assets purchased in 2015.short-term investments totaling $40.0 million.
Financing Activities
Excluding our IPO proceeds, ourOur financing activities primarilygenerally consist of long-term debt borrowings, repurchases of LLC Units from the Sponsors and YAM, the repayment of principal on long-term debt, stock option activity and theexercise proceeds, ESPP proceeds, payment of tax distributions to holders of LLC Units.certain acquisition-related obligations and share repurchases.
Net cash provided byused in financing activities increased $1,092.4decreased $65.0 million from $15.1$1,326.7 million used in 20162022 to $1,107.5$1,261.7 million used in 2017. The2023, primarily due to a $34.6 million increase was driven byin net proceeds received from the issuance of the Acquisition Term Loan and Bridge Loan of $1,421.4 million and $531.7 million, respectively, and $22.9 million related to sales of Class A common stock in 2017. These inflows were offset by the $596.6 million prepaymentterm loans as a result of the Bridge Loan2029 Term Loans refinancing completed in August 2017, $275.0July 2023 as compared to proceeds from the November 2022 amendment, as discussed in Note 10 to our financial statements, as well as a $24.4 million of LLC Unit repurchasesdecrease in May 2017 and $39.7 million in payments of financing-related costs associated with our debt financings in 2017.
Net cash provided by financing activities decreased $79.3 million from $94.4 million in 2015 to $15.1 million in 2016. This decrease was primarily due to the receipt of net IPO proceeds of $482.4 million in 2015 and an $18.0 million increase in tax distribution payments, partially offset by the repayment of long-term debt of $375.0 million in 2015, the payment of debt extinguishment fees of $13.5 million in 2015 and a $35.8 million increase in proceeds received from stock option and warrant exercises and our employee stock purchase plan.share repurchases.
Deferred Revenue
Deferred revenue consistsSee Note 8 to our financial statements for details regarding the expected future recognition of sales of products not yet recognized as revenue at the end of a period. Deferred revenue as of December 31, 2017 was $1,861.6 million, and is expected to be recognized as revenue as follows:deferred revenue.
 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Thereafter Total
Domains$638.5
 $174.1
 $70.3
 $40.9
 $22.6
 $33.4
 $979.8
Hosting and presence444.7
 120.2
 42.0
 11.2
 5.1
 4.7
 627.9
Business applications181.6
 47.2
 16.7
 4.8
 2.1
 1.5
 253.9
 $1,264.8
 $341.5
 $129.0
 $56.9
 $29.8
 $39.6
 $1,861.6

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Contractual Obligations
The following table summarizes our material contractual obligations and commitments as of December 31, 2017:
 Payments due by period
 1 year 2-3 years 4-5 years 5+ years
Long-term debt, including current maturities(1)
$25.0
 $50.0
 $50.0
 $2,357.3
Interest on long-term debt(2)
95.8
 188.9
 184.7
 102.3
Lease financing obligation(3)
3.2
 6.7
 7.2
 8.4
Operating leases(4)
28.8
 42.1
 27.1
 41.7
Capital leases(5)
5.1
 4.6
 
 
Service agreements(6)
27.6
 23.6
 6.8
 1.3
TRA payments(7)

 
 40.7
 112.3
(1)See Note 10 to our consolidated financial statements for information regarding the terms of our long-term debt agreements.
(2)Interest on long-term debt excludes both the amortization of deferred debt issuance costs and original issue discount and the expected benefits associated with our interest rate swap. Interest on our variable rate debt is calculated using the rate in effect at December 31, 2017.
(3)See Note 12 to our consolidated financial statements for information regarding the terms of our lease financing obligation.
(4)We lease office and data center space (including commitments for specified levels of power) under non-cancelable operating leases expiring at various dates through March 2028.
(5)We lease certain computer equipment and software under capital leases. The lease payments above include the amounts representing interest.
(6)We have long-term agreements with certain vendors to provide for software and equipment maintenance, specified levels of bandwidth and other services.
(7)Reflects the estimated timing of TRA payments as of December 31, 2017. Such payments could be due later than estimated depending on the timing of our use of the underlying tax attributes. As of December 31, 2017, we have recorded a liability of $153.0 million payable to the related parties under the TRAs, reflecting limitations on the use of the favorable tax attributes due to limitations of taxable income. The estimated amounts payable under the TRAs do not consider any future exchanges of LLC Units, which will have a material impact on this liability. See "Risk Factors-Risks Related to Our Company and Our Organizational Structure" and Note 15 to our audited consolidated financial statements for additional information regarding our liability under the TRAs.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
As of December 31, 20172023 and 2016,2022, we had no off-balance sheet arrangements that had, or which are reasonably likely to have, a material effect on our consolidated financial statements.
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Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
We prepare our consolidated financial statements in accordance with GAAP, and in doing so, we have to make estimates, assumptions and judgments affecting the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, as well as the related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. We base our estimates, assumptions and judgments on historical experience and on various other factors we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, and we evaluate these estimates, assumptions and judgments on an ongoing basis. Different assumptions and judgments would change the estimates used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements, which, in turn, could change our results from those reported. We refer to estimates, assumptions and judgments of this type as our critical accounting policies and estimates, which we discuss further below. We review our critical accounting policies and estimates with the audit and finance committee of our board of directors on an annual basis.
SeeOf our significant accounting policies, which are described in Note 2 to our financial statements, the following accounting policies and specific estimates involve a greater degree of judgement and complexity. Accordingly, these are the policies we believe are the most critical to aid in fully understanding and evaluating our consolidated financial statements for a summary of our significant accounting policies.condition and operating results.
Revenue Recognition
We recognize revenue over the period during which products or services are delivered to the customer. Customers are billed for products, generally in advance, based on their selected contract term. Cash received in advance of the provision of products is recorded as deferred revenue.
We commence revenue recognition when all of the following conditions are satisfied:
there is persuasive evidence of an arrangement;
the service has been or is being provided to the customer;
the collection of the fees is reasonably assured; and

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the amount of fees to be paid by the customer is fixed or determinable.
We may sell multiple products to customers at the same time. For example, we may design a customer website and separately offer other products such as hosting and an online shopping cart, or a customer may combine a domain registration with other products such as private registration or email. Revenue arrangements with multiple deliverables are divided into separate units of accounting if each deliverable has stand-alone value to the customer. The majority of our revenue arrangements consist of multiple-element arrangements, with revenue for each unit of accounting recognized as the product or service is delivered to the customer.
Consideration is allocated to each deliverable at the inception of an arrangement based on relative selling prices. We determine the relative selling price for each deliverable based on our vendor-specific objective evidence of selling price (VSOE), if available, or our best estimate of selling price (BESP), if VSOE is not available. We establish VSOE for certain of our products when a consistent number of stand-alone sales of these products have been priced within a reasonably narrow range. We are unable to establish VSOE when we lack pricing consistency, primarily related to our marketing strategies and variability in pricing due to promotional activity.
Our process for determining BESP requires judgment and considers multiple factors that may vary over time depending upon the unique facts and circumstances related to each deliverable. For products where VSOE is not available, we determine BESP by considering our overall pricing objectives and market conditions. Significant factors taken into consideration include historical and expected discounting practices, the size, volume and term length of transactions, customer demographics, the geographic areas in which our products are sold and our overall go-to-market strategy.
We have determined third-party evidence of selling price (TPE) is not a practical alternative due primarily to the significant variability among available third-party pricing information for similar products and differences in the features of our product offerings compared to other parties.
We sell our products directly to customers and also through a network of resellers. In certain cases, we act as a reseller of products provided by others. We record revenue on a gross basis when we are the principal in the arrangement and on a net basis when we are an agent. The determination of whether we are a principal or an agent is dependent on whether we control the specific good or service before it is transferred to the customer, including whether we have primary fulfillment responsibility and obligation to perform the services being sold to the customer, whether we have inventory risk and whether we have latitude in establishing pricing. Revenue associated with sales of our products through a network of resellers is generally recorded on a net basis. Revenue associated with sales of aftermarket domains and third party solutions, including Microsoft 365, where we act as a reseller of products provided by others is generally recorded on a gross basis as we have determined that we control the product before transferring it to our end customers. The determination of gross or net revenue recognition is reviewed on a product by product basis and is dependent on whether we act as principal or agent in the transaction.
We maintain a reserve to provide for refunds granted to customers. Our reserve is an estimate based on historical refund experience. Refunds reduce deferred revenue at the time they are granted and result in a reduced amount of revenue recognized over the contract term of the applicable product compared to the amount originally expected. Our annual refund rate has ranged from 7.2% to 6.5% of total bookings from 2015 to 2017.product-by-product basis.
See Notes 2 and 8 to our consolidated financial statements for additional information regarding revenue recognition and deferred revenue, including discussion regarding the impactrevenue.
Acquisitions
We determine whether substantially all of the new revenue recognition standard, which we will adopt effective January 1, 2018.
Equity-Based Compensation
Our equity-based awards are comprised of options and restricted stock units (RSUs) and are accounted for using the fair value method. We grant options at exercise prices equal to the fair market value of our Class A common stock as reported on the NYSE on the date of grant. We measure and recognize compensation expense for equity-based awards made to employees and directors based on the grant date fair values of the awards. RSUs are measured based on the fair market value of the underlying common stock on the date of grant. For options with service or performance-based vesting conditions, the grant date fair valueassets acquired is estimated using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model, which requires management to make assumptions and apply judgment in determining the grant date fair value.
The most significant assumptions and judgments include estimating the expected option term, the expected stock price volatility and the risk-free interest rates. The assumptions used in our option pricing model represent management's best estimates. If factors change and different assumptions are used, our equity-based compensation expense could be materially different in the future.
In addition to the above assumptions, we also estimate a forfeiture rate for our awards, which is based on an analysis of historical forfeitures. We will continue to evaluate the appropriateness of the forfeiture rate based on our actual forfeiture experience, analysis of employee turnover and other factors. Changes in our estimated forfeiture rate can have a significant impact on our equity-based compensation expense since the cumulative effect of adjusting the forfeiture rate is recognized in the

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period in which the estimate is changed. If a revised forfeiture rate is higher than the previously estimated forfeiture rate, an adjustment is made resultingconcentrated in a decreasesingle identifiable asset or a group of similar identifiable assets. If this threshold is met, the single asset or group of assets, as applicable, is accounted for as an asset acquisition. If the threshold is not met, further assessment is undertaken to ascertain whether the equity-based compensation expense previously recognized. Ifacquisition meets the definition of a revised forfeiture rate is lower than the previously estimated forfeiture rate, an adjustment is made resulting in an increase to the equity-based compensation expense previously recognized.
On a quarterly basis, we estimate when and if performance-based awards will be earned. Equity-based compensation expense is recognized only for awards considered probable of being earned. The grant date fair value of each award ultimately expected to vest is recognized as equity-based compensation expense, net of estimated forfeitures, over the requisite service period.
We will continue to use judgment in evaluating the assumptions related to our equity-based awards on a prospective basis. As we continue to accumulate additional data related to our awards, we may refine our estimates, which could materially impact our future equity-based compensation expense.
See Notes 2 and 7 to our consolidated financial statements for additional information regarding equity-based compensation.
Business Combinationsbusiness.
We include the results of operations of acquired businesses in our consolidated financial statements as of the respective dates of acquisition. Accounting for business combinationsacquisitions requires us to make significant estimates and assumptions, especially at the acquisition date, with respect to tangible and intangible assets acquired, liabilities assumed and pre-acquisition contingencies. The purchase price, of acquisitions, including estimates of the fair value of contingent consideration when applicable, is allocated to the tangible and intangible assets acquired and the liabilities assumed based on their estimated fair values on the respective acquisition dates, with the excess recorded as goodwill. Critical estimates used in valuing certain acquired intangible assets include, but are not limited to, future expected cash flows (primarily from customer relationships and developed technology) and discount rates.
Contingent consideration liabilities, which relate to future earn-out payments associated with our acquisitions, are generally valued using discounted cash flow valuation methods. Critical estimates used in valuing these liabilities include estimated operating results scenarios for the applicable performance periods, probability weightings assigned to operating results scenarios and discount rates.
We use our best estimates and assumptions to assigndetermine acquisition-date fair value to the tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed at the acquisition date. Thevalues. These estimates are inherently uncertain and subject to refinement. We continue to collect information and reevaluate theseour preliminary estimates and assumptions quarterly and record any qualifying measurement period adjustments to the preliminary estimates to goodwill provided we are within the measurement period.goodwill. Contingent consideration is adjusted to fair value in subsequent periods as an increase or decrease in general and administrative expenses. Acquisition-related costs are expensed as incurred.
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See Notes 2 and 3 to our consolidated financial statements for additional information regarding business combinations.acquisitions.
Goodwill and Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets
We make estimates, assumptions and judgments when valuing goodwill and other intangible assets in connection with the initial purchase price allocations of ourbusiness acquisitions, as well as when evaluating the recoverability of our goodwill and other intangible assets on an ongoing basis. We assess our goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment at least annually during the fourth quarter. We will also perform an assessment at other times if and when events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value of these assets may not be recoverable.
We first make aperform our impairment assessment based on qualitative assessment of whether it is more-likely-than-not our single reporting unit's fair value is less than its carrying value to determine whether it is necessary to perform a quantitative impairment test. The qualitative assessmentanalysis, which includes considering various factors including macroeconomic conditions, industry and market conditions and our historical and projected operating results. We are only required to perform the quantitative test ifIf, based on our qualitative assessment determines our single reporting unit'sanalysis, we were to determine it is more-likely-than-not the fair value of either of our reporting units is not greaterless than its carrying value. We may electamount, a quantitative impairment test would be performed to perform the quantitative test without considering such qualitative factors.determine if an impairment loss should be recorded.
Our qualitative analyses during 2017, 20162023, 2022 and 20152021 did not indicate any impairment of our goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets, and accordingly, no impairment was recorded.impairment. As of December 31, 2017,2023, we believe such assets are recoverable; however, there can be no assurancesassurance these assets will not be impaired in future periods. Any future impairment charges could adversely impact our results of operations.
See Notes 2 and 54 to our consolidated financial statements for additional information regarding goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets.

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Income Taxes
We are subject to U.S. federal, state and foreign income taxes. We are a controlling member intaxes with respect to our allocable share of any taxable income or loss of Desert Newco, which has been, and will continue to be, treated as a partnership for U.S.well as any stand-alone income tax purposes. Under these provisions, Desert Newcoor loss we generate. Significant judgment is considered a pass-through entity and generally does not pay income taxes on its taxable incomerequired in most jurisdictions. Instead, Desert Newco's members, of which we are one, are liabledetermining our provision or benefit for income taxes based on their taxable income. Desert Newco is liable for income taxesand in certain foreign jurisdictions, in those states not recognizing its pass-through status and for certain subsidiaries not taxed as pass-through entities. We have acquired the outstanding stock of various entities taxed as corporations, which are now wholly-owned by us or our subsidiaries. Where required or allowed, these subsidiaries file and payevaluating uncertain tax as a consolidated group for U.S. federal and state income tax purposes and internationally, primarily within the United Kingdom and Germany. We anticipate this structure to remain in existence for the foreseeable future.positions.
We account for income taxes under the asset and liability method, which requires the recognition of DTAs deferred tax assets (DTAs) and DTLsdeferred tax liabilities (DTLs) for the expected future tax consequences of events included in theour financial statements. Under this method, we determine DTAs and DTLs on the basis of the differences between the financial statementsstatement and tax bases of assets and liabilities by using enacted tax rates in effect for the year in which the differences are expected to reverse. The effect of a change in tax rates on DTAs and DTLs is recognized in income in the period in which the enactment date occurs.
We recognize DTAs to the extent we believe these assets are more-likely-than-not to be realized. In making such a determination,evaluating our ability to realize our DTAs, in full or in part, we consider all available positive and negative evidence, including future reversals of existing taxable temporary differences, projected future taxable income, prudent and feasible tax planning strategies and recent results of operations. The assumptions utilized in determining future taxable income require significant judgment and are consistent with the plans and estimates we use to manage our business. Actual operating results in future years could differ from our current assumptions, judgments and estimates, which could have a material impact on the amount of DTAs we ultimately realize. We continue to maintain a valuation allowance against the DTAs for which we have concluded it is more-likely-than-not they will not be realized due to certain limitations on character or carryforward period.
We recognize tax benefits from uncertain tax positions only if it is more-likely-than-not the tax position will be sustained on examination by the taxing authorities based on the technical merits of the position. The tax benefits recognized from such positions are measured based on the largest benefit having a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement.realized.
See Notes 2 and 1416 to our consolidated financial statements for additional information regarding income taxes.
Payable to Related Parties Pursuant totaxes and the TRAs
We are a party to five TRAs. Under four of these agreements, we are generally required to pay to certain pre-IPO owners approximately 85%release of the amount of calculated tax savings, if any, we are deemed to realize (using the actual applicable U.S. federal income tax rate and an assumed combined state and local income tax rate) as a result of (1) any existing tax attributes associated with LLC Units acquired in the pre-IPO organizational transactions, the benefit of which is allocable to us as a result of such transactions (including the allocable share of Desert Newco's existing tax basis in its assets), (2) NOLs available as a resultmajority of the such transactions and (3) tax benefits related to imputed interest.
Under the fifth of these agreements, we are generally required to paydomestic valuation allowance against our other pre-IPO owners approximately 85% of the amount of the calculated tax savings, if any, we are deemed to realize (using the actual applicable U.S. federal income tax rate and an assumed combined state and local income tax rate) as a result of (1) any step-up in tax basis created as a result of exchanges of their LLC Units (together with the corresponding shares of Class B common stock) for shares of our Class A common stock, (2) any existing tax attributes associated with their LLC Units, the benefit of which is allocable to us as a result of such exchanges (including the allocable share of Desert Newco's existing tax basis in its assets), (3) tax benefits related to imputed interest and (4) payments under the TRA.
The TRAs allow our pre-IPO owners to transfer their rights under the TRAs to third parties, who would then succeed to the rights of our pre-IPO owners under the TRAs. In the event of such a transfer, we would be required to make the payments described above to the new TRA parties in accordance with the terms of the TRAs.
When LLC Units are exchanged, we receive certain tax attributes, including the OBAs created from the original acquisition of the LLC Units plus any anticipated basis adjustments. The OBAs entitle us to the depreciation and amortization previously allocable to the original owner of such units. The anticipated basis adjustments will increase, for tax purposes, our depreciation and amortization deductions. To the extent these deductions are used to reduce our taxable income, thereby resulting in actual tax savings, we will be required to pay the original owners approximately 85% of such savings, which is recorded as an additional liability under the TRAs. This increase in tax basis also creates additional DTAs and may also decrease gains, or increase losses, on future dispositions of certain assets to the extent tax basis is allocated to those assets.

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For purposes of calculating the income tax savings we are deemed to realize under the TRAs, we will calculate the federal income tax savings using the actual applicable U.S. federal income tax rate and will calculate the state and local income tax savings using 5% for the assumed combined state and local tax rate, which represents an approximation of our combined state and local income tax rate, net of federal income tax benefits.
The term of the TRAs commenced upon the completion of our IPO and will continue until all such tax benefits have been utilized or expire, unless we exercise our rights to terminate the agreements or payments under the agreements are accelerated in the event we materially breach any of our material obligations under the agreements.
In the pre-IPO reorganization transactions, we received certain tax attributes, including the OBAs and NOL carryforwards, from certain of our pre-IPO owners, which entitle us to the depreciation and amortization previously allocable to such parties. These deductions are allowed prior to the utilization of any NOL or tax credit carryforwards against income taxes.
Based on current projections of taxable income, and before deduction of any specially allocated depreciation and amortization, we anticipate having enough taxable income to utilize a portion of these specially allocated deductions related to the OBAs. Accordingly, as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, our liability under the TRAs was $153.0 million and $202.6 million, respectively.
The projection of future taxable income involves significant judgment. Actual taxable income may differ from our estimates, which could significantly impact the liability under the TRAs. We have determined it is more-likely-than-not we will be unable to utilize all of our DTAs subject to TRAs; therefore, we have not recorded a liability under the TRAs related to the tax savings we may realize from the utilization of NOL carryforwards and the amortization related to basis adjustments under Code Section 754 created by exchanges of LLC Units, including those associated with secondary offerings. If utilization of these DTAs becomes more-likely-than-not in the future, at such time, we will record liabilities under the TRAs of up to an additional $559.5 million as a result of basis adjustments under Code Section 754 and up to an additional $224.4 million related to the utilization of NOL and credit carryforwards, which will be recorded through charges to our statements of operations. However, if the tax attributes are not utilized in future years, it is reasonably possible no amounts would be paid under the TRAs. In this scenario, the reduction of the liability under the TRAs would result in a benefit to our statements of operations.
See Notes 2 and 15 to our consolidated financial statements for additional information regarding the payable to related parties pursuant to the TRAs.
The TRAs are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. For a description of these risks, see "Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Company and Our Organizational Structure."
Indirect Taxes
We are subject to indirect taxation in some, but not all, of the various states and foreign jurisdictions in which we and our subsidiaries conduct business. Laws and regulations attempting to subject communications and commerce conducted over the Internet to various indirect taxes are becoming more prevalent, both in the U.S. and internationally, and may impose additional burdens on us in the future. Increased regulation could negatively affect our business directly, as well as the businesses of our customers. Taxing authorities may impose indirect taxes on the Internet-related revenue we generate based on regulations currently being applied to similar, but not directly comparable, industries. There are many transactions and calculations where the ultimate indirect tax determination is uncertain. In addition, domestic and international indirect taxation laws, or interpretations thereof, are subject to change. We may be audited in the future, which could result in changes to our indirect tax estimates. We continually evaluate those jurisdictions in which nexus exists, and believe we maintain adequate indirect tax accruals.
As of December 31, 2017, our accrual for estimated indirect tax liabilities was $18.8 million, reflecting our best estimate of the probable liability, based on an analysis of our business activities, revenues subject to indirect taxes and applicable regulations. Although we believe our indirect tax estimates and associated liabilities are reasonable, the final determination of indirect tax audits, litigation or settlements could be materially different than the amounts established for indirect tax contingencies. Due to the complexity and uncertainty surrounding indirect tax laws in certain international locations, we believe it is reasonably possible, based on currently available information and analysis, that we may incur additional losses related to indirect taxes, which management estimates to be within the range of $0 to $10.0 million as of December 31, 2017.
See Note 12 to our consolidated financial statements for additional information regarding indirect taxes.

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DTAs.
Loss Contingencies
We are subject to the possibility of various loss contingencies arising from uncertain and unresolved matters in the ordinary course of business and from events or actions by others having the potential to result in a future loss. Such contingencies may include, but are not limited to, intellectual property claims, putative class actions, commercial and consumer protection claims, labor and employment claims, breach of contract claims, regulatory proceedings, product service level commitments and
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losses resulting from other events and developments. We consider the likelihood of loss, the impairment of an asset or the incurrence of a liability, as well as our ability to reasonably estimate the amount of loss, in determining loss contingencies.
When a loss is considered probable and reasonably estimable, we record a liability in the amount of our best estimate for the ultimate loss. When there appears to be a range of possible costs with equal likelihood, a liability is recorded based on the low-end of such range. However, the likelihood of a loss with respect to a particular contingency is often difficult to predict and determining a meaningful estimate of the loss or a range of loss may not be practicable based on the information available and the potential effect of future events and decisions by third parties impacting the ultimate resolution of the contingency. It is also not uncommon for such matters to be resolved over many years, during which time relevant developments and new information must be continuously evaluated to determine both the likelihood of potential loss and whether it is possible to reasonably estimate a range of possible loss. When a loss is probable but a reasonable estimate cannot be made, disclosure is provided.
Disclosure is also provided when it is reasonably possible a loss will be incurred or when it is reasonably possible the amount of a loss will exceed the recorded amounts.
We regularly review all contingencies to determine whether the likelihood of loss has changed and to assess whether a reasonable estimate of the loss or range of loss can be made. As discussed above, developmentDevelopment of a meaningful estimate of loss, or a range of potential loss, is complex when the outcome is directly dependent on negotiations with, or decisions by, third parties such as regulatory agencies, court systems in various jurisdictions and other interested parties. Such factors bear directly on whether it is possible to reasonably estimate a range of potential loss and boundaries of high and low estimates. Until the final resolution of such matters, there may be an exposure to loss in excess of the amounts recorded, and such amounts could be material. Should any of our estimates and assumptions change or prove to have been incorrect, it could have a material impact on our business, operating results or financial condition.
See Note 1213 to our consolidated financial statements for additional information regarding loss contingencies.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
SeeFor information regarding recent accounting pronouncements, see Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements for information regarding recent accounting pronouncements.statements.

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Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
We are exposed to market risk in the ordinary course of business. Market risk represents the risk of loss that may impact our financial position due to adverse changes in financial market prices and rates. Our market risk exposure is primarily a result of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates and variable interest rates. Consequently, we may employ policies and procedures to mitigate such risks, including the use of derivative financial instruments.instruments, which are discussed in more detail in Note 11 to our financial statements. We do not enter into derivative transactions for speculative or trading purposes.
As a result of the use of derivative instruments, we are exposed to the risk that counterparties to our contracts may fail to meet their contractual obligations. To mitigate such counterparty credit risk, we enter into contracts only with carefully selected financial institutions based upon ongoing evaluations of their creditworthiness. As a result, we do not believe we are exposed to any undue concentration of counterparty risk with respect to our derivative contracts as of December 31, 2017.2023.
Foreign Currency Risk
We manage our exposure to changes in foreign currency exchange rates through the use of foreign exchange forward contracts and cross-currency swap contracts. See Note 11 to our consolidated financial statements for a summary of the notional amounts and fair values of oursuch arrangements. The effect of a hypothetical 10% change in foreign currency exchange rates applicable to our business would not have had a material impact on our cash and cross-currency swap contracts.cash equivalents.
Foreign Exchange Forward Contracts
A portion of our bookings, revenue and operating expenses is denominated in foreign currencies, which are subject to exchange rate fluctuations. Our most significant foreign currency exposures are the Euro, the British pound, the Indian rupee,Euro and the Canadian dollar and the Australian dollar. Our reported bookings, revenues and operating results may be impacted by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates may also cause us to recognize transaction gains and losses in our consolidated statements of operations; however, to date, such amounts havewere not been material. With our acquisition of HEG, and asmaterial during the current period. As our international operations continuebusiness continues to grow, our exposure to fluctuations in currencyexchange rates will increase, which may increase the costs associated with this growth. During 2017,2023, our total bookings growth in constant currency would have been approximately 2040 basis points higher and our total revenue growth would
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have been approximately 3060 basis points higher. Constant currency is calculated by translating bookings and revenue for each month in the current period using the foreign currency exchange raterates for the corresponding month in the prior period, excluding any hedging gains or losses realized during the period. We believe constant currency information is useful in analyzing underlying trends in our business by eliminating the impact of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates and allows for period-to-period comparisons of our performance.
WeFrom time-to-time, we may utilize foreign exchange forward contracts to manage the volatility of our bookings and revenue related to foreign currency transactions. These forward contracts reduce, but do not eliminate, the impact of adverse currency exchange rate fluctuations. We generally designate these forward contracts as cash flow hedges for accounting purposes. Changes in the intrinsic value of thesedesignated hedges are recorded as a component of AOCI.accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) (AOCI). Gains and losses, once realized, are recorded as a component of AOCI and are amortized to revenue over the same period in which the underlying hedged amounts are recognized. At December 31, 2017,2023, the total notional amount of such contracts was $241.3 million, all having remaining maturities of twelve months or less, and the realized gain and unrealized loss included in accumulated other comprehensive income totaledAOCI were $6.3 million.million and $13.2 million, respectively.
Cross-Currency Swap ContractSwaps
In order to manage variability due to movements in foreign currency exchange rates related to a Euro-denominated intercompany loan, we entered into five-year Cross-Currency Swapcross-currency swaps in April 2017. In March 2022, we entered into a transaction to extend the maturity of these swaps to August 31, 2027, as described in Note 11 to our financial statements. The Cross-Currency Swap, which matures on April 3, 2022,cross-currency swaps had aan aggregate amortizing notional amount of €1,234.0€1,159.4 million at December 31, 2017 and converts2023 (approximately $1,279.7 million).
The swaps designated as cash flow hedging relationships convert the fixed rate Euro-denominated interest and principal receipts on the intercompany loan into fixed U.S. dollar interest and principal receipts. The Cross-Currency Swap, which is designated as a cash flow hedge and recognized as an asset or liability at fair value, effectively creates a fixed-rate U.S. dollar intercompany loan from a fixed rate Euro-denominated intercompany loan,receipts, thereby reducing our exposure to foreign currency fluctuations between the Euro and U.S. dollar. Changes to the fair value of our Cross-Currency Swapthe cross-currency swaps due to changes in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to the Euro would be largely offset by the net change in the fair values of the underlying hedged items.
The swaps designated as net investment hedging relationships hedge the foreign currency exposure of our net investment in certain Euro denominated functional currency subsidiaries. At maturity, the Euro notional value will be exchanged for the U.S. dollar notional value.
Interest Rate SensitivityRisk
Interest rate risk reflects our exposure to movements in interest rates associated with our variable-rate debt. See Note 10 to our financial statements for additional information regarding our long-term debt.
Total borrowings under our Credit Facility2027 Term Loans were $2,482.3$723.8 million as of December 31, 2017.2023. These borrowings bear interest at a rate equal to, at our option, either (a) LIBORSecured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) together with a credit spread adjustment for the applicable interest period plus 2.25%a margin of 2.0% per annum or (b) 1.25%a margin of 1.0% per annum plus the highest of (i) the Federal Funds Rate plus 0.5%, (ii) the Prime Rate or (iii) one-month LIBORSOFR for an interest period of one month plus 1.0%.

Total borrowings under our 2029 Term Loans were $1,752.3 million as of December 31, 2023. These borrowings bear interest at a rate equal to, at our option, either (a) SOFR for the applicable interest period plus a margin of 2.5% per annum or (b) a margin of 1.5% per annum plus the highest of (i) the Federal Funds Rate plus 0.5%, (ii) the Prime Rate or (iii) SOFR for an interest period of one month plus 1.0%.
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Table of ContentsIn January 2024, we entered into an amendment to the Credit Facility to refinance the 2029 Term Loans, as discussed in Note 20 to our financial statements.


All SOFR-based interest rates under the Credit Facility are subject to a 0.0% floor.
In April 2017, in connection with the closing of the Acquisition Term Loan, we entered into a five-year pay-fixed rate, receive-floating rate interest rate swap arrangement to effectively convert a portion of the variable-rate borrowings under the 2029 Term Loans to a fixed rate. Prior to this arrangement's contractual maturity date of April 3, 2022, in March 2022, we entered into a transaction to extend the maturity of these swaps to August 31, 2027, as described in Note 11 to our financial statements. In addition, in conjunction with the refinancing of a portion of our debt in November 2022, the hedged debt index of the swaps was changed from LIBOR to fixed. TheSOFR. These interest rate swaps, which had a notional amount of $1,235.9 million as of December 31, 2023, serve to convert a portion of the variable-rate borrowings under the 2029 Term Loans to a fixed rate of 4.81%.
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In August 2020, we entered into seven-year pay-fixed rate, receive-floating rate interest rate swap arrangements to effectively convert a portion of the variable rate borrowings under the 2027 Term Loans to a fixed rate of 0.705%. In May 2023, in conjunction with the concurrent Credit Facility amendment discussed in Note 10, the hedged debt index of the swaps was changed from LIBOR to SOFR. These interest rate swaps, which mature on August 10, 2027, had an aggregate notional amount of which was $1,315.5$723.8 million at December 31, 2017, matures on April 3, 2022 and swaps the variable interest rate on our LIBOR-based borrowings for a fixed rate of 5.44%. 2023.
The objective of theour interest rate swap,swaps, all of which isare designated as a cash flow hedge,hedges, is to manage the variability of cash flows in the interest payments related to the portion of the variable-rate debt designated as being hedged.
For the balance of our long-term debt not subject to the Interest Rate Swap,interest rate swaps, the effect of a hypothetical 10% change in interest rates would not have had a material impact on our interest expense.
.
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Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
Index to Consolidated Financial Statements
Page


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Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of GoDaddy Inc.
Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of GoDaddy Inc. (the Company) as of December 31, 20172023 and 2016, and2022, the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income, (loss), stockholders'/members'stockholders’ equity (deficit) and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2017,2023, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the "financial statements"“consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of the Company at December 31, 20172023 and 2016,2022, and the consolidated results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2017,2023, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company'sCompany’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2017,2023, based on criteria established in Internal Control-IntegratedControl—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework), and our report dated February 27, 201829, 2024 expressed an unqualifiedadverse opinion thereon.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company'sCompany’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matters

The critical audit matters communicated below are matters arising from the current period audit of the financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matters below, providing separate opinions on the critical audit matters or on the accounts or disclosures to which they relate.
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Valuation Allowance – Realizability of Deferred Tax Assets
Description of the MatterAs more fully described in Note 16 to the consolidated financial statements, at December 31, 2023, the Company had deferred tax assets related to deductible temporary differences and carryforwards of $1.03 billion, net of a $378 million valuation allowance. Deferred tax assets are reduced by a valuation allowance if, based on the weight of all available evidence, in management’s judgment it is more likely than not that some portion, or all, of the deferred tax assets will not be realized based on the available sources of income.

Auditing management’s assessment of the realizability of its deferred tax assets involved complex auditor judgment because management’s estimate is highly subjective and based on significant assumptions that may be affected by future market or economic conditions, as well as management’s ability to execute against its forecasted plan.
How We Addressed the Matter in Our AuditOur audit procedures performed, among others, included evaluation of the assumptions used by the Company to develop the projections of future taxable income by tax-paying component and jurisdiction, and testing of the completeness and accuracy of the underlying data used in its projections as the primary source of income, as well as testing the Company’s analysis of the limitation related to tax character (capital vs. ordinary), ordering rules and/or limited carryforward periods of the expiring deferred tax assets, and uncertain tax positions as a source of income, where applicable. For example, we compared the projections of future taxable income with the actual results of prior periods, and we evaluated management’s consideration of current industry and economic trends. We also assessed the historical accuracy of management’s projections and compared the projections of future taxable income with other forecasted financial information prepared by the Company. We evaluated the Company’s disclosures included in Note 16 to the consolidated financial statements.
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Sufficiency of audit evidence over revenue
Description of the MatterAs more fully described in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company derives its revenue primarily from subscription fees for domain registrations, website hosting, website security, and applications and commerce products, which it generally recognizes ratably over the related contractual terms. The revenue stream accounting for the majority of the Company's revenue involves the use of several IT applications responsible for the initiation, processing, and recording of transactions originating from the Company's ecommerce websites based on the calculation of revenue in accordance with the Company's accounting policies. The processing and recognition of revenue are highly automated and involve capturing and processing significant volumes of data.

We identified the evaluation of sufficiency of audit evidence over this revenue as a critical audit matter due to the large volume of data and the number of revenue accounting IT applications. While this revenue consists of a large number of similar, individually low value transactions, the IT applications required a high degree of auditor judgment to evaluate the design of our audit procedures to ensure sufficiency of audit evidence obtained. Subjective auditor judgment was required to evaluate that revenue data was captured and aggregated accurately and completely throughout these various IT applications. Additionally, IT professionals with specialized skills and knowledge were required to evaluate the nature and extent of evidence obtained over this revenue stream.
How We Addressed the Matter in Our Audit
We obtained an understanding, evaluated the design, and tested the operating effectiveness of internal controls over the Company's accounting for this revenue stream, including IT general controls and application controls, controls over data interfaces, and procedures used to initiate, process, and record transactions. For this revenue stream, we involved IT professionals with specialized skills and knowledge, who assisted in determining that the design of controls over the IT applications used by the Company in this revenue recognition process and the transfer of relevant revenue data between certain systems used in the revenue recognition process was appropriate.

Our audit procedures also included, among others, testing the completeness and accuracy of the underlying data within the Company's billing systems, performing data analytics to evaluate the completeness and accuracy of recorded revenue and deferred revenue amounts, testing samples of sales transactions to third-party documentation, and reviewing the Company's cash to billings reconciliations. We also evaluated the Company's disclosures included in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements.

We evaluated the sufficiency of audit evidence obtained by assessing the results of procedures performed.

/s/ Ernst & Young LLP

We have served as the Company'sCompany’s auditor since 2004.

Phoenix, Arizona
February 27, 2018

29, 2024
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84



GoDaddy Inc.
Consolidated Balance Sheets
(In millions, except shares in thousands and per share amounts)





December 31,
 20232022
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents$458.8 $774.0 
Short-term investments40.0 — 
Accounts and other receivables76.6 60.1 
Registry deposits37.3 41.0 
Prepaid domain name registry fees466.0 435.7 
Prepaid expenses and other current assets177.2 271.8 
Total current assets1,255.9 1,582.6 
Property and equipment, net185.3 225.6 
Operating lease assets60.8 84.1 
Prepaid domain name registry fees, net of current portion209.0 197.1 
Goodwill3,569.3 3,536.9 
Intangible assets, net1,158.6 1,252.2 
Deferred tax assets1,020.4 5.4 
Other assets105.6 89.6 
Total assets$7,564.9 $6,973.5 
Liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficit)
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable$148.1 $130.9 
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities442.2 356.7 
Deferred revenue2,074.9 1,954.0 
Long-term debt17.9 18.2 
Total current liabilities2,683.1 2,459.8 
Deferred revenue, net of current portion802.4 770.3 
Long-term debt, net of current portion3,798.5 3,812.9 
Operating lease liabilities, net of current portion90.2 116.5 
Other long-term liabilities90.7 87.1 
Deferred tax liabilities37.8 56.2 
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders' equity (deficit):
Preferred stock, $0.001 par value - 50,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding— — 
Class A common stock, $0.001 par value - 1,000,000 shares authorized; 142,051 and 153,830 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively0.1 0.2 
Class B common stock, $0.001 par value - 500,000 shares authorized; 259 and 312 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively— — 
Additional paid-in capital2,271.6 1,912.6 
Accumulated deficit(2,320.7)(2,422.6)
Accumulated other comprehensive income111.2 178.0 
Total stockholders' equity (deficit) attributable to GoDaddy Inc.62.2 (331.8)
Non-controlling interests— 2.5 
Total stockholders' equity (deficit)62.2 (329.3)
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficit)$7,564.9 $6,973.5 
 December 31,
 2017 2016
Assets   
Current assets:   
Cash and cash equivalents$582.7
 $566.1
Short-term investments12.3
 6.6
Accounts and other receivables18.4
 8.0
Registry deposits34.7
 20.6
Prepaid domain name registry fees351.5
 307.0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets59.9
 24.5
Total current assets1,059.5
 932.8
Property and equipment, net297.9
 231.0
Prepaid domain name registry fees, net of current portion180.8
 172.1
Goodwill2,859.9
 1,718.4
Intangible assets, net1,326.0
 716.5
Other assets14.2
 16.1
Total assets$5,738.3
 $3,786.9
Liabilities and stockholders' equity   
Current liabilities:   
Accounts payable$59.6
 $61.7
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities469.6
 143.0
Payable to related parties for tax distributions
 10.0
Deferred revenue1,264.8
 1,043.5
Long-term debt16.7
 4.0
Total current liabilities1,810.7
 1,262.2
Deferred revenue, net of current portion596.8
 532.7
Long-term debt, net of current portion2,410.8
 1,035.7
Payable to related parties pursuant to tax receivable agreements153.0
 202.6
Other long-term liabilities75.0
 39.5
Deferred tax liabilities145.5
 
Commitments and contingencies
 
Stockholders' equity:   
Preferred stock, $0.001 par value - 50,000 shares authorized; none issued and outstanding
 
Class A common stock, $0.001 par value - 1,000,000 shares authorized; 132,993 and 88,558 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively0.1
 0.1
Class B common stock, $0.001 par value - 500,000 shares authorized; 35,006 and 78,554 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively
 0.1
Additional paid-in capital484.4
 608.3
Retained earnings (accumulated deficit)87.7
 (48.7)
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)(85.7) 2.7
Total stockholders' equity attributable to GoDaddy Inc.486.5
 562.5
Non-controlling interests60.0
 151.7
Total stockholders' equity546.5
 714.2
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity$5,738.3
 $3,786.9


See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.

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80

GoDaddy Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Operations
(In millions, except shares in thousands and per share amounts)

 Year Ended December 31,
 202320222021
Revenue:
Applications & commerce$1,430.4 $1,279.7 $1,128.3 
Core platform2,823.7 2,811.6 2,687.4 
Total revenue4,254.1 4,091.3 3,815.7 
Costs and operating expenses(1):
Cost of revenue (excluding depreciation and amortization)1,573.6 1,484.5 1,372.2 
Technology and development839.6 794.0 706.3 
Marketing and advertising352.9 412.3 503.9 
Customer care304.5 305.9 306.1 
General and administrative374.0 385.5 345.8 
Restructuring and other90.8 15.7 (0.3)
Depreciation and amortization171.3 194.6 199.6 
Total costs and operating expenses3,706.7 3,592.5 3,433.6 
Operating income547.4 498.8 382.1 
Interest expense(179.0)(146.3)(126.0)
Loss on debt extinguishment(1.5)(3.6)— 
Other income (expense), net36.9 7.6 (2.5)
Income before income taxes403.8 356.5 253.6 
Benefit (provision) for income taxes971.8 (3.6)(10.8)
Net income1,375.6 352.9 242.8 
Less: net income attributable to non-controlling interests0.8 0.7 0.5 
Net income attributable to GoDaddy Inc.$1,374.8 $352.2 $242.3 
Net income attributable to GoDaddy Inc. per share of Class A common stock:
Basic$9.27 $2.22 $1.44 
Diluted$9.08 $2.19 $1.42 
Weighted-average shares of Class A common stock outstanding:
Basic148,296 158,788 167,906 
Diluted151,452 161,457 171,105 
___________________________
(1) Costs and operating expenses include equity-based compensation expense as follows:
Cost of revenue$1.3 $1.5 $0.9 
Technology and development162.4 140.3 110.0 
Marketing and advertising27.9 29.1 24.8 
Customer care24.1 20.0 14.1 
General and administrative78.3 73.5 58.1 
Restructuring and other2.3 — — 
Total equity-based compensation expense$296.3 $264.4 $207.9 
 Year Ended December 31,
 2017 2016 2015
Revenue:     
Domains$1,057.2
 $927.8
 $840.8
Hosting and presence847.9
 678.7
 592.0
Business applications326.8
 241.4
 174.5
Total revenue2,231.9
 1,847.9
 1,607.3
Costs and operating expenses(1):
     
Cost of revenue (excluding depreciation and amortization)775.5
 657.8
 565.9
Technology and development355.8
 287.8
 270.2
Marketing and advertising253.2
 228.8
 202.2
Customer care292.3
 242.1
 221.5
General and administrative282.4
 221.2
 219.7
Depreciation and amortization205.8
 160.1
 158.8
Total costs and operating expenses2,165.0
 1,797.8
 1,638.3
Operating income (loss)66.9

50.1
 (31.0)
Interest expense(83.0) (57.2) (69.2)
Loss on debt extinguishment(7.3) 
 (21.4)
Tax receivable agreements liability adjustment123.2
 (12.5) 
Other income (expense), net7.0
 (1.9) 1.0
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes106.8

(21.5)
(120.6)
Benefit (provision) for income taxes18.9
 (0.4) 0.2
Income (loss) from continuing operations125.7
 (21.9) (120.4)
Income from discontinued operations, net of income taxes (includes $33.2 gain on disposal, net of tax)14.1
 
 
Net income (loss)139.8
 (21.9) (120.4)
Less: net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests3.4
 (5.4) (44.8)
Net income (loss) attributable to GoDaddy Inc.$136.4
 $(16.5) $(75.6)
Net income (loss) attributable to GoDaddy Inc. per share of Class A common stock—basic(2):
     
Continuing operations$1.17
 $(0.21) $(0.81)
Discontinued operations0.08
 
 
Net income (loss) attributable to GoDaddy Inc.$1.25
 $(0.21) $(0.81)
Net income (loss) attributable to GoDaddy Inc. per share of Class A common stock—diluted(2):
     
Continuing operations$0.71
 $(0.21) $(0.81)
Discontinued operations0.08
 
 
Net income (loss) attributable to GoDaddy Inc.$0.79
 $(0.21) $(0.81)
Weighted-average shares of Class A common stock outstanding(2):
     
Basic108,779
 79,835
 58,676
Diluted177,054
 79,835
 58,676
___________________________     
(1) Costs and operating expenses include equity-based compensation expense as follows:
    
Technology and development$37.1
 $23.2
 $18.2
Marketing and advertising7.3
 8.1
 6.1
Customer care3.6
 3.9
 2.9
General and administrative28.4
 21.6
 13.2

(2) Amounts for periods prior to our April 1, 2015 initial public offering have been retrospectively adjusted to give effect to the organizational transactions described in Note 1. The prior period amounts do not consider the 26,000 shares of Class A common stock sold in our initial public offering. See Note 16.


See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.

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81



GoDaddy Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss)
(In millions)



 Year Ended December 31,
 2017 2016 2015
Net income (loss)139.8
 (21.9) (120.4)
Foreign exchange forward contracts gain (loss)(9.3) (0.4) 3.4
Unrealized swap gain (loss), net(39.2) 
 
Change in foreign currency translation adjustment(86.5) (0.1) 
Comprehensive income (loss)4.8

(22.4)
(117.0)
Less: comprehensive income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests(43.2) 
 
Comprehensive income (loss) attributable to GoDaddy Inc.$48.0

$(22.4)
$(117.0)
Year Ended December 31,
202320222021
Net income$1,375.6 $352.9 $242.8 
Foreign exchange forward contracts gain (loss), net(1)
(24.3)24.3 16.3 
Unrealized swap gain (loss), net(1)
(34.1)214.9 30.7 
Change in foreign currency translation adjustment(1)
(8.6)(22.1)45.9 
Comprehensive income1,308.6 570.0 335.7 
Less: comprehensive income attributable to non-controlling interests1.0 1.1 — 
Comprehensive income attributable to GoDaddy Inc.$1,307.6 $568.9 $335.7 
(1) Amounts are net of the income tax effects reflected below:
Foreign exchange forward contracts gain (loss), net$(5.5)$— $— 
Unrealized swap gain (loss), net$(25.0)$(2.6)$2.2 
See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.



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GoDaddy Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders'/Members' Equity (Deficit)
(In millions, except shares in thousands)

Class A Common StockClass B Common StockAdditional
Paid-in
Capital
Retained Earnings (Accumulated
Deficit)
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)Non-
Controlling
Interests
Total
SharesAmountSharesAmount
Balance at December 31, 2020169,157 0.2 688 — 1,308.8 (1,190.9)(131.0)1.1 (11.8)
Net income— — — — — 242.3 — 0.5 242.8 
Equity-based compensation, including amounts capitalized— — — — 211.9 — — — 211.9 
Repurchases of Class A common stock(6,925)— — — — (526.0)— — (526.0)
Stock option exercises1,167 — — — 43.4 — — (0.7)42.7 
Issuances of Class A common stock under employee stock purchase plan489 — — — 30.7 — — — 30.7 
Impact of derivatives, net— — — — — — 47.0 — 47.0 
Change in foreign currency translation adjustment— — — — — — 45.9 — 45.9 
Vesting of restricted stock units and other3,013 — (368)— (0.1)— (0.5)0.6 — 
Balance at December 31, 2021166,901 0.2 320 — 1,594.7 (1,474.6)(38.6)1.5 83.2 
Net income— — — — — 352.2 — 0.7 352.9 
Equity-based compensation, including amounts capitalized— — — — 267.8 — — — 267.8 
Repurchases of Class A common stock(16,844)— — — (1,300.3)— — (1,300.3)
Stock option exercises536 — — — 20.0 — — (0.1)19.9 
Issuances of Class A common stock under employee stock purchase plan495 — — — 30.1 — — — 30.1 
Impact of derivatives, net— — — — — — 239.2 — 239.2 
Change in foreign currency translation adjustment— — — — — — (22.1)— (22.1)
Vesting of restricted stock units and other2,742 (8)— — 0.1 (0.5)0.4 — 
Balance at December 31, 2022153,830 0.2 312 — 1,912.6 (2,422.6)178.0 2.5 (329.3)
88
 
Members'
Equity
 Class A Common Stock Class B Common Stock 
Additional
Paid-in
Capital
 
Retained Earnings (Accumulated
Deficit)
 Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) 
Non-
Controlling
Interests
 
Total Stockholders'
Equity
  Shares Amount Shares Amount     
Balance at December 31, 2014$410.4
 
 $
 
 $
 $
 $
 $
 $
 $
Net loss(43.4) 
 
 
 
 
 (32.2) 
 (44.8) (77.0)
Equity-based compensation expense8.7
 
 
 
 
 31.7
 
 
 
 31.7
Effect of the pre-IPO organizational transactions(375.9) 38,826
 0.1
 90,425
 0.1
 61.6
 
 
 314.1
 375.9
Issuance of Class A common stock in initial public offering, net of offering costs
 26,000
 
 
 
 480.6
 
 
 
 480.6
Liability pursuant to the tax receivable agreements resulting from the pre-IPO organizational transactions
 
 
 
 
 (151.6) 
 
 
 (151.6)
Stock option exercises and other0.2
 1,582
 
 (27) 
 20.8
 
 3.2
 (14.1) 9.9
Issuance of Class A common stock under employee stock purchase plan
 675
 
 
 
 11.5
 
 
 
 11.5
Balance at December 31, 2015
 67,083
 0.1
 90,398
 0.1
 454.6
 (32.2) 3.2
 255.2
 681.0
Net loss
 
 
 
 
 
 (16.5) 
 (5.4) (21.9)
Equity-based compensation expense
 
 
 
 
 56.8
 
 
 
 56.8
Stock option exercises
 9,187
 
 
 
 114.8
 
 
 (59.8) 55.0
Effect of exchanges of LLC Units
 11,844
 
 (11,844) 
 15.3
 
 
 (15.3) 
Liability pursuant to the tax receivable agreements resulting from exchanges of LLC Units
 
 
 
 
 (38.5) 
 
 
 (38.5)
Distributions to holders of LLC Units
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (23.0) (23.0)
Issuance of Class A common stock under employee stock purchase plan
 202
 
 
 
 5.0
 
 
 
 5.0
Other
 242
 
 
 
 0.3
 
 (0.5) 
 (0.2)
Balance at December 31, 2016
 88,558
 0.1
 78,554
 0.1
 608.3
 (48.7) 2.7
 151.7
 714.2

83



GoDaddy Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders'/Members' Equity (Deficit) (continued)
(In millions, except shares in thousands)

Class A Common StockClass B Common StockAdditional
Paid-in
Capital
Retained Earnings (Accumulated
Deficit)
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)Non-
Controlling
Interests
Total
SharesAmountSharesAmount
Net income— — — — — 1,374.8 — 0.8 1,375.6 
Equity-based compensation, including amounts capitalized— — — — 298.4 — — — 298.4 
Repurchases of Class A common stock(1)
(17,356)— — — — (1,272.9)— — (1,272.9)
Stock option exercises557 — — — 19.8 — — (0.2)19.6 
Issuances of Class A common stock under employee stock purchase plan492 — — — 30.0 — — — 30.0 
Impact of derivatives, net— — — — — — (58.4)— (58.4)
Change in foreign currency translation adjustment— — — — — — (8.6)— (8.6)
Impact of DNC Restructure270 — — — 9.3 — — (2.5)6.8 
Vesting of restricted stock units and other4,258 (0.1)(53)— 1.5 — 0.2 (0.6)1.0 
Balance at December 31, 2023142,051 $0.1 259 $— $2,271.6 $(2,320.7)$111.2 $— $62.2 

 
Members'
Equity
 Class A Common Stock Class B Common Stock 
Additional
Paid-in
Capital
 
Retained Earnings (Accumulated
Deficit)
 Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) 
Non-
Controlling
Interests
 
Total Stockholders'
Equity
  Shares Amount Shares Amount     
Net income
 
 
 
 
 
 136.4
 
 3.4
 139.8
Equity-based compensation expense
 
 
 
 
 76.4
 
 
 
 76.4
Sales of Class A common stock
 721
 
 
 
 21.3
 
 
 
 21.3
Stock option exercises
 6,000
 
 
 
 80.9
 
 
 (19.8) 61.1
Issuance of Class A common stock under employee stock purchase plan
 572
 
 
 
 17.4
 
 
 
 17.4
Repurchases of LLC Units
 
 
 (7,345) 
 (275.0) 
 
 
 (275.0)
Effect of exchanges of LLC Units
 36,203
 
 (36,203) (0.1) 28.7
 
 
 (28.7) (0.1)
Liability pursuant to the tax receivable agreements resulting from exchanges of LLC Units
 
 
 
 
 (73.6) 
 
 
 (73.6)
Gain (loss) on swaps and foreign currency hedging, net
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (48.5) 
 (48.5)
Change in foreign currency translation adjustment
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (86.5) 
 (86.5)
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests
 
 
 
 
 
 
 46.6
 (46.6) 
Vesting of restricted stock units
 939
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Balance at December 31, 2017$
 132,993
 $0.1
 35,006
 $

$484.4

$87.7

$(85.7)
$60.0

$546.5
(1) Includes a 1% excise tax on shares repurchased, net of the fair market value of new share issuances, of $8.5 million
See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.



84
89

GoDaddy Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(In millions)

 Year Ended December 31,
 202320222021
Operating activities
Net income$1,375.6 $352.9 $242.8 
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization171.3 194.6 199.6 
Equity-based compensation296.3 264.4 207.9 
Loss (gain) on derivative instruments(12.0)27.6 6.3 
Non-cash restructuring and other charges6.1 10.4 15.1 
Deferred taxes(993.2)(18.4)(16.1)
Loss on dispositions16.5 — — 
Other56.5 66.8 30.7 
Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of amounts acquired:
Prepaid domain name registry fees(41.9)(34.7)(37.8)
Accounts payable28.3 35.1 34.2 
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities56.2 11.3 40.9 
Deferred revenue149.2 101.6 190.7 
Other operating assets and liabilities(61.3)(31.9)(85.0)
Net cash provided by operating activities1,047.6 979.7 829.3 
Investing activities
Purchases of short-term investments(40.0)— — 
Business acquisitions, net of cash acquired— (72.5)(367.7)
Purchases of intangible assets(35.4)(0.4)(202.1)
Net proceeds received from dispositions12.7 — — 
Purchases of property and equipment(42.0)(59.7)(51.1)
Purchases of equity investments(0.5)— (40.0)
Other investing activities, net2.8 0.6 25.3 
Net cash used in investing activities(102.4)(132.0)(635.6)
Financing activities
Proceeds received from:
Issuance of term loans1,759.9 1,725.3 — 
Issuance of Senior Notes— — 800.0 
Stock option exercises19.6 19.9 42.7 
Issuance of Class A common stock under employee stock purchase plan30.0 30.1 30.7 
Payments made for:
Repurchases of Class A common stock(1,270.2)(1,294.6)(526.0)
Repayment of term loans(1,786.3)(1,789.9)(32.4)
Financing-related costs— (4.2)(9.6)
Contingent consideration for business acquisitions(7.5)(9.3)(4.7)
Other financing obligations(7.2)(4.0)(2.6)
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities(1,261.7)(1,326.7)298.1 
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents1.3 (2.7)(1.3)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents(315.2)(481.7)490.5 
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period774.0 1,255.7 765.2 
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period$458.8 $774.0 $1,255.7 
90
 Year Ended December 31,
 2017 2016 2015
Operating activities     
Net income (loss)$139.8
 $(21.9) $(120.4)
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities:     
Depreciation and amortization205.8
 160.1
 158.8
Equity-based compensation76.4
 56.8
 40.4
Loss on debt extinguishment7.3
 
 21.4
Deferred taxes(34.5) (3.8) (3.0)
Tax receivable agreements liability adjustment(123.2) 12.5
 
Domain portfolio cost of revenue4.4
 10.7
 3.7
Gain on sale of PlusServer(33.2) 
 
Other8.9
 9.8
 8.0
Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of amounts acquired:     
Registry deposits(10.1) (1.9) (0.9)
Prepaid domain name registry fees(13.5) (22.8) (30.7)
Accounts payable(8.4) 19.6
 13.5
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities32.6
 10.0
 9.5
Deferred revenue220.0
 160.8
 165.6
Other operating assets and liabilities3.3
 (3.4) (6.7)
Net cash provided by operating activities475.6
 386.5
 259.2
Investing activities     
Purchases of short-term investments(28.3) (10.5) (7.3)
Maturities of short-term investments22.6
 8.4
 5.8
Business acquisitions, net of cash acquired(1,876.9) (118.5) (64.7)
Purchases of intangible assets(52.0) (1.3) (23.5)
Proceeds received from sale of PlusServer447.7
 
 
Purchases of property and equipment(83.2) (61.5) (55.8)
Other investing activities, net
 
 1.1
Net cash used in investing activities(1,570.1) (183.4) (144.4)
Financing activities     
Proceeds received from:     
Acquisition Term Loan1,421.4
 
 
Bridge Loan531.7
 
 
Sales of Class A common stock, net of expenses22.9
 
 482.4
Option and warrant exercises61.1
 55.0
 12.7
Issuance of Class A common stock under employee stock purchase plan17.4
 5.0
 11.5
Payments made for:     
Repurchases of LLC Units and distributions to holders of LLC Units(285.0) (18.8) (0.8)
Repayment of Bridge Loan(596.6) 
 
Repayment of term loans(15.3) (11.0) (11.0)
Repayment of senior note
 
 (300.0)
Repayment of revolving credit loan
 
 (75.0)
Financing-related costs(39.7) 
 (13.5)
Capital leases and other financing obligations(10.4) (15.1) (11.9)
Net cash provided by financing activities1,107.5
 15.1
 94.4
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents3.6
 (0.1) (0.2)
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents16.6
 218.1
 209.0
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period566.1
 348.0
 139.0
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period$582.7
 $566.1
 $348.0
      

85

GoDaddy Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (continued)
(In millions)

 Year Ended December 31,
 202320222021
Cash paid during the period for:
Interest on long-term debt, including impact of interest rate swaps$169.8 $127.3 $104.2 
Income taxes, net of refunds received$10.6 $11.2 $19.1 
Amounts included in the measurement of operating lease liabilities$44.4 $50.0 $54.4 
Supplemental disclosure of non-cash transactions
Operating lease assets obtained in exchange for operating lease obligations$8.3 $14.9 $14.8 
Acquisition date fair value of contingent consideration$— $— $18.5 
Accrued purchases of property and equipment at period end$1.9 $12.4 $1.2 
Share repurchases not yet settled$— $5.8 $— 
 Year Ended December 31,
 2017 2016 2015
Supplemental cash flow information:     
Cash paid during the period for:     
Interest on long-term debt, net of swap benefit$88.3
 $46.5
 $59.1
Income taxes, net of refunds received$16.6
 $4.0
 $2.3
Supplemental information for non-cash investing and financing activities:     
Acquisition date fair value of contingent consideration$11.6
 $5.6
 $0.9
Accrued capital expenditures at period end$7.4
 $13.1
 $5.0
Property and equipment acquired under capital leases$6.3
 $7.1
 $11.1


See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.

91
86




GoDaddy Inc.
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
(In millions, except shares in thousands and per share amounts)



92

1.    Organization and Background
Description of Business
We are a leading technology provider to small businesses, web design professionals and individuals, deliveringdeliver simple, easy-to-use cloud-based products, and outcome-driven, personalized customer care. We operate the world's largest domain marketplaceguidance and provide website building, hostingease and security toolsaccess to help customers easily construct and protect their online presence and tackle the rapidly-changing technology landscape. Aspayment systems. Our products enable our customers grow, we provide applications helping themto establish a digital presence, connect towith their customers and manage and grow their businesses and get found online.presence.
Organization
Following the completion of our initial public offering (IPO) and other related organizational transactions in 2015, we becameWe are the sole managing member of Desert Newco, LLC and its subsidiaries (Desert Newco). As, and as a result, we consolidate its financial results and report non-controlling interests representing the economic interests held by its other members. Non-controllingThe calculation of non-controlling interests excludeexcludes any net income (loss) attributable directly to GoDaddy Inc. We owned approximately 79% of Desert Newco's outstanding limited liability company units (LLC Units) asAs of December 31, 2017.
The pre-IPO organizational transactions were considered transactions between entities under common control. As a result, the financial statements for periods prior to the IPO have been adjusted to combine the previously separate entities for presentation purposes. See Note 6.2023, we owned 100.0% of Desert Newco.
On December 16, 2011, investment funds managed by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (KKR), Silver Lake Partners (Silver Lake)11, 2023, we completed a series of transactions (the DNC Restructure) designed to simplify our capital structure, commonly referred to as an "Up-C" structure, and Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV, and collectivelyprovide us with KKR and Silver Lake, the Sponsors) along with

87



other investors purchased a controlling interestadditional strategic flexibility which resulted in Desert Newco from YAM Special Holdings,becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of GoDaddy Inc. (YAM), an entity ownedPursuant to the DNC Restructure, 271 Limited Liability Company Units (LLC Units) of Desert Newco not held by Robert R. Parsons (Bob Parsons), Desert Newco's founderus or our subsidiaries were cancelled and a memberconverted into 271 newly issued shares of our boardClass A common stock. Each LLC Unit formerly held by such other unitholders was paired with one share of directors.our Class B common stock, which shares of Class B common stock remained outstanding immediately following the DNC Restructure. To the extent the shares of Class B common stock remain outstanding, the holders are entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters submitted to a vote of our stockholders, but such shares have no economic rights and are non-transferrable. As of December 31, 2023, 259 Class B shares were outstanding.

Basis of Presentation
Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (GAAP), and include our accounts and the accounts of our subsidiaries. All material intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.eliminated.
Prior Period Reclassifications
Reclassifications of certain immaterial prior period amounts have been made to conform to the current period presentation.
Use of Estimates
GAAP requires us to make estimates and assumptions affecting amounts reported in our financial statements. Our more significant estimates include:
the determinationrelative stand-alone selling price (SSP) of the best estimate of selling price of the deliverablesindicated performance obligations included in multiple-deliverable revenue arrangements;arrangements with multiple performance obligations;
the estimated reserve for refunds;
the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed in business acquisitions;
the assessment of recoverability of our goodwill, intangible assets and long-lived assets, including property and equipment, goodwill and intangible assets;
the estimated reserve for refunds;
the estimated useful lives of intangible and depreciable assets;
the grant date fair value of equity-based awards;
the fair value of financial instruments;
the recognition, measurement and valuation of current and deferred income taxes; and
the recognition and measurement of amounts payable under tax receivable agreements (TRAs) or as tax distributions to Desert Newco's owners; and
the recognition and measurement of loss contingencies, indirect tax liabilities and certain accrued liabilities.
We periodically evaluate theseour estimates and adjust prospectively, if necessary. We believe our estimates and assumptions are reasonable; however, actual results may differ fromdiffer.
93

Segments
We report our estimates.operating results through two reportable segments: Applications and Commerce (A&C) and Core Platform (Core), as further discussed in Note 18.
Segment and Reporting Unit
As of December 31, 2017, our chief operating decision maker function was comprised of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer who collectively review financial information presented on a consolidated basis for purposes of allocating resources and evaluating financial performance for the entire company. Accordingly, we have a single operating segment and reporting unit.
2.    Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Cash and Cash Equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents includes cash on hand, other highly liquid investments purchased with a remaining maturity of 90 days or less at the date of acquisition and receivables related to third-party payment processor transactions normally received within 72 hours. Amounts receivable for payment processor transactions totaled $26.9$41.2 million and $15.5$30.4 million at December 31, 20172023 and 2016,2022, respectively.

88



Short-Term Investments
Our short-term investments consist of certificates of deposit, time deposits and commercial paperinstruments with a remaining maturity in excess of 90 days at the date of acquisition, which are carried at fair value. The estimated fair value of our short-term investments is determined based on quoted market prices and approximated historical cost. We did not have any material realized or unrealized gains or losses on sales of short-term investments during any of the periods presented.

We classify our short-term investments as available-for-sale at the time of purchase and reevaluate such classification at each balance sheet date. We may sell our short-term investments at any time for use in current operations or for other purposes, such as consideration for acquisitions, even if they have not yet reached maturity. As a result, we classify our short-term investments, including investments with maturities beyond 12 months, as current assets.

Registry Deposits
Registry deposits represent amounts on deposit with, or receivable from, various domain name registries to be used by us to make payments for future domain registrations or renewals.
Prepaid Domain Name Registry Fees
Prepaid domain name registry fees represent amounts charged by a registry at the time a domain is registered or renewed. These amounts are amortized to cost of revenue over the same period revenue is recognized for the related domain registration contracts.
Property and Equipment
Property and equipment is stated at cost. Depreciation including for assets acquired under capital leases, is recorded over the shorter of the estimated useful life or the lease termlives of the applicable assets using the straight-line method beginning on the date an asset is placed in service. We regularly evaluate the estimated remaining useful lives of our property and equipment to determine whether events or changes in circumstances warrant a revision to the remaining period of depreciation. Maintenance and repairs are charged to expense as incurred.
94

Property and equipment consisted of the following:
  
Estimated
Useful Lives
 December 31,
  2017 2016
Computer equipment 3 years $355.0
 $283.3
Software 3 years 33.9
 27.3
Land Indefinite 9.0
 9.0
Buildings, including improvements 5-40 years 147.4
 123.1
Building acquired under lease financing obligation 40 years 18.1
 18.1
Leasehold improvements Lesser of useful life or remaining lease term 60.6
 36.1
Other 1-20 years 22.0
 12.1
Total property and equipment   646.0
 509.0
Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization   (348.1) (278.0)
Property and equipment, net   $297.9
 $231.0
The gross carrying amount of property and equipment includes $31.5 million and $34.8 million of computer equipment and software under capital leases as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The accumulated depreciation of the leased assets was $22.4 million and $23.8 million as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.
Estimated
Useful Lives
December 31,
20232022
Computer equipment3 years$438.6 $486.1 
Software3-5 years98.8 87.6 
LandIndefinite4.8 5.9 
Buildings, including improvements5-40 years115.0 126.3 
Leasehold improvementsLesser of useful life or remaining lease term76.7 78.8 
Other1-20 years16.3 18.0 
Total property and equipment750.2 802.7 
Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization(564.9)(577.1)
Property and equipment, net$185.3 $225.6 
Depreciation and amortization expense related to property and equipment including amountswas $61.3 million, $61.2 million and $68.4 million during 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
Property and equipment, net by geography was as follows:
December 31,
20232022
U.S.$146.9 $167.5 
France19.8 28.8 
All other international18.6 29.3 
$185.3 $225.6 
No other international country represented more than 10% of property and equipment, net in any period presented.
Capitalized Software Costs
We capitalize and amortize certain implementation costs related to assets under capital leases, was $88.8 million, $69.9 million and $61.3 million during 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

89



Capitalized Internal-Use Software Costs
Costscloud computing arrangements as well as costs incurred to develop software for internal-use during the application development phase and for our websites are capitalized and amortized over such software's estimated useful life.phase. Costs related to the design or maintenance of internal-use software are included in technology and development expenses as incurred. CostsWe capitalized $17.9 million and $17.7 million of such costs during all periods presented have not been material.2023 and 2022, respectively.
Goodwill and Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets
Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price over the estimated fair value of net tangible and identifiable intangible assets acquired in business combinations.acquisitions. Indefinite-lived intangible assets consist of the GoDaddy trade names and branding, acquired from YAMour domain portfolio and our acquired domain portfolio.certain contractual-based assets. Goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets are not amortized to earnings, but are assessed for impairment at least annually. As individual domains are sold, our indefinite-lived domain portfolio intangible asset is reduced by the allocated carrying cost of each domain, which is included in cost of revenue.
We assess impairment annually for our single reporting unit and our indefinite-lived trade names and branding during the fourth quarter of each year. We also perform an assessment at other times if events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value of the assets may not be recoverable. If, based on qualitative analysis, we determine itGoodwill is more-likely-than-not the fair value of our reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, a quantitative impairment test is performed. Our qualitative analysis did not indicate impairment during any of the periods presented.
Our indefinite-lived domain portfolio is reviewedassessed for impairment annually during the fourth quarter of each year. We also perform an assessment at other times if events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value may not be recoverable. If, based on qualitative analysis, we determine it is more-likely-than-not the fair value of either of our reporting units is less than its carrying amount, a quantitative impairment test is performed. Our qualitative analysis did not indicate impairment of our goodwill during any of the assetperiods presented.
Our indefinite-lived trade names and branding, domain portfolio and contractual-based assets are reviewed for impairment annually during the fourth quarter of each year. We also perform assessments at other times if events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying amounts of these assets may not be fully recoverable. Any identified impairment loss islosses are treated as a permanent reductionreductions in the carrying amountamounts of the asset. Weassets. Our qualitative analysis did not record anindicate impairment lossof our indefinite-lived assets during any of the periods presented.
95

Long-Lived and Finite-Lived Intangible Assets
Finite-lived intangible assets are amortized over the following estimated useful lives:
Customer relationships3-92-9 years
Developed technology5-72-7 years
Trade names and other3-101-10 years
Customer relationshipsOur finite-lived intangible assets are primarily amortized based on expected customer attrition. Developed technology and finite-lived trade names are amortized on a straight-line basis. We regularlyannually evaluate the estimated remaining useful lives of our intangible assets to determine whether events or changes in circumstances warrant a revision to the remaining period of amortization.
Long-lived and finite-lived intangible assets are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying amount of an asset may not be fully recoverable. An impairment loss is recognized if the sum of the expected long-term undiscounted cash flows the asset is expected to generate is less than its carrying amount. Any write-downs are treated as permanent reductions in the carrying amount of the respective asset. WeOur analysis did not record anindicate impairment loss during any of the periods presented.
Debt Issuance Costs
We defer and amortizecapitalize issuance costs, underwriting fees and related expenses incurred in connection with the issuance of debt instruments and amortize such costs using the effective interest method over the terms of the respective instruments. Debt issuance costs, other than those associated with our revolving credit loan,facility, are reflected as a direct reduction of the carrying amount of the related debt liability. Debt issuance costs related to our revolving credit loanfacility are reflected as an asset.
Derivative Financial Instruments
We are exposed to changes in foreign currency exchange rates, primarily relating to intercompany debt, the net assets of our foreign operations and sales transactions denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, as well as to changes in interest rates associated withas a result of our variable-rate debt. Consequently, we use derivative financial instruments to manage and mitigate such risks. We do not enter into derivative transactions for speculative or trading purposes.

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Our derivative financial instruments include foreign exchange forward contracts with financial institutions to hedge certain forecasted sales transactions denominated in currencies other than the United States (U.S.) dollar. In addition, we have entered into an interest rate swap on a portion of our long-term debt and a cross-currency swap on our intercompany debt to manage the variability of cash flows due to movements in interest rates and foreign currency exchange rates. We have designated each of these instruments as a cash flow hedge.
We expect that each derivative instrument qualifying for hedge accounting will be highly effective at reducing the risk associated with the exposure being hedged. For each derivative instrument designated as a hedge, we formally document, at inception, the related risk management strategy and objective, including identification of the hedging instrument, the hedged item and the risk of exposure, as well as how hedge effectiveness will be assessed prospectivelyexposure. In addition, we formally assess, both at the inception and retrospectively overat least quarterly thereafter, whether the instrument's term. To assess effectiveness of our swapfinancial instruments we use regression analysis performed utilizingused in the Hypothetical Derivative Method to comparehedging transactions are effective at offsetting changes in either the change in fair valuevalues or cash flows of the derivative instrument designated as the hedging instrument to the change in the fair value of a similarly modeled hypothetical derivative using the same discount rate. Following our initial quantitative assessment, we may perform subsequent assessments on a qualitative basis unless facts and circumstances change such that we can no longer qualitatively assert that our hedges are highly effective.
We reflect unrealized gains or losses on our cash flow hedges as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) (AOCI). Gains and losses, once realized, are recorded as a component of AOCI and are amortized to earnings over the same period in which therelating underlying hedged amounts are recognized. At inception, and each reporting period, we evaluate the effectiveness of each of our hedges, and all hedges were determined to be effective.exposures.
Our derivative instruments are recorded at fair value on a gross basis. For cash flow reporting purposes, proceeds received or amounts paid upon the settlement of a derivative instrument are classified in the same manner as the related item being hedged.
Cash Flow Hedges
We utilize a variety of derivative instruments designated as cash flow hedges:
foreign exchange forward contracts to hedge certain forecasted sales transactions denominated in foreign currencies;
cross-currency swaps used to manage variability due to movements in foreign currency exchange rates related to a Euro-denominated intercompany loan; and
pay-fixed rate, receive-floating rate interest rate swaps to effectively convert portions of our variable-rate debt to fixed.
We reflect unrealized gains or losses on our cash flow hedges as components of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) (AOCI). Gains and losses on these instruments are recorded as a component of AOCI until the underlying transaction is recorded in earnings. When the hedged primarily item is realized, gains or losses are reclassified from AOCI to earnings
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within cash flows from operating activities.the same line items as the underlying transactions. At inception, and each reporting period, we evaluate the effectiveness of each of our hedges, and all hedges were determined to be effective.
Net Investment Hedges
We use cross-currency swaps to reduce the risk associated with exchange rate fluctuations on our net investments in certain foreign operations. Changes in the fair value of these derivative instruments are recorded in equity as a component of AOCI in the same manner as foreign currency translation adjustments (CTA). We elected to use the spot method to assess effectiveness of these derivatives. Under this method, changes in fair value of the hedging instruments attributed to changes in spot rates are initially recorded in the CTA component of AOCI and will remain there until the hedged net investments are sold or substantially liquidated. Changes in fair value of the hedging instruments other than those due to changes in the spot rate are initially recorded in the CTA component of AOCI and are amortized to interest expense using a systematic and rational method over the instruments' term.
See Note 11 for further discussion of our derivative instruments.
Leases
We lease office and data center space in various locations. Rent expense underWe determine whether a contract contains a lease at contract inception. We have lease agreements with lease and non-lease components and have elected to account for such components as a single lease component. This election is made by class of underlying asset and was elected for our leases of office space, data center space and server equipment.
We initially recognize and measure contracts containing a lease and determine lease classification at commencement. Right-of-use (ROU) assets and operating leaseslease liabilities are measured based on the estimated present value of lease payments over the lease term. In determining the present value of lease payments, we use our estimated incremental borrowing rate when the rate implicit in the lease cannot be readily determined. The estimated incremental borrowing rate is based upon information available at lease commencement including publicly available data for debt instruments. The lease term includes periods covered by options to extend when it is reasonably certain we will exercise such options as well as periods subsequent to an option to terminate the lease if it is reasonably certain we will not exercise the termination option.
Operating lease costs are recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term taking into consideration rent abatements, scheduled rent increaseswhile finance leases result in a front-loaded expense pattern. Variable lease costs, such as management fees, insurance, and anycommon area maintenance, are not included in the measurement of ROU assets and lease incentives.
We recordliabilities and are expensed as incurred. On our balance sheets, assets and liabilities associated with operating leases are included within operating lease assets, accrued expenses and other current liabilities and operating lease liabilities. Assets and liabilities associated with finance leases are included in property and equipment, net, accrued expenses and other current liabilities and other long-term liabilities.
Equity Investments
We hold investments in privately held equity securities, which are recorded in other assets and were as follows:
Equity Investments
Equity investments as of December 31, 2021$40.0 
Fair market value adjustments(1)
0.5 
Equity investments as of December 31, 202240.5 
Fair market value adjustments(1)
14.4 
Impairment losses(1)
(2.3)
Additional investments0.5 
Equity investments as of December 31, 2023$53.1 

(1)Fair market value adjustments and impairment losses are recorded in other income (expense), net.
These securities are recorded at cost and adjusted for estimated construction costs incurred under build-to-suit lease arrangementsobservable transactions for same or similar investments of the same issuer or impairment. Investment gains and losses are recorded in other income (expense), net.
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Valuations of privately held securities are inherently complex and require judgment due to the extentlack of readily available observable market data. A security's carrying value is not adjusted if there are no observable price changes in a same or similar security from the same issuer or if there are no identified events or changes in circumstances that may indicate impairment. In determining the estimated fair value of our investments, we are involved inutilize the construction of structural improvements or take construction risk priormost recent data available to commencement ofus. We assess our investments for impairment at least quarterly using both qualitative and quantitative factors. If an investment is considered impaired, we recognize an impairment loss and establish a lease. Upon completion of the construction project, we evaluate our level of continuing involvement in the facility. If we maintain significant continuing involvement, we continue to accountnew carrying value for the facilityinvestment. Our analysis did not indicate impairment of our investments as a financing obligation. Otherwise, we record a sale of the facility back to the landlord, and accordingly, the related construction assets and liabilities are removed from our consolidated financial statements.December 31, 2023.
Foreign Currency
Our functional and reporting currency is the U.S. dollar. Assets denominated in foreign currencies are remeasured into U.S.United States (U.S.) dollars at period-end exchange rates. Foreign currency-based revenue and expense transactions are measured at transaction date exchange rates. Foreign currency remeasurement gains and losses are recorded in other income (expense), net and were $(1.5)$(9.6) million, $(4.6)$(15.7) million and $(3.5)$(10.5) million during 2017, 20162023, 2022 and 2015,2021, respectively.
For certain of our foreign subsidiaries whose functional currency is other than the U.S. dollar, we translate revenue and expense transactions at average exchange rates. We translate assets and liabilities at period-end exchange rates and include foreign currency translation gains and losses as a component of AOCI.
Revenue Recognition
Revenue is recordedrecognized when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, deliverycontrol of the promised product has occurred,or service (product) is transferred to our customers, in an amount reflecting the selling priceconsideration we expect to be entitled to in exchange for such product.
We typically receive payment at the time of sale, the purpose of which is fixed or determinableto provide our customers with a simplified and collectability is reasonably assured.predictable way of purchasing our products. We have determined that our contracts do not include a significant financing component. Payments received in advance of revenue recognitionour performance are initially recorded as deferred revenue.revenue and then recognized as revenue on a straight-line basis over the term of the contract. Revenue is recognized net of allowances for returns and applicable transaction-based taxes collected from customers.

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We maintain a reservereturn within our policy, which is accounted for as variable consideration when estimating the amount of revenue to provide for refunds granted to customers. Our reserve is an estimaterecognize. Refunds are estimated at contract inception using the expected value method based on historical refund experience.experience and updated each reporting period as additional information becomes available and only to the extent it is probable a significant reversal of any incremental revenue will not occur. Refunds reduce deferred revenue at the time they are granted and result in a reduced amount of revenue recognized over the contract term of the applicable product compared to the amount originally expected.product.
Our revenue is categorized as follows:
Applications and Commerce. A&C revenue primarily consists of revenue from sales of products containing proprietary software such as Websites + Marketing and Managed WordPress and commerce products such as payment processing fees and point-of-sale (POS) hardware as well as sales of third-party email and productivity solutions such as Microsoft 365. A&C revenue also includes revenue from sales of products, such as website security products, when they are included in bundled offerings of our proprietary software products. Consideration provided to customers for sales incentives or service disruption credits is generally recorded as a reduction ofdeferred revenue when received, which is typically at the latertime of sale, and revenue from most A&C products is recognized ratably over the timeperiod in which the relatedperformance obligations are satisfied, which is typically over the contract term. Payment processing fee revenue is recognized orat the time of the transaction and revenue from the sale of POS hardware is recognized at the time when ownership is transferred to the customer.
Core Platform. Core revenue primarily consists of revenue from sales of domain registrations and renewals, aftermarket domain sales, website hosting products and website security products when not included in bundled offerings of our proprietary software products. Core revenue also includes revenue from sales of products not containing a software component such considerationas professional web services as well as fee surcharges paid to ICANN. Consideration is offered. Such incentivesgenerally recorded as deferred revenue when received, which is typically at the time of sale, and credits were not materialrevenue from most Core products is recognized ratably over the period in which the performance obligations are satisfied, which is typically over the contract term. Aftermarket domain revenue is recognized at the time when ownership of the domain is transferred to the buyer.
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Disaggregated Revenue
Revenue by major product type was as follows:
 Year Ended December 31,
 202320222021
Applications and commerce$1,430.4 $1,279.7 $1,128.3 
Core platform: domains2,018.5 1,959.2 1,815.9 
Core platform: other805.2 852.4 871.5 
$4,254.1 $4,091.3 $3,815.7 
No single customer represented over 10% of our total revenue for any period presented.
Revenue by geography is based on the customer's billing address and was as follows:
Year Ended December 31,
202320222021
U.S.$2,873.0 $2,757.3 2,544.9 
International1,381.1 1,334.0 1,270.8 
$4,254.1 $4,091.3 $3,815.7 
No international country represented more than 10% of total revenue in any of the periodsperiod presented.
Revenue arrangementsSee Note 8 for information regarding our deferred revenue.
Performance Obligations
Our contracts with multiple deliverables are divided into separate units of accounting if each deliverable has stand-alone value to the customer. The majority of our revenue arrangements consists of multiple-element arrangements, with revenue for each unit of accounting recognized as the product or service is delivered to the customer. Our multiple-element arrangementscustomers may include multiple performance obligations, including a combination of some or all of the following:following products: domain registrations, website hosting products, website building products, and services, website security products and other cloud-based products. EachJudgment may be required in determining whether products contain multiple distinct performance obligations that should each be accounted for separately or as one combined performance obligation. Revenue is recognized ratably over the period in which the performance obligations are satisfied, which is generally over the contract term.
For each domain registration or renewal we provide, we have one performance obligation to our customers consisting of these products has stand-alone valuetwo promises: (1) to ensure the exclusive use of the domain during the applicable registration term and (2) to ensure the domain is sold separately.
Consideration is allocatedaccessible and appropriately directed to each deliverable atits underlying content. After the inception of an arrangement based on relative selling prices. We determinecontract term expires, unless renewed, the relative selling price for each deliverable based on our vendor-specific objective evidence of selling price (VSOE)customer can no longer access or our best estimate of selling price (BESP), if VSOE is not available.use the domain. We have determined third-party evidence of selling price (TPE) isthese promises are not a practical alternative due primarily todistinct within the significant variability among available third-party pricing information for similar products and differences in the featurescontext of our contracts as they are highly interdependent and interrelated and are inputs to a combined benefit. Accordingly, we concluded that each domain registration or renewal represents one product offering and service offerings compared to other parties.is a single performance obligation.
We establish VSOE for certainmay also offer specific arrangements, such as our Websites + Marketing solution, in which we include promises to transfer multiple performance obligations in a single product offering. For such arrangements, we allocate the transaction price to each of the underlying distinct performance obligations based on its relative SSP, as described below.
We have determined that generally each of our other products when a consistent number of stand-alone sales of these products have been priced within a reasonably narrow range. We are unable to establish VSOE when we lack pricing consistency, primarily relatedconstitutes an individual product offering to our marketing strategiescustomers, and variability in pricing due to promotional activity. therefore have concluded that each is a single performance obligation.
For arrangements with multiple performance obligations, we allocate revenue to each distinct performance obligation based on its relative SSP. We use judgment to determine SSP based on prices charged to customers for individual products, where VSOE is not available, we determine BESP by considering our overall pricing objectives and market conditions. Significant factors takentaking into consideration includefactors including historical and expected discounting practices, the size, volume and term length of transactions, customer demographics, the geographic areas in which our products and services are sold and our overall go-to-market strategy.
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Principal versus Agent Considerations
We sell our products and services directly to customers and also through a network of resellers. In certain cases, we act as a reseller of products provided by others. The determination of gross or net revenue recognition is reviewed on a product by productproduct-by-product basis and is dependent on our determination as to whether we act as principal or agent in the transaction. Revenue associated with sales of our products through oura network of resellers is generally recorded on a net basis. Revenue associated with sales of aftermarket domains and for certain aftermarket domain salesthird party solutions where we act as a reseller of products provided by others is generally recorded on a gross basis as we have determined that we arecontrol the primary obligor in the contractual arrangements withproduct before transferring it to our end customers. Commissions paid to resellers are expensed as acapitalized and amortized to cost of revenue overconsistent with the same period in whichpattern of transfer of the associated revenue is recognized.products purchased.
Our revenue is categorized as follows:Assets Recognized from Contract Costs
Domains. Domains revenue primarily consists of domain registrations and renewals, domain privacy, domain application fees, domain back-orders, aftermarket domain sales and fee surchargesFees paid to ICANN. Domain registrations provide a customer withvarious registries at the exclusive useinception of a domain duringregistration or renewal represent costs to fulfill a contract. We capitalize and amortize these prepaid domain name registry fees to cost of revenue consistent with the applicable contract term. After the contract term expires, unless renewed, the customer can no longer access the domain. Consideration is recorded as deferred revenue at the timepattern of sale, and revenue, other than for aftermarket domain sales, is recognized astransfer of the product or service is delivered to which the customer. Aftermarket domain revenue is recognized when controlasset relates. Amortization expense of such asset was $765.3 million, $717.1 million and $675.1 million during 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
No other material contract costs were capitalized during any of the domain is transferred to the buyer.
Hosting and presence. Hosting and presence revenue primarily consists of website hosting products, website building products and services, website security products, an online shopping cart and online visibility products. Consideration is recorded as deferred revenue at the time of sale, and revenue is recognized as the product or service is delivered to the customer.
Business applications. Business applications revenue primarily consists of third-party productivity applications, email accounts and email marketing tools. Consideration is recorded as deferred revenue at the time of sale, and revenue is recognized as the product or service is delivered to the customer.

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periods presented.
Operating Expenses
Cost of Revenue (excluding depreciation and amortization)
Costs of revenue are primarily the direct costs we incur in connection with selling an incremental product to our customers. Substantially all cost of revenue relates to domain registration fees, paid to the various domain registries, payment processing fees, third-party commissions and licensing fees for third-party productivity applications.
Technology and Development
Technology and development expenses represent the costs associated with the creation, development and distribution of our products and websites. These expenses primarily consist of personnel costs associated with the design, development, deployment, testing, operation and enhancement of our products, as well as costs associated with the data centers and systems infrastructure supporting those products, excluding depreciation expense.
Marketing and Advertising
Marketing and advertising expenses represent the costs associated with attracting and acquiring customers, primarily consisting of fees paid to third parties for marketing and advertising campaigns across television and radio, search engines, online display, social media and event sponsorships.a variety of channels. These expenses also include personnel costs and affiliate program commissions.
Advertising costs are expensed either as incurred, at the time a commercial initially airs or when a promotion first appears in the media. Advertising expenses were $205.8$247.1 million, $194.0$284.9 million and $177.6$378.3 million during 2017, 20162023, 2022 and 2015,2021, respectively. Prepaid advertising, which is included within prepaid expenses and other current assets, was $9.6 million and $1.3 million at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. At December 31, 2017, we had contractual commitments for certain marketing agreements with future payments totaling $1.1 million due in 2018 and $0.2 million due in 2019.
Customer Care
Customer care expenses represent the costs to adviseguide and service our customers, primarily consisting of personnel costs.
General and Administrative
General and administrative expenses primarily consist of personnel costs for our administrative functions, professional service fees, office rent for all locations, all employee travel expenses, acquisition-related expenses and other general costs.
Restructuring and Other
Restructuring and other for 2023 primarily represents: (i) charges related to the restructuring activities implemented during 2023, which were undertaken to reduce future operating expenses and improve cash flows through a combination of
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reductions in force and the sale of certain assets and liabilities of our hosting business within our Core segment; and (ii) a charge incurred in the second quarter of 2023 related to the termination of a revenue sharing agreement.
Restructuring and other for 2022 consists primarily of severance and other exit costs as well as charges recorded in connection with the impairment and gains and losses on disposition of certain assets.
Equity-Based Compensation
We have granted stock options at exercise prices equal to the fair market value of our Class A common stock on the grant date. We have granted both stock options and restricted stock units (RSUs) vesting solely upon the continued service of the recipient as well as performance-based awards (PSUs) with vesting based on either (i) our achievement of specified financial targets or (ii) our relative total stockholder return (TSR) as compared to a selected index of public Internet companies. We recognize the accounting grant date fair value of equity-based awards as compensation expense over the required service period of each award, taking into account the probability of our achievement of associated performance targets.
On the settlement date of each three-year performance period associated with our TSR-based PSU grants, and only if a participant remains a Service Provider (as defined in the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan) on such date, a participant will receive shares of our Class A common stock ranging from 0% to 200% of the originally granted PSUs based on our relative TSR as compared to the companies within the selected index. Vesting of the PSUs is subject to the TSR market condition as well as approval of the performance by our board of directors following the end of each performance period.
Equity-based awards are accounted for using the fair value method. Restricted stock units (RSUs)RSUs and financial-based PSUs are measured based on the fair market value of the underlying common stock on the date of grant.their respective accounting grant dates. Grant date fair values for stock options, which we last granted in 2020, are determined using the Black-Scholes option pricing model and a single option award approach. The measurementaccounting grant date for performance vesting awardsfinancial-based PSUs is the date on which the applicable performance criteria are approved by our board of directors. The fair value of shares issued under our employee stock purchase plan is estimated on the first day of each offering period using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. An estimate of future award forfeitures,
We utilize an estimated forfeiture rate in our equity-based compensation expense calculations, which is based on an analysis of historical data,data. The cumulative effect of any changes to the forfeiture rate is utilized in our equity-based compensation calculations. We regularly estimate when and if performance-based awards will be earned and record equity-based compensation expense only for awards considered probable of being earned.
Key assumptions usedrecognized in the determination ofperiod in which the estimate is changed.
We estimate the grant-date fair value for stock options are as follows:
Expected term. The expected term represents the period the options are expected to be outstanding. Because of the lackTSR-based PSUs using a Monte Carlo simulation which requires assumptions for expected volatility, risk-free rate of sufficientreturn and dividend yield. Expected volatilities for GoDaddy and the companies within the index are derived using historical data necessaryvolatilities over a period equal to calculate the expected term, we use the simple averagelength of the vesting period and the contractual term to estimate the expected term.
Expected volatility. We determine the expected stock price volatility based on the historical volatilities of our peer group since there is not a sufficient trading history for our Class A common stock. Industry peers consist of several public companies in the technology industry similar to us in size, stage of life cycle and financial leverage. We

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intend to continue to consistently apply this process using the same or similar public companies until a sufficient trading history of our Class A common stock becomes available. If circumstances change such that the identified companies are no longer similar to us, we will revise our peer group to substitute more suitable companies in this calculation.
Expected dividend yield. We do not use a dividend rate due to our expectation of not paying dividends in the foreseeable future.
Risk-free interest rate.performance period. We base the risk-free interest rate of return on the yield curve of a zero-coupon U.S. Treasury bond with a maturity equal to the expected termperformance period, and assume a 0% dividend rate. Equity-based compensation expense for these PSUs is recognized over the requisite service period, regardless of whether the option on the grant date.
The fair value of options granted was estimated using the following weighted-average assumptions:
 Year Ended December 31,
 2017 2016 2015
Expected term (in years)6.1
 6.1
 6.3
Expected volatility37.4% 37.7% 39.1%
Risk-free interest rate2.0% 1.4% 1.7%
TSR market condition is satisfied.
Income Taxes
We account for income taxes under the asset and liability method, which requires the recognition of deferred tax assets (DTAs) and liabilities (DTLs) for the expected future tax consequences of events included in the financial statements. Under this method, we determine DTAs and DTLs on the basis of the differences between the financial statement and tax bases of assets and liabilities by using enacted tax rates in effect for the year in which the differences are expected to reverse. The effect of a change in tax rates on DTAs and DTLs is recognized in the period in which the enactment date occurs.
We recognize DTAs to the extent we believe these assets are more-likely-than-not to be realized. In making such a determination,evaluating our ability to realize our DTAs, in full or in part, we consider all available positive and negative evidence, including future reversals of existing taxable temporary differences, projected future taxable income, prudent and feasible tax planning strategies and recent results of operations.
We record uncertain tax positions on the basis of a two-step process in which (1) we determine whether it is more-likely-than-not the tax positions will be sustained on the basis of the technical merits of the position and (2) for those tax positions meeting the more-likely-than-not recognition threshold, we recognize the largest amount of tax benefit that is more than 50% likely to be realized upon ultimate settlement with the related tax authority.
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Interest and penalties related to income taxes are included in benefit (provision) for income taxes, and were not material during any of the periods presented.
On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 was signed into law. See Note 14 for further discussion.
Payable to Related Parties Pursuant to the TRAs
Concurrent with the completion of the IPO, we became a party to five TRAs with our pre-IPO owners. Under four of the TRAs, we are generally required to pay to certain pre-IPO owners approximately 85% of the amount of calculated tax savings, if any, we are deemed to realize (using the actual applicable U.S. federal income tax rate and an assumed combined state and local income tax rate) as a result of (1) any existing tax attributes associated with LLC Units acquired in the pre-IPO organizational transactions, the benefit of which is allocable to us as a result of such transactions (including the allocable share of Desert Newco's existing tax basis in its assets), (2) net operating loss (NOL) carryforwards available as a result of such transactions and (3) tax benefits related to imputed interest.
Under the fifth of these agreements, we are generally required to pay our other pre-IPO owners of approximately 85% of the amount of the calculated tax savings, if any, we are deemed to realize (using the actual applicable U.S. federal income tax rate and an assumed combined state and local income tax rate) as a result of (1) any step-up in tax basis created as a result of exchanges of their LLC Units (together with the corresponding shares of Class B common stock) for shares of our Class A common stock, (2) any existing tax attributes associated with their LLC Units, the benefit of which is allocable to us as a result

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of such exchanges (including the allocable share of Desert Newco's existing tax basis in its assets), (3) tax benefits related to imputed interest and (4) payments under the TRAs.
When LLC Units are exchanged, we receive certain tax attributes, including the original basis adjustments (the OBAs) created from the original acquisition of the LLC Units plus any anticipated basis adjustments. The OBAs entitle us to the depreciation and amortization previously allocable to the original owner of such units. The anticipated basis adjustments will increase, for tax purposes, our depreciation and amortization deductions. To the extent these deductions are used to reduce our taxable income, thereby resulting in actual tax savings, we will be required to pay the original owners approximately 85% of such savings, which is recorded as an additional liability under the TRAs when deemed probable. Adjustments to the liability under the TRAs based on changes in anticipated future taxable income are recorded in our statements of operations.
Unutilized depreciation and amortization deductions related to the OBAs and the anticipated basis adjustments are converted to NOL carryforwards. If the utilization is considered to be more-likely-than-not, a liability under the TRAs relating to NOL carryforwards is recorded.taxes.
Fair Value Measurements
Fair value is defined as an exit price, representing the amount that would be received to sell an asset, or paid to transfer a liability, in an orderly transaction between market participants. The framework for measuring fair value provides a three-tier hierarchy prioritizing inputs to valuation techniques used in measuring fair value as follows:
Level 1— Observable inputs such as quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in active markets;
Level 2— Inputs, other than quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in active markets, which are observable either directly or indirectly; and
Level 3— Unobservable inputs in which there is little or no market data requiring the reporting entity to develop its own assumptions.
We hold certain assets required to be measured at fair value on a recurring basis. These may include reverse repurchase agreements, commercial paper or other securities,time deposits and money market funds, which are classified as either cash and cash equivalents or short-term investments. Wewe classify these assets within Level 1 or Level 2 because we use either quoted market prices or alternative pricing sources utilizing market observable inputs to determine their fair value. In addition, Level 2 assets and liabilities include derivative financial instruments associated with hedging activity, as further discussed in Note 11. Derivative financial instruments are measured at fair value on the contract date and are subsequently remeasured each reporting period using inputs such as spot rates, discount rates and forward rates. There are not active markets for the hedge contracts themselves; however, the inputs used to calculate the fair value of the instruments are tied to active markets.
Our contingent consideration liabilities are classified within Level 3 and valued using discounted cash flow valuation methods encompassing significant unobservable inputs. The inputs include estimated operating results scenarios for the applicable performance periods, probability weightings assigned to operating results scenarios and the discount rates applied. Our contingent consideration liabilities relate to future earn-out payments associated with our acquisitions. No material adjustments to the fair value of contingent consideration were made during any of the periods presented.

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The following tables set forth our material assets and liabilities measured and recorded at fair value on a recurring basis:
December 31, 2023
Level 1Level 2Level 3Total
Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents:
Commercial paper$— $39.6 $— $39.6 
Time deposits40.0 — — 40.0 
Short-term investments:
Time deposits40.0 — — 40.0 
Derivative assets— 128.6 — 128.6 
Total assets$80.0 $168.2 $— $248.2 
Liabilities:
Derivative liabilities$— $46.4 $— $46.4 
Total liabilities$— $46.4 $— $46.4 
 December 31, 2017
Assets:Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Total
Cash and cash equivalents:       
Reverse repurchase agreements(1)
$
 $130.0
 $
 $130.0
Commercial paper
 50.0
 
 50.0
Short-term investments:       
Certificates of deposit and time deposits0.4
 
 
 0.4
Commercial Paper
 11.9
 
 11.9
Derivative assets
 
 
 
Total assets measured and recorded at fair value$0.4
 $191.9
 $
 $192.3
Liabilities:       
Contingent consideration liabilities$
 $
 $20.7
 $20.7
Derivative liabilities
 206.4
 
 206.4
Total liabilities measured and recorded at fair value$
 $206.4
 $20.7
 $227.1
December 31, 2022
Assets:Level 1Level 2Level 3Total
Cash and cash equivalents:
Commercial paper$— $120.0 $— $120.0 
Time deposits and money market funds347.3 — — 347.3 
Derivative assets— 218.5 — 218.5 
Total assets$347.3 $338.5 $— $685.8 
Liabilities:
Derivative liabilities$— $4.9 $— $4.9 
Total liabilities$— $4.9 $— $4.9 
(1)Reverse repurchase agreements include a $70.0 million repurchase agreement with Morgan Stanley, callable with 31 days notice, and a $60.0 million one-week repurchase agreement with Wells Fargo.
 December 31, 2016
Assets:Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Total
Cash and cash equivalents:       
Reverse repurchase agreements(1)
$
 $130.0
 $
 $130.0
Commercial paper
 55.9
 
 55.9
Short-term investments:       
Certificates of deposit and time deposits6.6
 
 
 6.6
Derivative assets
 0.7
 
 0.7
Total assets measured and recorded at fair value$6.6
 $186.6
 $
 $193.2
Liabilities:       
Derivative liabilities$
 $0.1
 $
 $0.1
Total liabilities measured and recorded at fair value$
 $0.1
 $
 $0.1
(1)Reverse repurchase agreements include an $80.0 million repurchase agreement with Morgan Stanley, callable with 31 days notice, and a $50.0 million one-week repurchase agreement with Wells Fargo.
We have no other material assets or liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis.
Business Combinations
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Acquisitions
We determine whether substantially all of the fair value of assets acquired is concentrated in a single identifiable asset or a group of similar identifiable assets. If this threshold is met, the single asset or group of assets, as applicable, is accounted for as an asset acquisition. If the threshold is not met, further assessment is undertaken to ascertain whether the acquisition meets the definition of a business.
We include the results of operations of acquired businesses as of the respective acquisition dates. Purchase price is allocated to the tangible and intangible assets acquired and the liabilities assumed based on their estimated fair values, with the excess recorded as goodwill. If applicable, we estimate the fair value of contingent consideration payments in determining the purchase price. Measurement period adjustments to provisional purchase price allocations are recognized in the period in which they are determined, with the effect on earnings of changes in depreciation, amortization or other income resulting from such changes calculated as if the accounting had been completed at the acquisition date. Contingent consideration is adjusted to fair value in subsequent periods as an increase or decrease in general and administrative expenses. Acquisition-related costs are expensedcharged to general and administrative expense as incurred.

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Concentrations of Risks
Our financial instruments exposed to concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments.equivalents. Although we deposit cash with multiple banks, these deposits, including those held in foreign branches of global banks, may exceed the amount of insurance provided on such deposits. These deposits may generally be redeemed upon demand and bear minimal risk.
No single customer represented over 10% of our total revenue for any period presented.
In order to reduce the risk of downtime of the products we provide, we have established data centers in various geographic regions. We have internal procedures to restore products in the event of a service disruption or disaster at any of our data center facilities. We serve our customers and users from data center facilities operated either by us or third parties, which are most significantly located in Arizona, California, Missouri, Virginia, New York, France, Germany, the Netherlands Singapore and the United Kingdom.Singapore. Even with these procedures for disaster recovery in place, the availability of our products could be significantly interrupted during the implementation of restoration procedures.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Revenue Recognition
In May 2014,November 2023, the Financial Standards Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued a new standard on revenue recognition from contracts with customers. The new standard requires an entityguidance to recognize revenue when it transfers promised goods or servicesupdate reportable segment disclosure requirements, primarily through enhanced disclosures about significant segment expenses and information used to customers in an amount reflecting the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled to in exchange for those goods or services. The FASB has issued several amendments to the new standard, including clarification on identifying performance obligations, principal-versus-agent implementation guidance, collectability assessment, sales taxes and other similar taxes collected from customers, noncash consideration, contract modification and completed contracts at transition. These amendments are intended to address implementation issues raised by stakeholders and provide additional practical expedients to reduce the cost and complexity of applying the new standard.
We will adopt the new standard effective January 1, 2018 using the modified retrospective transition method. We finalized our assessment of the new standard and the adoption of this guidance will not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements or our internal controls over financial reporting.
Other Accounting Standards
In February 2016, the FASB issued new guidance related to accounting for leases. The new standard requires the recognition of assets and liabilities arising from lease transactions on the balance sheet and the disclosure of key information about leasing arrangements. For leases with a term of 12 months or less, a lessee can make an accounting policy election by class of underlying asset to not recognize an asset and corresponding liability. We will adopt the new standard on January 1, 2019. In transition, lessees are required to recognize and measure leases at the beginning of the earliest period presented using a modified retrospective approach. While we continue to evaluate the effect of adopting this guidance, we expect our operating leases disclosed in Note 12 will be subject to the new guidance. We will recognize right-of-use assets and lease liabilities in our consolidated balance sheets upon adoption, which will increase our total assets and liabilities.
In June 2016, the FASB issued new guidance for the accounting for credit losses on instruments that will require entities to measure all expected credit losses for financial instruments held at the reporting date based on historical experience, current conditions and reasonable supportable forecasts.assess segment performance. This replaces the existing incurred loss model and is applicable to the measurement of credit losses on financial instruments measured at amortized cost and also applies to some off-balance sheet credit exposures. The guidanceupdate is effective for annualour 2024 fiscal year and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019,in fiscal year 2025, with early adoption permitted. We are currently evaluating the timing of ourimpact that the adoption and the expected impact of this new guidance.standard will have on our consolidated financial statements.
In November 2016,December 2023, the FASB issued guidance to enhance the transparency and decision usefulness of income tax disclosures. The amendments in this guidance require additional disclosures about income taxes, primarily focused on the disclosure of income taxes paid and the rate reconciliation table. The new guidance requiring amounts generally described as restricted cash and restricted cash equivalents to be included with cash and cash equivalents when reconciling the amounts shown on the statement of cash flows. Our adoption of this guidance on January 1, 2018 is not expected to have a material impact.
In January 2017, the FASB issued new guidance clarifying the definition of a business for determining whether transactions should be accounted for as acquisitions or disposals of assets or businesses. If substantially all of the fair value of the gross assets acquired (or disposed of) is concentrated in a single asset or a group of similar assets, the assets acquired (or

97



disposed of) are not considered to be a business. Our early adoption of this guidance effective October 1, 2017 did not have a material impact.
In January 2017, the FASB issued new guidance simplifying the goodwill impairment test, eliminating the requirement for an entity to determine the fair value of its assets and liabilities (including unrecognized assets and liabilities) at the impairment testing date following the procedure that would be required in determining the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed in a business combination. Instead, an entity will be required to perform its annual, or interim, goodwill impairment test by comparing the fair value of a reporting unit with its carrying amount. An entity will be required to recognize an impairment chargeeffective for the amount by which the carrying amount exceeds the reporting unit's fair value; however, the loss recognized should not exceed the total amount of goodwill allocated to the reporting unit. The guidance is effective for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019,our 2025 fiscal year, with early adoption permitted. We are currently evaluating the timing of our adoption and the expected impact of this new guidance.standard on our disclosures within our consolidated financial statements.
In May 2017, the FASB issued new guidance to amend the scope of modification accounting for share-based payment arrangements. The amendment provides guidance on the types of changes to the terms or conditions of share-based payment awards which would require an entity to apply modification accounting. Our adoption of this guidance on January 1, 2018 is not expected to have a material impact.
On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 was signed into law. See Note 14 for further discussion.
3.    Business Acquisitions
2022 Acquisition of Host Europe Holdings Limited
On April 3, 2017,In July 2022, we completed the acquisition of HEG,Dan.com for net cash consideration of $69.6 million. The acquisition was not material to our results of operations.
The aggregate purchase price was allocated based upon our assessment of acquisition-date fair values with $56.3 million allocated to goodwill, none of which is tax deductible, $17.6 million to identified finite-lived intangible assets and $4.3 million of net liabilities assumed. The identified finite-lived intangible assets, which primarily consist of developed technology and customer relationships, were valued using an income-based approach and had a United Kingdom-based providertotal weighted-average
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amortization period of 3.3 years. The recognition of goodwill was made based on the strategic benefits we expected to small and medium-sized customers throughout Europe. Pursuant torealize from the terms of the purchase agreement,acquisition.
2021 Acquisitions
In February 2021, we purchased all of the outstanding shares of HEG and certain loan notes issued by Host Europe Finance Co. Ltd. for total consideration transferred of €1.7 billion. We fundedcompleted the acquisition with the proceeds from the Acquisition Term Loan and the Bridge Loan, both of which are further described in Note 10, and incurred $18.6Poynt Co. (now known as GoDaddy Payments) for $297.1 million in nonrecurringcash consideration to expand our commerce capabilities. GoDaddy Payments offers a suite of products allowing small businesses to sell and accept payments anywhere, including point-of-sale systems, payments, invoicing and transaction costsmanagement. At closing, we also paid an additional $29.4 million in connection withcash that was recorded as compensation expense during the three months ended March 31, 2021. The acquisition which were recognized within generalagreements also call for up to $45.0 million in additional compensatory cash payments subject to certain performance and administrative expense. As a result ofemployment conditions over the acquisition, HEG became our wholly-owned subsidiary. We believe the acquisition will allow us to leverage HEG's existing footprint to accelerate our expansion in Europe through the delivery of a broader range of cloud-based products.
Our operating results include HEG's results fromthree-year period following the closing date. We paid $6.9 million and $14.3 million of these compensatory payments in 2023 and 2022, respectively.
During 2021, we completed two other acquisitions for aggregate purchase consideration of $65.7 million in cash paid at closing and additional contingent earn-out payments of up to $18.5 million subject to the achievement of certain operational and financial milestones over the two year periods following the respective closing dates which have been settled as of December 31, 2023.
The aggregate purchase price of these three acquisitions was preliminarily allocated to the tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their estimated fair values as of theeach acquisition date, with the excess recorded to goodwill. The recognition of goodwill, none of which is deductible for income tax purposes, was made based on the strategic and synergistic benefits we expect to realize from the acquisition. During the measurement period, which will not exceed one year from closing, we will continue to obtain information to assist us in finalizing the acquisition date fair values.acquisitions.

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The following table summarizes the preliminary estimatedacquisition date fair values of the HEGaggregate assets acquired and liabilities assumed, as adjusted for certain measurement period adjustments primarily related to refinements in the fair values of acquired DTLs and the net assets held for sale:
Total purchase consideration(1)
 $1,849.5
   
Fair value of assets acquired:  
 Cash and cash equivalents 27.2
 Other current assets 66.3
 Assets held for sale(2)
 497.5
 Property and equipment, net 61.9
 Intangible assets, net 595.7
 Other assets 9.3
Amount attributable to assets acquired 1,257.9
Fair value of liabilities assumed:  
 Accounts payable and accrued expenses 62.8
 Current portion of deferred revenue 45.5
 Liabilities directly associated with the assets held for sale(2)
 93.0
 Other long-term liabilities 14.0
 Deferred tax liabilities 177.6
Amount attributable to liabilities assumed 392.9
Goodwill $984.5
assumed:
Total purchase consideration$381.3 
(1)The purchase consideration was translated using the Euro to U.S. dollar exchange rate in effect on the closing date, April 3, 2017,Fair value of approximately 1.066.
(2)Assets held for saleassets acquired and liabilities directly associated with theassumed:
Cash and cash equivalents4.2 
Indefinite-lived intangibles assets held for sale, represented those1.3 
Finite-lived intangible assets66.0 
Other assets and liabilities, net(0.5)
Total assets acquired, net of HEG's PlusServer managed hosting business (PlusServer), which met the criteria for held for sale designation at the acquisition date and was sold in August 2017. See Note 4 for further discussion.liabilities assumed71.0 
Goodwill$310.3 
During the fourth quarter of 2017, we revised our preliminary legal entity purchase accounting valuations for HEG, primarily resulting in a shift of goodwill and intangible assets among various tax jurisdictions and functional currencies. The impact to such assets from movements in foreign currency rates subsequent to the date of acquisition are reflected in cumulative translation adjustment, a component of AOCI.
The purchase price allocation to identifiableidentified finite-lived intangible assets, acquired was as follows:
Finite-lived Intangible Assets 
Estimated
Useful Lives
  
Trade names 10 years $75.2
Developed technology 6 years 62.4
Customer relationships 9 years 458.1
    $595.7
Wewhich were valued trade names by applying the relief-from-royalty method, which is a variation of theusing either an income approach. This valuation method is based on the application of a royalty rate to the forecasted revenue expected from the trade names. Projected cash flows were then discounted using a rate of return reflecting the relative risk of achieving the cash flows as well as the time value of money. Our valuationor cost-based approach, primarily consist of developed technology also used the relief-from-royalty method, in which the forecasted revenue associated with each of the domain and hosting technologies was estimated assuming useful lives ranging from six to eight years. A royalty rate, calculated considering factors such as market competition, profitabilitycustomer relationships, and market share, was applied to the forecasted revenue. The projected cash flows were then discounted using a rate of return reflecting the risk and uncertainty of their achievement relative to the overall business. Customer relationships were valued using the multi-period excess earnings method under the income approach, which reflects the present value of the projected cash flows expected to be generated by the customer relationship assets less charges representing the contribution of other assets to those cash flows. We determined the assumptions used in developing these valuations based on our future plans, historical data, current and anticipated market conditions, estimated growth rates and market comparables. The acquired finite-lived intangible assets havehad a total weighted-average amortization period of 8.84.1 years.

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Property and equipment was valued using the cost approach, which estimates value by determining the current cost of replacing an asset with another of equivalent economic utility. The cost to replace a given asset reflects the estimated reproduction or replacement cost for the property, less an allowance for loss in value due to depreciation. Deferred revenue was valued using the income approach, in which we estimated costs required to fulfill the obligation associated with the deferred revenue and then applied an appropriate profit margin. The result was then discounted to represent value at a risk adjusted rate. Preliminary estimated DTLs primarily represent the expected future tax consequences of temporary differences between the fair values of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed and their respective tax bases.
The determination of fair value requires considerable judgment and is sensitive to changes in the underlying assumptions. Our estimates with respect to certain tax-related accounts are preliminary and subject to change pending the filing of pre-acquisition tax returns, which may result in material changes. Any qualifying changes will be recorded as adjustments to the respective assets and liabilities, with any residual amounts allocated to goodwill.
In 2017, HEG contributed approximately $155.1 million of our total revenue and a net loss of approximately $17.2 million within our income from continuing operations.
The following unaudited pro forma consolidated results of operations for 2017 and 2016 assume the closing of the HEG acquisition occurred as of January 1, 2016. The unaudited pro forma results include certain estimated purchase accounting adjustments, which are primarily comprised of amortization of acquired intangible assets, fair value adjustments to reduce deferred revenue assumed in the acquisition and interest expense on debt incurred to finance the acquisition. For the purpose of the pro forma, the short-term bridge financing was assumed to commence on January 1, 2016 and therefore no interest expense on this loan is included in 2017. In addition, we have made pro forma adjustments in 2017 to exclude nonrecurring transaction costs directly attributable to the acquisition. As required by U.S. GAAP, we have made pro forma adjustments to include these deal costs in 2016. The pro forma results of operations are presented for informational purposes only and do not include any anticipated cost savings or other effects of future integration efforts. As such, they may not be not indicative of the results we would have achieved if the acquisition had taken place on January 1, 2016, nor are they intended to be a projection of our future results.
 Year Ended   December 31,
Pro forma Consolidated Results of Operations (unaudited)2017 2016
    
Total revenue$2,315.1
 $2,058.4
Net income (loss) attributable to GoDaddy Inc.143.9
 (40.0)
Net income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to GoDaddy Inc.128.8
 (46.1)
Net income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to GoDaddy Inc. per share of Class A common stock - basic1.23
 (0.53)
Net income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to GoDaddy Inc. per share of Class A common stock - diluted0.75
 (0.53)
Other 2017 Acquisition
In April 2017, we completed an acquisition for consideration consisting of cash of $45.7 million, $9.0 million payable in future periods upon expiration of the contractual holdback period, $15.0 million of time-based milestone payments and additional contingent earn-out payments of up to $15.0 million subject to the achievement of certain revenue and integration milestones. We recognized a liability of $33.7 million representing the estimated aggregate acquisition-date fair value of the future payments. Pro forma financial information is not presented because this acquisition was not material to our results of operations.
The aggregate purchase price was allocated based upon our assessment of acquisition-date fair values with $63.9 million allocated to goodwill, none of which is tax deductible, $28.5 million to identified finite-lived intangible assets and $13.0 million of net liabilities assumed. Identified finite-lived intangible assets, which were valued using income-based approaches, consist of developed technology, customer relationships and trade names. The acquired finite-lived intangible assets have a total weighted-average amortization period of 5.5 years.

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2016 Acquisitions
During 2016, we completed sixthe acquisitions for cash of $125.5 million, including $7.0 million payableoccurring in future periods following the expiration of contractual holdback periods, and additional contingent earn-out payments of up to $6.0 million subject to the achievement of certain revenue targets. The aggregate purchase price was allocated based upon our assessment of acquisition-date fair values with $59.3 million attributed to indefinite-lived domain portfolio intangible assets, $55.0 million to goodwill, of which $37.5 million is not tax-deductible, $21.4 million to other identified finite-lived intangible assets and $11.3 million of net liabilities assumed. We also recorded a $1.1 million reduction of our existing deferred revenue from prior transactions with oneeach of the acquired businesses. These acquisitionsyears ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 were not material to our results of operations, either individually or in the aggregate.
2015 Acquisitions
During 2015, we completed four acquisitions for cash of $64.7 million and additional immaterial contingent earn-out payments. The aggregate purchase price was allocated based upon our assessment of acquisition-date fair values with $60.2 million attributed to an indefinite-lived domain portfolio intangible asset, $3.2 million to other identified finite-lived intangible assets, $2.2 million to tax-deductible goodwill and $0.9 million of net liabilities assumed. These acquisitions were not material to our results of operations,financial statements, either individually or in the aggregate.
Other Acquisition-Related Payments
During 2017,2023, 2022 and 2021, we made approximately $10.8$10.5 million, $12.3 million and $15.5 million of aggregate holdback and contingent consideration payments related to prior acquisitions. Payments in 2016 and 2015 were not material.business acquisitions, respectively.
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4.    Sale of PlusServer
In connection with the HEG acquisition, we committed to a formal plan to sell PlusServer as its business model differs from ours. The operating results of PlusServer from the acquisition date to the date of its sale are reported within discontinued operations. On August 31, 2017, we sold all of the outstanding shares of PlusServer, receiving net proceeds of $447.7 million. As a result of the sale, we recorded a gain on disposal of $33.2 million, which includes the reclassification of the associated cumulative translation adjustment on PlusServer's net assets.
5.    Goodwill and Intangible Assets
The following table summarizes changes in our goodwill balance:balance by segment:
A&CCoreTotal
Balance at December 31, 2021$1,522.5 $2,018.3 $3,540.8 
Goodwill related to acquisitions— 56.3 56.3 
Impact of foreign currency translation(31.7)(43.0)(74.7)
Purchase accounting adjustments related to prior period acquisitions6.2 8.3 14.5 
Balance at December 31, 20221,497.0 2,039.9 3,536.9 
Impact of foreign currency translation16.6 23.0 39.6 
Less: goodwill related to disposition of businesses— (3.3)(3.3)
Other adjustments— (3.9)(3.9)
Balance at December 31, 2023$1,513.6 $2,055.7 $3,569.3 
Balance at December 31, 2015$1,663.4
Goodwill related to 2016 acquisitions55.0
Balance at December 31, 20161,718.4
Goodwill related to 2017 acquisitions1,048.4
Impact of foreign currency translation93.1
Balance at December 31, 2017$2,859.9


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Intangible assets, net are summarized as follows:
December 31, 2023
Gross Carrying
Amount
Accumulated
Amortization
Net Carrying
Amount
Indefinite-lived intangible assets:
Trade names and branding$445.0 n/a$445.0 
Domain portfolio233.6 n/a233.6 
Contractual-based assets292.7 n/a292.7 
Finite-lived intangible assets:
Customer-related459.3 $(352.2)107.1 
Developed technology246.8 (205.6)41.2 
Trade names and other104.8 (65.8)39.0 
$1,782.2 $(623.6)$1,158.6 
 December 31, 2017
 Gross Carrying
Amount
 Accumulated
Amortization
 Domains Sold Net Carrying
Amount
Indefinite-lived intangible assets:       
Trade names and branding$445.0
 n/a
  n/a
 $445.0
Domain portfolio171.0
 n/a
 $(18.8) 152.2
Finite-lived intangible assets:       
Customer-related868.0
 $(320.4)  n/a
 547.6
Developed technology184.5
 (82.2)  n/a
 102.3
Trade names94.4
 (15.5)  n/a
 78.9
 $1,762.9
 $(418.1) $(18.8) $1,326.0
December 31, 2016
Gross Carrying
Amount
 Accumulated
Amortization
 Domains Sold Net Carrying
Amount
December 31, 2022December 31, 2022
Gross Carrying
Amount
Gross Carrying
Amount
Accumulated
Amortization
Net Carrying
Amount
Indefinite-lived intangible assets:       
Trade names and branding$445.0
 n/a
  n/a
 $445.0
Trade names and branding
Trade names and branding
Domain portfolio120.5
 n/a
 $(14.4) 106.1
Contractual-based assets
Finite-lived intangible assets:       
Customer-related367.4
 $(245.4)  n/a
 122.0
Customer-related
Customer-related
Developed technology226.0
 (187.0)  n/a
 39.0
Trade names11.9
 (7.5)  n/a
 4.4
$1,170.8
 $(439.9) $(14.4) $716.5
Trade names and other
$
During 2017,2023, we completed threetwo purchases of indefinite-lived domain portfolio intangible assets and related finite-lived customer-related intangible assets for $52.0a total of $35.4 million in cash and a variable earn-out of up to $4.0 million.
During 2021, we purchased intangible assets for a total of $200.1 million in cash. The assets purchasedOne of these purchases also included a variable earn-out payment of up to $12.0 million based on the achievement of specified future performance conditions. A
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$1.5 million payment was made in 2023 which settled the variable earn-out obligation. These purchases primarily consisted of $50.5a number of top-level domains (TLDs), of which $186.8 million inwere recorded as indefinite-lived domain portfolios and $1.5 million in customer-relatedcontractual-based intangible assets. The purchased customer-related intangible assets were valued at cost and are amortized over 36 months. Transaction costs were immaterial and were expensed as incurred.
During 2015, we purchased a customer-related intangible asset for $22.5 million in cash. The purchased intangible asset was valued at cost and is amortized over 48 months based on expected customer attrition. Transaction costs were immaterial and were expensed as incurred.
Customer-related intangible assets, developed technology and trade names have weighted-average useful lives from the date of purchase of 104 months, 73 months and 111 months, respectively. Amortization expense was $117.0$104.9 million, $90.2$128.9 million and $97.5$127.9 million during 2017, 20162023, 2022 and 2015,2021, respectively. TheAs of December 31, 2023, the weighted-average remaining amortization period for amortizable intangible assets was 8627 months as of December 31, 2017.for customer-related intangible assets, 24 months for developed technology and 45 months for trade names and other, and was 30 months in total.

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Based on the balance of finite-lived intangible assets at December 31, 2017,2023, expected future amortization expense is as follows:
Year Ending December 31:
2024$83.2 
202575.5 
202621.7 
20273.8 
20281.9 
Thereafter1.2 
$187.3 
Year Ending December 31: 
2018$130.3
2019111.1
2020104.5
202181.8
202280.2
Thereafter220.9
 $728.8
6.5.    Stockholders' Equity
Initial Public Offering
On April 7, 2015, we completed our IPO and sold 26,000 shares of Class A common stock at a public offering price of $20.00 per share, including 2,500 shares purchased by affiliates of certain members of our board of directors (the Board). We received $480.6 million in proceeds, net of underwriting discounts, commissions and direct expenses. We primarily used the net IPO proceeds to make certain payments to the Sponsors and Bob Parsons as described in Note 18 and to repay the senior note payable to YAM and all amounts drawn on our revolving credit loan as described in Note 10.
In connection with the IPO, we completed a series of organizational transactions, including:
the amendment and restatement of Desert Newco's limited liability company agreement to, among other things, appoint us as sole managing member and reclassify all LLC Units as non-voting units;
the issuance of a total of 90,425 shares of Class B common stock to Desert Newco's pre-IPO owners on a one-to-one basis with the number of LLC Units owned; and
the acquisition, by merger, of four members of Desert Newco (the Reorganization Parties), for which we issued an aggregate of 38,826 shares of Class A common stock as consideration for the 38,826 aggregate LLC Units held by such entities (the Investor Corp Mergers). See Note 14.
Restatement of Certificate of Incorporation
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorized the issuance of up to 1,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, up to 500,000 shares of Class B common stock and up to 50,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock, each having a par value of $0.001 per share. Shares of Class A common stock have both economic and voting rights. Shares of Class B common stock have no economic rights, but do have voting rights. Holders of Class A and Class B common stock are entitled to one vote per share and, except as otherwise required, will vote together as a single class on all matters on which stockholders generally are entitled to vote.
We are required to, at all times, maintain (i) a one-to-one ratio between the number of shares of Class A common stock outstanding and the number of LLC Units owned by us and (ii) a one-to-one ratio between the number of shares of Class B common stock and LLC Units owned by Desert Newco's pre-IPO owners. We may issue shares of Class B common stock only to the extent necessary to maintain these ratios. Shares of Class B common stock are transferable only together with an equal number of LLC Units if we, at the election of a pre-IPOan owner, exchange LLC Units for shares of Class A common stock. No LLC Units were outstanding as of December 31, 2023 and therefore the outstanding Class B common stock is not transferable into additional Class A common stock as a result of the DNC Restructure as described in Note 1.
Secondary Offerings and LLC Unit RepurchaseShare Repurchases
We have completed several underwritten public offerings in which certain stockholders, including the Sponsors, YAM and certain of our executive officers soldIn August 2021, we entered into an accelerated share repurchase agreement (ASR) to repurchase shares of our Class A common stock. We didstock in exchange for an up-front payment of $250.0 million. The total number of shares ultimately delivered under the ASR, and therefore the average repurchase price paid per share, was determined based on the volume weighted-average price of our stock during the purchase period. The shares received were retired at the time of delivery and the up-front payment was accounted for as a charge to accumulated deficit. The ASR was a forward contracts indexed to our Class A common stock and met all of the applicable criteria for equity classification; therefore, it was not receive any proceeds from theaccounted for as a derivative instrument. The ASR was completed during 2021 and we repurchased a total of 3,425 shares sold by the selling stockholders in these offerings. We used the net proceeds from the shares sold by us to pay expensesof our Class A common stock at an average price of $72.99 per share under this arrangement. Expenses incurred in connection with the offerings. Each offering includedASR were recorded as a charge to accumulated deficit.
In January 2022, our board of directors approved the exchangerepurchase of LLC Units (togetherup to an additional $2,251.0 million of our Class A common stock. Such approval was in addition to the amount remaining available for repurchases under prior board approvals, such that we had authority to repurchase up to $3,000.0 million of our Class A common stock. Shares may be repurchased in open market purchases, block transactions and privately negotiated transactions, in accordance with the correspondingapplicable federal securities laws. This authorization has no time limits, does not obligate us to make any repurchases and may be modified, suspended or terminated by us at any time without prior notice.
In February 2022, we entered into ASRs to repurchase shares of Class B common stock) forour Class A common stock by the selling stockholders, which resulted in increasesexchange for an up-front aggregate payment of $750.0 million. The ASRs were completed in additional paid-in

May 2022 and we repurchased a total of 9,202 shares
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capital, with offsetting reductions in non-controlling interests, and material increases to the liability under the TRAs (see Note 15). Significant details for each offering are as follows:
Offering Date Offering Price Per Share ($) Shares Sold by GoDaddy (#) Proceeds Received by GoDaddy ($) Aggregate Shares Sold by Selling Stockholders (#) LLC Units Exchanged by Selling Stockholders (#) Increase in Additional Paid-in Capital ($)
December 2017(1)
 47.32
 50
 2.4
 7,228
 4,689
 4.7
September 2017 44.00
 50
 2.2
 20,000
 13,774
 10.8
May 2017 38.50
 100
 3.7
 27,615
 16,701
 10.8
April 2016 30.25
 
 
 18,975
 10,382
 8.8
(1)Following the December 2017 secondary offering, TCV no longer owns shares of GoDaddy's common stock.
In May 2017, we repurchased 7,345 LLC units from the Sponsors and YAM for an aggregate of $275.0 million, or $37.44 per share, which is the same per share price, net of discounts and commissions, paid by the underwriters to the selling stockholders in the offering. In connection with this repurchase, the corresponding shares of Class B common stock held by the Sponsors and YAM were canceled. In May 2017, we also sold an aggregate of 521 shares ofour Class A common stock at an average price of $81.50 per share under these arrangements. Expenses incurred in connection with the ASRs were recorded as a charge to certain executivesaccumulated deficit.
In August 2023, our board of directors approved the repurchase of up to an additional $1,000.0 million of our Class A common stock. Such approval was in addition to the amount available for repurchases under prior approvals of our board of directors, such that our total proceedsapproved authority under the program is $4,000.0 million of $19.2 million.shares of our Class A common stock through 2025.
In addition to the ASRs discussed above, we also made the following open market repurchases of our Class A common stock:
Year Ended December 31,Number of Shares Repurchased
Aggregate Purchase Price(1)
202317,356 $1,264.4 
20227,642 $550.1 
20213,500 $275.9 

(1) The aggregate purchase price includes commissions paid in connection with the repurchases.
As of December 31, 2023, we had $1,435.5 million of remaining authorization available for repurchases.
6.    Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets
Prepaid expenses and other current assets consisted of the following:
December 31,
20232022
Derivative assets$127.2 $209.6 
Prepaid software and maintenance expenses23.0 29.5 
Usage-based prepaid expenses(1)
8.8 10.6 
Other18.2 22.1 
$177.2 $271.8 

(1) Usage-based prepaid expenses include various cost of sales, marketing, rent and other prepaid commitments that are amortized as the funds are used.
7.    Equity-Based Compensation Plans
Equity Plans
On March 31, 2015, we adopted the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan (the 2015 Plan) and reserved a total of 10,285 shares of Class A common stock for issuance thereunder. The shares reserved for issuance under the 2015 Plan also included up to 28,133 shares rolled over from our previous equity plan and from certain other option plans assumed in connection with acquisitions. The number of shares reserved for issuance are increased automatically, on January 1st of each year, by a number equal to the least of (i) 20,571 shares, (ii) 4% of the total shares of all classes of common stock outstanding as of the last day of the preceding year or (iii) such other amount as may be determined by our Board. On January 1, 2017, an additional 6,684 shares were reserved for issuance pursuant to the 2015 Plan.. As of December 31, 2017, 16,0242023, 31,496 shares were available for issuance as future awards under the 2015 Plan.plan.
On March 31, 2015, we adopted the 2015 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the ESPP) and reserved a total of 2,000 shares of Class A common stock for issuance thereunder. The number of shares reserved for issuance are increased automatically, on January 1st of each year, by a number equal to the least of (i) 1,000 shares, (ii) 1% of the total shares of all classes of common stock outstanding as of the last day of the preceding year or (iii) such other amount as may be determined by our Board. On January 1, 2017, an additional 1,000 shares were reserved for issuance pursuant to the ESPP.. As of December 31, 2017, 2,5512023, 4,605 shares were available for issuance under the ESPP.
We grant options at exercise prices equal to the fair market value of our Class A common stock on the grant date. We grant both options and RSUs vesting solely upon the continued employment of the recipient as well as awards vesting upon the achievement of annual or cumulative financial-based targets. We recognize the grant date fair value of equity-based awards as compensation expense over the required service period of each award, taking into account the probability of our achievement of associated performance targets.
We apply the straight-line attribution method to recognize equity-based compensation expense associated with awards not subject to graded vesting. For awards subject to graded vesting and performance based awards, we recognize expense separately for each vesting tranche. We also estimate when and if performance based awards will be earned. If an award is not considered probable of being earned, no amount of expense is recognized. If the award is deemed probable of being earned, expense is recorded over the estimated service period.

plan.
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Equity Plan Activity
The following table summarizes ourstock option activity:
Number of
Shares of Class A Common Stock (#)
Weighted-
Average
Grant-
Date Fair
Value ($)
Weighted-
Average
Exercise
Price ($)
Weighted-
Average
Remaining
Contractual
Life
(in years)
Aggregate
Intrinsic
Value ($)
Outstanding at December 31, 20203,428 42.79 
Exercised(1,168)36.72 51.0 
Forfeited(261)68.77 
Outstanding at December 31, 20211,999 42.94 
Exercised(536)37.04 22.9 
Forfeited(37)72.94 
Outstanding at December 31, 20221,426 44.38 
Exercised(557)35.23 26.1 
Forfeited(24)72.28 
Outstanding at December 31, 2023845 49.60 4.147.8 
Vested at December 31, 2023843 49.54 4.147.7 
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Number of
Shares of Class A Common Stock (#)
 
Weighted-
Average
Grant-
Date Fair
Value ($)
 
Weighted-
Average
Exercise
Price ($)
 
Weighted-
Average
Remaining
Contractual
Life
(in years)
 
Aggregate
Intrinsic
Value ($)
Outstanding at December 31, 2014 26,652
   8.27
    
Granted 3,926
 9.77
 23.66
    
Exercised (1,749)   7.65
   35.5
Forfeited (1,410)   13.47
    
Outstanding at December 31, 2015 27,419
   10.25
    
Granted 2,136
 11.97
 30.93
    
Exercised (9,187)   5.99
   242.4
Forfeited (1,740)   17.25
    
Outstanding at December 31, 2016 18,628
   14.06
    
Granted 2,077
 15.07
 38.03
    
Exercised (6,000)   10.18
   187.1
Forfeited (1,245)   23.46
    
Outstanding at December 31, 2017 13,460
   18.63
 6.6 426.0
Vested at December 31, 2017 6,737
   12.72
 5.6 253.1
The following table summarizes our RSUstock award activity:
Number of
Shares of Class A Common Stock (#)
Outstanding at December 31, 2020(1)
6,133 
Granted: RSUs4,332 
Granted: TSR-based PSUs426 
Vested(2,645)
Forfeited(1,480)
Outstanding at December 31, 2021(1)
6,766 
Granted: RSUs4,369 
Granted: TSR-based PSUs246 
Vested(2,734)
Forfeited(1,015)
Outstanding at December 31, 2022(1)
7,632 
Granted: RSUs3,484 
Granted: TSR-based PSUs265 
TSR-based PSU achievement above target91 
Vested(4,215)
Forfeited(1,000)
Outstanding at December 31, 2023(1)
6,257 

(1)The balance of outstanding awards is comprised of the following:
Number of Shares of Class A Common Stock (#)Weighted Average Fair Value Per Share ($)
RSUs6,058 77.37
TSR-based PSUs558 107.05
Financial-based PSUs granted for accounting purposes75 78.62
Financial-based PSUs not yet granted for accounting purposes75 n/a
Outstanding at December 31, 20216,766 
RSUs6,890 80.32
TSR-based PSUs676 121.00
Financial-based PSUs granted for accounting purposes41 82.52
Financial-based PSUs not yet granted for accounting purposes25 n/a
Outstanding at December 31, 20227,632 
RSUs5,531 79.14
TSR-based PSUs701 119.28
Financial-based PSUs granted for accounting purposes25 77.23
Outstanding at December 31, 20236,257 
  Number of
Shares of Class A Common Stock (#)
 Weighted-
Average
Grant-
Date Fair
Value ($)
Outstanding at December 31, 2014 87
  
Granted 52
 31.50
Vested (46)  
Forfeited 
  
Outstanding at December 31, 2015 93
  
Granted 3,129
 30.98
Vested (241)  
Forfeited (224)  
Outstanding at December 31, 2016 2,757
  
Granted 2,877
 38.68
Vested (939)  
Forfeited (496)  
Outstanding at December 31, 2017 4,199
  
AtAs of December 31, 2017,2023, total unrecognized compensation expense related to non-vested stock options and RSUsequity grants was $36.6$361.9 million and $87.8 million, respectively, with an expected remaining weighted-average recognition periodsperiod of approximately 1.7 years and 2.5 years, respectively. We currently believe the performance targets related to the vesting of performance awards will be achieved. If such targets are not achieved, or are subsequently determined to not be probable of being achieved, we will not recognize any compensation expense for performance awards, and will reverse any previously recognized expense on such awards.

1.9 years.
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8.    Deferred Revenue
Deferred revenue consisted of the following:
December 31,
20232022
Current:
A&C$683.8 $622.1 
Core1,391.1 1,331.9 
$2,074.9 $1,954.0 
Noncurrent:
A&C$173.5 $173.1 
Core628.9 597.2 
$802.4 $770.3 
The increase in the deferred revenue balance is primarily driven by payments received in advance of satisfying our performance obligations, offset by $2,074.4 million of revenue recognized during 2023 that was included in the deferred revenue balance as of December 31, 2022. Deferred revenue as of December 31, 2023 represents our aggregate remaining performance obligations that will be recognized as revenue over the period in which the performance obligations are expected to be satisfied, as follows:
20242025202620272028ThereafterTotal
A&C$683.8 $121.6 $38.3 $7.8 $3.2 $2.6 $857.3 
Core1,391.1 343.1 129.9 67.4 34.6 53.9 2,020.0 
$2,074.9 $464.7 $168.2 $75.2 $37.8 $56.5 $2,877.3 
 December 31,
 2017 2016
Current:   
Domains$638.5
 $531.2
Hosting and presence444.7
 370.8
Business applications181.6
 141.5
 $1,264.8
 $1,043.5
Noncurrent:   
Domains$341.3
 $311.1
Hosting and presence183.2
 163.4
Business applications72.3
 58.2
 $596.8
 $532.7

9.    Accrued Expenses and Other Current Liabilities
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities consisted of the following:
December 31,
20232022
Accrued payroll and employee benefits$143.6 $116.3 
Tax-related accruals56.2 42.8 
Derivative liabilities46.4 4.9 
Accrued legal and professional34.2 34.3 
Current portion of operating lease liabilities29.1 33.3 
Accrued acquisition-related expenses and acquisition consideration payable20.6 26.2 
Accrued marketing and advertising12.3 13.6 
Accrued restructuring costs7.4 — 
Other92.4 85.3 
$442.2 $356.7 

110
 December 31,
 2017 2016
Derivative liabilities$206.4
 $
Accrued payroll and employee benefits98.7
 74.0
Tax-related accruals78.5
 15.8
Accrued acquisition-related expenses and acquisition consideration payable32.9
 13.4
Accrued marketing and advertising expenses10.3
 9.8
Current portion of capital lease obligation4.8
 6.9
Accrued other38.0
 23.1
 $469.6
 $143.0

10.    Long-Term Debt
Long-term debt consisted of the following:
December 31,
Maturity Date20232022
2027 Term Loans (effective interest rate of 7.4% at December 31, 2023 and 4.3% at December 31, 2022)August 10, 2027$723.8 $731.3 
2029 Term Loans (effective interest rate of 8.4% at December 31, 2023 and 4.1% at December 31, 2022)November 10, 20291,752.3 1,770.0 
2027 Senior Notes (effective interest rate of 5.4% at December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022)December 1, 2027600.0 600.0 
2029 Senior Notes (effective interest rate of 3.6% at December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022)March 1, 2029800.0 800.0 
RevolverNovember 10, 2027— — 
Total3,876.1 3,901.3 
Less: unamortized original issue discount and debt issuance costs(1)
(59.7)(70.2)
Less: current portion of long-term debt(17.9)(18.2)
$3,798.5 $3,812.9 

 December 31,
 2017 2016
Term loans (effective interest rate of 4.1% at December 31, 2017 and 4.9% at December 31, 2016)$2,482.3
 $1,072.5
Revolving Credit Loan
 
Total2,482.3
 1,072.5
Less: unamortized original issue discount on long-term debt(1)
(33.0) (30.5)
Less: unamortized debt issuance costs(1)
(21.8) (2.3)
Less: current portion of long-term debt(16.7) (4.0)
 $2,410.8
 $1,035.7
(1)(1) Original issue discount and debt issuance costs are amortized to interest expense over the life of the related debt instruments using the effective interest method.

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Credit Facility
Our amended and restated secured credit agreement (the Credit Facility) includedincludes two tranches of term loans (the 2027 Term Loans and the 2029 Term Loans, the latter of which refinanced, replaced and extended the maturity of our previously issued term loans maturing in 2024, as described below) and a $1,100.0 million original balance term loan maturing on May 13, 2021 and an available $150.0 million revolving credit loan maturing onfacility (the Revolver). A portion of the term loans is hedged by interest rate swap agreements, as discussed in Note 11.
The 2027 Term Loans were originally issued in 2020 in an aggregate principal amount of $750.0 million with a 0.5% original issue discount. The net proceeds of these loans were used to partially fund the payments associated with the settlement of our obligations under certain tax receivable agreements in 2020. In March 2021, we refinanced the 2027 Term Loans to lower the interest rate margins by 0.5% with no changes made to the maturity date or any other material terms. In May 13, 2019.
In February 2017,2023, we refinancedentered into an amendment to the Credit Facility to provide for: (i) a $1,072.5 million seven-year term loan (the Term Loan), (ii) a second $1,425.0 million tranche (the Acquisition Term Loan), which was issued on April 3, 2017 uponreplace, beginning in July 2023, the completion of our acquisition of HEG, and (iii) a $150.0 million five-year revolving credit facility, which increased to $200.0 million upon the completion of our acquisition of HEG (the Revolving Credit Loan). See Note 3 for further information regarding our acquisition of HEG.
The refinanced Term Loan was issued at a 0.25% discountbenchmark interest rate based on the face of the note at original issue for net proceeds of $1,069.8 million and matures on February 15, 2024. PursuantLondon Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) applicable to the terms of the amended credit agreement, we drew down the $1,425.0 million Acquisition2027 Term Loan upon completion of the HEG acquisition. This loan was issued atLoans with a 0.25% discount at original issue for net proceeds of $1,421.4 million and has the same maturity date andbenchmark interest rate as the Term Loan. A portion of the Acquisition Term Loan is hedged by an interest rate swap. See Note 11 for discussion of this hedging instrument and its impactbased on the interestforward-looking secured overnight financing rate associated with this loan.
(SOFR) plus a credit spread adjustment. The refinanced Revolving Credit Loan matures on February 15, 2022 and bears2027 Term Loans bear interest at a rate equal to, at our option, either (a) LIBORSOFR together with a credit spread adjustment for the applicable interest period plus a margin ranging from 2.00% to 2.50%of 2.0% per annum or (b) a margin of 1.0% per annum plus the higherhighest of (i) the Federal Funds Rate plus 0.5%, (ii) the Prime Rate or (iii) one-month LIBORSOFR for an interest period of one month plus 1.0%.
In November 2022, we amended our Credit Facility to provide for a new $1,770.0 million tranche of term loans maturing in 2029 (the 2029 Term Loans), the proceeds of which were used to refinance all of the outstanding previously issued term loans maturing in 2024. The 2029 Term Loans were originally issued with a 2.0% original issue discount and bore interest at a range of margins determined based on the first lien secured leverage ratio. In July 2023, we refinanced the 2029 Term Loans to lower the interest rate margin with no changes to the maturity date or any other material terms. The refinanced loans were issued at par and subsequent to the July 2023 refinancing, the 2029 Term Loans bear interest at a rate equal to, at our option, either (a) SOFR for the applicable interest period plus a margin of 2.5% per annum or (b) a margin of 1.5% per annum plus the highest of (i) the Federal Funds Rate plus 0.5%, (ii) the Prime Rate or (iii) SOFR for an interest period of one month plus 1.0%. With respect to the November 2022 refinancing, aggregate fees paid to lenders of $9.3 million were recorded as additional discount, and we recognized a loss on debt extinguishment of $3.3 million. With respect to the July 2023 refinancing, aggregate fees paid to lenders of $1.2 million were recorded as additional discount, and we recognized a loss on debt extinguishment of $1.5 million.
In November 2022, we also increased the borrowing capacity under our Revolver from $600.0 million to $1,000.0 million under a new revolving credit facility maturing in November 2027. In connection with this transaction, we capitalized
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aggregate fees of $4.1 million as debt issuance costs as well as recognized a loss on debt extinguishment of $0.3 million. The Revolver bears interest at a rate equal to, at our option, either (a) SOFR for the applicable interest period plus a margin ranging from 1.25% to 1.75% per annum or (b) the highest of (i) the Federal Funds Rate plus 0.5%, (ii) the Prime Rate or (iii) SOFR for an interest period of one month plus 1.0% plus a margin ranging from 1.00%0.25% to 1.50%0.75% per annum, with the margins determined based on our first lien netsecured leverage ratio. The refinanced Revolving Credit LoanRevolver also contains a financial covenant requiring us to maintain a maximum net leverage ratio of 5.75:1.00 when our usage exceeds 35.0%40.0% of the maximum capacity. The net leverageThis ratio is calculated as the ratio of first lien secured debt less cash and cash equivalents to consolidated EBITDA (as defined in the Credit Facility).
In November 2017, we refinancedAll SOFR-based interest rates under the Credit Facility such that borrowings underare subject to a 0.0% floor.
Principal payments comprising 0.25% of the term loans bear interest at a rate equal to, at our option, either (a) LIBOR plus 2.25% per annum or (b) 1.25% per annum plus the highest of (i) the Federal Funds Rate plus 0.5%, (ii) the Prime Rate or (iii) one-month LIBOR plus 1.0%. In addition, the refinancing allows for an additional 0.25% reduction in the interest rate margins upon improvement in our corporate credit rating. The maturity dateinitial principal balances of the term loans was unchanged.
In evaluating the above refinancings, we compared the net present value cash flows of the previous instruments and the refinanced instruments to determine whether the terms of the new debt and original instruments were "substantially different" on a creditor-by-creditor basis. In each case, certain of the creditors in the loan syndication did not reinvest in the refinanced debt, and we accounted for their proportionate share of the unamortized original issue discount and deferred financing costs as an aggregate $2.0 million loss on debt extinguishment. As the cash flows for all of the continuing creditors varied by less than 10% between the old and new instruments, we concluded that debt modification accounting was appropriate and aggregate fees paid to the lenders of $3.7 million were recorded as additional discount. In addition, $3.3 million in aggregate fees paid to third parties were recorded as general and administrative expense.
are due quarterly. In addition to paying interest on the outstanding principal under the term loans, we are required to pay a commitment fee ofranging from 0.125% to 0.375% per annum for any unutilized commitments under the Revolving Credit Loan.Revolver, with the applicable fee determined based on our first lien secured leverage ratio.
Significant terms of the refinanced Credit Facility are as follows:
we are required to prepay outstanding term loans, subject to certain exceptions, with percentages of excess cash flow, proceeds of non-ordinary course asset sales or dispositions of property, insurance or condemnation proceeds and proceeds from the incurrence of certain debt;
we are restricted by certain covenants, including, among other things, limitations on our ability to incur additional indebtedness, sell assets, incur additional liens, make certain fundamental changes, pay distributions and make certain investments; and
we are requiredsubject to maintain certain financial ratios;exceptions and
exclusions, all obligations are unconditionally guaranteed by all of our wholly-owned, material domestic subsidiaries and isare secured by substantially all of our and such subsidiaries real and personal property.

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In April 2015, we made a payment of $75.0 million to repay all amounts drawn on the Revolving Credit Loan. At December 31, 2017,2023, we have $200.0had $998.8 million available for borrowing under the Revolving Credit Loan, andRevolver as $1.2 million has been used to secure the issuance of standby letters of credit. We were not in violation of any covenants of the Credit Facility.Facility as of December 31, 2023.
Senior Notes
In June 2019, we issued the 2027 Senior Notes in an aggregate principal amount of $600.0 million in a private placement offering to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The 2027 Senior Notes were issued at par and bear interest at 5.25% per annum, with interest payable semiannually on June 1 and December 1. The aggregate principal amount outstanding is payable at maturity, subject to earlier repurchase or optional redemption as described below.
The 2027 Senior Notes are redeemable at our option, in whole or in part, at an amount equal to 102.625% of the principal amount, decreasing to 101.75% at June 1, 2023, 100.875% at June 1, 2024 and 100.0% at June 1, 2025, plus accrued and unpaid interest. Upon the occurrence of a change of control, we are required to offer to repurchase the 2027 Senior Notes from the holders at a price equal to 101.0% of the principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest.
In February 2021, we issued the 2029 Senior Notes in an aggregate principal amount of $800.0 million in a private placement offering to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The 2029 Senior Notes were issued at par and bear interest at 3.5% per annum, payable annually on March 1 and September 1. The aggregate principal is payable at maturity, subject to earlier repurchase or optional redemption as described below. In conjunction with the issuance of the 2029 Senior Notes, we capitalized $9.0 million in debt issuance costs.
The 2029 Senior Notes are redeemable at our option, in whole or in part, any time prior to March 1, 2024 at a redemption price equal to 100.0% of the principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest, plus an applicable premium equal to the greater of 1.0% or the remaining scheduled payments of interest discounted to a present value amount. In the event of an equity offering prior to March 1, 2024, the 2029 Senior Notes may be partially redeemed with the net cash proceeds of such offering at our option at an amount equal to 103.5% of the principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest. On and after March 1, 2024, we may redeem the 2029 Senior Notes, in whole or in part, at an amount equal to 101.75% of the principal
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amount, decreasing to 100.875% at March 1, 2025 and 100.0% at March 1, 2026, plus accrued and unpaid interest. Upon the occurrence of a change of control, we are required to offer to repurchase the Senior Notes from the holders at a price equal to 101.0% of the principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest.
Significant terms of the 2027 Senior Notes and 2029 Senior Notes are as follows:
they are subordinated to our existing secured debt, including the Credit Facility, and any future secured debt we may issue;
all obligations are unconditionally guaranteed by all of our material domestic subsidiaries;
we are restricted by certain covenants, including limitations on our ability to incur additional indebtedness, incur additional liens, consolidate with or merge with or into another entity and sell substantially all of our assets; and
certain covenants may be suspended if we are able to obtain and maintain investment grade ratings and no event of default has occurred.
At December 31, 2023, we were not in violation of any covenants of the 2027 Senior Notes or the 2029 Senior Notes.
Fair Value
The estimated fair valuevalues of the term loans was $2,488.5 million at December 31, 2017our long-term debt instruments are based on observable market prices for these loans,instruments, which are traded in a less active marketmarkets and therefore classified as a Level 2 fair value measurement.measurements, and were as follows as of December 31, 2023:
Bridge Loan
On April 3, 2017, we entered into a credit agreement pursuant to which we borrowed an aggregate principal amount of €500 million (approximately $533.0 million on the date of issuance) (the Bridge Loan) in connection with the HEG acquisition. Following the sale of PlusServer on August 31, 2017, as further discussed in Note 4, we prepaid the Bridge Loan in its entirety and the underlying bridge credit agreement was canceled. Accordingly, we recognized a $5.3 million loss on debt extinguishment, representing the remaining unamortized original issue discount and debt issuance costs on this loan. As the Bridge Loan was contractually required to be repaid with any proceeds received from the sale of PlusServer, interest expense attributable to the Bridge Loan of $12.4 million in 2017 was recorded within discontinued operations.
Senior Note Repayment
In April 2015, we made a payment to YAM totaling $316.0 million to repay a senior note, consisting of principal of $300.0 million, prepayment premium of $13.5 million, which was recorded as a loss on debt extinguishment, and accrued interest of $2.5 million. Additionally, in connection with the repayment, $7.9 million of unamortized original issue discount and deferred financing costs were recorded as a loss on debt extinguishment. Following this payment, the senior note was canceled.
2027 Term Loans$726.0 
2029 Term Loans$1,760.0 
2027 Senior Notes$589.5 
2029 Senior Notes$729.0 
Future Debt Maturities
Aggregate principal payments, exclusive of any unamortized original issue discount and debt issuance costs, due on long-term debt as of December 31, 2017 are2023 were as follows:
Year Ending December 31:
2024$25.1 
202525.1 
202625.1 
20271,318.9 
202817.6 
Thereafter2,464.3 
$3,876.1 

Year Ending December 31: 
2018$25.0
201925.0
202025.0
202125.0
202225.0
Thereafter2,357.3
 $2,482.3
11.     Derivatives and Hedging
We are exposed to changes in foreign currency exchange rates, primarily relating to intercompany debt and certain forecasted sales transactions denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, as well as to changes in interest rates as a result of our variable-rate debt. Consequently, we use derivative financial instruments to manage and mitigate such risk. We do not enter into derivative transactions for speculative or trading purposes.

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We utilize the following derivative instruments designated as cash flow hedges:
foreign exchange forward contracts to hedge certain forecasted sales transactions denominated in foreign currencies;
cross-currency swaps used to manage variability due to movements in foreign currency exchange rates related to a Euro-denominated intercompany loan; and
pay-fixed rate, receive-floating rate interest rate swaps to effectively convert portions of our variable-rate debt to fixed.
We also utilize cross-currency swaps designated as net investment hedges to mitigate the risk associated with exchange rate fluctuations on our net investment in certain foreign operations.
The following table summarizes our outstanding derivative instruments on a gross basis, all of which are considered Level 2 financial instruments:
Notional Amount
Fair Value of Derivative Assets(2)
Fair Value of Derivative Liabilities(2)
December 31, 2023December 31, 2022December 31, 2023December 31, 2022December 31, 2023December 31, 2022
Cash flow hedges:
Foreign exchange forward contracts(1)
$592.1 $364.7 $1.4 $9.4 $14.7 $2.0 
Cross-currency swaps(2)
560.8 549.7 — 15.8 13.9 2.2 
Interest rate swaps1,959.7 1,980.5 127.2 173.0 — — 
Net investment hedges:
Cross-currency swaps(3)
718.8 704.6 — 20.3 17.8 0.7 
Total hedges$3,831.4 $3,599.5 $128.6 $218.5 $46.4 $4.9 

(1) The notional amount includes $1.0 million of foreign exchange forward contracts not designated as cash flow hedges, on a gross basis:the aggregate fair value of which was $1.2 million at December 31, 2023.
(2) The notional values of the cross-currency swap have been translated from Euros to U.S. dollars at the foreign currency rates in effect at December 31, 2023 and 2022 of approximately 1.1 and 1.07, respectively.
 Notional Amount Derivative Assets Derivative Liabilities
 December 31, 2017 December 31, 2016 December 31, 2017 December 31, 2016 December 31, 2017 December 31, 2016
     
Balance Sheet Location(2)
Fair Value 
Balance Sheet Location(2)
Fair Value 
Balance Sheet Location(2)
Fair Value 
Balance Sheet Location(2)
Fair Value
Derivative Instrument:               
Level 2:               
Foreign exchange forward contracts$241.3
 $
 PP$
 PP$0.7
 ACC$4.4
 ACC$0.1
Cross-currency swap (1)
1,478.3
 
 PP
 PP
 ACC182.9
 ACC
Interest rate swap1,315.5
 
 PP
 PP
 ACC19.1
 ACC
     Total hedges$3,035.1
 $
  $
  $0.7
  $206.4
  $0.1
(3) In our balance sheets, all derivative assets are recorded within prepaid expenses and other current assets and all derivative liabilities are recorded within accrued expenses and other current liabilities.
(1)The notional value for the cross-currency swap reflects €1,234.0 million translated to U.S. dollar at the foreign currency rate in effect at December 31, 2017 of approximately 1.20.
(2)PP = Prepaid expenses and other current assets; ACC = Accrued expenses and other current liabilities.
The following table summarizes the effect of our designated cash flow hedging derivative instrumentsrelationships on AOCI:
Unrealized Gains (Losses) Recognized in Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)
Year Ended December 31,
202320222021
Cash flow hedges:
Foreign exchange forward contracts(1)
$(29.8)$24.3 $16.3 
Cross-currency swap(12.8)54.0 (15.5)
Interest rate swaps(46.3)158.3 48.4 
Net investment hedges:
Cross-currency swaps(38.1)20.3 — 
Total hedges$(127.0)$256.9 $49.2 

(1) Amounts include gains and losses realized upon contract settlement but not yet recognized into earnings from AOCI.
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 Unrealized Gains (Losses) Recognized in Other Comprehensive Income
 Year Ended December 31,
 2017 2016 2015
Derivative Instrument:     
Foreign exchange forward contracts(1)
$(9.3) $(0.4) $3.4
Cross-currency swap(20.1) 
 
Interest rate swap(19.1) 
 
     Total hedges$(48.5) $(0.4) $3.4
(1)Amounts include gains and losses realized upon contract settlement but not yet recognized into earnings from AOCI.

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The following table summarizes the locations and amounts of gains (losses) recognized within earnings related to our cash flow hedging relationships:
Year Ended December 31,
202320222021
RevenueInterest ExpenseOther Income (Expense), NetRevenueInterest ExpenseOther Income (Expense), NetRevenueInterest ExpenseOther Income (Expense), Net
Cash flow hedges:
Foreign exchange forward contracts:
Reclassified from AOCI into income$16.3 $— $— $5.3 $— $(8.9)$— 
Cross-currency swaps:
Reclassified from AOCI into income(1)
— 9.6 (17.0)— 14.9 41.5 — 27.3 100.6 
Interest rate swaps:
Reclassified from AOCI into income— 66.4 — — (5.0)— — (35.0)— 
Net investment hedges:
Cross-currency swaps:
Reclassified from AOCI into income— 12.5 — — 11.3 — — — 
Total hedges$16.3 $88.5 $(17.0)$5.3 $21.2 $41.5 $(8.9)$(7.7)$100.6 

(1) The amounts reflected in other income (expense), net include $16.8 million, $(41.3) million and $(101.8) million reclassified from AOCI to offset the earnings impact of the remeasurement of the Euro-denominated intercompany loan hedged by the cross-currency swap during 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
 Year Ended December 31,
 2017 2016 2015
 Revenue Interest Expense Other Income (Expense), Net Revenue Interest Expense Other Income (Expense), Net Revenue Interest Expense Other Income (Expense), Net
Foreign Exchange Forward Contracts:                 
Reclassified from AOCI into income$0.8
 $
 $
 $1.8
 $
 $
 $
 $
 $
Cross-Currency Swap:                 
Reclassified from AOCI into income (1)

 21.6
 (163.8) 
 
 
 
 
 
Interest Rate Swap:                 
Reclassified from AOCI into income
 (12.8) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
     Total hedges$0.8
 $8.8
 $(163.8) $1.8
 $
 $
 $
 $
 $
(1)The amount reflected in other income (expense), net for 2017 includes $162.8 million reclassified from AOCI to offset the earnings impact of the remeasurement of the Euro-denominated intercompany loan hedged by the cross-currency swap.
As of December 31, 2017,2023, we estimate that approximately $11.0$99.0 million of net deferred gains related to our cash flowdesignated hedges will be recognized in earnings over the next 12 months. No amounts werehave been excluded from our hedge effectiveness testing during any of the periods presented.testing.
Risk Management Strategies
Foreign Exchange Forward Contracts
WeFrom time-to-time, we may enter into foreign exchange forward contracts with financial institutions to hedge certain forecasted sales transactions denominated in foreign currency.currencies. We designate these forward contracts as cash flow hedges, which are recognized as either assets or liabilities at fair value. At December 31, 2017, the total notional amount of2023, all such contracts was $241.3 million, all havinghad maturities of twelve24 months or less.
Cross-Currency Swap ContractSwaps
In April 2017, in order to manage variability due to movements in foreign currency rates related to a Euro-denominated intercompany loan, we entered into five-year cross-currency swap arrangementswaps. In March 2022, we entered into a transaction to extend the maturity of these swaps to August 31, 2027. We and the existing counterparties executed cancellation agreements to terminate all rights, obligations and liabilities associated with the original swaps. On the modification date, the existing cash flow hedging relationships were de-designated and new hedging relationships incorporating the terms of the new swaps (the 2022 Cross-Currency Swap).Swaps) were designated as either cash flow hedging relationships or net investment hedging relationships. The 2022 Cross-Currency Swap, which matures on April 3, 2022,Swaps had an aggregate amortizing notional amount of €1,243.3€1,184.2 million at inception (approximately $1,325.4$1,262.5 million). It convertsThe swaps designated as cash flow hedging relationships convert the 3.00% fixed rate Euro-denominated interest and principal receipts on the intercompany loan into fixed U.S. dollar interest and principal receipts at a fixed rate of 5.44%4.81%. The swaps designated as net investment hedging relationships hedge the foreign currency exposure of our net investment in certain Euro denominated functional currency subsidiaries. Pursuant to the contract,contracts, the Euro notional value will be exchanged for the U.S. dollar notional value at maturity. The Cross-Currency Swap has been designated as a cash flow hedge. Accordingly, it is recognized as an asset or liability at fair value and the unrealized gains and losses on the contract are included in gain (loss) on swaps and foreign currency hedging, net within AOCI. Gains and losses are reclassified to interest income or expense over the period the hedged loan affects earnings. As such, amounts recorded in other comprehensive income (loss) (OCI) will be recognized in earnings within or against interest expense when the hedged interest payment is accrued each month. In addition, an amount is reclassified from AOCI to other income (expense), net each reporting period to offset the earnings impact
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Interest Rate Swap ContractSwaps
In April 2017, in connection with the closing of the Acquisition Term Loan, we entered into a five-year pay-fixed rate, receive-floating rate interest rate swap arrangement (the Interest Rate Swap) to effectively convert a portion of the variable-rate debtborrowings under the previously issued term loans maturing in 2024, which were refinanced with the 2029 Term Loans, to fixed. Thea fixed rate of 5.44%. In March 2022, we entered into a transaction to extend the maturity of the swaps to August 31, 2027. We and the existing counterparties executed cancellation agreements to terminate all rights, obligations and liabilities associated with the original swaps. On the modification date, the existing cash flow hedging relationships were de-designated and new hedging relationships incorporating the terms of the new interest rate swaps (the 2022 Interest Rate Swap,Swaps) were designated. The 2022 Interest Rate Swaps, which matures on April 3, 2022, had an amortizing notional amount of $1,325.4$1,262.5 million at inception,

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and swaps the variable interest rate on our LIBOR-basedvariable-rate borrowings forunder the 2029 Term Loans to a fixed rate of 5.44%4.81%. In November 2022, in conjunction with the concurrent Credit Facility refinancing discussed in Note 10, we terminated these swaps and entered into new SOFR-based interest rate swaps. This modification impacted no critical terms other than the reference rate change from LIBOR to SOFR and thus had no impact on our hedging relationships or financial statements.
In August 2020, in conjunction with the issuance of the 2027 Term Loans, we entered into seven-year pay-fixed rate, receive-floating rate interest rate swaps to effectively convert the variable one-month LIBOR interest rate on the 2027 Term Loans borrowings to a fixed rate of 0.705%. These interest rate swaps, which mature on August 10, 2027, had an aggregate notional amount of $750.0 million at inception. In May 2023, in conjunction with the concurrent Credit Facility amendment discussed in Note 10, we terminated these swaps and entered into new SOFR-based interest rate swaps. This modification impacted no critical terms other than the reference rate change from LIBOR to SOFR and thus had no impact on our hedging relationships or financial statements.
The objective of the Interest Rate Swap,these arrangements, which isare designated as a cash flow hedgehedges and recognized as an assetassets or liabilityliabilities at fair value, is to manage the variability of cash flows in the interest payments related to the portion of the variable-rate debt designated as being hedged. The unrealized gains and losses on the contractswaps are included in gain (loss) on swapsAOCI and foreign currency hedging, net within AOCI. Amounts recorded in OCI will be recognized in earnings within or against interest expense when the hedged interest payment ispayments are accrued each month.
12.     Commitments and Contingencies
Lease Financing Obligation
In April 2013, we entered into an 11-year lease agreement for new office space in Tempe, Arizona under which we occupied the total available space commencing in September 2014. The lease agreement allowed for rent abatement during the first full year, with rent payments of $0.3 million per month thereafter, consisting of both base rent and a tenant improvement allowance. The lease provides us with two consecutive options to extend the term for five years each. In the event we choose to extend the term of the lease, the monthly rent for each additional term will be based on 95% of the then-prevailing market rate.
As a result of our involvement during the construction period, we were considered to be the owner of the construction project for accounting purposes. Upon completion of construction in September 2014, we did not meet the sale-leaseback criteria for derecognition of the building assets and liabilities; therefore, we were required to record an asset representing the total cost of the building paid by the lessor and the lease is accounted for as a financing obligation. We capitalized $18.1 million of construction costs incurred by the lessor, which are being depreciated over an estimated useful life of 40 years. Rent payments are treated as principal and interest payments on the lease financing obligation, with an amount recorded as estimated land lease expense each period. The lease financing obligation at the end of the lease term will approximate the net book value of the building to be relinquished to the lessor. As of December 31, 2017, the lease financing obligation totaled $19.6 million, of which $19.4 million is included in other long-term liabilities.
Future minimum payments under this lease as of December 31, 2017 are as follows:
Year Ending December 31: 
2018$3.2
20193.2
20203.5
20213.6
20223.6
Thereafter8.4
 $25.5
Leases
We leaseOur operating leases primarily consist of office space,and data center space (including commitments for specified levels of power) and certain computer equipment under non-cancelable operating and capital leases expiring at various dates through March 2028. TotalOctober 2034. Certain leases include options to renew or terminate at our discretion. Our lease agreements do not contain any material residual value guarantees or material restrictive covenants. As of December 31, 2023, operating leases have a remaining weighted average lease term of 6.5 years and our operating lease rentliabilities were measured using a weighted average discount rate of 5.5%.
The components of operating lease expense was $38.3 million, $43.3 millionwere as follows:
Year Ended December 31,
202320222021
Operating lease costs$36.8 $44.5 $48.2 
Variable lease costs14.7 12.0 10.4 
Sublease income(14.2)(8.3)(4.3)
Total net lease cost$37.3 $48.2 $54.3 
We recognized impairment charges related to certain operating lease assets during 2022 and $42.2 million during 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

2021 as discussed in Note 14.
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Future minimumMaturities of operating lease obligations under capital leases and non-cancelable operating leases with initial terms in excessliabilities as of one year at December 31, 2017 are2023 were as follows:
Year Ending December 31:
2024$34.7 
202523.3 
202619.9 
202714.7 
20289.5 
Thereafter39.0 
Total lease payments141.1 
Less: imputed interest(21.8)
Total operating lease liabilities$119.3 
Year Ending December 31: Capital
Leases
 Operating
Leases
2018 $5.1
 $28.8
2019 3.5
 24.7
2020 1.1
 17.4
2021 
 14.6
2022 
 12.5
Thereafter 
 41.7
Total minimum payments 9.7
 $139.7
Less: amount representing interest (0.4)  
Capital lease obligation $9.3
  
13.    Commitments and Contingencies
Service Agreements
We have entered into long-term agreements with certain vendors to provide for software and equipment maintenance, specified levels of bandwidth and other services. Under these arrangements, we are required to make periodic payments. Future minimum obligations under these non-cancelable agreements with initial terms in excess of one year at December 31, 20172023 are as follows:
Year Ending December 31: 
2018$27.6
201915.9
20207.7
20214.9
20221.9
Thereafter1.3
Total minimum payments$59.3
Year Ending December 31:
2024$169.0 
2025127.3 
2026101.1 
2027116.6 
202815.9 
Thereafter2.5 
$532.4 
Litigation
From time-to-time, we are a party to litigation and subject to claims, incidental to oursuits, regulatory and government investigation, other proceedings and consent decrees in the ordinary course of business, including patent infringement litigationintellectual property claims, putative and trademark infringement claims, as well as putativecertified class actions, commercial and consumer protection claims, labor and employment claims, breach of contract claims and other asserted and unasserted claims. We investigate claims as they arise and accrue estimates for resolution of legal and other contingencies when losses are probable and reasonably estimable.
On June 13, 2019, we entered into an agreement in principle to settle the class action complaint, Jason Bennett v. GoDaddy.com (Case No. 2:16-cv-03908-DLR) (D. Ariz.), filed on June 20, 2016. The complaint alleges violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (the TCPA). On September 23, 2019, the parties fully executed a written settlement agreement. On December 16, 2019, we amended the settlement agreement to include two additional putative class action cases, which also alleged violations of the TCPA: John Herrick v. GoDaddy.com, LLC (Case No. 2:16-cv-00254 (D. Ariz.), appeal pending 18-16048 (9th Cir.)) and Susan Drazen v. GoDaddy.com, LLC (Case No 19-cv-00563) (S.D. Ala.). In 2019, we recorded an $18.1 million charge to general and administrative expense, representing our original estimated loss provision for this settlement.
Under the terms of the final settlement agreement, we made available a total of up to $35.0 million to pay: (i) class members, at their election, either a cash settlement or a credit to be used for future purchases of products from us; (ii) an incentive payment to the class representatives; (iii) notice and administration costs in connection with the settlement; and (iv) attorneys' fees to legal counsel representing the class.
On April 22, 2020, the parties filed statements in response to a request from the S.D. Ala. Court (the Court) to refine the class definition, resulting in a reduction in the total number of class members from the original estimated class. On May 14,
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2020, the Court granted approval of the plaintiffs' unopposed motion for preliminary certification of the settlement class, subject to the parties' execution of an amended settlement agreement to remove John Herrick as a class representative. The parties executed such amendment on May 26, 2020, and on June 9, 2020, the Court granted preliminary approval of the final settlement agreement. The Court's order also set October 7, 2020 as the deadline for class members to submit claims and December 14, 2020 as the hearing date regarding final approval of the settlement.
On September 1, 2020, the Court issued an amended order reducing the attorneys' fees to be paid to legal counsel representing the class. Additionally, the actual number of claims made by class members through the October 7, 2020 deadline was lower than our original estimates.
On December 23, 2020, the Court issued a final judgment and order approving the class settlement, which further reduced the attorneys' fees to be paid to legal counsel representing the class and denied the plaintiffs' request for an incentive payment. Additionally, the actual notice and administration costs were lower than originally estimated.
As a result of the above developments, during 2020, we recorded a cumulative $10.0 million reduction to general and administrative expense, lowering our estimated loss provision for this settlement to $8.1 million as of December 31, 2020.
On January 19, 2021, a single objector to the settlement filed a notice of appeal to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which remains pending as of the date of this filing. We made no changes to our estimated loss provision for this settlement during 2021. The timing of any settlement payments is pending resolution of the appeal.
On July 27, 2022, the 11th Circuit vacated the settlement approval order and remanded the case for further action due to standing issues among the class members. On August 18, 2022, the plaintiffs filed a petition for a rehearing before the 11th Circuit. On December 7, 2022, the 11th Circuit was notified of the death of one of the plaintiffs, Jason Bennett. On March 13, 2023, the 11th Circuit granted the plaintiffs' petition for a rehearing before the 11th Circuit; the rehearing occurred on June 13, 2023. On July 24, 2023, the en banc 11th Circuit reversed the 11th Circuit's July 27, 2022 decision and remanded the appeal to the 11th Circuit for further action. Given the pending nature of the appeal, we have not adjusted our estimated loss provision for this settlement as of December 31, 2023.
We have denied and continue to deny the allegations in the complaints. Nothing in the final settlement agreement shall be deemed to assign or reflect any admission of fault, wrongdoing or liability, or of the appropriateness of a class action in such litigation. We received a full release from the settlement class concerning the claims asserted, or that could have been asserted, with respect to the claims released in the final settlement agreement. Our legal fees associated with this matter have been recorded to general and administrative expense as incurred and were not material.
In March 2020, we discovered that a threat actor group had compromised the hosting login credentials of certain of our customers to their hosting accounts and the login credentials of a small number of our personnel. We have expended resources investigating and responding to this activity, notified the impacted customers, reported the activity to applicable regulatory authorities, and are responding to requests for information regarding our data privacy and security practices, including from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) pursuant to Civil Investigative Demands issued in July 2020 and October 2021. The timing of resolution and the outcome of these matters are uncertain and could result in us being subject to substantial monetary or other costs to our business.
The amounts currently accrued for suchother matters are not material. While the results of such normal course claims and legal proceedings, regardless of the underlying nature of the claims, cannot be predicted with certainty, management does not believe,believes, based on current knowledge and the likely timing of resolution of various matters, any additional reasonably possible potential losses above the amounts accrued for such matters would not be material. RegardlessHowever, the outcomes of the final outcomes,claims, legal proceedings or investigations are inherently unpredictable and subject to uncertainty, and may have an adverse effect on us because of defense costs, diversion of management resources and other factors.factors that are not known to us or cannot be quantified at this time. We may also receive unfavorable preliminary or interim rulings in the course of litigation, and there can be no assurances that favorable final outcomes will be obtained. The final outcome of any current or future claims or lawsuits could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. We periodically evaluate developments in our legal matters that could affect the amount of liability that has been previously accrued or the reasonably possible losses that we have disclosed, and make adjustments as appropriate.
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Indemnifications
In the normal course of business, we have made indemnities under which we may be required to make payments in relation to certain transactions, including to our directors and officers to the maximum extent permitted under applicable state laws and indemnifications related to certain lease agreements. In addition, certain advertiser and reseller partner agreements contain indemnification provisions, which are generally consistent with those prevalent in the industry. We have not incurred material obligations under indemnification provisions historically, and do not expect to incur material obligations in the future. Accordingly, we have not recorded any liabilities related to such indemnities as of December 31, 20172023 and 2016.2022.
We include service level commitments to our customers guaranteeing certain levels of uptime reliability and performance for our hosting and premium DNS products. These guarantees permit those customers to receive credits in the

112



event we fail to meet those levels, with exceptions for certain service interruptions including but not limited to periodic maintenance. We have not incurred any material costs as a result of such commitments during any of the periods presented, and have not recorded any liabilities related to such obligations as of December 31, 20172023 and 2016.2022.
Indirect Taxes
We are subject to indirect taxation in some, but not all, of the various states and foreign jurisdictions in which we conduct business. Laws and regulations attempting to subject communications and commerce conducted over the Internet to various indirect taxes are becoming more prevalent, both in the U.S. and internationally, and may impose additional burdens on us in the future. Increased regulation could negatively affect our business directly, as well as the businesses of our customers. Taxing authorities may impose indirect taxes on the Internet-related revenue we generate based on regulations currently being applied to similar, but not directly comparable, industries. There are many transactions and calculations where the ultimate indirect tax determination is uncertain. In addition, domestic and international indirect taxation laws are complex and subject to change. We may be audited in the future, which could result in changes to our indirect tax estimates. We continually evaluate those jurisdictions in which nexus exists, and believe we maintain adequate indirect tax accruals.
As of December 31, 20172023 and 2016,2022, our accrual for estimated indirect tax liabilities was $18.8$23.6 million and $6.1$18.9 million, respectively, reflecting our best estimate of the probable liability based on an analysis of our business activities, revenues subject to indirect taxes and applicable regulations. Although we believe our indirect tax estimates and associated liabilities are reasonable, the final determination of indirect tax audits, litigation or settlements could be materially different than the amounts established for indirect tax contingencies. Due
14.    Restructuring and Other Charges and Disposition of Businesses and Related Assets
In February 2023, we announced a restructuring plan to reduce future operating expenses and improve cash flows through a combination of a reduction in force and a commitment to sell certain assets. As part of this plan, we announced a reduction in our workforce of approximately 550 employees, representing approximately 8% of our total employee base at the time. In conjunction with this restructuring, we recorded $35.1 million of pre-tax restructuring charges in our statement of operations related to severance, employee benefits and equity-based compensation. Of the $35.1 million of pre-tax restructuring charges, $10.1 million and $18.5 million were recognized within our A&C and Core segment, respectively, and $6.5 million was recognized as corporate overhead. In addition, we recognized a pre-tax loss of $16.5 million upon the completion of the planned disposition of certain assets and liabilities of our hosting business within our Core segment, which occurred on June 30, 2023.
During the three months ended September 30, 2023, we implemented additional restructuring activities to further reduce operating expenses and improve cash flows through a reduction in force, which impacted approximately 250 employees. In conjunction with these restructuring efforts, we recognized $13.4 million of pre-tax restructuring charges in our statement of operations related to severance and employee benefits during 2023. Of the $13.4 million of pre-tax restructuring charges, $2.1 million and $10.0 million were recognized within our A&C and Core segment, respectively, and $1.3 million was recognized as corporate overhead.
Cash payments of $38.7 million related to the complexityrestructuring activities described above were made during 2023. We expect to make substantially all remaining restructuring payments by the end of the second quarter of 2024.
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The following table shows the total amount incurred and uncertainty surrounding indirect tax lawsthe accrued restructuring costs, which are recorded in certain international locations, we believe it is reasonably possible, based on currently available informationaccrued expenses and analysis, that we may incur additional losses related to indirect taxes, which management estimates to be within the range of $0 to $10.0 millionother current liabilities in our balance sheet, for severance and employee benefits as of December 31, 2017.2023:
Accrued Restructuring Costs
Accrued restructuring costs as of December 31, 2022$— 
Restructuring costs incurred(1)
46.1 
Amount paid(38.7)
Accrued restructuring costs as of December 31, 2023$7.4 
________________________________
13.(1)Excludes $2.3 million in equity-based compensation expense associated with our restructuring plan, which was recorded within additional paid-in capital.
During 2023, we also recorded a charge of $17.0 million in our statement of operations related to the termination of a revenue sharing agreement. This termination fee was paid in full during the year.
Restructuring and other during 2022 of $15.7 million primarily includes the impairment and loss on disposition of certain assets.
During 2021, we recorded other charges and credits, which included (i) the $15.4 million gain on sale of the land and buildings of our former corporate headquarters and (ii) a $15.1 million charge due to the impairment of certain operating lease assets and related leasehold improvements associated with the decision to close one of our leased offices.
15.     Defined Contribution Plan
We maintain defined contribution 401(k) plans covering eligible U.S. employees, who may contribute up to 100% of their compensation, subject to limitations established by the Internal Revenue Code. We match employee contributions on a discretionary basis. Expense for our matching contributions was $9.9$15.8 million, $8.5$15.9 million and $8.6$15.0 million during 2017, 20162023, 2022 and 2015,2021, respectively.
We maintain defined contribution benefit plans covering eligible foreign employees. Expense related to such plans was not material in any period presented.
14.16.    Income Taxes
Overview
We are subject to U.S. federal, state and foreign income taxes with respect to our allocable share of any taxable income or loss of Desert Newco, as well as any stand-alone income or loss we generate. Desert Newco has been and will continue to beis treated as a partnership for U.S. income tax purposes, and for most applicable state and local income tax purposes. As such, Desert Newco is considered a pass-through entitypurposes, and generally does not pay income taxes on its taxable income in most jurisdictions. Instead, Desert Newco's taxable income or loss is passed through to and included in the taxable income or loss of its members, including us. Despite its partnership treatment, Desert Newco is liable for income taxes in certain foreign jurisdictions in which it operates, in those states not recognizing its pass-through status and for certain of its subsidiaries not taxed as pass-through entities. We have acquired the outstanding stock of various domestic and foreign entities taxed as corporations, which are now owned 100%wholly-owned by us or our subsidiaries. Where required or allowed, these subsidiaries also file and pay tax as a consolidated group for U.S. federal and state income tax purposes and internationally, primarily within the United Kingdom (UK), Germany and Germany. We anticipate thisIndia. As discussed in Note 1, in December 2023, we completed the DNC Restructure to simplify our entity structure to remain in existence for the foreseeable future.
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017
On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the TCJA)as a result on January 1, 2024, Desert Newco was signed into law making significant changes to the Internal Revenue Code. Changes include, but are not limitedconverted from a partnership to a disregarded entity for U.S. federal corporateincome tax rate decrease from 35%purposes. As a result of the DNC Restructure, we expect to 21% effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, the transition of U.S international taxation from a worldwide tax system to a territorial systemadjust certain temporary differences on existing assets and liabilities which will result in a one-time transitionnon-cash income tax onbenefit in the mandatory deemed repatriationfirst quarter of cumulative foreign earnings. We have calculated the impact of the TCJA in accordance with our understanding of the TCJA and guidance available

2024.
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120


as of the date of this filing, as shown below. The one-time transition tax on the mandatory deemed repatriation of foreign earnings had no effect on our benefit (provision) for income taxes as a result of an estimated accumulated deficit in the earnings of our controlled foreign corporations as of the measurement date. We do not expect the provisions of the TCJA unrelated to the rate reduction or one-time transition tax to have a material impact, primarily due to our corporate structure.
On December 22, 2017, the SEC issued guidance to address the application of GAAP in situations when a registrant does not have the necessary information available, prepared or analyzed (including computations) in reasonable detail to complete the accounting for certain income tax effects of the TCJA. The completion of our 2017 income tax returns, future guidance and additional information and interpretations with the respect to the TCJA may cause us to adjust the provisional amounts recorded as of December 31, 2017. In accordance with the SEC's guidance, we will record such adjustments as current tax expense in the period in which relevant guidance or additional information becomes available and our analysis is complete.
In January 2018, the FASB released guidance on the accounting for the global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI) provisions of the TCJA. The GILTI provisions impose a tax on foreign income in excess of a deemed return on tangible assets of foreign corporations. The guidance allows an accounting policy election either to account for deferred taxes related to GILTI inclusions or to treat any taxes on GILTI inclusions as period costs. We are still evaluating the potential impacts.
Benefit (Provision) for Income Taxes
Our tax benefit (provision) for income taxes includes U.S. federal, state and foreign income taxes. The domestic and foreign components of our income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes were as follows:
Year Ended December 31,
202320222021
U.S.$477.2 $418.6 $310.3 
Foreign(73.4)(62.1)(56.7)
Income before income taxes$403.8 $356.5 $253.6 
 Year Ended December 31,
 2017 2016 2015
U.S.$180.6
 $(28.5) $(121.2)
Foreign(73.8) 7.0
 0.6
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes$106.8
 $(21.5) $(120.6)
Our benefit (provision) for income taxes was as follows:
Year Ended December 31,
202320222021
Current:
Federal$(0.8)$(1.3)$(2.1)
State(5.4)(0.9)(2.9)
Foreign(14.9)(16.9)(22.6)
(21.1)(19.1)(27.6)
Deferred:
Federal860.5 (0.7)2.3 
State116.3 (0.5)0.2 
Foreign16.1 16.7 14.3 
992.9 15.5 16.8 
Benefit (provision) for income taxes$971.8 $(3.6)$(10.8)
 Year Ended December 31,
 2017 2016 2015
Current:     
Federal$(1.4) $(0.3) $(0.3)
State(0.6) (0.3) (0.1)
Foreign(9.5) (3.5) (2.4)
 (11.5) (4.1) (2.8)
Deferred:     
Federal9.6
 3.1
 2.4
State0.8
 0.3
 0.4
Foreign20.0
 0.3
 0.2
 30.4
 3.7
 3.0
Benefit (provision) for income taxes$18.9
 $(0.4) $0.2

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A reconciliation of the statutory U.S. federal income tax rate to our effective income tax rate was as follows:
Year Ended December 31,
202320222021
Expected provision at U.S. federal statutory tax rate$(84.8)$(74.9)$(53.3)
Effect of investment in Desert Newco22.7 (22.0)(50.4)
Research and development credits33.1 29.2 21.9 
Foreign earnings0.2 3.7 (0.9)
Effect of changes in tax rates and apportionment(97.1)— (3.6)
Uncertain tax positions(17.1)(10.6)(10.7)
State taxes, net of federal benefit(1.6)2.9 (31.5)
Effect of restructurings of domestic subsidiary— (7.0)— 
Non-deductible expenses(5.1)
Other(0.9)(1.9)3.8 
Effect of changes in valuation allowances1,122.4 77.0 113.9 
Benefit (provision) for income taxes$971.8 $(3.6)$(10.8)
 Year Ended December 31,
 2017 2016 2015
Expected benefit (provision) at U.S. federal statutory tax rate of 35%$(37.4) $7.5
 $42.2
Effect of TCJA U.S. federal rate reduction from 35% to 21%, net of the effect on valuation allowances7.9
 
 
Effect of Desert Newco's corporate subsidiaries27.4
 (0.1) 2.8
TRA liability adjustment24.3
 (3.8) 
Foreign earnings(15.3) (0.9) (2.2)
State taxes, net of federal benefit(3.1) 0.1
 5.4
Income of non-controlling interests0.9
 (1.8) (15.6)
Other(0.4) 0.1
 (0.7)
Effect of changes in valuation allowances, excluding effect of TCJA U.S. federal rate reduction14.6
 (1.5) (31.7)
Benefit (provision) for income taxes$18.9
 $(0.4) $0.2
The TCJA changed the U.S. federal corporate statutoryWe generated an income tax rate from 35%benefit in 2023 as compared to 21%. The application of this rate reduction to the ending DTAs and DTLs in our U.S. entities provisionally impacted our benefita provision for income taxes byin 2022 primarily due to a net$1,014.0 million release of $7.9 million. This net benefit results from a $327.4 million reduction in deferred tax expense, which was primarily offset by a $335.3 million increase in the associated valuation allowance at GoDaddy Inc. partially offset related to the impact related to a state apportionment election.
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Deferred Taxes
The components of our deferred taxes were as follows:
December 31,
20232022
DTAs:
Investment in Desert Newco$697.2 $800.0 
NOLs473.1 523.2 
Tax credits167.6 134.4 
Deferred interest44.0 38.2 
Operating lease liabilities15.3 17.8 
Other9.3 9.9 
Valuation allowance(377.5)(1,504.8)
Total DTAs1,029.0 18.7 
DTLs:
Identified intangible assets(40.0)(61.3)
Operating lease assets(6.4)(8.1)
Total DTLs(46.4)(69.4)
Net DTAs$982.6 $(50.7)
During December 2023, we concluded, based primarily on our limited operating history and our historical losses, thatreleased the majority of our U.S. DTAs will more-likely-than-not not be realized. The increase indomestic valuation allowance on the impact of foreign earnings primarily results from our acquisition of HEG. The TRA liability adjustment primarily represents the non-deductible portion of the benefitour DTAs that we believe are more likely than not to be realized resulting from the provisional decrease in the liability under the TRAs duea $1,014.0 million non-cash income tax benefit. This release was related to the TCJA rate reduction.
Deferred Taxes
The components of our net (DTL) DTAs were as follows:
 December 31,
 2017 2016
DTAs:   
NOLs$247.8
 $164.8
Credits and incentives3.0
 2.7
Investment in Desert Newco429.9
 180.6
Deferred interest10.9
 10.8
TRA liability16.8
 14.1
Unrealized gains/losses9.7
 
Other4.4
 2.2
Valuation allowance(711.1) (361.5)
Total DTAs11.4
 13.7
DTLs:   
Identified intangible assets(155.8) (8.7)
Total DTLs(155.8) (8.7)
Net (DTL) DTAs$(144.4) $5.0
During 2017, the DTAs associated with our investment in Desert Newco increased $674.6 million due to exchanges of LLC Units in the secondary offerings discussed in Note 6, exchanges of additional LLC Units and stock option exercises. Our DTAs were provisionally reduced by a net of $7.9 million as a result of the TCJA U.S. federal rate reduction, as discussed above. Preliminary purchase accounting for our 2017 acquisitions resulted in an increase to our DTLs of $173.7 million,

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primarily related to intangible assets not deductible for tax purposes. In 2017, we also recorded additional DTAs of $201.6 million as a result of our portion of Desert Newco'sand state domestic net operating losses primarily those resulting from the impact of an Internal Revenue Service approved filing election made in the current year, offset by a provisional decrease of $118.7 million as a result of the TCJA rate reduction.
As a result of the pre-IPO organizational transactions and the IPO, we acquired LLC Units and have recognized a DTA for the difference between the financial reporting and tax basis of our investment in Desert Newco. In addition, we acquired certain tax attributes from these transactions, including $89.2 million of NOL and credit carryforwards, net of tax. During 2016, the DTAs associated with our investment in Desert Newco increased $183.6 million due to exchanges of LLC Units in the secondary offering discussed in Note 6, exchanges of additional LLC Units and stock option exercises. In 2016, we also recorded additional DTAs of $36.7 million as a result of our portion of Desert Newco's losses.
Based primarily on our limited operating history and our historical losses, we believe there is significant uncertainty as to when we will be able to utilize our NOLs,(NOLs), credit carryforwards and other DTAs. Therefore,In determining the need for a valuation allowance, we consider both the positive and negative evidence including our ability to forecast future operating results, historical tax losses and our ability to utilize DTAs within the requisite carryforward periods. In December 2023, management applied judgement and determined the positive evidence outweighed the negative evidence and released the majority of our valuation allowance due to the following factors: we have recordedbeen in a three year cumulative consolidated book income position for two years, our operating results and profitability continue to improve, our projections showed sufficient utilization of tax attributes within their requisite carryforward periods and we have not had a history of expiration of tax attributes. We continue to maintain a valuation allowance against the DTAs for which we have concluded it is more-likely-than-not they will not be realized. As part of the acquisition of HEG, our valuation allowance increased as we believe there is significant uncertainty asrealized due to our ability to utilize our NOLs and other carryforwards related to the HEG entities in the United Kingdom.certain limitations on character or carryforward period.
As of December 31, 2017,2023, we havehad U.S. federal, state and foreign gross NOLs credits and incentives,tax credits, a portion of which will begin to expire in 2030, and continue through 2036, as follows:
Gross NOLs and Tax CreditsPortion Subject to a Valuation Allowance
Federal$1,916.6 86.4 
State2,786.7 2,016.7 
Foreign38.6 22.9 
$4,741.9 $2,126.0 
As of December 31, 2023, we have provided income taxes on the earnings of foreign subsidiaries, except to the extent such earnings are considered indefinitely reinvested. We have determined the amount of unrecognized DTL related to these temporary differences to be immaterial.
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 Gross NOLs, Credits and Incentives Portion Subject to a Valuation Allowance
Federal NOLs and credits$913.5
 $893.9
State NOLs, credits and incentives1,118.8
 1,101.0
Foreign NOLs30.3
 30.0
Total NOLs, credits and incentives$2,062.6
 $2,024.9
Uncertain Tax Positions
Our liability for unrecognized tax benefits was as follows:
December 31,
20232022
Balance at beginning of period$139.7 $120.7 
Gross increases - tax positions in prior period6.8 7.2 
Gross increases - tax positions in current period23.2 11.8 
Gross decreases - tax positions in prior period(4.0)— 
Balance at end of period$165.7 $139.7 
The total amount of gross unrecognized tax benefits was $165.7 million as of December 31, 2023, of which $(47.0) million, if fully recognized, would decrease our effective tax rate.
We recognize interest accrued related to unrecognized tax benefits and penalties as income tax expense. Other long-term liabilities includes accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits of $30.6 million and $28.2 million as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. We do not expect a significant decrease in our liability for unrecognized tax benefits in the next 12 months.
We have filed all income tax returns for years through 2016,2022, other than for Germany for whichand the 2016 pre-acquisition HEG tax returns have not yet been filed.Netherlands. These returns are subject to examination by the taxing authorities in the respective jurisdictions, generally for three or four years after they were filed. Based on our analysis of tax positions taken on income tax returns filed, we have determined no material liabilities related to uncertain income tax positions were required. Although we believe the amounts reflected in our tax returns substantially comply with applicable U.S. federal, state and foreign tax regulations, the respective taxing authorities may take contrary positions based on their interpretation of the law. A tax position successfully changedchallenged by a taxing authority could result in an adjustment to our benefit for income taxes in the period in which a final determination is made.
As of December 31, 2017, we have provided income taxes on the earnings of foreign subsidiaries, except to the extent such earnings are considered indefinitely reinvested. We have determined the amount of unrecognized DTL related to these temporary differences to be immaterial.
15.    Payable to Related Parties Pursuant to the TRAs
In the Investor Corp Mergers, we received certain tax attributes, including the OBAs and NOL carryforwards, from the Reorganization Parties. These OBAs entitle us to the depreciation and amortization previously allocable to such parties, which are allowed prior to the utilization of any NOL or tax credit carryforwards against income taxes. If these additional depreciation and amortization deductions are greater than our taxable income, the excess deductions allocated to us will increase the amount of our NOL carryforwards.
Based on then current projections of taxable income, and before deduction of any specially allocated depreciation and amortization, we anticipated having enough taxable income to utilize a portion of these specially allocated deductions related to the OBAs. Accordingly, as of December 31, 2015, we recorded a liability under the TRAs of $151.6 million, with an offsetting

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reduction to additional paid-in capital, representing approximately 85% of the calculated tax savings based on the portion of the OBAs we anticipated being able to utilize in future years.
During 2016, we increased this liability through 1) a $38.5 million reduction of additional paid-in-capital resulting from exchanges of LLC Units in the secondary offering discussed in Note 6 and 2) a $12.5 million charge to our statements of operations, which was primarily due to: (i) an increase in our ownership of Desert Newco, (ii) the finalization of Desert Newco's 2015 taxable income allocated to us and (iii) changes in estimated 2016 taxable income. As of December 31, 2016, the liability under the TRAs was $202.6 million.
During 2017, we decreased this liability through: (i) an $86.2 million benefit to our statements of operations resulting from the U.S. federal corporate tax rate reduction enacted in December 2017 as part of the TCJA, as discussed in Note 14, (ii) a $33.6 million benefit to our statements of operations resulting from the impact of an Internal Revenue Service approved filing election made in the current year, (iii) a $12.2 million increase in additional paid-in capital resulting from an immaterial adjustment related to our accounting for this liability and (iv) a $3.4 million benefit to our statements of operations primarily resulting from our increased ownership of Desert Newco and changes in forecasted taxable income. These decreases were offset by an increase in this liability through an aggregate $85.8 million reduction in additional paid-in capital resulting from exchanges of LLC Units in the secondary offerings discussed in Note 6. As of December 31, 2017, the liability under the TRAs was $153.0 million.
The projection of future taxable income involves significant judgment. Actual taxable income may differ from our estimates, which could significantly impact the liability under the TRAs. We have determined it is more-likely-than-not we will be unable to utilize all of our DTAs subject to TRAs; therefore, we have not recorded a liability under the TRAs related to the tax savings we may realize from the utilization of NOL carryforwards and the amortization related to basis adjustments under Code Section 754 created by exchanges of LLC Units, including those associated with secondary offerings. If utilization of these DTAs becomes more-likely-than-not in the future, at such time, we will record liabilities under the TRAs of up to an additional $559.5 million as a result of basis adjustments under Code Section 754 and up to an additional $224.4 million related to the utilization of NOL and credit carryforwards, which will be recorded through charges to our statements of operations. However, if the tax attributes are not utilized in future years, it is reasonably possible no amounts would be paid under the TRAs. In this scenario, the reduction of the liability under the TRAs would result in a benefit to our statements of operations. These potential additional liabilities were calculated considering the U.S. federal corporate tax rate reduction enacted in December 2017 as part of the TCJA, as discussed in Note 14.
16.17.    Income (Loss) Per Share
Basic income (loss) per share is computed by dividing net income (loss) attributable to GoDaddy Inc. by the weighted-average number of shares of Class A common stock outstanding during the period. Diluted income (loss) per share is computed giving effect to all potentially dilutive shares. In periods when we have a net loss, potentially issuable shares are excluded from the calculation of earnings per share asunless their inclusion would have an antidilutive effect.
For purposes of calculating loss per share for periods prior to the IPO, including 2015 for which a portion of the period preceded the IPO, we treated the pre-IPO organizational transactions as a merger of entities under common control. Therefore, we have retrospectively reflected loss per share as though these transactions had occurred as of the earliest period presented. For all periods prior to the IPO, we allocated our historical net loss between the Class A stockholders and the non-controlling interests based on their respective share ownership. These calculations do not consider the 26,000 shares of Class A common stock sold in our IPO.

effect is antidilutive.
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123


A reconciliation of the numerator and denominator used in the calculation of basic and diluted net income (loss) per share is as follows:
Year Ended December 31,
202320222021
Numerator:
Net income$1,375.6 $352.9 $242.8 
Less: net income attributable to non-controlling interests0.8 0.7 0.5 
Net income attributable to GoDaddy Inc.$1,374.8 $352.2 $242.3 
Denominator:
Weighted-average shares of Class A common stock outstanding—basic148,296 158,788 167,906 
Effect of dilutive securities:
Class B common stock290 313 414 
Stock options460 678 1,127 
RSUs, PSUs and ESPP shares2,406 1,678 1,658 
Weighted-average shares of Class A Common stock outstanding—diluted151,452 161,457 171,105 
Net income attributable to GoDaddy Inc. per share of Class A common stock—basic$9.27 $2.22 $1.44 
Net income attributable to GoDaddy Inc. per share of Class A common stock—diluted(1)
$9.08 $2.19 $1.42 

(1) The diluted income per share calculations exclude net income attributable to non-controlling interests, unless the effect is antidilutive.
 Year Ended December 31,
 2017 2016 2015
Numerator:     
Income (loss) from continuing operations$125.7
 $(21.9) $(120.4)
Income from discontinued operations, net of income taxes14.1
 
 
Net income (loss)139.8

(21.9)
(120.4)
Less: net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests3.4
 (5.4) (73.0)
Net income (loss) attributable to GoDaddy Inc.$136.4
 $(16.5) $(47.4)
Denominator:     
Weighted-average shares of Class A common stock outstanding—basic108,779
 79,835
 58,676
Effect of dilutive securities:     
Class B common stock57,999
 
 
Options and vesting LLC Units8,791
 
 
RSUs and ESPP shares1,485
 
 
Weighted-average shares of Class A Common stock outstanding—diluted177,054

79,835

58,676
      
Net income (loss) attributable to GoDaddy Inc. per share of Class A common stock—basic:     
      Continuing operations$1.17
 $(0.21) $(0.81)
      Discontinued operations0.08
 
 
Net income (loss) attributable to GoDaddy Inc.$1.25

$(0.21)
$(0.81)
Net income (loss) attributable to GoDaddy Inc. per share of Class A common stock—diluted:(1)
     
     Continuing operations$0.71
 $(0.21) $(0.81)
     Discontinued operations0.08
 
 
Net income (loss) attributable to GoDaddy Inc.$0.79

$(0.21)
$(0.81)
(1)The dilutive income per share calculations exclude the net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests.
The following number of weighted-average potentially dilutive shares were excluded from the calculation of diluted income (loss) per share because the effect of including such potentially dilutive shares would have been antidilutive:
 Year Ended December 31,
 2017 2016 2015
Class B common stock
 82,068
 90,366
Options and vesting LLC Units
 13,517
 15,159
RSUs and ESPP shares
 363
 139
 
 95,948
 105,664

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Year Ended December 31,
202320222021
Stock options19 234 544 
RSUs, PSUs and ESPP shares780 492 881 
799 726 1,425 
Shares of Class B common stock are not participating securities and, therefore, do not have rights to share in our earnings and are not participating securities.earnings. Accordingly, separate presentation of income (loss) per share of Class B common stock under the two-class method hasis not been presented. Each sharerequired.
18.    Segment Information
We report our operating results through two reportable segments: A&C and Core.
Our chief operating decision maker (CODM), which, as of Class B common stock (together with a corresponding LLC Unit) is exchangeable for one shareDecember 31, 2023, was our Chief Executive Officer, evaluates the performance of Class A common stock. Total shares of common stock outstanding were as follows:
 December 31,
 2017 2016
Class A common stock132,993
 88,558
Class B common stock35,006
 78,554
 167,999
 167,112
17.    Geographic Information
Revenue by geography isand allocates resources to our segments based on the customer's billing address,each segment's revenue and wasearnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Segment EBITDA). Segment EBITDA is defined as follows:segment revenues less costs and operating expenses, excluding depreciation and amortization, interest expense (net), provision or benefit for income taxes, equity-based compensation expense, acquisition-related costs, restructuring-related expenses and certain other items. We believe Segment EBITDA serves as a measure that assists our CODM and our investors in comparing our segments' performance on a consistent basis.
 Year Ended December 31,
 2017 2016 2015
U.S.$1,504.5
 $1,350.1
 $1,192.6
International727.4
 497.8
 414.7
 $2,231.9
 $1,847.9
 $1,607.3
No individual international country represented more than 10%Our CODM does not use assets by segment to evaluate performance or allocate resources; therefore, we do not provide disclosure of total revenue in any period presented.
Propertyassets by segment. See Note 2 for property, plant, and equipment, net by geography was as follows:
 Year Ended December 31,
 2017 2016
U.S.221.2
 216.7
France31.6
 
International45.1
 14.3
 $297.9
 $231.0
Other than France, no individual international country represented more than 10% of property and equipment, net in any period presented.
18.    Related Party Transactions
Tax Distributions to Desert Newco's Owners
Desert Newco is subject to an operating agreement containing numerous provisions related to allocations of income and loss, as well as timing and amounts of distributions to its owners. This agreement also includes a provision requiring cash distributions enabling its owners to pay their taxes on income passing through from Desert Newco. In addition, under the tax rules, Desert Newco is required to allocate taxable income disproportionately to its unit holders. Because tax distributions are determined based on the holder of LLC Units who is allocated the largest amount of cumulative taxable income for the current year on a per unit basis, but are made pro rata based on ownership, Desert Newco is required to make tax distributions that, in the aggregate, will likely exceed the amount of taxes Desert Newco would have otherwise paid.
During 2017, Desert Newco paid total distributions of $10.0 million based on ownership as of the various payment dates as follows: $4.0 million to YAM, $2.3 million to SLP, $2.1 million to KKR, $1.2 million to TVC and $0.4 million to other Desert Newco owners. During 2016, Desert Newco paid total distributions of $18.4 million based on ownership as of the various payment dates as follows: $7.3 million to YAM, $4.1 million to SLP, $3.9 million to KKR, $2.2 million to TVC and $0.9 million to other Desert Newco owners. Distributions paid in 2015 were not material.
An accrual for tax distributions was not required at December 31, 2017.

revenue disaggregated by geography.
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124


Sponsors
Amounts paid to affiliatesThe A&C and Core segments provide a view into the product-focused organization of KKR related to their participation as lenders under our Credit Facility werebusiness and generate revenue as follows:
 Year Ended December 31,
 2017 2016 2015
Principal$0.1
 $0.1
 $5.3
Interest and other fees0.3
 0.8
 1.4
AsA&C primarily consists of December 31, 2017sales of products containing proprietary software, notably our website building products, as well as our commerce products and 2016, affiliates of KKR held $15.4 millionthird-party email and $2.9 million, respectively, of the outstanding principal balance of the Term Loan as participating lenders.
On December 16, 2011, we entered into a transactionproductivity solutions and monitoring fee agreement with affiliatessales of certain products when they are included in bundled offerings of the Sponsors pursuant to which those entities provided managementour proprietary software products.
Core primarily consists of sales of domain registrations and advisory services. In April 2015, we maderenewals, aftermarket domain sales, website hosting products and website security products when not included in bundled offerings of our proprietary software products as well as sales of products not containing a final aggregate payment of $26.7 million upon the termination of this agreement following the completion of the IPO, which was charged tosoftware component.
There are no internal revenue transactions between our reportable segments.
Corporate overhead primarily includes general and administrative expense. Following this payment, we have no further obligations under this agreement. expenses and items not allocated to either segment as well as those costs specifically excluded from Segment EBITDA, our segment measure of profitability, such as depreciation and amortization, interest expense and income and provision or benefit for income taxes.
The following table presents our segment information for the periods indicated:
 Year Ended December 31,
202320222021
Revenue:
A&C$1,430.4 $1,279.7 $1,128.3 
Core2,823.7 2,811.6 2,687.4 
Total revenue$4,254.1 $4,091.3 $3,815.7 
Segment EBITDA:
A&C$594.2 $522.8 $447.7 
Core816.4 783.7 679.7 
Total Segment EBITDA1,410.6 1,306.5 1,127.4 
Unallocated corporate overhead(276.1)(293.5)(255.2)
Depreciation and amortization(171.3)(194.6)(199.6)
Equity-based compensation expense(1)
(294.0)(264.4)(207.9)
Interest expense, net of interest income(155.4)(135.0)(124.9)
Acquisition-related expenses(2)
(12.1)(35.1)(78.2)
Restructuring and other(3)
(97.9)(27.4)(8.0)
Income before income taxes403.8 356.5 253.6 
Benefit (provision) for income taxes971.8 (3.6)(10.8)
Net income$1,375.6 $352.9 $242.8 

(1)The year ended December 31, 2023 excludes $2.3 million of equity-based compensation expense associated with our restructuring plan, which is included within restructuring and other.
(2)The year ended December 31, 2023 includes an adjustment of $6.0 million to a previously-recognized acquisition milestone liability.
(3)In addition on December 16, 2011, we entered into a separate indemnification agreementto the restructuring and other charges in our statements of operations, other charges included are primarily composed of lease-related expenses associated with such parties, pursuant to which we agreed to provide customary indemnification to them and their affiliates.
Bob Parsons and YAM
On December 16, 2011, we entered into an executive chairman services agreement with Bob Parsons pursuant to which we were obligated to provide customary benefitsclosed facilities, charges related to his servicecertain legal matters, adjustments to us. In April 2015, we paid $3.0 million upon the terminationfair value of this agreement followingour equity investments, expenses incurred in relation to the completionrefinancing of the IPO, which was charged to generalour long-term debt and administrative expense. Following this payment, we have no further obligations under this agreement.
Payments made to YAM, other than thoseincremental expenses associated with the repayment of the senior note in April 2015, as described in Note 10, were as follows:certain professional services.
125
 Year Ended December 31,
 2017 2016 2015
Interest on the senior note$
 $
 $9.2
YAM has indemnified us for certain taxes related to periods prior to December 16, 2011 and we have agreed to provide customary indemnification to Bob Parsons related to his service to us.
Other
In the ordinary course of business, we purchase and lease computer equipment, technology licensing and software maintenance and support from affiliates of Dell Inc. (Dell) of which Silver Lake and its affiliates have a significant ownership interest. During 2017, 2016 and 2015, we paid $15.2 million, $15.4 million and $17.5 million, respectively, to Dell.

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19.     Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)
The following table presents OCIAOCI activity accumulated in equity:
Foreign Currency Translation Adjustments
Net Unrealized Gains (Losses) on Cash Flow Hedges(1)
Total AOCI
Gross balance as of December 31, 2021(2)
$(52.9)$14.2 $(38.7)
Other comprehensive income (loss) before reclassifications(22.1)171.2 149.1 
Amounts reclassified from AOCI— 68.0 68.0 
Other comprehensive income - 2022(22.1)239.2 217.1 
$(75.0)$253.4 178.4 
Less: AOCI attributable to non-controlling interests(0.4)
Balance as of December 31, 2022$178.0 
Gross balance as of December 31, 2022(2)
$(75.0)$253.4 $178.4 
Other comprehensive income (loss) before reclassifications(4.3)(146.2)(150.5)
Amounts reclassified from AOCI(4.3)87.8 83.5 
Other comprehensive income - 2023(8.6)(58.4)(67.0)
$(83.6)$195.0 111.4 
Less: AOCI attributable to non-controlling interests(0.2)
Balance as of December 31, 2023$111.2 

(1) Amounts shown for our foreign exchange forward contracts include gains and losses realized upon contract settlement but not yet recognized into earnings from AOCI.
(2) Beginning balance is presented on a gross basis, excluding the allocation of AOCI attributable to non-controlling interests.
 Foreign Currency Translation Adjustments 
Net Unrealized Gains (Losses) on Cash Flow Hedges(1)
 Total Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)
Balance as of December 31, 2015$(0.2) $3.4
 $3.2
      
Other comprehensive income (loss) before reclassifications(0.1) 1.4
 1.3
Amounts reclassified from AOCI
 (1.8) (1.8)
Other comprehensive income (loss) - 2016(0.1) (0.4) (0.5)
Balance as of December 31, 2016(0.3) 3.0
 2.7
Other comprehensive income (loss) before reclassifications(39.6) (202.7) (242.3)
Amounts reclassified from AOCI(46.9) 154.2
 107.3
Other comprehensive income (loss) - 2017(86.5) (48.5) (135.0)
 $(86.8) $(45.5) (132.3)
  Less: AOCI attributable to non-controlling interests    (46.6)
Balance as of December 31, 2017    $(85.7)
(1)Amounts shown for our foreign exchange forward contracts include gains and losses realized upon contract settlement but not yet recognized into earnings from AOCI.
The sale of PlusServercertain assets and liabilities of our hosting business, as discussed in August 2017Note 14, resulted in the reclassification from AOCI of $46.9$4.3 million in cumulative foreign currency translation adjustments, whichadjustments. This amount was included within the loss on disposal reported in restructuring and other in our statements of operations for the gain on disposal within discontinued operations. The income tax impact associated with this reclassified amount was not material.
year ended December 31, 2023. See Note 11 for the effect on net income (loss) of amounts reclassified from AOCI related to our cash flow hedging instruments. The income tax impact associated with these reclassified amounts was not material in any period presented.relationships.

121



20.     Selected Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited)
The following table contains selected unaudited consolidated statements of operations information for each quarter of 2017 and 2016. The following information reflects all normal recurring adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of the information for the periods presented. The operating results for any quarter are not necessarily indicative of results for any future period.
 Three Months Ended
 Dec. 31, 2017 Sept. 30, 2017 Jun. 30, 2017 Mar. 31, 2017 Dec. 31, 2016 Sept. 30, 2016 Jun. 30, 2016 Mar. 31, 2016
Total revenue$602.2
 $582.2
 $557.8
 $489.7
 $485.9
 $472.1
 $456.2
 $433.7
Operating income23.0
 32.1
 6.1
 5.7
 17.9
 21.2
 9.7
 1.3
Income (loss) from continuing operations98.3
 7.1
 23.4
 (3.1) (0.8) 8.3
 (11.1) (18.3)
Net income (loss)94.8
 30.0
 18.1
 (3.1) (0.8) 8.3
 (11.1) (18.3)
Net income (loss) attributable to GoDaddy Inc.92.6
 22.4
 20.8
 0.6
 (1.9) 4.8
 (8.9) (10.5)
                
Net income (loss) attributable to GoDaddy Inc. per share of Class A common stock—basic:               
Continuing operations$0.74
 $0.05
 $0.25
 $0.01
 $(0.02) $0.06
 $(0.11) $(0.15)
Discontinued operations(0.02) 0.15
 (0.05) 
 
 
 
 
Net income (loss) attributable to GoDaddy, Inc.$0.72

$0.20

$0.20

$0.01

$(0.02)
$0.06

$(0.11)
$(0.15)
                
Net income (loss) attributable to GoDaddy Inc. per share of Class A common stock—diluted:               
Continuing operations$0.56
 $0.04
 $0.13
 $0.01
 $(0.02) $0.05
 $(0.11) $(0.15)
Discontinued operations(0.02) 0.13
 (0.03) 
 
 
 
 
Net income (loss) attributable to GoDaddy, Inc.$0.54
 $0.17
 $0.10
 $0.01
 $(0.02) $0.05
 $(0.11) $(0.15)
21.    Subsequent Events
In January 2018,2024, we entered into an amendment to the Credit Facility to provide for a definitive agreementnew tranche of term loans maturing in 2029, the proceeds of which were used to acquire Main Street Hub,refinance our existing 2029 Term Loans. Pursuant to this amendment, these loans were issued at par and bear interest at a providerrate equal to, at our option, either (a) SOFR for the applicable interest period plus a margin of social media engagement optimization services,2.0% per annum or (b) a margin of 1.0% per annum plus the highest of (i) the Federal Funds Rate plus 0.5%, (ii) the Prime Rate or (iii) SOFR for approximately $125.0 million in cash and additional contingent earn-out paymentsan interest period of up to $50.0 million. This transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2018, subject to customary regulatory and other closing requirements.

one month plus 1.0%.
122
126




Item 9.     Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
None.
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and our Chief Financial Officer (CFO), evaluated the effectiveness of ourWe maintain disclosure controls and procedures pursuant to Rule 13a-15 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Based on this evaluation, our CEO and CFO concluded that as of December 31, 2017, our disclosure controls and procedures are designed at a reasonable assurance level and are effective to provide reasonable assurance that information we are required to disclose in reports we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC's rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our CEOChief Executive Officer (CEO) and CFO,Chief Financial Officer (CFO), as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
In April 2017, we acquired HEG which operatedOur management, with the participation of our CEO and our CFO, who are our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, respectively, evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures pursuant to Rule 13a-15 under its own setthe Exchange Act, as of systemsthe end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Based on this evaluation, our CEO and internal controls. During 2017, we transitioned certainCFO concluded that, as of HEG's processes to our internal control processes and we expect to transition more of such processes during 2018. Other than with respect to our transition of HEG to our systems and control environment as described above, during the year ended December 31, 2017, there2023, our disclosure controls and procedures were no changesnot effective as a result of a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting discussed below.
Notwithstanding the identified material weakness described below, our management, including our CEO and CFO, does not believe that this deficiency had an adverse effect on our reported operating results or financial condition, and has concluded that our financial statements and other financial information included in connectionthis Annual Report and other periodic filings present fairly, in all material respects, our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows for the periods presented in accordance with the evaluation required by paragraph (d) of Rule 13a-15 or Rule 15d-15 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.GAAP.
Limitations on Effectiveness of Controls and Procedures
In designing and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures, management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance of achieving the desired control objectives. In addition, the design of disclosure controls and procedures must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints and management is required to apply its judgment in evaluating the benefits of possible controls and procedures relative to their costs. The design of any disclosure controls and procedures is also based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions.
Management's Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act). Our management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2017. In making this assessment, our management used2023, using the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013 framework). Based on our assessment under this framework, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2017.2023 due to the material weakness described below. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. The effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 20172023 has been audited by Ernst & Young LLP (EY) (PCAOB ID: 42), an independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their report included herein.
In accordanceOur management identified a material weakness in the design of our controls related to the accounting for income taxes and related disclosures with guidance issued byregard to management review controls and the Securitiescompleteness and Exchange Commission, registrantsaccuracy of information used in the execution of those controls.
This material weakness did not result in any material misstatements to our consolidated financial statements or any changes to previously filed financial statements.
127

Remediation Efforts with Respect to Material Weakness
We have drafted documentation to respond to, and are permitteddeveloping a comprehensive plan to excluderemediate as soon as possible, this material business combinations from their final assessment ofweakness.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Except for the material weakness and remediation efforts described above, there were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting forduring the first fiscal year inquarter ended December 31, 2023 that materially affected, or which an acquisition occurred. Our management's evaluation ofare reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting excluded the internal control activities of HEG, which we acquired in April 2017 as discussed in Note 3 to our consolidated financial statements. We have included the results of HEG in our consolidated financial statements from the date of acquisition. Total revenue excluded from our assessment of internal control over financial reporting represented approximately 6.9% of our consolidated total revenue in 2017. Total HEG assets excluded from our assessment of internal control over financial reporting represented approximately 3.0% of our consolidated total assets as of December 31, 2017.


reporting.
123
128




Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of GoDaddy Inc.

Opinion on Internal Control overOver Financial Reporting

We have audited GoDaddy Inc.'s’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2017,2023, based on criteria established in Internal Control-IntegratedControl—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework) (the COSO criteria). In our opinion, because of the effect of the material weakness described below on the achievement of the objectives of the control criteria, GoDaddy Inc. (the Company) has not maintained in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2017,2023, based on the COSO criteria.
As indicated
A material weakness is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in the accompanying Management's Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting, management's assessment of and conclusion on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, didsuch that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the company’s annual or interim financial statements will not include the internal controls of Host Europe Holdings Limited, which isbe prevented or detected on a timely basis. The following material weakness has been identified and included in management’s assessment. Management has identified a material weakness in controls related to the 2017 financial statementsaccounting for income taxes and related disclosures with regard to management review controls and the completeness and accuracy of information used in the Company and constituted approximately 3.0%execution of total assets as of December 31, 2017 and 6.9% of revenues for the year then ended. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting of the Company also did not include an evaluation of the internal control over financial reporting of Host Europe Holdings Limited.those controls.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the 2017 financial statementsconsolidated balance sheets of the Company as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income, stockholders’ equity (deficit) and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2023, and the related notes. This material weakness was considered in determining the nature, timing and extent of audit tests applied in our audit of the 2023 consolidated financial statements, and this report does not affect our report dated February 27, 201829, 2024, which expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.

Basis for Opinion

The Company'sCompany’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting included in the accompanying Management'sManagement’s Report on Internal Control Overover Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company'sCompany’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.

Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

A company'scompany’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company'scompany’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company'scompany’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

/s/ Ernst & Young LLP

Phoenix, Arizona
February 27, 2018

29, 2024
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129




Item 9B. Other Information
None.On December 8, 2023, Aman Bhutani, Chief Executive Officer, modified his previously adopted 10b5-1 trading plan intended to satisfy the affirmative defense of Rule 10b5-1(c) under the Exchange Act. As modified, the 10b5-1 trading plan provides for the sale of an aggregate of 17,700 shares of the company's Class A common stock between March 2024 and June 2024.

On December 7, 2023, Mark McCaffrey, Chief Financial Officer, modified his previously adopted 10b5-1 trading plan intended to satisfy the affirmative defense of Rule 10b5-1(c) under the Exchange Act. As modified, the 10b5-1 trading plan provides for the sale of an aggregate of 8,000 shares of the company's Class A common stock between March 2024 and May 2024.

On November 27, 2023, Nick Daddario, Chief Accounting Officer, adopted a 10b5-1 trading plan intended to satisfy the affirmative defense of Rule 10b5-1(c) under the Exchange Act. The 10b5-1 trading plan provides for the sale of an aggregate of 3,078 shares of the company's Class A common stock between February 2024 and February 2025.
Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections
Not applicable.
Part III.
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
The information required by this item will be included in our Proxy Statement for the 20182024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the 2024 Proxy Statement) to be filed with the SEC within 120 days of the year ended December 31, 2017 (the 2018 Proxy Statement)2023 and is incorporated herein by reference. The information required by this item regarding delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K will be included under the caption "Section"Delinquent Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance"Reports" in the 20182024 Proxy Statement and is incorporated herein by reference.
Code of Ethics
We have adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics applicable to all of our employees, executive officers and directors. Our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics is available on our website inunder the 'Governance Documents' heading, within the Governance section of our Investor Relations section under the menu entry: Governance/Governance Documentssite (https://aboutus.godaddy.net/investor-relations/governance/default.aspx). To the extent mandated by legal requirements, we intend to disclose on our website any amendments to our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, or any waivers of its requirements.
Item 11. Executive Compensation
The information required by this item will be included in the 20182024 Proxy Statement and is incorporated herein by reference.
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters
The information required by this item will be included in the 20182024 Proxy Statement and is incorporated herein by reference.
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence
The information required by this item will be included in the 20182024 Proxy Statement and is incorporated herein by reference.
Item 14. Principal AccountingAccountant Fees and Services
The information required by this item will be included in the 20182024 Proxy Statement and is incorporated herein by reference.

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125




Part IV.
Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules
We have filed the following documents as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K:
Consolidated Financial Statements
Our consolidated financial statements are listed in the "Index to Consolidated Financial Statements" under Item 8 "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data."
Financial Statement Schedules
All other schedules have been omitted because they are either not required, not applicable or the required information is otherwise included.

Exhibit Index
Incorporated by Reference
Exhibit
Number
Exhibit DescriptionFormFile No.ExhibitFiling Date
3.18-K001-369043.16/3/2022
3.28-K001-369043.17/8/2022
4.1S-1/A333-1966154.13/19/2015
4.2+
S-8333-2031664.24/1/2015
4.3+10-Q001-369044.111/3/2016
4.4+
S-8333-2031664.44/1/2015
4.5+
S-1/A333-19661510.283/19/2015
4.6*
4.78-K001-369044.16/7/2019
4.88-K001-369044.26/7/2019
4.98-K001-369044.12/26/2021
4.108-K001-369044.22/26/2021
4.1110-K001-369044.152/16/2023
4.1210-K001-369044.162/16/2023
4.13+10-Q001-369044.15/5/2023
4.14+10-Q001-369044.25/5/2023
10.18-K001-3690410.54/6/2015
10.28-K001-3690410.64/6/2015
10.38-K001-3690410.74/6/2015
10.48-K001-3690410.84/6/2015
10.58-K001-3690410.94/6/2015
126
131


Exhibit Index
Incorporated by Reference
Exhibit
Number
Exhibit DescriptionFormFile No.ExhibitFiling Date
10.68-K001-3690410.18/5/2020
10.78-K001-3690410.28/5/2020
10.88-K001-3690410.38/5/2020
10.98-K001-3690410.48/5/2020
10.108-K001-3690410.58/5/2020
10.118-K001-3690410.68/5/2020
10.128-K001-3690410.12/16/2017
10.138-K001-3690410.15/26/2017
10.148-K001-3690410.111/22/2017
10.158-K001-3690410.16/7/2019
10.168-K001-3690410.110/4/2019
10.178-K001-3690410.18/13/2020
10.188-K001-3690410.13/11/2021
10.19+S-1/A333-19661510.202/24/2015
10.20+S-1/A333-19661510.222/24/2015
10.21+10-Q001-3690410.211/7/2019
10.22+8-K001-3690410.15/5/2021
10.23+8-K001-3690410.35/5/2021
10.24+***8-K001-3690410.17/8/2022
10.25+10-Q001-3690410.45/5/2022
10.26+10-Q001-3690410.55/5/2022
132
    Incorporated by Reference
Exhibit
Number
 Exhibit Description FormFile No.ExhibitFiling Date
2.1  8-K001-369042.14/6/2015
2.2#  8-K001-369042.112/9/2016
2.3  8-K001-369042.212/9/2016
2.4#  8-K001-369042.17/18/2017
3.1  8-K001-369043.14/6/2015
3.2  8-K001-369043.24/6/2015
4.1  S-1/A333-1966154.13/19/2015
4.2  8-K001-3690410.34/6/2015
4.3  8-K001-3690410.44/6/2015
4.4  8-K001-3690410.24/6/2015
4.5+
  S-8333-2031664.24/1/2015
4.6+  10-Q001-369044.111/2/2016
4.7+
  S-8333-2031664.44/1/2015
4.8+
  S-1/A333-19661510.102/13/2015
4.9+
  S-1/A333-19661510.112/13/2015
4.10+
  S-1/A333-19661510.283/19/2015
10.1  8-K001-3690410.14/6/2015
10.2  8-K001-3690410.54/6/2015
10.3  8-K001-3690410.64/6/2015
10.4  8-K001-3690410.74/6/2015
10.5  8-K001-3690410.84/6/2015
10.6  8-K001-3690410.94/6/2015
10.7  S-1333-19661510.166/9/2014
10.8  S-1333-19661510.176/9/2014
10.9  8-K001-3690410.12/16/2017

127


    Incorporated by Reference
Exhibit
Number
 Exhibit Description FormFile No.ExhibitFiling Date
10.10  8-K001-3690410.14/4/2017
10.11  8-K001-3690410.111/22/2017
10.12  8-K001-3690410.15/26/2017
10.13  8-K001-3690410.25/26/2017
10.14  S-1/A333-19661510.188/14/2014
10.15  S-1/A333-19661510.202/24/2015
10.16+
  S-1/A333-19661510.222/24/2015
10.17  S-1/A333-19661510.202/24/2015
10.18+  10-Q001-3690410.111/8/2017
10.19+  10-Q001-3690410.211/8/2017
10.20+  S-1/A333-19661510.252/24/2015
10.21+
  10-Q001-3690410.18/4/2016
10.22+
  10-Q001-3690410.111/2/2016
10.23+  8-K001-3690410.13/10/2016
10.24+  10-Q001-3690410.25/8/2017
10.25+  10-Q001-3690410.15/8/2017
10.26+  8-K001-3690410.12/2/2018
10.27  8-K001-3690410.15/10/2017
21.1*      
23.1*
      
24.1*
      
31.1*
      
31.2*
      
32.1**
      
Incorporated by Reference
Exhibit
Number
Exhibit DescriptionFormFile No.ExhibitFiling Date
10.278-K001-3690410.111/10/2022
10.288-K001-3690410.15/5/2023
10.29+10-Q001-3690410.28/4/2023
10.308-K001-3690410.17/19/2023
10.3110-Q001-3690410.211/3/2023
21.1*
23.1*
24.1*
31.1*
31.2*
32.1**
97.1*
101.INSInline XBRL Instance Document (the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document)
101.SCH*Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document
101.CAL*Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document
101.DEF*Inline XBRL Taxonomy Definition Linkbase Document
101.LAB*Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Labels Linkbase Document
101.PRE*Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document
104Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101)
+
+Indicates management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.
#*Schedules and exhibits have been omitted pursuant to Item 601(b)(2) of Regulation S-K. GoDaddy Inc. agrees to furnish supplementally to the SEC a copy of any omitted schedule or exhibit upon request.Filed herewith.
**Filed herewith.
**The certifications attached as Exhibit 32.1 accompanying this Annual Report on Form 10-K are deemed furnished and not filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are not to be incorporated by reference into any filing of GoDaddy Inc. under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, whether made before or after the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, irrespective of any general incorporation language contained in such filing.
***Certain provisions or terms of the agreement have been redacted pursuant to Item 601(b)(10)(iv) of Regulation S-K. GoDaddy Inc. agrees to furnish supplementally to the SEC a copy of any omitted schedule or exhibit upon request.


128



Item 16. Form 10-K Summary
None.

133
129




SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
GODADDY INC.
Date:February 29, 2024/s/ Aman Bhutani
GODADDY INC.
Date:February 27, 2018/s/ Scott W. Wagner
Scott W. Wagner
Aman Bhutani
Chief Executive Officer

POWER OF ATTORNEY
Each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Scott W. WagnerAman Bhutani and Ray E. Winborne,Mark McCaffrey, and each of them, as his or her true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent, with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for him or her and in his or her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments to this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, and each of them, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in connection therewith, as fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do in person,in-person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents, or any of them, or their or his substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue thereof.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated:
SignatureTitleDate
SignatureTitleDate
/s/ Scott W. WagnerAman BhutaniChief Executive Officer and Director

(Principal Executive Officer)
February 27, 201829, 2024
Scott W. WagnerAman Bhutani
/s/ Ray E. WinborneMark McCaffreyChief Financial Officer

(Principal Financial Officer)
February 27, 201829, 2024
Ray E. WinborneMark McCaffrey
/s/ Rebecca MorrowNick DaddarioChief Accounting Officer

(Principal Accounting Officer)
February 27, 201829, 2024
Rebecca MorrowNick Daddario
/s/ Charles J. RobelBrian H. SharplesChairman of the Board of DirectorsFebruary 27, 201829, 2024
Charles J. RobelBrian H. Sharples
/s/ Herald Y. ChenDirectorDirectorFebruary 27, 201829, 2024
Herald Y. Chen
/s/ Caroline F. DonahueDirectorFebruary 29, 2024
Caroline F. Donahue
/s/ Mark GarrettDirectorDirectorFebruary 27, 201829, 2024
Mark Garrett
/s/ Leah SweetDirectorFebruary 29, 2024
Leah Sweet
/s/ Blake J. IrvingSrini TallapragadaDirectorDirectorFebruary 27, 201829, 2024
Blake J. IrvingSrini Tallapragada
/s/ Sigal ZarmiDirectorFebruary 29, 2024
/s/ Gregory K. MondreSigal ZarmiDirectorFebruary 27, 2018
Gregory K. Mondre
/s/ John I. ParkDirectorFebruary 27, 2018
John I. Park
/s/ Bob ParsonsDirectorFebruary 27, 2018
Bob Parsons
/s/ Elizabeth S. RafaelDirectorFebruary 27, 2018
Elizabeth S. Rafael
/s/ Brian H. SharplesDirectorFebruary 27, 2018
Brian H. Sharples
/s/ Lee E. WittlingerDirectorFebruary 27, 2018
Lee E. Wittlinger


130
134