AppLovin Corp (APP) FY 2022 MD&A

Overview

Our mission is to help companies grow their apps and accelerate their business. Our full stack software solution provides advanced tools for mobile app developers to grow their businesses by automating and optimizing the marketing and monetization of their apps. We also operate a portfolio of owned mobile apps and accelerated our market penetration through an active acquisition and partnership strategy. Our scaled business model sits at the nexus of the mobile app ecosystem, which creates a durable competitive advantage that has fueled our clients’ success and our strong growth.

Since our founding in 2011, we have been focused on building a software-based platform for mobile app developers to improve the marketing and monetization of their apps. Our founders, who are mobile app developers themselves, quickly realized the real impediment to success and growth in the mobile app ecosystem was a discovery and monetization problem—breaking through the congested app stores to efficiently find users and successfully grow their business. Their first-hand experience with these developer challenges led to the development of our infrastructure and software—AppLovin Core Technologies and AppLovin Software Platform. We capitalized on our success and understanding of the mobile app ecosystem by launching AppLovin Apps in 2018. Our Apps now consist of a globally diversified portfolio of over 350 free-to-play mobile games across five genres, run by eleven studios.

For 2022, our revenue grew 1% year-over-year from 2021, from $2.79 billion in 2021 to $2.82 billion in 2022. For 2021, our revenue grew 92% year-over-year from 2020, from $1.45 billion in 2020 to $2.79 billion in 2021. We generated a net loss of $192.9 million in 2022, net income of $35.3 million in 2021, and a net loss of $125.9 million in 2020. We generated Adjusted EBITDA of $1.1 billion, $726.8 million, and $345.5 million in 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Additionally, we have generated strong cash flows, with net cash provided by operating activities of $412.8 million, $361.9 million, and $222.9 million in 2022, 2021, and 2020, respectively. Given our strong financial position, we have been able to reinvest in our expansion and growth and consummate strategic acquisitions and partnerships. See the section titled “—Non-GAAP Financial Measures” for a definition of Adjusted EBITDA and a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income (loss), the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP.

In February 2022, our board of directors authorized a share repurchase program to repurchase $750.0 million of our Class A common stock over time. We will continuously evaluate efficient alternatives to using cash on hand to fund the program, including accessing the capital markets, subject to market conditions.

Our Business Model

We collect revenue from our Software Platform and our Apps. In 2022, Software Platform Revenue represented 37% of total revenue and Apps Revenue represented 63% of total revenue.

In the second quarter of 2022, we revised the presentation of segment information to align with changes to how our chief operating decision maker (“CODM”), the Chief Executive Officer, allocates resources and assesses performance. Effective in May 2022, we report our operating results through two reportable segments: Software Platform and Apps. Previously we had a single operating and reportable segment.

The CODM evaluates performance of each segment based on several factors, of which the financial measures are segment revenue and segment adjusted EBITDA, as defined in Note 14 to the Company's consolidated financial statements.

The Software Platform and Apps segments provide a view into the organization of our business and generate revenue as follows:

Software Platform Revenue

We primarily generate Software Platform Revenue from fees paid by mobile app advertisers who use our Software Platform to grow and monetize their apps. We are able to grow our Software Platform Revenue by improving our various software technologies.

Software Platform clients include a wide variety of advertisers, from indie developer studios to some of the largest global internet platforms, such as Facebook and Google. While we have thousands of clients as of December 31, 2022, the vast majority of our revenue is derived from our Software Platform Enterprise Clients. See “Key Metrics” below for additional information on how we calculate Software Platform Enterprise Clients. We see multiple opportunities to gain new Software Platform clients, and to increase spend from existing clients, as we help them grow their businesses and make them more successful.

Our Software Platform includes AppDiscovery, MAX, Adjust, and Wurl.

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Clients use AppDiscovery to automate, optimize, and manage their user acquisition investments. They set marketing and user growth goals, and AppDiscovery optimizes their ad spend in an effort to achieve their return on advertising spend targets and other marketing objectives. AppDiscovery comprises the vast majority of revenue from our Software Platform. Revenue is generated from our advertisers, typically on a performance-basis, and shared with our advertising publishers, typically on a cost per impression model. Our Software Platform Enterprise Clients had a Net Dollar-Based Retention Rate of approximately 134% for the twelve months ended December 31, 2022.1

Software Platform clients use MAX to optimize purchases of app advertising inventory. The Compass Analytics tool within MAX provides insights to manage against key performance indicators, understand the long-term value of users, and help manage profitability. Revenue from MAX is generated based on a percentage of client spend. As more developers move to in-app bidding monetization, we expect growth in the adoption of, and revenue from, MAX.

Software Platform clients use Adjust's SaaS mobile marketing platform to better understand their users' journey while allowing marketers to make smarter decisions through measurement, attribution and fraud prevention. Revenue from Adjust is primarily generated from an annual software subscription fee.

Software Platform clients use Wurl's CTV platform to distribute streaming video, maximize advertising revenue, and acquire and retain viewers or subscribers. Revenue from Wurl is primarily generated from content companies, typically on a usage-based model.

Apps Revenue

During the fourth quarter of 2022, we changed the terms used to describe our two Apps segment revenue streams to better align with market terminology. We now refer to our Apps "Business" revenue as "In-App Advertising" and "Consumer" revenue as "In-App Purchases." Apps Revenue is generated when a user of one of our Apps makes an in-app purchase ("IAP") and when clients purchase the digital advertising inventory of our portfolio of Apps ("In-App Advertising" or "IAA"). We are able to grow our Apps Revenue by adding more apps to our Apps portfolio and increasing engagement on our existing Apps.

Our Apps are generally free-to-play mobile games and generate IAP Revenue through IAPs. IAPs consist of virtual goods used to enhance gameplay, accelerate access to certain features or levels, and augment other mobile game progression opportunities for the user. IAPs drive more engagement and better economics from our Apps. The vast majority of our IAP revenue flows through two app stores, Apple App Store and Google Play, which charge us a standard commission on IAPs. IAP Revenue represented 67% of total Apps Revenue for the twelve months ended December 31, 2022.

During the twelve months ended December 31, 2022, we had an average of 2.3 million Monthly Active Payers ("MAPs") across our portfolio of Apps. Over that period, we had an Average Revenue Per Monthly Active Payer ("ARPMAP") of $43. See “Key Metrics” below for additional information on how we calculate MAPs and ARPMAP.

IAA clients that purchase advertising inventory from our Apps are able to target highly relevant users from our diverse and global portfolio of over 350 mobile games. Our clients leverage a broad set of high-performing mobile ad formats, including playable and rewarded video, and are able to match these ads with relevant users resulting in a better return on their advertising spend. By increasing the number of users and their engagement, as well as better matching ads with the appropriate target audience, we are able to increase our revenue from IAA clients that purchase advertising inventory from our Apps. IAA Revenue represented 33% of total Apps Revenue for the twelve months ended December 31, 2022.

1 We measure Net Dollar-Based Retention Rate for the twelve months ended December 31, 2022 for our Software Platform Enterprise Clients as current period revenue divided by prior period revenue. Prior period revenue is measured as revenue for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021 from our Software Platform Enterprise Clients as of December 31, 2021. Current period revenue is revenue for the twelve months ended December 31, 2022 from our Software Platform Enterprise Clients as of December 31, 2021.

Key Metrics

We review the following key metrics on a regular basis in order to evaluate the health of our business, identify trends affecting our performance, prepare financial projections, and make strategic decisions.

Update to our Key Metrics

As our Software Platform, which includes AppDiscovery, MAX, AppLovin Exchange, Adjust and Wurl, continues to evolve, we continue to evaluate metrics that facilitate an understanding of our business. Following the addition and integration of offerings like Adjust and Wurl, as well as the future launch of our Array OEM/carrier offering, the revenue mix within our Software Platform segment is shifting and we expect this shift will become more pronounced over time as these businesses grow. Given the structural differences in these businesses—in terms of their revenue models as well as the nature of their clients—we believe our current key metrics for the Software Platform will no longer provide a valuable method to understand fluctuations in the performance of our Software Platform revenue. As a result, beginning in first quarter of 2023, we will no longer provide certain key metrics related to our Software Platform segment including Total Software Transaction Value, Software Platform Enterprise Clients and Revenue per Software Platform Enterprise Client.

Software Platform Enterprise Clients ("SPECs"). We focus on the number of SPECs, which are third-party clients from whom we have collected greater than $125,000 of Software Platform Revenue in the trailing twelve months to a given date. SPECs generate the vast majority of our Software Platform Revenue and Software Platform Revenue growth.

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Revenue Per Software Platform Enterprise Client ("Revenue per SPEC"). We define Revenue per SPEC as (i) the total revenue derived from our Software Platform Enterprise Clients in the trailing twelve months to a given period, divided by (ii) Software Platform Enterprise Clients as of the end of that same period. Revenue per SPEC shows how efficiently we are monetizing each SPEC. We expect to increase Revenue per SPEC over time as we enhance our Software Platform and Apps.

The following table shows our SPEC and Revenue per SPEC as of December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020.

Total Software Transaction Value ("TSTV"). Software Platform Revenue is from third-party clients using our Software Platform to find new customers. We do not recognize revenue from our own spend on our Software Platform. Therefore, we use TSTV to measure the scale and growth rates of our Software Platform as it reflects the total value on our Software Platform including our first-party studios as though they were stand-alone businesses.

The following table shows our TSTV for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020.

Monthly Active Payers ("MAPs"). We define a MAP as a unique mobile device active on one of our Apps in a month that completed at least one IAP during that time period. A consumer who makes IAPs within two separate Apps on the same mobile device in a monthly period will be counted as two MAPs. MAPs for a particular time period longer than one month are the average MAPs for each month during that period. We estimate the number of MAPs by aggregating certain data from third-party attribution partners. Some of our Apps do not utilize such third-party attribution partners, and therefore our MAPs figure for any period does not capture every user that completed an IAP on our Apps. We estimate that our counted MAPs generated approximately 98% of our IAP Revenue during the year ended December 31, 2022, and as such, management believes that MAPs are still a useful metric to measure the engagement and monetization potential of our games.

Average Revenue Per Monthly Active Payer ("ARPMAP"). We define ARPMAP as (i) the total IAP Revenue derived from our Apps in a monthly period, divided by (ii) MAPs in that same period. ARPMAP for a particular time period longer than one month is the average ARPMAP for each month during that period. ARPMAP shows how efficiently we are monetizing each MAP.

The following table shows our Monthly Active Payers and Average Revenue Per Monthly Active Payer for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020.

Our key metrics are not based on any standardized industry methodology and are not necessarily calculated in the same manner or comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. Similarly, our key metrics may differ from estimates published by third parties or from similarly titled metrics of our competitors due to differences in methodology. The numbers that we use to calculate TSTV, MAP, and ARPMAP are based on internal data. While these numbers are based on what we believe to be reasonable judgments and estimates for the applicable period of measurement, there are inherent challenges in measuring usage and engagement. We regularly review and may adjust our processes for calculating our internal metrics to improve their accuracy.

Non-GAAP Financial Metrics

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin

We define Adjusted EBITDA for a particular period as net income (loss) before interest expense and loss on settlement of debt, other (income) expense, net (excluding certain recurring items), provision for (benefit from) income taxes, amortization, depreciation and write-offs and as further adjusted for stock-based compensation expense, acquisition-related expense and transaction bonus, publisher bonuses, MoPub acquisition transition services, restructuring costs, impairment and loss on disposal, loss (gain) on extinguishments of acquisition related contingent consideration, non-operating foreign exchange (gain) losses, lease modification and abandonment of leasehold improvements, and change in the fair value of contingent consideration. We define Adjusted EBITDA margin as Adjusted EBITDA divided by revenue for the same period.

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Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin are key measures we use to assess our financial performance and are also used for internal planning and forecasting purposes. We believe Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin are helpful to investors, analysts, and other interested parties because they can assist in providing a more consistent and comparable overview of our operations across our historical financial periods. In addition, these measures are frequently used by analysts, investors, and other interested parties to evaluate and assess performance. We use Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin in conjunction with GAAP measures as part of our overall assessment of our performance, including the preparation of our annual operating budget and quarterly forecasts, to evaluate the effectiveness of our business strategies, and to communicate with our board of directors concerning our financial performance.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin are non-GAAP financial measures and are presented for supplemental informational purposes only and should not be considered as alternatives or substitutes to financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. These measures have certain limitations in that they do not include the impact of certain expenses that are reflected in our consolidated statement of operations that are necessary to run our business. Our definitions may differ from the definitions used by other companies and therefore comparability may be limited. In addition, other companies may not publish these or similar metrics. Thus, our Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin should be considered in addition to, not as substitutes for, or in isolation from, measures prepared in accordance with GAAP.

The following table provides our Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin for 2022, 2021, and 2020, and a reconciliation of net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA:

1 Excludes recurring operational foreign exchange gains and losses and write-off investments included in Amortization, depreciation and write-offs.

2 The twelve months ended December 31, 2021 includes $2.3 million of bonus compensation settled in stock outside of the scope of ASC 718.

3 In association with the MoPub acquisition, we incurred certain costs to incentivize publishers to migrate to our MAX mediation solution, including existing publishers of MoPub as well as publishers on other competitor offerings. We have not historically incurred significant publisher migration costs, nor do we currently intend to incur significant publisher migration costs in the future. As such, we have removed the impact of these costs from Adjusted EBITDA.

4 Reflects one-time transition services provided by Twitter to AppLovin.

In 2022, 2021 and 2020, our net income (loss) and Adjusted EBITDA included $0.8 million, $1.8 million and $62.0 million, related to the fair value adjustment of the deferred revenue balance assumed as a result of the acquisitions of Adjust in 2021 and Machine Zone in 2020.

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Free Cash Flow

We define Free Cash Flow as net cash provided by operating activities less purchases of property and equipment and principal payment of finance leases. We use Free Cash Flow to help manage the health of our business, prepare budgets and for capital allocation purposes. We believe Free Cash Flow provides useful supplemental information to help investors understand underlying trends in our business and our liquidity. Free cash flow has certain limitations, including that it does not reflect our future contractual commitments. Our definition may differ from the definitions used by other companies and therefore comparability may be limited. In addition, other companies may not publish Free Cash Flow or similar metrics. Thus, our Free Cash Flow should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, or in isolation from, measures prepared in accordance with GAAP.

The following table provides our Free Cash Flow for 2022, 2021, and 2020, and a reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activities to Free Cash Flow:

Factors Affecting Our Performance

We believe that the future success of our business depends on many factors, including the factors described below. While each of these factors presents significant opportunities for our business, they also pose important challenges that we must successfully address in order to continue to grow profitably while maintaining strong cash flow.

Continue to invest in innovation

We have made, and intend to continue to make, significant investments in our Core Technologies and Software Platform to enhance their effectiveness and value proposition for our clients. We expect that these investments will require spending on research and development, and acquisitions and partnerships related to technology components and products. We believe investments in our software, including our machine learning engine AXON, AppDiscovery, Adjust, and MAX, will further improve effectiveness for developers. Our investments will also allow us to enter new mobile app sectors outside of gaming. While our investments in research and development and acquisitions and partnerships may not result in revenue in the near term, we believe these investments position us to increase our revenue over time.

Retain and grow existing clients

We rely on existing clients for a significant portion of our revenue. As we improve our Software Platform and Apps, we can attract additional spend from these clients. Our clients include indie studio developers and some of the largest mobile advertising platforms in the world. We believe there is significant room for us to further expand our relationships with these clients and increase their usage of our Software Platform. We have invested in targeted sales and account-based marketing efforts, including through Adjust’s sales and marketing teams, to identify and showcase opportunities to clients and plan to continue to do so in the future.

In the past, our clients have generally increased their usage of our Software Platform and Apps, and as a result, growth from existing clients has been a primary driver of our revenue growth. We must continue to retain our existing clients and expand their spend with us over time to continue to grow our revenue, increase profitability and drive greater cash flow.

Add new clients globally

Our future success depends in part on our ability to acquire new clients. We recently increased our focus on markets outside the United States to serve the needs of clients globally. In 2022, only 41% of our revenue from Software Platform and IAA Revenue clients was generated from outside of the United States. We believe that the global opportunity is significant and will continue to expand as developers and advertisers outside the United States adopt our Software Platform and advertise on our Apps. We also see opportunities to acquire new clients outside of mobile gaming, as the capabilities of our Core Technologies and Software Platform are relevant to the broader mobile app ecosystem. We are investing in direct sales, product development, education, and other capabilities to drive increased awareness and adoption of our Software Platform and Apps, which investments may impact our profitability in the near term as we seek further scale. We must continue to acquire new clients to grow our revenue, increase profitability, and drive greater cash flow.

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Review of our AppLovin Apps portfolio

Over the past several years, our Apps have been critical in providing first-party data and audiences for our Software Platform to enable us to test, design, and scale our technologies. Given the recent development of our technology, the current scale of our Software Platform, and the reach of our MAX solution, we believe we can reduce our reliance on the data from our Apps. Therefore, we are continuing our strategic review and optimization of our Apps portfolio and its cost structure, focusing on how best to optimize each asset’s contribution to our overall financial performance. This review has resulted in the divestiture or closure of certain studios, a reduction of headcount, restructuring of earn out arrangements, and other changes to our Apps portfolio, such as restructuring of certain assets or choosing to make changes to optimize the cost structure of certain Apps rather than investing in revenue growth. For example, we have reduced our user acquisition spend for our portfolio of Apps as we increased our desired return goals, which has led to improved App segment Adjusted EBITDA margin, but also contributed to a decline in revenue and MAPs. While we believe we have made substantial progress on this review, we may take similar actions in the future. We will continue to manage our Apps portfolio for financial return, including investing for growth through new game launches, while remaining open to evaluating opportunities for the retention, restructure, or sale of assets in the future. We believe that our execution of this review, and our ability to optimize the contribution of our Apps portfolio, will affect our revenue growth, profitability, and cash flow.

Continued execution of strategic acquisitions and partnerships

We intend to continue to make strategic acquisitions and enter into strategic partnerships to grow our business. From the beginning of 2018 through December 31, 2022, we have invested nearly $4.0 billion in 29 strategic acquisitions and partnerships with mobile app developers and for technologies to enhance our Software Platform including the acquisition of MAX in 2018, Adjust in April 2021, MoPub in January 2022, and Wurl in April 2022.

While we have a strong pipeline of strategic acquisition and partnership opportunities, we believe our future results of operations will be affected by our ability to continue to identify and execute such transactions that are accretive to our growth and profitability.

Growth and structure of the mobile app ecosystem

Our business and results of operations will be impacted by industry factors that drive overall performance of the mobile app ecosystem. The mobile app ecosystem has been affected by the recent economic uncertainty, including by advertisers more closely managing budgets and reducing overall spend, which has resulted in slowed growth for our Software Platform in recent quarters. We expect that any further slowing, or accelerations of our growth would affect our business and results of operations. In addition, even if the mobile app ecosystem continues to grow at its current rate, our ability to position ourselves within the market will impact our business and results of operations.

Mobile app developers, including AppLovin, rely on third-party platforms, such as the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, among others, to distribute games, collect payments made for IAPs, and target users with relevant advertising. We expect this to continue for the foreseeable future. These third-party platforms have significant market power and discretion to set platform fees, select which apps to promote, and decide how much consumer information to provide to advertising networks that enable our Core Technologies and Software Platform to target users with personalized and relevant advertising and allocate marketing campaigns in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Any changes made in the policies of third-party platforms could drive rapid change across the mobile app ecosystem. For example, in April 2021, Apple started implementing its application tracking transparency framework that, among other things, requires users' opt-in consent for certain types of tracking. While this transparency framework has not had a significant impact on our overall business, it may in the future, including with respect to the effectiveness of our advertising practices and/or our ability to efficiently generate revenue for our Apps. We rely in part on Identifier for Advertisers ("IDFA") to provide us with data that helps our Software Platform better market and monetize Apps. In light of the IDFA and transparency changes, we made changes to our data collection practices., To the extent we are unable to utilize IDFA or a similar offering, or if the transparency changes and any related opt-in or other requirements result in decreases in the availability or utility of data relating to Apps, our Software Platform may not be as effective, we may not be able to continue to efficiently generate revenue for our Apps, and our revenue and results of operations may be harmed. Additionally, Apple implemented new requirements for consumer disclosures regarding privacy and data processing practices in December 2020, which has resulted in increased compliance requirements and could result in decreased usage of our Apps. In February 2022, Google announced its Privacy Sandbox initiative for Android, expecting to restrict tracking activity and limit advertisers' ability to collect app and user data across Android devices by the third quarter of 2023. These or any similar changes to the policies of Apple or Google may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. To date, these data privacy changes have had some impact on the discoverability of apps across these platforms, though they have had a relatively muted aggregate impact on our overall results of operations.

New tools for developers, industry standards, and platforms may emerge in the future. We believe our focus on the mobile app ecosystem has allowed us to understand the needs of our clients and our relentless innovation has enabled us to quickly adapt to changes in the industry and pioneer new solutions. We must continue to innovate and stay ahead of developments in the mobile app ecosystem in order for our business to succeed and our results of operations to continue to improve.

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Current Economic Conditions and COVID-19

We are subject to risks and uncertainties caused by global economic conditions and events with significant macroeconomic impacts, including but not limited to, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and actions taken to counter inflation. Inflation, rising interest rates and reduced consumer confidence have caused and may continue to cause our clients to be cautious in their spending. The mobile gaming and app market continue to be affected by cautious advertiser demand, but we believe that demand is stabilizing when compared against the third quarter of 2022. The full impact of these macroeconomic events and the extent to which these macro factors may impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations in the future remains uncertain. The risks related to our business are further described in the section titled “Risk Factors" in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Ukraine/Russia Conflict

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues to evolve, we are closely monitoring the current and potential impact on our business, our people, and our clients. We have taken steps to comply with applicable domestic and international regulatory restrictions on international trade and financial transactions. In connection with our compliance efforts, we have identified active clients and vendors inside Russia and Belarus that are subject to evolving sanctions imposed by the United States and/or the European Union and have terminated or suspended our contracts with them. Revenues associated with clients and vendors in Russia and Belarus are not material to our consolidated financial results, and we anticipate that the termination of Russian and Belarus clients and vendors that are subject to duly authorized sanctions will not have a material impact on our business or other client relationships. Management and our Board of Directors are monitoring the regional and global ramifications of the continuing events. Our cybersecurity teams are continually monitoring for any attacks that could cause disruption to our platform, systems, and networks, which could result in security breaches or data loss, damage to our brand, or reduce demand for our products and services.

Components of Results of Operations

Revenue

We generate Software Platform Revenue primarily from fees collected from advertisers spending on AppDiscovery, typically on a performance basis, then shared with our advertising publishers, typically on a cost per impression model. Software Platform Revenue also includes fees generated based on a percentage of client spend through MAX and subscription fees for Adjust's SaaS mobile marketing platform.

We generate Apps Revenue from In-App Purchases made by the users within our Apps and from In-App Advertising generated from advertisers that purchase advertising inventory from our diverse portfolio of Apps. IAA Revenue from our Apps was 33%, 31% and 41% of total Apps Revenue in 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Cost of Revenue and Operating Expenses

Cost of revenue. Cost of revenue consists primarily of third-party payment processing fees for distribution partners, amortization of acquired technology-related intangible assets, and expenses associated with operating our network infrastructure. Third-party payment processing fees relate to IAP Revenue. The fees for IAPs are processed and collected by third-party distribution partners.

Network operating costs include bandwidth, energy, other equipment costs related to our co-located data centers, and costs for third-party cloud service providers. We expect our cost of revenue to increase in absolute dollars over the long term as our business and revenue continue to grow. We also expect our cost of revenue as a percentage of revenue to fluctuate period-over-period.

Sales and marketing. Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of user acquisition costs, other advertising expenses, personnel-related expenses for salaries, employee benefits, and stock-based compensation for employees engaged in sales and marketing, and amortization of acquired user-related intangible assets, marketing programs, travel, customer service costs, and allocated facilities and information technology costs.

We plan to continue to invest in sales and marketing to grow our Software Platform customer base and increase brand awareness. We also plan to continue to invest in new App launches to the extent we see opportunities for cost-effective growth. As a result, we expect sales and marketing expenses to increase in absolute dollars over the long-term, though they may fluctuate period-over-period in the near term as we reduce our user acquisition spend for our portfolio of Apps. We also expect our sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of revenue to fluctuate period- over-period in the near term as we invest to grow our customer base and increase brand awareness, and to decrease over the long term as we benefit from greater scale.

Research and development. Research and development expenses consist primarily of product development costs, including personnel-related expenses for salaries, employee benefits, and stock- based compensation for employees engaged in research and development, professional services costs related to development of new apps by third parties, consulting costs, regulatory compliance costs, and allocated facilities and information technology costs.

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We plan to continue to invest in research and development to continue to enhance our Core Technologies and Software Platform, and to improve existing games and develop new games. As a result, we expect research and development expenses to increase in absolute dollars over the long-term, though they may fluctuate period-over-period in the near term as we reassess in which areas to focus our investment. We also expect our research and development expenses as a percentage of revenue to fluctuate period-over-period in the near term as we invest to enhance our Core Technologies and Software Platform and improve our existing Apps and develop new Apps, and to decrease over the long term as we benefit from greater scale.

General and administrative. General and administrative expenses consist primarily of costs incurred to support our business, including personnel-related expenses for salaries, employee benefits, and stock-based compensation for employees engaged in finance, accounting, legal, human resources and administration, professional services fees for legal, accounting, recruiting, and administrative services (including acquisition-related expenses), insurance, travel, and allocated facilities and information technology costs.

We plan to continue to invest in our general and administrative function to support the growth of our business. In addition, we expect to incur additional general and administrative expenses as a result of operating as a public company, including expenses related to compliance and reporting obligations of a public company, increased insurance and investor relations expenses, and increased professional services fees (including acquisition-related expenses). As a result, we expect general and administrative expenses to increase in absolute dollars. We also expect our general and administrative expenses as a percentage of revenue to fluctuate period-over-period in the near term as we invest to support the growth of our business, and to decrease over the long term as we benefit from greater scale.

Other Income and Expenses

Interest expense and loss on settlement of debt. Interest expense and loss on settlement of debt consists primarily of loss related to debt extinguishment, interest expense associated with our outstanding debt, including accretion of debt discount, and changes in fair value of interest rate swap related to the stream of variable interest payments associated with a portion of our outstanding debt.

Other income (expense), net. Other income (expense), net, includes interest earned on our cash and cash equivalents, gains and losses related to embedded derivatives and other financial instruments accounted for at fair value, and foreign currency exchange gains (losses), which consist primarily of remeasurement of transactions and monetary assets and liabilities denominated in currencies other than the functional currency at the end of the period.

Provision for (benefit from) income taxes. We are subject to income taxes in the United States and foreign jurisdictions in which we do business. These foreign jurisdictions have different statutory tax rates than those in the United States. Additionally, certain of our foreign earnings may also be taxable in the United States. Accordingly, our effective tax rate will vary depending on the relative proportion of foreign to domestic income, impacts from acquisition restructuring, deduction benefits related to foreign-derived intangible income, future changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities, and changes in tax laws. Additionally, our effective tax rate can vary based on the amount of pre-tax income or loss.

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Results of Operations

In this section, we discuss the results of our operations for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. For a discussion of the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2020, please refer to Part II, Item 7, "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021.

The following tables summarize our consolidated statement of operations.

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(1)Includes stock-based compensation expense as follows:

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(2)Includes amortization expense related to acquired intangibles as follows:

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The following table sets forth the components of our consolidated statements of operations for each of the periods presented as a percentage of revenue(1):

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(1)Totals of percentages of revenue may not foot due to rounding.

Comparison of Our Results of Operations for the Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020

Revenue

For the twelve months ended December 31, 2022, our Software Platform Revenue increased by $375.2 million, or 56%, from the prior year period primarily due to AppDiscovery where installations increased 24% and revenue per installation increased 46% compared to the prior year period, as well as our addition of Wurl during the year which contributed 9% of the Software Platform revenue increase, and continued growth in MAX and Adjust. We do not recognize Software Platform Revenue from transactions with our Owned Studios and Partner Studios.

For the twelve months ended December 31, 2022, our Apps Revenue decreased by $351.3 million, or 17%, from the prior year period. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2022, our IAP Revenue from Apps decreased by $279.5 million, or 19%, from the prior year period, primarily due to a 21% decrease in the volume of in-app purchases, partially offset by a 2% increase in price per in-app purchase. Our IAA Revenue from Apps decreased $71.8 million, or 11%, compared to the prior year period, due to a 16% decrease in price per advertising impression, partially offset by a 7% increase in the volume of advertising impressions. We do not recognize IAA Revenue from transactions with our Owned Studios and Partner Studios.

For the twelve months ended December 31, 2021, our Software Platform Revenue increased by $466.7 million, or 225%, from the prior year period primarily due to AppDiscovery where installations increased 62% and revenue per installation increased 81% compared to the prior year period, as well as our addition of Adjust during the year which contributed 17% of the Software Platform revenue increase. We do not recognize Software Platform Revenue from transactions with our Owned Studios and Partner Studios.

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For the twelve months ended December 31, 2021, our Apps Revenue increased by $875.4 million, or 70%, from the prior year period. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2021, our IAP Revenue from Apps increased by $718.7 million, or 97%, from the prior year period, primarily due to a 88% increase in the volume of in-app purchases, as well as a 5% increase in price per in-app purchase. Our IAA Revenue from Apps increased $156.7 million, or 31%, due to a 44% increase in the volume of advertising impressions partially offset by a 9% decrease in price per advertising impression compared to the prior year period. We do not recognize IAA Revenue from transactions with our Owned Studios and Partner Studios.

Cost of revenue

Cost of revenue in 2022 increased by $268.0 million, or 27%, compared to 2021. The increase in 2022 was primarily due to an increase of $127.9 million in impairment and loss in connection with the sale of certain assets resulting from our strategic review of the Apps portfolio, an increase in expenses associated with operating our network infrastructure driven by the growth in our Software Platform operations of $126.1 million, and an increase of $82.1 million in depreciation and amortization driven primarily by current-year acquisition activities and the recognition of a full year amortization of intangible assets acquired in 2021, offset by an $88.4 million decrease in third-party payment processing fees as a result of the decline in IAP Revenue.

Cost of revenue in 2021 increased by $432.5 million, or 78%, compared to 2020. The increase in 2021 was primarily due to an increase of $199.8 million in third-party payment processing fees as a result of the growth in IAP Revenue, an increase of $153.9 million in depreciation and amortization of technology-related intangible assets driven by an increase in acquisition activity, and an increase in expenses associated with operating our network infrastructure driven by the growth in our operations of $49.7 million.

Sales and marketing

Sales and marketing expenses in 2022 decreased by $210.3 million, or 19%, compared to 2021 primarily due to a $317.8 million decrease in user acquisition costs, offset by a $57.1 million increase in personnel-related expense primarily due to an increase in stock-based compensation and an increase in headcount from acquisitions, and a $43.1 million increase in depreciation and amortization of user-related intangible assets.

Sales and marketing expenses in 2021 increased by $502.1 million, or 80%, compared to 2020 primarily due to a $432.8 million increase in user acquisition costs, a $23.2 million increase in personnel-related expenses primarily due to an increase in stock-based compensation as a result of higher fair value in our common stock and increase in headcount, and a $28.0 million increase in professional service fees.

Research and development

Research and development expenses in 2022 increased by $141.2 million, or 39%, compared to 2021. The increase was primarily due to an increase of $70.5 million in professional services costs related to development of new games by third parties and an increase of $62.5 million in personnel-related expenses related to an increase in stock-based compensation expense as a result of an increase in headcount.

Research and development expenses in 2021 increased by $185.8 million, or 103%, compared to 2020. The increase was primarily due to an increase of $109.9 million in professional services costs related to development of new games by third parties and an increase of $66.1 million in personnel-related expenses related to an increase in stock-based compensation as a result of higher fair value in our common stock and an increase in headcount.

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General and administrative

General and administrative expenses in 2022 increased by $22.9 million, or 14% compared to 2021. The increase was primarily due to an increase of $12.7 million in acquisition-related costs, an increase of $3.1 million in professional services costs primarily associated with audit, tax, and legal support, and an increase of $3.0 million in bad debt expense.

General and administrative expenses in 2021 increased by $92.3 million, or 139% compared to 2020. The increase was primarily due to an increase of $65.4 million in personnel-related expenses related to an increase in stock-based compensation expense as a result of higher fair value in our common stock and an increase in headcount to support our growth and an increase of $12.4 million in professional services costs primarily associated with audit, tax, and legal support.

Interest expense and loss on settlement of debt

In 2022, interest expense and loss on settlement of debt increased by $68.7 million, or 67%, compared to 2021. This increase was primary due to an increase of $86.9 million in interest expense related to an increase in the term loan balance and increase in LIBOR during the period, partially offset by a loss on the settlement of term loans of $16.9 million during the prior year period.

In 2021, interest expense and loss on settlement of debt increased by $25.3 million, or 32%, compared to 2020. The increase was primarily due to a loss on the settlement of term loans of $16.9 million during the period.

Other income (expense), net

** Not meaningful

In 2022, other income (expense), net increased by $15.0 million compared to 2021. The increase was primarily due to an increase in interest income of $14.0 million.

In 2021, other income (expense), net decreased by $4.7 million, or 113% compared to 2020. The decrease was primarily due to the write-off of an investment in non-marketable securities of $10.0 million, third-party cost incurred for the amendment of term loans of $3.7 million, and a fair value remeasurement loss of $2.0 million, which were partially offset by an unrealized gain of $4.7 million related to marketable equity securities, $3.9 million in net foreign exchange gains, and a fair value remeasurement gain related to term loan embedded derivative of $2.0 million.

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Provision for (benefit from) Income Taxes

In 2022, benefit for income taxes increased by $23.2 million or 211% compared to 2021.

The increase in tax benefit was driven by an increase of $52.7 million due to the tax impact on the pre-tax loss of $205.2 million in 2022 as compared to $46.3 million of pre-tax income in 2021, an increase of $14.7 million related to capital loss, an increase of $7.2 million due to higher foreign-derived intangible income deduction, and an increase of $5.1 million due to higher research and development credit, offset by a decrease of $30.1 million related to decrease in stock option deduction, a decrease of $15.7 million due to higher US-foreign rate differential, a decrease of $5.6 million due to higher foreign income inclusion and a decrease of $5.2 million due to higher valuation allowance.

In 2021, we recognized tax provision of $11.0 million as compared to the tax benefit of $9.8 million, a change of $20.7 million, or 212% compared to 2020. The increase in tax provision was driven by an increase of $38.0 million due to higher pre-tax income in 2021, an increase of $15.9 million due to higher valuation allowance, an increase of $6.0 million due to change in foreign deferred tax rate in 2020, a decrease of $2.6 million due to foreign loss inclusion, a decrease of $19.2 million due to excess tax benefit for stock-based compensation, a decrease of $6.9 million due to higher foreign-derived intangible income deduction, and a decrease of $12.2 million due to a disallowed deduction for extinguishments of acquisition-related contingent considerations in 2020.

Comparison of our Segment Results of Operations

The following table presents the results for our Software Platform and Apps segment adjusted EBITDA for the periods indicated:

Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2022 Compared to Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2021

The $351.1 million, or 77%, increase in Software Platform Adjusted EBITDA for 2022 was primarily driven by an increase in Software Platform revenue of $375.2 million, partially offset by an increase of $123.9 million in expenses associated with our network infrastructure and an increase of $74.3 million in personnel-related expenses related to an increase in headcount primarily due to the acquisitions of Adjust and Wurl. In addition, Software Platform Adjusted EBITDA for 2022 has been adjusted to exclude one-time publisher bonuses of $209.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2022.

The $14.7 million, or 5%, decrease in Apps Adjusted EBITDA for 2022 was primarily driven by a decrease in Apps Revenue of $351.3 million and a $73.0 million increase in professional services costs related to development of new apps by third parties, partially offset by a $317.6 million decrease in user acquisition costs, and a $88.4 million decrease in third-party payment processing fees paid associated with in-app purchases.

Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2021 Compared to Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2020

The $336.2 million, or 278%, increase in Software Platform Adjusted EBITDA for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021 was primarily driven by an increase in Software Platform revenue of $466.7 million, partially offset by an increase of $43.7 million in expenses associated with operating our network infrastructure and an increase of $52.3 million in personnel-related expenses related to an increase in headcount primarily due to the acquisition of Adjust.

The $45.1 million, or 20%, increase in Apps Adjusted EBITDA for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021 was primarily driven by an increase in Apps Revenue of $875.4 million, partially offset by a $432.6 million increase in user acquisition costs, a $199.8 million increase in third-party payment processing fees paid associated with in-app purchases, a $151.6 million increase in costs primarily related to the development of new games by third parties, and a $31.8 million increase in personnel-related expenses related to an increase in stock-based compensation expense as a result of higher fair value in our common stock and an increase in headcount.

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Liquidity and Capital Resources

Since inception, we have financed our operations primarily through payments received from clients using our Software Platform and advertising on our Apps, and from user IAPs from our Apps, and through net proceeds we received from the sales of our convertible preferred stock and of our Class A common stock in our initial public offering and debt borrowings, including borrowings made under our credit agreement. As of December 31, 2022, we had cash and cash equivalents of $1.1 billion.

We believe that our existing cash and cash equivalents would be sufficient to satisfy our anticipated working capital and capital expenditures needs for at least the next 12 months. Our future capital requirements, however, will depend on many factors, including our growth rate; sales and marketing activities; timing and extent of spending to support our research and development efforts; capital expenditures to purchase hardware and software; and our continued need to invest in our IT infrastructure to support our growth. In addition, we may enter into additional strategic partnerships as well as agreements to acquire or invest in teams and technologies, including intellectual property rights, which could increase our cash requirements. For example, in 2022, we acquired MoPub and Wurl, which reduced our year-end 2022 cash balance by $1.3 billion. As a result of these and other factors, we may be required to seek additional equity or debt financing sooner than we currently anticipate. If additional financing from outside sources is required, we may not be able to raise it on terms acceptable to us, or at all. If we are unable to raise additional capital when required, or if we cannot expand our operations or otherwise capitalize on our business opportunities because we lack sufficient capital, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected.

The following table summarizes our cash flows for the periods indicated:

Operating Activities

Net cash provided by operating activities was $412.8 million for 2022, primarily consisting of $192.9 million of net loss, adjusted for certain non-cash items, which included $547.1 million of amortization, depreciation and write-offs, $191.6 million of stock-based compensation expense, $127.9 million of impairment charges and losses on disposal of assets, $17.1 million of change in operating right of use asset, and $12.7 million of amortization of debt issuance costs and discount partially offset by a net increase in the operating assets and liabilities of $292.4 million. The net increase in the operating assets and liabilities was primarily driven by an increase in accounts receivable and other assets, and a decrease in operating lease liabilities, deferred revenue and accrued and other liabilities, partially offset by higher accounts payable.

Net cash provided by operating activities was $361.9 million for 2021, primarily consisting of $35.3 million of net income, adjusted for certain non-cash items, which included $431.1 million of amortization, depreciation and write-offs, $133.2 million of stock-based compensation expense, $26.3 million of change in operating right of use asset, $18.2 million of loss on settlement of debt, $8.8 million of net unrealized gains on fair value remeasurement of financial instruments, and $12.8 million of amortization of debt issuance costs and discount, partially offset by a net increase in the operating assets and liabilities of $284.3 million. The net increase in the operating assets and liabilities was primarily driven by an increase in accounts receivable, prepaid expenses and other current assets and decrease in operating lease liabilities partially offset by higher accounts payable and accrued and other liabilities.

Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities was $1.4 billion for 2022, primarily consisting of $1.3 billion related to acquisitions, $66.3 million in purchases of non-marketable investments and other, partially offset by $37.0 million in proceeds from sale of long-lived assets.

Net cash used in investing activities was $1.2 billion for 2021, primarily consisting of $1.2 billion related to acquisitions, $15.0 million in purchases of non-marketable investments and other and $12.0 million in proceeds from other investing activity.

Financing Activities

Net cash used in financing activities was $526.8 million for 2022, primarily consisting of $338.9 million of common stock repurchases, deferred acquisition costs of $124.2 million, payments for withholding taxes related to net share settlement of restricted stock units of $27.5 million, payments for the principal repayment of debt of $25.8 million, and payments for finance leases of $24.1 million, partially offset by $25.5 million in proceeds from exercise of stock awards.

Net cash provided by financing activities was $3.1 billion for 2021, primarily consisting of $1.7 billion of proceeds from issuance of common stock in our initial public offering, net of issuance costs as adjusted for cost reimbursement, $2.3 billion of proceeds from debt issuance and $31.2 million proceeds from exercise of stock awards partially offset by payments for the principal repayment of debt of $719.8 million, deferred acquisition costs of $234.1 million and finance leases of $15.3 million.

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Credit Agreement

As of December 31, 2022, our total outstanding indebtedness under the Amended Credit Agreement with the lenders party thereto and Bank of America, N.A. serving as the administrative agent consisted of $3.25 billion of outstanding term loans with $33.3 million due within twelve months. This amount is exclusive of interest payments which vary based on the fluctuations in the interest rate index. Additionally, the Amended Credit Agreement provides a Revolving Credit Facility with a borrowing capacity of $600.0 million. There were no borrowings drawn from the Revolving Credit Facility as of December 31, 2022. For additional information on the Credit Agreement, see Note 9 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Contractual Obligations

Our material cash requirements include the following contractual obligations.

Deferred Acquisition Costs

As of December 31, 2022, we had accrued certain deferred acquisition costs of $31.0 million, with the entire amount payable within twelve months. These costs represent part of the consideration related to games acquired in asset acquisition transactions. Refer to "Contingent Consideration" below for additional information.

Operating Leases

As of December 31, 2022, we have non-cancellable commitments for real estate leases and leases of certain networking equipment colocation space with fixed lease payment obligations of $77.0 million, with $17.3 million payable within twelve months. For additional information, see Note 8 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Finance Leases

As of December 31, 2022, we have non-cancelable payments related to finance leases of certain networking equipment of $72.8 million, with $25.0 million payable within twelve months. For additional information, see Note 8 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

License Asset Obligation

As of December 31, 2022, we have an obligation related to certain intellectual property that we licensed from a third party of $45.8 million, with $15.3 million payable within twelve months.

Non-cancelable purchase obligations

As of December 31, 2022, we have non-cancellable purchase obligations, which primarily consist of a certain arrangement related to cloud platform services, of $480.6 million, with $210.7 million payable within twelve months.

Wurl Acquisition Obligations

In April 2022, we completed our acquisition of Wurl, a software platform company in the connected TV market for $378.2 million, which includes a deferred payment of $22.7 million to be paid in October 2023, less any eligible claims against the deferred payment.

Investment Commitments

During the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, we invested or committed to invest in certain private equity funds. As of December 31, 2022 these unfunded commitments were $50.1 million, which may be called from time to time by the funds.

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Contingent Consideration

Several of the definitive agreements governing our acquisitions of our Owned Studios and arrangements with Partner Studios provide for payment contingent upon future performance metrics. These contingent consideration arrangements include payouts based on a percentage of revenue or profitability metrics, payouts of fixed amounts based on the achievement of certain operating targets, and revenue share arrangements for specific apps, and some of these arrangements do not have a maximum limit of contingent consideration achievable. Because these contingent consideration arrangements are based on the success of relevant Apps and are not guaranteed, we do not expect our results of operations would be materially and adversely effected by the payment of amounts under any such arrangement. The table below presents a summary of the significant contingent consideration arrangements:

For acquisitions of Owned Studios that are accounted for as business combinations, contingent consideration is initially recognized at fair value. For our other transactions, we generally recognize contingent consideration only on the date when the related performance metrics are achieved. For additional information, see Notes 2 and 6 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

As of December 31, 2022, we had recorded liabilities of $19.1 million related to uncertain tax positions. Due to uncertainties in the timing of potential tax audits, the timing of the resolution of these positions is uncertain and we are unable to make a reasonable estimate of the timing of payments in individual years particularly beyond 12 months. As a result, this amount is not included in the table above.

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In April 2020, we entered into a share purchase agreement with Redemption Games, Inc. (Redemption Games). We purchased a majority of the outstanding common stock of Redemption Games and entered into agreements with the equity holders of Redemption Games that, among other things, provide for call/put rights whereby such holders can elect to require us to purchase all or a portion of their vested securities on a specified date in February of each year from 2022 to 2025 and we can require such holders to sell to us all of their remaining securities on or after February 19, 2025, each for a purchase price per share of the then current fair market value per share of common stock of Redemption Games. In 2022, we disposed all of the common stock shares of Redemption Games and such call/put rights were terminated without having been exercised.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

The preparation of our consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, as well as the reported revenue generated and expenses incurred during the reporting periods. We base our estimates on assumptions, both historical and forward-looking, that are believed to be reasonable. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates and assumptions. These estimates are inherently subject to judgment and actual results could differ materially from those estimates.

We believe that the following critical accounting policies reflect the more significant judgments, estimates and assumptions used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements. For additional information, see Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Revenue from Contracts with Customers

We generate Software Platform and Apps revenue. Software Platform revenue is generated primarily from fees collected from advertisers and advertising networks who use our Software Platform. We generate Apps revenue from In-App Purchases ("IAP") generated from in-app purchases (“IAPs”) made by users within our apps (“Apps”) and In-App Advertising ("IAA") generated from advertisers that purchase ad inventory from Apps.

Software Platform Revenue

The vast majority of the Software Platform Revenue is generated through AppDiscovery and MAX, which provides the technology to match advertisers and owners of digital advertising inventory (“Publishers”) via auctions at large scale and microsecond-level speeds. The terms for all mobile advertising arrangements are governed by our terms and conditions and generally stipulate payment terms of up to 60 days subsequent to the end of the month. Substantially all of our contracts with customers are fully cancellable at any time or upon a short notice.

Software Platform Revenue is generated by placing ads on mobile applications owned by Publishers. Our performance obligation is to provide customers with access to the Software Platform, which facilitates the advertiser’s purchase of ad inventory from Publishers. We do not control the ad inventory prior to its transfer to the advertiser, because we do not have the substantive ability to direct the use of nor obtain substantially all of the remaining benefits from the ad inventory. We are not primarily responsible for fulfillment and does not have any inventory risk. We are an agent as it relates to the sale of third-party advertising inventory and presents revenue on a net basis. The transaction price is the product of either the number of completions of agreed upon actions or advertisements displayed and the contractually agreed upon price per advertising unit with the advertiser less consideration paid or payable to Publishers. We recognize Software Platform Revenue when the agreed upon action is completed or when the ad is displayed to users. The number of advertisements delivered and completions of agreed upon actions is determined at the end of each month, which resolves any uncertainty in the transaction price during the reporting period.

Software Platform Revenue also includes revenue generated by our mobile application tracking and attribution solutions that is recognized ratably over the subscription period generally up to twelve months.

Apps Revenue

IAP Revenue

IAP Revenue includes fees collected from users to purchase virtual goods to enhance their gameplay experience. The identified performance obligation is to provide users with the ability to acquire, use, and hold virtual items over the estimated period of time the virtual items are available to the user or until the virtual item is consumed. Payment is required at the time of purchase, and the purchase price is a fixed amount.

Users make IAPs through our distribution partners. The transaction price is equal to the gross amount charged to users because we are the principal in the transaction. IAPs fees are non-refundable. Such payments are initially recorded as deferred revenue. We categorize virtual goods as either consumable or durable. Consumable virtual goods represent goods that can be consumed by a specific player action in gameplay; accordingly, we recognize revenue from the sale of consumable virtual goods as the goods are consumed. Durable virtual goods represent goods that are accessible to the user over an extended period of time; accordingly, we recognize revenue from the sale of durable virtual goods ratably over the period of time the goods are available to the user, which is generally the estimated average user life (“EAUL”).

The EAUL represents our best estimate of the expected life of paying users for the applicable game. The EAUL begins when a user makes the first purchase of durable virtual goods and ends when a user is determined to be inactive. We determine

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the EAUL on a game-by-game basis. For a newly launched game with limited playing data, we determine the EAUL based on the EAUL of a game with sufficiently similar characteristics.

We determine the EAUL on a quarterly basis and applies such calculated EAUL to all bookings in the respective quarter. Determining the EAUL is subjective and requires management’s judgment. Future playing patterns may differ from historical playing patterns, and therefore the EAUL may change in the future. The EAULs are generally between six and nine months.

IAA Revenue

IAA Revenue is generated by selling ad inventory on our Apps to third-party advertisers. Advertisers purchase ad inventory either through the Software Platform or through third-party advertising networks (“Ad Networks”). Revenue from the sale of ad inventory through Ad Networks is recognized net of the amounts retained by Ad Networks as we are unable to determine the gross amount paid by the advertisers to Ad Networks. We recognize revenue when the ad is displayed to users.

Asset Acquisitions and Business Combinations

We perform an initial test to determine whether substantially all of the fair value of the gross assets transferred are concentrated in a single identifiable asset or a group of similar identifiable assets, such that the acquisition would not represent a business. If that test suggests that the set of assets and activities is a business, we then perform a second test to evaluate whether the assets and activities transferred include inputs and substantive processes that together, significantly contribute to the ability to create outputs, which would constitute a business. If the result of the second test suggests that the acquired assets and activities constitute a business, we account for the transaction as a business combination.

For transactions accounted for as business combinations, we allocate the fair value of acquisition consideration to the tangible assets acquired, liabilities assumed, and intangible assets acquired based on their estimated fair values. Acquisition consideration includes the fair value of any promised contingent consideration. The excess of the fair value of acquisition consideration over the fair values of acquired identifiable assets and liabilities is recorded as goodwill. Contingent consideration is remeasured to its fair value each reporting period with changes in the fair value of contingent consideration recorded in general and administrative expenses. Such valuations require management to make significant estimates and assumptions, especially with respect to intangible assets. Significant estimates and assumptions in valuing certain identifiable intangible assets include, but are not limited to, forecasted revenue and discount rates. Management’s estimates of fair value are based upon assumptions believed to be reasonable, but which are inherently uncertain and unpredictable and, as a result, actual results may differ from estimates. In certain circumstances, the allocations of the excess purchase price are based upon preliminary estimates and assumptions and subject to revision when we receive final information, including appraisals and other analyses. During the measurement period, which is one year from the acquisition date, we may record adjustments to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed, with the corresponding offset to goodwill. Upon the conclusion of the measurement period, any subsequent adjustments are recorded to earnings. Acquisition-related costs are expensed as incurred.

For transactions accounted for as asset acquisitions, the cost, including certain transaction costs, is allocated to the assets acquired on the basis of relative fair values. We generally include contingent consideration in the cost of the assets acquired only when the uncertainty is resolved. We recognize contingent consideration adjustments to the cost of the acquired assets prospectively using the straight-line method over the remaining useful life of the assets. No goodwill is recognized in asset acquisitions.

Services and Development Agreements

We enter into strategic agreements with Partner Studios. We have historically allowed these Partner Studios to continue their operations with a significant degree of autonomy. In some cases, we bought Apps from Partner Studios and entered into service and development agreements whereby Partner Studios provide support in improving existing Apps and developing new Apps. The substantial majority of payments associated with service agreements for existing Apps are expensed to research and development when the services are rendered as the payments primarily relate to developing enhancements for the Apps. Payments for new Apps associated with development agreements are generally made in connection with the development of a particular App, and therefore, we are subject to development risk prior to the release of the App. Accordingly, payments that are due prior to completion of an App are generally expensed to research and development over the development period as the services are incurred. Payments due after completion of an App are generally capitalized and expensed as cost of revenue. For additional information, see Note 6 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Software Development Costs

We incur development costs related to internal-use software and the development of Apps. We review software development costs on a quarterly basis to determine if the costs qualify for capitalization. As a result of an agile and iterative development process, the preliminary project stage remains ongoing until just prior to launch, at which time final feature selection occurs. As such, software development costs do not meet the criteria for capitalization and are expensed as incurred to research and development expenses. The software development costs we capitalized during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 were insignificant. We did not capitalize any software development costs during the year ended December 31, 2020

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Goodwill

Goodwill is allocated to reporting units and tested for impairment on an annual basis during the fourth quarter or more frequently if we believe indicators of impairment exist. Triggering events that may indicate impairment include, but are not limited to, a significant adverse change in customer demand or business climate that could affect the value of goodwill or a significant decrease in expected cash flows. When conducting quantitative annual goodwill impairment assessments, we compare the fair value of its reporting units to their carrying value. If the carrying value of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value, then we record a goodwill impairment. Commencing January 1, 2019, the lesser of (i) the entire amount by which the carrying value of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value or (ii) the carrying value of goodwill allocated to such reporting unit is recorded as an impairment to goodwill. As of December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, no impairment of goodwill has been identified.

Intangible Assets

This consists of identifiable intangible assets, primarily Apps, user base, developed technology, customer relationships and intellectual property licenses resulting from acquisitions. Acquired intangible assets are recorded at cost, net of accumulated amortization. Our estimates of useful lives of intangible assets are based on cash flow forecasts which incorporate various assumptions, including forecasted user acquisition costs, user attrition rates and level of user engagement.

Intangible assets also include costs of intellectual property that we license from third parties for use of their content in our game. The licensing agreements include license payments, which are due over the terms of the agreements. We recognize these license payments as a license asset and a license obligation at the fair value on the contract date, based on a discounted cash flow model. The amortization of the licensed asset commences when the game with licensed content is launched and when licensed agreement is executed; and is recorded in cost of revenue on a straight-line method over the remaining license terms or estimated useful life of the game with licensed content, whichever is shorter. The classification of the license obligations between current and long-term is based on the expected timing of the payments to the licensor.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

We review long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate an asset’s carrying value may not be recoverable. If such circumstances are present, we assess the recoverability of the long-lived assets by comparing the carrying value to the undiscounted future cash flows associated with the related assets. If the future net undiscounted cash flows are less than the carrying value of the assets, the assets are considered impaired and an expense equal to the amount required to reduce the carrying value of the assets to the estimated fair value is recorded as an impairment of intangible assets in the consolidated statements of operations. Significant judgment is required to estimate the amount and timing of future cash flows and the relative risk of achieving those cash flows. Assumptions and estimates about future values and remaining useful lives are complex and often subjective. They can be affected by a variety of factors, including external factors such as industry and economic trends, and internal factors such as changes in our business strategy and our internal forecasts. For example, if future operating results do not meet current forecasts, we may be required to record future impairment charges for acquired intangible assets. Additional factors which significantly affect future cash flows related to long-lived assets include, but are not limited to, forecasted user acquisition costs, user attrition rates, and level of user engagement. Significant changes in these factors may require us to reassess recoverability of long-lived assets and record impairment. Impairment charges could materially decrease future net income and result in lower asset values on our consolidated balance sheet. There were no material impairment charges related to long-lived assets that are held and used for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020.

We classify an asset as held for sale when we commit to a formal plan to sell the asset and the sale is expected to be completed within one year. Upon classification as held for sale, we recognize the asset at the lower of its carrying value or its estimated fair value, less costs to sell. In addition, we cease to record depreciation or amortization for assets that are classified as held for sale. During the year ended December 31, 2022, we classified certain assets within our Apps reportable segment as held for sale and recognized a total impairment charge of $53.0 million in cost of revenue in our consolidated statements of operations. During the same period, we also recorded a total net loss of $74.9 million as a result of the sale of certain assets within our Apps reportable segment in cost of revenue in our consolidated statements of operations. No assets were classified as held for sale or sold in 2021 or 2020.

Income Taxes

We account for income taxes under the asset and liability method, which requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of events that have been included in the financial statements. Under this method, we determine deferred tax assets and liabilities 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 deferred tax assets and liabilities is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date.

We recognize deferred tax assets to the extent that these assets are more likely than not to be realized. In making such a determination, we consider all available positive and negative evidence, including future reversals of existing taxable temporary differences, projected future taxable income, tax-planning strategies, and results of recent operations. If we determine that we would be able to realize deferred tax assets in the future in excess of their net recorded amount, an adjustment to the deferred tax asset valuation allowance would be made to reduce the provision for income taxes.

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We record uncertain tax positions on the basis of a two-step process in which determinations are made (i) whether it is more likely than not that the tax positions will be sustained on the basis of the technical merits of the position and (ii) for those tax positions that meet 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 a tax authority.

We recognize interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits on the income tax expense line in our consolidated statement of operations. Accrued interest and penalties are included on the related tax liability line in the consolidated balance sheet.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

See Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for recently adopted accounting pronouncements and recently issued accounting pronouncements not yet adopted as of the dates of the statement of financial position included in this Annual Report on 10-K.