Goodwill and Intangible Assets, Net

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

NOTE 7 — Goodwill and Intangible Assets, Net

The following table presents our goodwill and intangible assets as of December 31, 2017 and 2016:



	December 31,
	2017		2016
	(In thousands)
Goodwill	$	8,228,865	$	7,942,023
Intangible assets with indefinite lives	1,478,729		1,457,072
Intangible assets with definite lives, net	829,807		989,580
	$	10,537,401	$	10,388,675

Impairment Assessments. We perform our annual assessment of possible impairment of goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets as of October 1, or more frequently if events and circumstances indicate that impairment may have occurred. As of October 1, 2017, we had no impairments of goodwill or intangible assets with indefinite-lives. As of October 1, 2016, we had no impairments to goodwill but recorded a $35 million impairment charge related to indefinite-lived trade names within our Core OTA segment.

Goodwill. The following table presents the changes in goodwill by reportable segment:



	Core OTA			trivago			HomeAway			Egencia			Total
	(In thousands)
Balance as of January 1, 2016	$	4,717,371		$	539,577		$	2,602,712		$	133,281		$	7,992,941
Additions	128			—			—			—			128
Foreign exchange translation and other	(14,028		)	(23,339		)	(12,127		)	(1,552		)	(51,046		)
Balance as of December 31, 2016	4,703,471			516,238			2,590,585			131,729			7,942,023
Additions	123,617			298			—			—			123,915
Foreign exchange translation and other	12,949			72,113			64,649			13,216			162,927
Balance as of December 31, 2017	$	4,840,037		$	588,649		$	2,655,234		$	144,945		$	8,228,865

Any change in goodwill amounts resulting from purchase accounting adjustments are presented as "Foreign exchange translation and other" in the above table. In 2017, the additions to goodwill relate to our acquisitions as described in NOTE 3 — Acquisitions and Other Investments.

As of December 31, 2017 and 2016, accumulated goodwill impairment losses in total were $2.5 billion, which was associated with our Core OTA segment.

Indefinite-lived Intangible Assets. Our indefinite-lived intangible assets relate principally to trade names and trademarks acquired in various acquisitions.

Intangible Assets with Definite Lives. The following table presents the components of our intangible assets with definite lives as of December 31, 2017 and 2016:



	December 31, 2017							December 31, 2016
	Cost		Accumulated Amortization			Net		Cost		Accumulated Amortization			Net
	(In thousands)
Customer relationships	$	665,027	$	(304,130	)	$	360,897	$	622,117	$	(185,468	)	$	436,649
Supplier relationships	655,467		(367,609		)	287,858		618,543		(289,834		)	328,709
Technology	531,735		(440,852		)	90,883		480,823		(355,471		)	125,352
Domain names	131,944		(70,203		)	61,741		117,109		(53,607		)	63,502
Other	451,915		(423,487		)	28,428		446,617		(411,249		)	35,368
Total	$	2,436,088	$	(1,606,281	)	$	829,807	$	2,285,209	$	(1,295,629	)	$	989,580

Amortization expense was $275 million, $317 million and $156 million for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015. The estimated future amortization expense related to intangible assets with definite lives as of December 31, 2017, assuming no subsequent impairment of the underlying assets, is as follows, in thousands:



2018	$	279,126
2019	172,834
2020	133,859
2021	88,895
2022	72,411
2023 and thereafter	82,682
Total	$	829,807

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the aggregate amount of goodwill and a description of intangible assets, which may include (a) for amortizable intangible assets (also referred to as finite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, the amount of any significant residual value, and the weighted-average amortization period, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization (also referred to as indefinite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, and (c) the amount of research and development assets acquired and written off in the period, including the line item in the income statement in which the amounts written off are aggregated, if not readily apparent from the income statement. Also discloses (a) for amortizable intangibles assets in total and by major class, the gross carrying amount and accumulated amortization, the total amortization expense for the period, and the estimated aggregate amortization expense for each of the five succeeding fiscal years, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization the carrying amount in total and by major class, and (c) for goodwill, in total and for each reportable segment, the changes in the carrying amount of goodwill during the period (including the aggregate amount of goodwill acquired, the aggregate amount of impairment losses recognized, and the amount of goodwill included in the gain (loss) on disposal of a reporting unit). If any part of goodwill has not been allocated to a reportable segment, discloses the unallocated amount and the reasons for not allocating. For each impairment loss recognized related to an intangible asset (excluding goodwill), discloses: (a) a description of the impaired intangible asset and the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method for determining fair value, (c) the caption in the income statement or the statement of activities in which the impairment loss is aggregated, and (d) the segment in which the impaired intangible asset is reported. For each goodwill impairment loss recognized, discloses: (a) a description of the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method of determining the fair value of the associated reporting unit, and (c) if a recognized impairment loss is an estimate not finalized and the reasons why the estimate is not final. May also disclose the nature and amount of any significant adjustments made to a previous estimate of an impairment loss.

+ References + Details