Organization and Business Description	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Organization and Business Description	NOTE 1: ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS DESCRIPTION We refer to TripAdvisor, Inc. and our wholly-owned subsidiaries as “TripAdvisor,” “the Company,” “us,” “we” and “our” in these notes to the consolidated financial statements. During 2011, Expedia announced its plan to separate into two independent public companies in order to better achieve certain strategic objectives of its various businesses. On December 20, 2011 Expedia completed the spin-off of TripAdvisor into a separate publicly traded Delaware corporation. We refer to this transaction as the “Spin-Off.” TripAdvisor’s common stock began trading on the NASDAQ as an independent public company on December 21, 2011 under the trading symbol “TRIP.” On December 11, 2012, Liberty Interactive Corporation, or Liberty, purchased an aggregate of 4,799,848 shares of common stock of TripAdvisor from Barry Diller, our former Chairman of the Board of Directors and Senior Executive, and certain of his affiliates (the “Stock Purchase”). As a result, Liberty beneficially owned 18,159,752 shares of our common stock and 12,799,999 shares of our Class B common stock. On August 27, 2014, the entire beneficial ownership of our common stock and Class B common stock held by Liberty was indirectly acquired by Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings, Inc. (“LTRIP”) by means of a spin-off (the “Liberty Spin-Off”). In the Liberty Spin-Off, Liberty, LTRIP’s former parent company, distributed, by means of a dividend, to the holders of its Liberty Ventures common stock, Liberty’s entire equity interest in LTRIP. As a result of the Liberty Spin-Off, LTRIP became a separate, publicly traded company and 100% of Liberty’s interest in TripAdvisor is now held by LTRIP. As December 31, 2014, LTRIP beneficially owned 18,159,752 shares of our common stock and 12,799,999 shares of our Class B common stock, which shares constitute 14.0% of the outstanding shares of Common Stock and 100% of the outstanding shares of Class B Common Stock. Assuming the conversion of all of LTRIP’s shares of Class B common stock into common stock, LTRIP would beneficially own 21.7% of the outstanding common stock (calculated in accordance with Rule 13d-3). Because each share of Class B common stock generally is entitled to ten votes per share and each share of common stock is entitled to one vote per share, LTRIP may be deemed to beneficially own equity securities representing approximately 56.6% of our voting power. Description of Business TripAdvisor is an online travel company, empowering users to plan and book the perfect trip. TripAdvisor’s travel research platform aggregates reviews and opinions of members about accommodations, destinations, activities and attractions, and restaurants, throughout the world so that our users have access to trusted advice wherever their trip takes them. Our platform not only helps users plan their trip with our unique user-generated content, but also enables users to compare real-time pricing and availability so that they can book hotels, vacation rentals, flights, activities and attractions, and restaurants. Our flagship brand is TripAdvisor. TripAdvisor-branded websites include tripadvisor.com in the United States and localized versions of the website in 45 countries including in China under the brand daodao.com. In addition to the flagship TripAdvisor brand, we manage and operate 24 other media brands, connected by the common goal of providing comprehensive travel planning resources across the travel sector, which include; www.airfarewatchdog.com, www.bookingbuddy.com, www.cruisecritic.com, www.everytrail.com, www.familyvacationcritic.com, www.flipkey.com, www.gateguru.com, www.holidaylettings.co.uk, www.holidaywatchdog.com, www.independenttraveler.com, www.jetsetter.com, www.thefork.com (including www.lafourchette.com, www.eltenedor.com and www.iens.nl), www.niumba.com, www.onetime.com, www.oyster.com, www.seatguru.com, www.smartertravel.com, www.tingo.com, www.travelpod.com, www.tripbod.com, www.vacationhomerentals.com, www.viator.com, www.virtualtourist.com, and www.kuxun.cn. For further description of our other travel brands see Item 1, Business. We derive substantially all of our revenue through the sale of advertising, primarily through click-based advertising and, to a lesser extent, display-based advertising. In addition, we earn revenue from a combination of subscription-based and transaction-based offerings, including: Business Listings; subscription and commission-based offerings from our Vacation Rentals products; transaction revenue from selling room nights through our Jetsetter and Tingo brands; selling destination activities from Viator; fulfilling online restaurant reservations through Lafourchette; as well as other revenue including content licensing. We have two reportable segments: Hotel and Other. Our Other segment consists of the aggregation of three operating segments, which include our Vacation Rentals, Restaurants and Attractions businesses. Our operating segments are determined based on how our chief operating decision maker manages our business, regularly assesses information and evaluates performance for operating decision-making purposes, including allocation of resources. For further information on our reportable segments see “Note 16 — Segment and Geographic Information,” in the notes to our consolidated financial statements. Seasonality Expenditures by travel advertisers tend to be seasonal. Traditionally, our strongest quarter has been the third quarter, which is a key travel research period, with the weakest quarter being the fourth quarter. However, adverse economic conditions or continued growth of our international operations with differing holiday peaks may influence the typical trend of our seasonality in the future.

NOTE 1: ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS DESCRIPTION

We refer to TripAdvisor, Inc. and our wholly-owned subsidiaries as “TripAdvisor,” “the Company,” “us,” “we” and “our” in these notes to the consolidated financial statements.

During 2011, Expedia announced its plan to separate into two independent public companies in order to better achieve certain strategic objectives of its various businesses. On December 20, 2011 Expedia completed the spin-off of TripAdvisor into a separate publicly traded Delaware corporation. We refer to this transaction as the “Spin-Off.” TripAdvisor’s common stock began trading on the NASDAQ as an independent public company on December 21, 2011 under the trading symbol “TRIP.”

On December 11, 2012, Liberty Interactive Corporation, or Liberty, purchased an aggregate of 4,799,848 shares of common stock of TripAdvisor from Barry Diller, our former Chairman of the Board of Directors and Senior Executive, and certain of his affiliates (the “Stock Purchase”). As a result, Liberty beneficially owned 18,159,752 shares of our common stock and 12,799,999 shares of our Class B common stock.

On August 27, 2014, the entire beneficial ownership of our common stock and Class B common stock held by Liberty was indirectly acquired by Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings, Inc. (“LTRIP”) by means of a spin-off (the “Liberty Spin-Off”). In the Liberty Spin-Off, Liberty, LTRIP’s former parent company, distributed, by means of a dividend, to the holders of its Liberty Ventures common stock, Liberty’s entire equity interest in LTRIP. As a result of the Liberty Spin-Off, LTRIP became a separate, publicly traded company and 100% of Liberty’s interest in TripAdvisor is now held by LTRIP.

As December 31, 2014, LTRIP beneficially owned 18,159,752 shares of our common stock and 12,799,999 shares of our Class B common stock, which shares constitute 14.0% of the outstanding shares of Common Stock and 100% of the outstanding shares of Class B Common Stock. Assuming the conversion of all of LTRIP’s shares of Class B common stock into common stock, LTRIP would beneficially own 21.7% of the outstanding common stock (calculated in accordance with Rule 13d-3). Because each share of Class B common stock generally is entitled to ten votes per share and each share of common stock is entitled to one vote per share, LTRIP may be deemed to beneficially own equity securities representing approximately 56.6% of our voting power.

Description of Business

TripAdvisor is an online travel company, empowering users to plan and book the perfect trip. TripAdvisor’s travel research platform aggregates reviews and opinions of members about accommodations, destinations, activities and attractions, and restaurants, throughout the world so that our users have access to trusted advice wherever their trip takes them. Our platform not only helps users plan their trip with our unique user-generated content, but also enables users to compare real-time pricing and availability so that they can book hotels, vacation rentals, flights, activities and attractions, and restaurants.

Our flagship brand is TripAdvisor. TripAdvisor-branded websites include tripadvisor.com in the United States and localized versions of the website in 45 countries including in China under the brand daodao.com. In addition to the flagship TripAdvisor brand, we manage and operate 24 other media brands, connected by the common goal of providing comprehensive travel planning resources across the travel sector, which include; www.airfarewatchdog.com, www.bookingbuddy.com, www.cruisecritic.com, www.everytrail.com, www.familyvacationcritic.com, www.flipkey.com, www.gateguru.com, www.holidaylettings.co.uk, www.holidaywatchdog.com, www.independenttraveler.com, www.jetsetter.com, www.thefork.com (including www.lafourchette.com, www.eltenedor.com and www.iens.nl), www.niumba.com, www.onetime.com, www.oyster.com, www.seatguru.com, www.smartertravel.com, www.tingo.com, www.travelpod.com, www.tripbod.com, www.vacationhomerentals.com, www.viator.com, www.virtualtourist.com, and www.kuxun.cn. For further description of our other travel brands see Item 1, Business.

We derive substantially all of our revenue through the sale of advertising, primarily through click-based advertising and, to a lesser extent, display-based advertising. In addition, we earn revenue from a combination of subscription-based and transaction-based offerings, including: Business Listings; subscription and commission-based offerings from our Vacation Rentals products; transaction revenue from selling room nights through our Jetsetter and Tingo brands; selling destination activities from Viator; fulfilling online restaurant reservations through Lafourchette; as well as other revenue including content licensing.

We have two reportable segments: Hotel and Other. Our Other segment consists of the aggregation of three operating segments, which include our Vacation Rentals, Restaurants and Attractions businesses. Our operating segments are determined based on how our chief operating decision maker manages our business, regularly assesses information and evaluates performance for operating decision-making purposes, including allocation of resources. For further information on our reportable segments see “Note 16 — Segment and Geographic Information,” in the notes to our consolidated financial statements.

Seasonality

Expenditures by travel advertisers tend to be seasonal. Traditionally, our strongest quarter has been the third quarter, which is a key travel research period, with the weakest quarter being the fourth quarter. However, adverse economic conditions or continued growth of our international operations with differing holiday peaks may influence the typical trend of our seasonality in the future.