Earned & PaidAirbnb
Airbnb spent $843M on advertising and marketing in fiscal 2025, down 23.4% on the year before and +18% since 2019. That's 6.9% of revenue, less than in 2019: the business outgrew its marketing.
Marketing spend by year
Bars: advertising and marketing expense, $B (10-K). Line: spend as a share of revenue.
What they told investors
“While bookings from any single event may be temporary, the brand awareness, the trust, and new hosts these partners create benefit our business long after the event ends.”Brian Chesky · 2026 Q2 · transcript
“As a data point on retention, after Paris, six months after the Games we had retained in excess of half of the listings that came on specifically for the Games.”Ellie Mertz · 2026 Q1 · transcript
“We will continue to prioritize reinvestment to support further growth across the business, specifically on efficient marketing spend, international expansion, and AI initiatives.”Ellie Mertz · 2026 Q1 · transcript
What the 10-K says about marketing
- investing in brand “Our marketing strategy combines brand marketing, communications, performance marketing, and strategic partnerships to increase awareness among existing and potential hosts and guests, demonstrating what makes Airbnb distinct. In 2025, we focused on unified brand campaigns…” 10-K, Feb 12, 2026
- investing in brand “We believe maintaining and strengthening our brand is crucial for attracting and retaining hosts and guests. We invest significantly in brand marketing across various channels to drive traffic to our platform, but these efforts may not always be cost-effective or successful.…” 10-K, Feb 12, 2026
- measurement “Our marketing strategy includes performance marketing through search engines and social media, as well as paid and unpaid channels like search engine optimization (“SEO”). However, rising costs for keywords and changes in search engine algorithms can impact our visibility and…” 10-K, Feb 12, 2026
Say vs do
We found no statement about the size of Airbnb's marketing budget on its earnings calls or in its 10-Ks, so here is its record against its peers.
What they said
No statement about the size of its marketing budget.
What they did
| Year | Marketing spend | Change | Share of revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $843M | -23.4% | 6.9% |
| FY2024 | $1.10B | +15.4% | 9.9% |
| FY2023 | $953M | +21.2% | 9.6% |
| FY2022 | $786M | +45.0% | 9.4% |
| FY2021 | $542M | +208.0% | 9.1% |
| FY2020 | $176M | -75.3% | 5.2% |
Against its peers. Compared with the 5 other Travel advertisers we track (Booking Holdings, Expedia, Marriott, Royal Caribbean, Carnival): since 2019 its marketing spend went +18% (peer median +26%); its share of revenue moved -7.9 pts (median -1.4); last year -23.4% (median +5.1%).
In interviews, its leaders made 399 statements about marketing: 12 argued for investing in brand and 3 for cutting.
How we check: a statement gets a verdict only when it's clearly about the size of the whole company's marketing budget over a full fiscal year; we compare it with the advertising and marketing expense in that year's 10-K. Statements about one quarter, one brand or channel, or the mix between brand and performance can't be checked against annual filings.
What they say about media
The marketing channels it talks about using for itself on earnings calls and in its 10-Ks and 10-Qs, since 2019; counts are statements, not spending.
- Experiential & events “Our marketing campaigns generated around 1 billion impressions, and we met with dozens of government officials and community leaders during the Games, strengthening our relationships across Italy.” Brian Chesky on the earnings call · May 7, 2026 · source
- Creative campaigns “In 2025, we focused on unified brand campaigns promoting our full suite of offerings: homes, experiences, and services, showcasing where guests can seamlessly book all three on Airbnb.” 10-K · Feb 12, 2026 · source
- Sponsorships & athletes “What we've seen actually for the current Olympics and the past Olympics is that guests who know of the brand partnership between Airbnb and the Olympics have a more favorable impression of the brand.” Ellie Mertz on the earnings call · Feb 12, 2026 · source
- Paid search “The increase was primarily due to an increase in payroll-related expenses of $20 million, an increase in third-party service provider expenses related to our upcoming product launches of $19 million, and an increase in marketing activities driven by an increase in search engine…” 10-Q · May 1, 2025 · source
- Measurement “In terms of incremental performance marketing, what we've shared with you year to date, that has continued into Q3, is that based on a lot of optimizations that we've made to our performance marketing efforts, we've been able to, you know, maintain extremely high efficiencies.” Ellie Mertz on the earnings call · Aug 6, 2024 · source
What they see in the market
What its leaders and filings say about the ad market: its own ad business, or the channels advertisers use, since 2019; counts are statements, not spending.
- Paid search “And then secondly, in the past, you've talked about how AI search will preclude your deployment of sponsored ads.” Lee Horowitz on the earnings call · Feb 12, 2026 · source