Company: TRUE
Filing Date: 2025-05-06
Form Type: 10-Q
Source: 0001327318-25-000016
Chunk: 106

Company: TrueCar, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-05-06
Form: 10-Q
Item: Part II, Item 1A
Chunk 106
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 result rankings is not within our control. Our competitors’ Internet search engine optimization efforts may result in their websites receiving a higher search result page ranking than ours, or Internet search engines could revise their methodologies in a way that adversely affects our search result rankings. If Internet search engines modify their search algorithms in ways that are detrimental to us, as Google and other search engine operators have done from time to time, or if our competitors’ search engine optimization efforts are more successful than ours, overall growth in our user base could slow, our user base could decline or we could attract a less in-market user base. Internet search engine providers could provide automobile dealer and pricing information directly in search results, align with our competitors or choose to develop competing services. Our website has experienced fluctuations in search result rankings in the past, and we anticipate similar fluctuations in the future.

We also purchase automotive-related keywords by anticipating what words, terms and phrases consumers will use to search for car purchases on search engines and then bid on those words and terms in the search engines’ auction systems. Search engines frequently update and change the logic that determines the placement and ordering of results on a user’s search, which may reduce the effectiveness of the keywords we have purchased. Search engines also frequently change and optimize the amount and placements of advertisements on a search results page which may impact the quantity and quality of traffic to our website. Further, we bid against our competitors and other advertisers for preferred placement on the search engines’ results pages. Many of our competitors have greater resources with which to bid and better brand recognition and consumer visibility than we do. We experience competition for paid advertisements, which increases the cost of paid Internet search advertising and as a result, our marketing and advertising expenses. Search engines may also adopt a more aggressive auction-pricing system for keywords that causes us to incur higher advertising costs or reduces our market visibility to prospective users. If paid search advertising costs increase or become cost-prohibitive, whether because of increased competition, pricing system changes, algorithm changes or otherwise, our advertising expenses could rise significantly, or we could reduce or discontinue our paid search advertisements. Moreover, the use of voice recognition technology such as Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri or the implementation of artificial intelligence into existing search engines such as Bing and Google may drive traffic away from traditional search engines, which could reduce traffic to our website. Any reduction in the number of users directed to our website through Internet search engines could harm our business and operating results.

Our users may in some cases require dealers who wish to communicate with them other than by email