MARCHEX INC - Quarter Report: 2016 September (Form 10-Q)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

For the quarterly period ended September 30, 2016

or

For the transition period from                      to                     .

Commission File Number 000-50658

Marchex, Inc.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

520 Pike Street, Suite 2000

Seattle, Washington 98101

(Address of principal executive offices)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (206) 331-3300

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  ☒    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its Corporate website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).    Yes  ☒    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes  ☐    No  ☒

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer’s classes of common stock as of the latest practicable date.

Marchex, Inc.

Form 10-Q

Table of Contents

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Part I—Financial Information

Item 1. Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

MARCHEX, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(in thousands)

(unaudited)

See accompanying Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

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MARCHEX, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

(in thousands, except per share amounts)

(unaudited)

See accompanying Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

4

MARCHEX, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(in thousands)

(unaudited)

See accompanying Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

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MARCHEX, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

(unaudited)

(1) Description of Business and Basis of Presentation

Marchex, Inc. (the “Company”) was incorporated in the state of Delaware on January 17, 2003. The Company is a mobile advertising analytics company that helps connect online behavior to real-world, offline actions. The Company provides products and services for businesses of all sizes that depend on consumer phone calls to drive sales. The Company’s technology can facilitate call quality, analyze calls in real time and measure the outcomes of calls while its technology platform delivers performance-based, pay-for-call advertising across numerous mobile and online publishers to connect consumers with businesses over the phone.

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of Marchex, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for interim financial information and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and notes required by generally accepted accounting principles for annual financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring adjustments) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2016, or for any other period. The balance sheet at December 31, 2015 has been derived from the audited consolidated financial statements at that date, but does not include all of the information and notes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for complete financial statements. These condensed consolidated financial statements and notes should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 filed with the SEC.

The condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All inter-company transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation.

In April 2015, the Company sold certain assets related to Archeo’s domain operations, including the bulk of its domain name portfolio. The operating results related to this April 2015 disposition are shown as discontinued operations in the condensed consolidated statements of operations in 2015. In December 2015, the Company sold the remaining Archeo operations which did not meet the criteria for discontinued operations, and as a result the operating results are reflected in continuing operations in 2015. See Note 12. Discontinued Operations, Dispositions, and Other of the Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion. Unless otherwise indicated, information presented in the Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements relates only to the Company’s continuing operations.

(2) Significant Accounting Policies

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) in the United States requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. These judgments are difficult as matters that are inherently uncertain directly impact their valuation and accounting. Actual results may vary from management’s estimates and assumptions.

Recent Accounting Pronouncement(s) Not Yet Effective

In May 2014, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) (ASU 2014-09), which amends the existing accounting standards for revenue recognition. ASU 2014-09 requires an entity to recognize the amount of revenue to which it expects to be entitled when products or services are transferred to customers. In July 2015, the FASB voted to approve a one-year delay of the effective date. ASU 2014-09 is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within that reporting period. Early adoption is permitted as of annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim reporting periods within those annual periods. ASU 2014-09 may be applied retrospectively to each prior period presented or retrospectively with the cumulative effect recognized as of the date of adoption. In 2016, the FASB issued additional guidance to clarify the implementation guidance. The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the impact of adoption of ASU 2014-09 on its consolidated financial statements.

In November 2015, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2015-17, Income Taxes (Topic 740), Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes (ASU 2015-17), an ASU amending the accounting for income taxes and requiring all deferred tax assets and liabilities to be classified as non-current on the consolidated balance sheet. The ASU is effective for reporting periods

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beginning after December 15, 2016, with early adoption permitted. The ASU may be adopted either prospectively or retrospectively. The Company does not expect adoption of ASU 2015-17 to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In February 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-02 Leases (Topic 842), an ASU requiring the recognition of lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet and disclosing key information about leasing arrangements. The ASU is effective for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted. The ASU must be adopted retrospectively. The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the impact of adoption of ASU 2016-02 on its consolidated financial statements.

In March 2016, the FASB amended the existing accounting standards for stock-based compensation, with Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-09, Compensation-Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting (ASU 2016-09). The amendments impact several aspects of accounting for share-based payment transactions, including the income tax consequences, forfeitures, classification of awards as either equity or liabilities, and classification on the statement of cash flows. The ASU is effective for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016, with early adoption permitted. If early adoption is elected, all amendments must be adopted in the same period. The manner of application varies by the various provisions of the guidance, with certain provisions applied on a retrospective or modified retrospective approach, while others are applied prospectively. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of these amendments and the transition alternatives on its consolidated financial statements.

In June 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments — Credit Losses (Topic 326), Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments (ASU 2016-13), an ASU amending the impairment model for most financial assets and certain other instruments. The ASU is effective for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019, with early adoption permitted after December 15, 2018. The ASU must be adopted using a modified-retrospective approach. The Company does not expect adoption of ASU 2016-13 to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

(3) Stock-based Compensation Plans

The Company grants stock-based awards, including stock options, restricted stock awards, and restricted stock units. The Company measures stock-based compensation cost at the grant date based on the fair value of the award and recognizes it as expense, net of estimated forfeitures, over the vesting or service period, as applicable, of the stock-based award, using the straight-line method under FASB ASC 718. Stock-based compensation expense was included in the following operating expense categories as follows (in thousands):

The Company uses the Black-Scholes option pricing model to estimate the per share fair value of stock option grants with time-based vesting. The Black-Scholes model relies on a number of key assumptions to calculate estimated fair values. For the quarters ended September 30, 2015 and 2016, the expected life of each award granted was determined based on historical experience with similar awards, giving consideration to contractual terms, anticipated exercise patterns, vesting schedules and forfeitures. Expected volatility is based on historical volatility levels of the Company’s Class B common stock and the expected volatility of companies in similar industries that have similar vesting and contractual terms. The risk-free interest rate is based on the implied yield currently available on U.S. Treasury issues with terms approximately equal to the expected life of the option. The Company used an expected annual dividend yield in consideration of the Company’s common stock dividend payments during the first half of 2015. The Company discontinued paying dividends on its common stock after the second quarter of 2015.

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The following weighted average assumptions were used in determining the fair value of time-vested stock option grants for the periods presented:

Stock option activity during the nine months ended September 30, 2016 is summarized as follows:

Restricted stock awards and restricted stock units are generally measured at fair value on the date of grant based on the number of awards granted and the quoted price of the Company’s common stock. Restricted stock units entitle the holder to receive one share of the Company’s Class B common stock upon satisfaction of certain service conditions.

Restricted stock awards and restricted stock unit activity during the nine months ended September 30, 2016 is summarized as follows:

In the nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2016, the Company repurchased approximately 15,000 and 45,000 shares, respectively, from certain executives for minimum withholding taxes on approximately 55,000 and 146,000 restricted stock award vests, respectively. The number of shares repurchased was based on the value on the vesting date of the restricted stock awards equivalent to the value of the executives’ minimum withholding taxes of $74,000 and $154,000, respectively, which was remitted in cash to the appropriate taxing authorities. The payments are reflected as a financing activity within the consolidated statement of cash flows when paid. The payments had the effect of share repurchases by the Company as they reduced the number of shares that would have otherwise been issued on the vesting date and were recorded as a reduction of additional paid-in capital.

In May 2016, approximately 27,000 stock options and 33,000 restricted stock awards were fully accelerated and the period to exercise any outstanding vested stock options was modified to extend through the 10-year anniversary of the respective grant dates in connection with an executive’s transition to a consulting arrangement.  In October 2016, vesting of 288,877 stock options and 190,187 restricted stock awards were accelerated in connection with an executive’s separation agreement for which the estimated related stock-based compensation expense of approximately $1.3 million will be recognized in the fourth quarter of 2016.  

(4) Net Income (Loss) Per Share

The Company computes net income (loss) per share of Class A and Class B common stock using the two class method. Under the provisions of the two class method, basic net income (loss) per share is computed by dividing net income (loss) applicable to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the year. Diluted net income (loss) per

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share is computed by dividing net income (loss) applicable to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common and dilutive common equivalent shares outstanding during the period. The computation of the diluted net income (loss) per share of Class B common stock assumes the conversion of Class A common stock to Class B common stock, while the diluted net income (loss) per share of Class A common stock does not assume the conversion of those shares.

In accordance with the two class method, the undistributed earnings (losses) for each year are allocated based on the contractual participation rights of the Class A and Class B common shares and the restricted shares as if the earnings for the year had been distributed. Considering the terms of the Company’s charter which provides that, if and when dividends are declared on our common stock in accordance with Delaware General Corporation Law, equivalent dividends shall be paid with respect to the shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock and that both classes of common stock have identical dividend rights and would share equally in the Company’s net assets in the event of liquidation, the Company has allocated undistributed earnings (losses) on a proportionate basis. Additionally, the Company has paid dividends equally to both classes of common stock and the unvested restricted shares for all cash dividends paid since November 2006.

Instruments granted in unvested share-based payment awards that contain nonforfeitable rights to dividends or dividend equivalents, whether paid or unpaid, are participating securities prior to vesting. As such, the Company’s restricted stock awards are considered participating securities for purposes of calculating earnings per share. Under the two class method, dividends paid on unvested restricted stock are allocated to these participating securities and therefore impact the calculation of amounts allocated to common stock.

The following table calculates net loss from continuing operations to net income (loss) applicable to common stockholders used to compute basic net income (loss) per share for the periods ended (in thousands, except per share amounts):

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The following table calculates net income (loss) from continuing operations to net income (loss) applicable to common stockholders used to compute diluted net income (loss) per share for the periods ended (in thousands, except per share amounts):

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The computation of diluted net income (loss) per share excludes the following because their effect would be anti-dilutive (in thousands):

(5) Concentrations

The Company maintains substantially all of its cash and cash equivalents with one financial institution and are all considered at Level 1 fair value with observable inputs that reflect quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in active markets. At various points during the nine months ended September 30, 2016, the Company held cash equivalents in a commercial paper sweep account with the same financial institution. These Level 2 assets were fully liquidated prior to September 30, 2016.

A significant majority of the Company’s revenue earned from advertisers is generated through arrangements with distribution partners. The Company may not be successful in renewing any of these agreements, or, if they are renewed, they may not be on terms as favorable as current arrangements. The Company may not be successful in entering into agreements with new distribution partners or advertisers on commercially acceptable terms. In addition, several of these distribution partners or advertisers may be considered potential competitors. There were no distribution partners paid more than 10% of consolidated revenue for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2016.

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The advertisers representing more than 10% of consolidated revenue are as follows (in percentages):

Advertiser A is also a distribution partner.

The outstanding receivable balance for each advertiser representing more than 10% of accounts receivable is as follows (in percentages):

In certain cases, the Company may engage directly with one or more advertising agencies who act on an advertiser’s behalf. In addition, an advertising agency may represent more than one advertiser that utilizes the Company’s products and services. One advertising agency represented 17% and 19% of consolidated revenue for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015, respectively, and 19% and 21% of consolidated revenue for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, respectively. This same advertising agency represented 22% and 11% of consolidated accounts receivable as of December 31, 2015 and September 30, 2016, respectively. One other advertising agency represented less than 10% of consolidated accounts receivable as of December 31, 2015, and 11% of consolidated accounts receivable as of September 30, 2016.

(6) Segment Reporting and Geographic Information

Operating segments are revenue-producing components of the enterprise for which separate financial information is produced internally for the Company’s management. Historically, the Company operated under two segments: Call-driven and Archeo. Subsequent to the sale of the Company’s remaining Archeo operations in December 2015, the Company operates primarily under the Call-driven segment which is comprised of performance-based advertising business focused on driving phone calls.

The Archeo segment historically comprised the Company’s click-based advertising businesses. In April 2015, the Company sold certain assets related to Archeo’s domain operations, including the bulk of its domain name portfolio. This disposition is shown as discontinued operations, net of tax, in the condensed consolidated statements of operations for all periods presented and is excluded from segment reporting. On December 31, 2015, the Company sold the remaining Archeo operations, which did not meet the criteria for discontinued operations presentation and is included in segment reporting in 2015. See Note 12. Discontinued Operations, Dispositions, and Other for further discussion.

Call-driven segment expenses include both direct costs incurred by the segment as well as corporate overhead costs. Archeo segment expenses only include direct costs incurred by the segment. Segment expenses exclude the following: stock-based compensation, acquisition and disposition related costs, and other expense.

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, the Company’s operating results are primarily all Call-driven. There were other operating activities related to transition activities of the Archeo operations in 2016, which were not significant.

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Selected segment information (in thousands):

Revenues from advertisers by geographical areas are tracked on the basis of the location of the advertiser. The vast majority of the Company’s revenue and accounts receivable are derived from domestic sales to advertisers engaged in various mobile, online and other activities.

Revenues by geographic region are as follows (in percentages):

(7) Property and Equipment

Property and equipment consisted of the following (in thousands):

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Depreciation and amortization expense related to property and equipment was approximately $885,000 and $762,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2015 and 2016, respectively, and was approximately $2.6 million and $2.4 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2016, respectively.

(8) Commitments, Contingencies and Taxes

(a) Commitments

The Company has commitments for future payments related to office facilities leases and other contractual obligations. The Company leases its office facilities under operating lease agreements expiring through 2018. The Company recognizes rent expense under such agreements on a straight-line basis over the lease term with any lease incentive amortized as a reduction of rent expense over the lease term. The Company also has other contractual obligations expiring over varying time periods through 2019. Other contractual obligations primarily relate to minimum contractual payments due to distribution partners and other outside service providers. Future minimum payments are approximately as follows (in thousands):

Rent expense incurred by the Company was approximately $460,000 and $559,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2015 and 2016, respectively, and was $1.4 million and $1.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2016, respectively.

(b) Contingencies

On November 17, 2015, Steven Porter, a purported shareholder of the Company, filed a securities class action against the Company and certain officers of the Company, alleging violations of the federal securities laws (the “Complaint”). Mr. Porter sought to represent all people who purchased or otherwise acquired the Company’s Class B common stock during the period from March 19, 2014 to September 18, 2014, and sought unspecified damages. The Complaint alleged that the Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects. On April 1, 2016, Mr. Porter was appointed “Lead Plaintiff” in the action. On April 22, 2016, the case was dismissed without prejudice after the Lead Plaintiff filed a notice of voluntary dismissal of the case.

In addition, the Company from time to time is a party to disputes and legal and administrative proceedings arising from the ordinary course of business. In some agreements to which the Company is a party to, the Company has agreed to indemnification provisions of varying scope and terms with advertisers, vendors and other parties with respect to certain matters, including, but not limited to, losses arising out of the Company’s breach of agreements or representations and warranties made by the Company, services to be provided by the Company and intellectual property infringement claims made by third parties. As a result of these provisions, the Company may from time to time provide certain levels of financial support to our contract parties to seek to minimize the impact of any associated litigation in which they may be involved. To date, there have been no known events or circumstances that have resulted in any material costs related to these indemnification provisions and no liabilities therefore have been recorded in the accompanying consolidated financial statements. However, the maximum potential amount of the future payments we could be required to make under these indemnification provisions could be material.

While any litigation contains an element of uncertainty, the Company is not aware of any legal proceedings or claims which are pending that the Company believes, based on current knowledge, will have, individually or taken together, a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations or liquidity.

(c) Taxes

The Company determined that it is not more likely than not that its deferred tax assets will be realized and accordingly recorded 100% valuation allowance against these deferred tax assets as of December 31, 2015 and September 30, 2016. In assessing whether it is more likely than not that the Company’s deferred tax assets will be realized, factors considered included: historical taxable income,

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historical trends related to advertiser usage rates, projected revenues and expenses, macroeconomic conditions, issues facing the industry, existing contracts, the Company’s ability to project future results and any appreciation of its other assets. The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets depends on the generation of future taxable income during the periods in which those temporary differences are deductible. The Company considered the future reversal of deferred tax liabilities, carryback potential, projected taxable income, and tax planning strategies as well as its history of taxable income or losses in the relevant jurisdictions in making this assessment. Based on the level of historical taxable losses and the uncertainty of projections for future taxable income over the periods for which the deferred tax assets are deductible, the Company concluded that it is not more likely than not that the gross deferred tax assets will be realized.

From time to time, various state, federal and other jurisdictional tax authorities undertake audits of the Company and its filings. In evaluating the exposure associated with various tax filing positions, the Company on occasion accrues charges for uncertain positions. Resolution of uncertain tax positions will impact our effective tax rate when settled. The Company does not have any significant interest or penalty accruals. The provision for income taxes includes the impact of contingency provisions and changes to contingencies that are considered appropriate. The Company files U.S. federal, certain U.S. states, and certain foreign tax returns. Generally, U.S. federal, U.S. state, and foreign tax returns filed for years after 2011 are within the statute of limitations and are under examination or may be subject to examination.

(9) Credit Agreement

In April 2008, the Company entered into a Credit Agreement providing for a senior secured $30 million revolving credit facility (“Credit Agreement”). In June 2016, the Company signed an amendment to the Credit Agreement that modifies the unused commitment fees, replaces certain financial covenants with a covenant limiting outstanding balances not to exceed a defined ratio against the Company’s unrestricted cash and cash equivalent balances and a covenant with certain earnings thresholds, and modifies the levels and types of indebtedness and payments the Company may make. The Credit Agreement has a maturity date of April 1, 2017 and contains certain customary representations and warranties, financial covenants, events of default and is secured by substantially all of the assets of the Company. During the nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2016, the Company had no borrowings under the Credit Agreement.

(10) Goodwill

Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 are as follows (in thousands):

The Company reviews goodwill for impairment annually on November 30 and whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value of goodwill may not be recoverable. When evaluating goodwill for impairment, the Company may first perform a qualitative assessment and determine if the fair value of the reporting unit is more likely than not greater than its carrying amount. For the three months ended June 30, 2016, the Company’s stock price was impacted by volatility in the U.S. financial markets, and traded below the then book value for an extended period of time. Accordingly, the Company tested its goodwill for impairment and concluded that the carrying value exceeded the estimated fair value of the Company’s single reporting unit and recognized an impairment loss during the second quarter of 2016 of $63.3 million. The fair value of the Company’s single reporting unit was based on estimates of future operating results, discounted cash flows and other market-based factors, including the Company’s stock price. The goodwill impairment loss resulted primarily from a sustained decline in the Company’s common stock share price and market capitalization as well as lower projected revenue growth rates and profitability levels compared to historical results. The lower projected operating results reflect changes in assumptions related to organic revenue growth rates, market trends, business mix, cost structure, and other expectations about the anticipated short-term and long-term operating results.

The testing of goodwill for impairment requires the Company to make significant estimates about its future performance and cash flows, as well as other assumptions. Events and circumstances considered in determining whether the carrying value of goodwill may not be recoverable include, but are not limited to: significant changes in performance relative to expected operating results; significant changes in the use of the assets; significant changes in competition and market dynamics; significant and sustained declines in the Company’s stock price and market capitalization; a significant decline in its expected future cash flows or a significant adverse change in the Company’s business climate. These estimates and circumstances are inherently uncertain and can be affected by numerous factors, including changes in economic, industry or market conditions, changes in business operations, a loss of a significant customer, changes in competition, volatility in financial markets, or changes in the share price of the Company’s common stock and market capitalization.

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(11) Common Stock

In November 2014, the Company’s board of directors authorized a share repurchase program (the “2014 Repurchase Program”), which supersedes and replaces any prior repurchase programs. Under the 2014 Repurchase Program, the Company is authorized to repurchase up to 3 million shares of the Company’s Class B common stock in the aggregate through open market and privately negotiated transactions, at such times and in such amounts as the Company deems appropriate. Repurchases may also be made under a Rule 10b5-1 plan, which would permit shares to be repurchased when the Company might otherwise be precluded from doing so under insider trading laws. The timing and actual number of shares repurchased will depend on a variety of factors including price, corporate and regulatory requirements, capital availability, and other market conditions. The 2014 Repurchase Program does not have an expiration date and may be expanded, limited or terminated at any time without prior notice. During the nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2016, the Company repurchased 781,000 shares of Class B common stock for $3.2 million and 89,000 shares of Class B common stock for $365,000, respectively.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2016, the Company’s board of directors approved and the Company retired approximately 1,262,000 and 250,000 shares of treasury stock, respectively.

(12) Discontinued Operations, Dispositions and Other

In April 2015, the Company sold certain assets related to Archeo’s domain operations, including the bulk of its domain name portfolio. This disposal met the requirements of Accounting Standards Codification 205-20, Discontinued Operations, for presentation as discontinued operations. As a result, the operating results related to this disposition are shown as discontinued operations, net of tax. The operating results for the discontinued operations were as follows (in thousands):

The discontinued operations incurred amortization of $16,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2015.

The net cash proceeds related to Archeo’s domain operations sold in April 2015 were approximately $28.1 million. The sale includes a contingent earn-out consideration payment that depends upon the achievement of certain thresholds and will be recognized as income when received.

On December 31, 2015, the Company sold the remaining Archeo operations for cash proceeds of $750,000. The transaction costs were approximately $244,000 and the net carrying value of the liabilities assumed were approximately $990,000, resulting in a net gain of $1.5 million from the sale. The Company evaluated this disposition and determined that it did not meet the criteria for classification as a discontinued operation. As a result, operating results of these Archeo operations are reflected in the Company’s continuing operations in the condensed consolidated statements of operations. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015, the income before provision for income taxes for these Archeo operations included in the Company’s continuing operations was $267,000 and $45,000, respectively.

During the three months ended September 30, 2016, the Company incurred approximately $1.6 million in employee separation and facility termination related costs. As of September 30, 2016, approximately $767,000 of these costs were accrued and unpaid of which $413,000 is expected to be paid prior to December 31, 2016 with the remaining to be paid in 2017.  

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Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. We use words such as “believes,” “intends,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “may,” “will” and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements regarding our future operating results, financial position, prospects, acquisitions, dispositions, and business strategy, expectations regarding our growth and the growth of the industry in which we operate, and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are inherently uncertain as they are based on our expectations and assumptions concerning future events. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements we make. There are a number of important factors that could cause the actual results of Marchex to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. Any or all of our forward-looking statements in this report may turn out to be inaccurate. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. They may be affected by inaccurate assumptions we might make or by known or unknown risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to the risks, uncertainties and assumptions described in this report, in Part II, Item 1A. under the caption “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this report and in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 and those described from time to time in our future reports filed with the SEC. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this report may not occur as contemplated and actual results could differ materially from those anticipated or implied by the forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements in this report are made as of the date hereof, based on information available to us as of the date hereof, and we assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statement.

The following discussion and analysis provides information that we believe is relevant to an assessment and understanding of our results of operation and financial condition. You should read this analysis in conjunction with the attached condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto, and with our audited consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto, included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015.

Overview

References herein to “we,” “us” or “our” refer to Marchex, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries unless the context specifically states or implies otherwise.

Marchex is a mobile advertising analytics company that connects online behavior to real-world, offline actions.

We provide products and services for enterprises that depend on consumer phone calls to drive sales. Our media analytics products can connect call data to media channels – including search and display– down to the campaign, keyword and impression so marketers can maximize advertising returns. Our sales analytics products deliver actionable intelligence on the offline consumer journey to help prospects become customers.

Our primary product offerings are:

Marchex Call Analytics for Search. Marchex Call Analytics for Search is a product for search marketers that drive phone calls from search campaigns. Marchex Call Analytics for Search attributes inbound phone calls made directly from paid search ads and landing pages to a keyword. The platform can deliver this data as well as data about call outcomes directly into search management platforms like DoubleClick Search and Kenshoo.

Marchex Display Analytics. Marchex Display Analytics, currently in beta, is a product for marketers that buy digital display advertising. Marchex Display Analytics can measure the influence that display advertising has on inbound phone calls so that marketers can better attribute their return on advertising spend for inbound phone calls and delivers this data to marketers in a reporting dashboard.

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LLC (“YP”), we generate revenues from our local leads platform. We also have a separate pay-for-call services arrangement with YP. In 2015, we extended these agreements through December 31, 2016. The primary local leads platform arrangement includes certain minimum fee commitments by YP through the first half of 2016 and provides YP additional flexibility to migrate active accounts to itself or a third-party provider prior to the end of an advertiser contract. YP is our largest reseller partner and was responsible for 28% and 30% of our total revenues in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015, respectively, and 22% and 23% of our total revenues in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016. We also have a separate distribution partner agreement with YP.

We were incorporated in Delaware on January 17, 2003. Acquisition initiatives have played an important part in our corporate history to date.

We have offices in Seattle, Washington; Las Vegas, Nevada; New York, New York; and San Francisco, California. In May 2016, we opened an office in London, England.

On October 3, 2016, by mutual agreement, Peter Christothoulou resigned as our Chief Executive Officer. In addition, Clark Kokich resigned as Executive Chairman of our Board of Directors (the “Board”) and as a member of the Board on October 1, 2016.  Effective on October 3, 2016, the Board established an Interim Office of the CEO subject to oversight by Anne Devereux-Mills as Chairman. The Interim Office of the CEO consists of Michael Arends, Ethan Caldwell, Gary Nafus, and Russell C. Horowitz who is currently a consultant to the Company and previously Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board. The Interim Office of the CEO will perform the duties and responsibilities of the chief executive officer on an interim basis while a search for a permanent chief executive officer is conducted. 

Consolidated Statements of Operations

All significant inter-company transactions and balances within Marchex have been eliminated in consolidation. Our purchase accounting resulted in all assets and liabilities from our acquisitions being recorded at their estimated fair values on the respective acquisition dates. All goodwill, intangible assets, and liabilities resulting from the acquisitions have been recorded in our condensed consolidated financial statements.

We primarily generate our revenues from our Call-driven products and services. Call-driven revenue consists of payments from advertisers for pay-for-call advertising services and for use of our call analytics technology. Call-driven revenue also consists of payments from our reseller partners for use of our local leads technology platform and marketing services, which they offer to their small business customers, as well as payments from advertisers for cost-per-action services. Historically, we also generated revenue from our Archeo operations, which included revenue generated from our click based advertising and Internet domain operations. In 2015, we sold primarily all of our Archeo operations in two separate transactions. In April 2015, we sold the bulk of our domain name portfolio. The operating results related to this disposition is shown as discontinued operations in the condensed consolidated statements of operations for all periods presented. In December 2015, we sold the remaining Archeo operations. This disposition did not meet the criteria for discontinued operations, and as a result, the operating results are reflected in continuing operations in the condensed consolidated statements of operations. See Note 12. Discontinued Operations, Dispositions, and Other for further discussion regarding the dispositions. For detail on revenue by segment, see Note 6. Segment Reporting and Geographic Information of the notes to our condensed consolidated financial statements.

Presentation of Financial Reporting Periods

The comparative periods presented are for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2016.

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Revenue

We generate revenue through our call advertising services and our local leads platform, which includes our call analytics and pay-for-call services. Historically, we also generated revenue through pay-per-click advertising services.

Our performance-based advertising services, which include call advertising, cost-per-action services, and pay-per-click services, amounted to greater than 80% of revenues in all periods presented. In addition, we generate revenue through our Local Leads platform, which enables partner resellers to sell call advertising and/or search marketing products, and campaign management services. These secondary sources accounted for less than 20% of our revenues in all periods presented. We have no barter transactions.

We recognize revenue upon the completion of our performance obligation, provided that: (1) evidence of an arrangement exists; (2) the arrangement fee is fixed and determinable; and (3) collection is reasonably assured.

In certain cases, we record revenue based on available and reported preliminary information from third parties. Collection on the related receivables may vary from reported information based upon third party refinement of the estimated and reported amounts owed that occurs subsequent to period ends.

Performance-Based Advertising Services

Our call analytics technology platform provides data and insights that can measure the performance of mobile, online and offline advertising for advertisers and small business resellers. We generate revenue from our call analytics technology platform when advertisers pay us a fee for each call or call related data element they receive from calls including call-based ads we distribute through our sources of call distribution or for each phone number tracked based on a pre-negotiated rate.

In providing pay-for call advertising services, we generate revenue upon delivery of qualified and reported phone calls to advertisers or advertising service providers’ listings. These advertisers and advertising service providers pay us a designated transaction fee for each qualified phone call, which occurs when a user makes a phone call, clicks, or completes a specified action on any of their advertisement listings after it has been placed by us or by our distribution partners. Each qualified phone call or specified action on an advertisement listing represents a completed transaction. The advertisement listings are displayed within our distribution network, which includes mobile and online search engines and applications, directories, destination sites, shopping engines, third party Internet domains or web sites, and other targeted Web-based content, mobile carriers and offline sources. We also generate revenue from cost-per-action services, which occurs when a user makes a phone call from our advertiser’s listing or is redirected from one of our web sites or a third party web site in our distribution network to an advertiser web site and completes the specified action.

We generate revenue from reseller partners and publishers utilizing our Local Leads platform to sell call advertising, search marketing, and other lead generation products. We are paid account fees and also agency fees for our products in the form of a percentage of the cost of every call or click delivered to advertisers. The reseller partners or publishers engage the advertisers and are the primary obligor, and we, in certain instances, are only financially liable to the publishers in our capacity as a collection agency for the amount collected from the advertisers. We recognize revenue for these fees under the net revenue recognition method. In limited arrangements resellers pay us a fee for fulfilling an advertiser’s campaign in our distribution network and we act as the primary obligor. We recognize revenue for these fees under the gross revenue recognition method.

Industry and Market Factors

We enter into agreements with various mobile, online and offline distribution partners to provide distribution for pay-for-call advertisement listings which contain call tracking numbers and/or URL strings of our advertisers. We generally pay distribution partners based on a percentage of revenue or a fixed amount for each phone call on these listings. The level of phone calls contributed by our distribution partners has varied, and we expect it will continue to vary, from quarter to quarter and year to year, sometimes significantly. If we do not add new distribution partners or renew our existing distribution partner agreements and on terms as favorable as current arrangements, replace traffic lost from terminated distribution agreements with other sources, or if our distribution partners’ businesses do not grow or are adversely affected, our revenue and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected. Our ability to grow will be impacted by our ability to increase our distribution, which impacts the number of mobile and Internet users who have access to our advertisers’ listings and the rate at which our advertisers are able to convert calls from these mobile and Internet users into completed transactions, such as a purchase or sign up. Our ability to grow also depends on our ability to continue to increase the number of advertisers who use our products and services, the amount these advertisers spend on our products and services, advertiser adoption of new products and services and the amount these advertisers are willing to pay for these new products and services.  

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We utilize phone numbers as part of our pay-for-call and call analytics services to advertisers, which enables advertisers and other users of our services to help measure the effectiveness of mobile, online, and offline advertising campaigns. If we are not able to secure or retain sufficient phone numbers needed for our services or we are limited in the number of available telecommunication carriers or vendors to provide such phone numbers to us in the event of any industry consolidation or if telecommunication carriers or vendors were to experience system disruptions, our revenue and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

We have revenue concentrations with certain large customers. Many of these customers are not subject to long term contracts with us or have contracts with near term expiration dates, and are able to reduce or cease advertising spend at any time and for any reason. In some cases, we engage with advertisers through advertising agencies, who act on behalf of the advertisers. Advertising agencies may place insertion orders with us for particular advertising campaigns for a set period of time and are not obligated to commit beyond the campaign governed by a particular insertion order and may also cancel the campaign prior to completion. Advertising agencies also have relationships with many different providers, each of whom may be running portions of the advertising campaign. A significant reduction in advertising spending or budgets by our largest customers, or the loss of one or more of these customers, if not replaced by new customers or an increase in business from existing customers, would have a material adverse effect on our future operating results.

We anticipate that these variables will fluctuate in the future, affecting our ability to grow and our financial results. In particular, it is difficult to project phone call usage, the number of phone calls or other actions performed by users of our product and services which will be delivered to our advertisers, and how much advertisers will spend with us and the amount they are willing to pay for our products and services. It is even more difficult to anticipate the average revenue per phone call or other performance-based actions. It is also difficult to anticipate the impact of worldwide and domestic economic conditions on advertising budgets.

In addition, we believe we will experience seasonality. Our quarterly results have fluctuated in the past and may fluctuate in the future due to seasonal fluctuations in levels of mobile and Internet usage and seasonal purchasing cycles of many advertisers. Our experience has shown that during the spring and summer months, mobile and Internet usage is lower than during other times of the year and during the latter part of the fourth quarter of the calendar year we generally experience lower call volume and reduced demand for calls from our call advertising customers. The extent to which usage and call volume may decrease during these off-peak periods is difficult to predict. Prolonged or severe decreases in usage and call volume during these periods may adversely affect our growth rate and results and in turn the market price of our securities. In the first quarter of the calendar year, this trend generally reverses with increased mobile and Internet usage and often new budgets at the beginning of the year for many of our customers with fiscal years ending December 31. The seasonal purchasing cycles of some customers in certain industries may also be higher in the first half versus the latter half of the calendar year. Additionally, the current business environment and our industry has generally both resulted in, and we may continue to see, many advertisers and reseller partners reducing advertising and marketing services budgets or changing such budgets throughout the year, which we expect will impact our quarterly results of operations in addition to the typical seasonality seen in our industry.

We believe that our future revenue growth will depend on, among other factors, our ability to attract new advertisers, compete effectively, maximize our sales efforts, demonstrate a positive return on investment for advertisers, successfully improve existing products and services, develop successful new products and services, and expand internationally. If we are unable to generate adequate revenue growth and to manage our expenses, we may continue to incur significant losses in the future and may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability.

Service Costs

Our service costs represent the cost of providing our performance-based advertising services and our search marketing services. The service costs that we have incurred in the periods presented primarily include:

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User Acquisition Costs

For the periods presented the largest component of our service costs consists of user acquisition costs that relate primarily to payments made to distribution partners for access to their mobile, online, offline, or other user traffic. We enter into agreements of varying durations with distribution partners that integrate our services into their web sites, indexes or other sources of user traffic. The primary economic structure of the distribution partner agreements is a variable payment based on a specified percentage of revenue.

These variable payments are often subject to minimum payment amounts per phone call or other action. Other payment structures that to a lesser degree exist include:

We expense user acquisition costs based on whether the agreement provides for variable or fixed payments. Agreements with variable payments based on a percentage of revenue, number of paid phone calls, or other metrics are expensed as incurred based on the volume of the underlying activity or revenue multiplied by the agreed-upon price or rate. Agreements with fixed payments with minimum guaranteed amounts of usage are expensed at the greater of the pro-rata amount over the term of arrangement or the actual usage delivered to date based on the contractual revenue share.

Sales and Marketing

Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of:

Product Development

Product development costs consist primarily of expenses incurred in the research and development, creation and enhancement of our products and services.

Our research and development expenses include:

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For the periods presented, substantially all of our product development expenses are research and development. Product development costs are expensed as incurred or capitalized into property and equipment in accordance with FASB ASC 350. This statement requires that costs incurred in the preliminary project and post-implementation stages of an internal use software project be expensed as incurred and that certain costs incurred in the application development stage of a project be capitalized.

General and Administrative

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of:

Stock-Based Compensation

We measure stock-based compensation cost at the grant date based on the fair value of the award and recognize it as expense, net of estimated forfeitures, over the vesting or service period, as applicable, of the stock award using the straight-line method. Stock-based compensation expense has been included in the same lines as compensation paid to the same employees in the consolidated statements of operations.

Provision for Income Taxes

We utilize the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases and operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax law is recognized in results of operations in the period that includes the enactment date. Uncertain tax positions as September 30, 2016 amounted to $1.0 million.

At September 30, 2016, based upon both positive and negative evidence available, we determined that it is not more likely than not that our deferred tax assets of $43.4 million will be realized and accordingly, we have recorded a 100% valuation allowance of $43.4 million against these deferred tax assets. This compares to a valuation allowance of $34.5 million at December 31, 2015. Based on the level of historical taxable losses and the uncertainty of projections for future taxable income over the periods for which the deferred tax assets are deductible, we concluded that it is not more likely than not that the gross deferred tax assets will be realized. In assessing the realizability of deferred tax assets, we considered whether it is more likely than not that some or all of the deferred tax assets will be realized. The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets depends on the generation of future taxable income during the periods in which those temporary differences are deductible. We also considered the future reversal of deferred tax liabilities, carryback potential, projected taxable income, and tax planning strategies as well as its history of taxable income or losses in the relevant jurisdictions in making this assessment. We incurred taxable losses in 2013, 2014, and 2015. As of September 30, 2016, our federal NOL carryforwards were approximately $52.5 million for income tax purposes, which will begin to expire in 2026. As of September 30, 2016, our state, city, and other foreign jurisdiction NOL carryforwards were approximately $6.4 million, which begin to expire in 2025.

From time to time, various state, federal, and other jurisdictional tax authorities undertake reviews of us and our filings. We believe any adjustments that may ultimately be required as a result of any of these reviews will not be material to the financial statements.

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Results of Operations

The following table presents certain of our operating results as a percentage of revenue for the periods indicated: