REVENUE RECOGNITION

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]

Disaggregation of revenue

Geographic Information

The Company's international information consists of the results of Booking.com, agoda and Rentalcars.com and the results of the international businesses of KAYAK and OpenTable. This classification is independent of where the consumer resides, where the consumer is physically located while using the Company's services or the location of the travel service provider or restaurant. For example, a reservation made through Booking.com (which is domiciled in the Netherlands) at a hotel in New York by a consumer in the United States is part of the Company's international results. The Company's geographic information is as follows (in millions):



			International
	United States		The Netherlands		Other		Total
Total revenues for the three months ended September 30,
2019	$	421	$	4,057	$	562	$	5,040
2018	441		3,889		519		4,849

Total revenues for the nine months ended September 30,
2019	$	1,204	$	9,016	$	1,507	$	11,727
2018	1,243		8,718		1,353		11,314

Revenue by Type of Service

Approximately 88% of the Company's revenue for both the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 and 87% for both the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 relates to online accommodation reservation services. Revenue from all other sources of online travel reservation services and advertising and other revenues each represent less than 10% of the Company's total revenues.

Deferred Revenue

Cash payments received from travelers in advance of the Company completing its service obligations are included in "Deferred merchant bookings" in the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheets and are comprised principally of amounts estimated to be payable to the travel service providers as well as the Company's deferred revenue for its commission or margin and fees. At September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, deferred merchant bookings includes deferred revenue of $218 million and $149 million, respectively. The Company expects to complete its service obligation within one year from the reservation date. In the nine months ended September 30, 2019, the Company recognized revenue of $133 million and cancellations of $15 million related to the deferred revenue balance at December 31, 2018. The offsetting increase of $217 million in the deferred revenue balance for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 is principally driven by payments received from travelers, net of estimated amounts payable to travel service providers, in the period for those online travel reservations that the Company receives cash payments in advance of completing its expected service obligations.

Loyalty and Other Incentive Programs

The Company provides loyalty programs, where participating consumers are awarded loyalty points on current transactions that can be redeemed in the future. At September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, liabilities of $79 million and $73 million, respectively, for loyalty program incentives were included in "Accrued expenses and other current liabilities" in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company’s largest loyalty program is at OpenTable, where points can be redeemed for qualifying reservations at participating restaurants, third-party gift cards and accommodation reservations booked through some of the Company’s other platforms. The estimated fair value of the loyalty points that are expected to be redeemed is recognized as a reduction of revenue at the time the incentives are granted. In addition, at September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, liabilities of $25 million and $61 million, respectively, for other incentive programs, such as referral bonuses, credits and discounts, were included in "Accrued expenses and other current liabilities" in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. In the first quarter of 2018, OpenTable introduced a three-year time-based expiration for points earned by diners, which reduced its loyalty program liability by $27 million. In the third quarter of 2019, the Company recorded a decrease of $37 million to the liability for loyalty and other incentive programs, based on changes to estimates of the amounts expected to be redeemed, with a corresponding increase to revenue.