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Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Accompanying Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

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 nine months ended September 30, 2020 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2020, or for any other period. The balance sheet at December 31, 2019 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, 2019, as amended, and 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. Certain reclassifications have been made to the consolidated financial statements in the prior periods to conform to the current period presentation.

Acquisitions

In November 2018, the Company acquired Telmetrics Inc. (“Telmetrics”), an enterprise call and text tracking and analytics company, and SITA Laboratories, Inc. (d/b/a Callcap) (“Callcap”), a call monitoring and analytics solutions company. In December 2019, the Company acquired Sonar Technologies, Inc. (“Sonar”), an enterprise text messaging sales engagement and analytics company. See Note 11. Acquisitions of the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion.

Divestitures

In October 2020, the Company sold certain assets related to its Local Leads Platform, Call Marketplace and other assets not related to core conversational analytics. The Company anticipates this divestiture will be classified as discontinued operations for the quarter ended and year ended December 31, 2020. See Note 16. Subsequent Event of the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less at the date of purchase to be cash equivalents. Cash equivalents consist primarily of money market funds.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

(d) Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The Company had the following financial instruments as of December 31, 2019 and September 30, 2020: cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, and accounts payable and accrued liabilities. The carrying value of these financial instruments approximates their fair value based on the liquidity of these financial instruments and their short-term nature. Further, these financial instruments are considered at Level 1 fair value with observable inputs that reflect quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in active markets.

The following table provides information about the fair value of our cash and cash equivalents balance as of December 31, 2019 and September 30, 2020 (in thousands):

	At December 31,		At September 30,
	2019		2020
Level 1 Assets:
Cash	$	15,258	$	17,259
Money market funds		27,268		27,358
Total cash and cash equivalents	$	42,526	$	44,617

In addition, the Company has acquisition-related liabilities which are recorded at fair value. The fair value was estimated by applying the income approach, which is based on significant inputs that are not observable in the market (Level 3 inputs), such as the discount rate and the probability of meeting targeted financial goals. See Note 11. Acquisitions of the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion.

Assets, liabilities and operations of foreign subsidiaries are recorded based on the functional currency of the entity. For a majority of our foreign operations, the functional currency is the U.S. dollar. Assets and liabilities denominated in other than the functional currency are remeasured each month with the remeasurement gain or loss recorded in other income and expense in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Recent Accounting Pronouncement(s) Not Yet Effective

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. Early adoption is permitted after December 15, 2018. The ASU must be adopted using a modified-retrospective approach. In November 2018, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2018-19, Codification Improvements (Topic 326), Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (ASU 2018-19), an ASU intended to improve the Codification or correct its unintended application. The ASU is effective upon the adoption of the amendments in Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, with early adoption permitted after December 15, 2018. The Company does not expect adoption of ASU 2018-19 and ASU 2016-13 to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements. In addition, in May 2019, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2019-05, Financial Instruments — Credit Losses (Topic 326), Targeted Transition Relief, (ASU 2019-05)), an ASU which provides ASU 2016-13 transition relief by providing entities with an alternative to irrevocably elect the fair value option for eligible financial assets measured at amortized cost upon adoption of the credit losses standard. To be eligible for the transition election, the existing financial asset must otherwise be both within the scope of the new credit losses standard and eligible for the applying the fair value option in ASC 825-10. The election must be applied on an instrument-by-instrument basis and is not available for either available-for-sale or held-to-maturity debt securities. The ASU is effective upon the adoption of the amendments in ASU 2016-13. In addition, in November 2019, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2019-10, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326), Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815), and Leases (Topic 842) - Effective Dates (ASU-2019-10), an ASU modifying the effective dates of various previous pronouncements. As the Company qualifies as a Smaller Reporting Company with the SEC, this ASU revised the effective date of ASU 2016-13 and ASU 2017-04 to fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022. The Company does not expect adoption of ASU 2019-10 to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements. The Company does not expect adoption of ASU 2019-10, ASU 2019-05, ASU 2018-19 and ASU 2016-13 to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In February 2020, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2020-02, Financial Instruments — Credit Losses (Topic 326) and Leases (Topic 842). This ASU adds an SEC paragraph pursuant to the issuance of SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 119, which adds Topic 6M on Accounting for Loan Losses by Registrants Engaged in Lending Activities Subject to FASB ASC Topic 326. It also adds a note in paragraph 842-10-S65-1 regarding the updated effective date for Leases pursuant to the issuance of ASU 2019-10. Additionally, in March 2020 Accounting Standards Update No. 2020-03, Codification Improvements to Financial Instruments (ASU 2020-03), an ASU which represent changes to clarify or improve the Codification. The amendments make the Codification easier to understand and easier to apply by eliminating inconsistencies and providing clarifications. The amendments and are not expected to have a significant effect on current accounting practice or create a significant administrative cost to most entities. The Company does not expect adoption of ASU 2020-02 and of ASU 2020-03 to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

In November 2019, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2019-11, Codification Improvement to Topic 326, Financial Instruments — Credit Losses, an ASU which makes several amendments to the new credit losses standard, including an amendment requiring entities to include certain expected recoveries of the amortized cost basis previously written off, or expected to be written off, in the allowance for credit losses for purchased credit deteriorated assets. The amendments also provide transition relief related to troubled debt restructurings, allow entities to exclude accrued interest amounts from certain required disclosures and clarify the requirements for applying the collateral maintenance practical expedient. For entities that have not yet adopted the new credit losses standard, the effective dates and transition requirements are the same as those in ASU 2016-13. For entities that have adopted the new credit losses standard, the amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted in any interim period, as long as the entity has adopted the new credit losses standard. The ASU must be adopted using a modified-retrospective approach. The Company does not expect adoption of ASU 2019-11 to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In December 2019, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740) – Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes, an ASU which eliminates certain exceptions to the guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (ASC or Codification) 740 related to the approach for intraperiod tax allocation, the methodology for calculating income taxes in an interim period and the recognition of deferred tax liabilities for outside basis differences. The new guidance also simplifies aspects of the accounting for franchise taxes and enacted changes in tax laws or rates and clarifies the accounting for transactions that result in a step-up in the tax basis of goodwill. The guidance also clarifies that single-member limited liability companies and similar disregarded entities that are not subject to income tax are not required to recognize an allocation of consolidated income tax expense in their separate financial statements, but they could elect to do so. The ASU is effective for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2020, with early adoption permitted. The transition method related to the ASU amendments depend upon the nature of the guidance and vary depending upon the specific amendment being implemented. The Company does not expect adoption of ASU 2019-12 to have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

Revenue Recognition

The Company generates the majority of its revenues from advertisers for its performance based advertising services, which include the use of its call and text analytics and communications technologies, and previously, its pay-for-call advertising products and services. The Company’s revenue also previously consisted of payments from its reseller partners for use of its local leads platform and marketing services, which they offer to their small business customers. Customers typically receive the benefit of the Company’s services as they are performed and substantially all the Company’s revenue is recognized over time as the services are performed. For its text analytics and communications services, the Company primarily recognizes revenue ratably over the period of the applicable agreement as services are provided.

The Company adopted FASB ASC Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, (ASC 606) on January 1, 2018 using the modified retrospective approach for all contracts not completed as of the date of initial application, referred to as open contracts. Under ASC 606, revenue is recognized when a customer obtains control of promised goods or services in an amount that reflects the consideration the Company expects to receive in exchange for those goods or services. The Company measures revenue based on the consideration specified in the customer arrangement, and revenue is recognized when the performance obligations in the customer arrangement are satisfied. A performance obligation is a promise in a contract to transfer a distinct service or product to the customer. The transaction price of a contract is allocated to each distinct performance obligation and recognized as revenue when or as the customer receives the benefit of the performance obligation.

The Company’s 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. The Company generates revenue from the Company’s call analytics technology platform when advertisers pay the Company a fee for each call/text or call/text related data element they receive from calls or texts and previously, this included call-based ads the Company distributed through its sources of call distribution or for each phone number tracked based on a pre-negotiated rate. Revenue was recognized as services are provided over time, which was generally measured by the delivery of each call/text or call/text related data element or each phone number tracked. The Company’s text analytics and communications services provides a text and messaging platform for use by customers to help enable improving their consumer’s experience and engagement. The Company primarily recognizes revenue ratably over the period of the applicable agreement as services are provided.

Prior to its divestiture, the Company’s call marketplace offered advertisers and advertising service providers’ ad placements across a distribution network. Advertisers or advertising service providers were charged on a pay-per-call or cost-per-action basis. The Company generated revenue upon delivery of qualified and reported phone calls to advertisers or advertising service providers’ listings. These advertisers and advertising service providers paid the Company a designated transaction fee for each qualified phone call, which occurred when a user made a phone call, clicked, or completed a specified action on any of their advertisement listings after it had been placed by the Company or by the Company’s distribution partners. The Company also generated revenue from cost-per-action services, which occurred when a user made a phone call from the Company’s advertiser’s listing or was redirected from one of the Company’s web sites or a third-party web site in the Company’s distribution network to an advertiser web site and completed the specified action. Each qualified phone call or specified action on a listing represented a completed transaction. Revenue was recognized as services were provided upon the delivery of a qualified phone call or completed action. The Company’s distribution network is primarily comprised of third party mobile and online search engines and applications, mobile carriers, directories, destination sites, shopping engines, Internet domains or web sites, other targeted Web-based content, and offline sources. Prior to the divestiture, the Company entered into agreements with these third-party distribution partners to provide distribution for pay-for-call advertisement listings, which contained call tracking numbers and/or URL strings. The Company generally paid distribution partners based on a percentage of revenue or a fixed amount per phone call or other actions on these listings. The Company acted as the principal with the advertiser for revenue call transactions, and was responsible for the fulfillment of services. The Company recognized revenue for these fees under the gross revenue recognition method.

Prior to its divestiture, the Company’s local leads platform allowed reseller partners to sell call advertising, search marketing, and other lead generation products through their existing sales channels to small business advertisers. The Company generated revenue from reseller partners utilizing the Company’s local leads platform and was paid account fees and/or agency fees for the Company’s products in the form of a percentage of the cost of every call or click delivered to advertisers. Revenue was recognized over time as services were provided. The reseller partners engaged the advertisers and were the principal for the transaction, and the Company, in certain instances, was only financially liable to the publishers in the Company’s capacity as a collection agency for the amount collected from the advertisers. The Company recognized revenue for these fees under the net revenue recognition method. In limited arrangements resellers paid the Company a fee for fulfilling an advertiser’s campaign in its distribution network and the Company acted as the principal and recognized revenue for these fees under the gross revenue recognition method.

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, revenues disaggregated by service type were $23.8 million and $74.3 million for performance based advertising services, respectively, and $956,000 and $3.3 million for local leads services, respectively. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, revenues disaggregated by service type were $25.8 million and $75.0 million for performance based advertising services, respectively, and $645,000 and $2.1 million for local leads services, respectively.

The majority of the Company’s customers are invoiced on a monthly basis following the month of the delivery of services and are required to make payments under standard credit terms. The Company establishes an allowance for advertiser credits, which is included in accrued expenses and other current liabilities in the balance sheet as of September 30, 2020, using its best estimate of the amount of expected future reductions in advertisers’ payment obligations related to delivered services based on analysis of historical credits. Customer payments received in advance of revenue recognition are contract liabilities and are recorded as deferred revenue. The balance associated with the allowance for advertiser credits in the Company’s consolidated balance sheet was $346,000 and $370,000 as of December 31, 2018 and 2019, respectively, and was $280,000 as of September 30, 2020. Customer payments received in advance of revenue recognition are contract liabilities and are recorded as deferred revenue. The deferred revenue balance in the Company’s consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2018 and 2019, was $1.8 million and $1.2 million, respectively, and was $1.5 million as of September 30, 2020. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, revenue recognized that was included in the contract liabilities balance at the beginning of the period was $166,000 and $974,000, respectively. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, revenue recognized that was included in the contract liabilities balance at the beginning of the period was $367,000 and $1.2 million.

The majority of the Company’s total revenue is derived from contracts that include consideration that is variable in nature. The variable elements of these contracts primarily include the number of transactions (for example, the number qualified phone calls). For contracts with an effective term greater than one year, the Company applies the standard’s practical expedient that permits the exclusion of disclosure of the value of unsatisfied performance obligations for these contracts as the Company’s right to consideration corresponds directly to the value provided to the customer for services completed to date and all future variable consideration is allocated to wholly unsatisfied performance obligations. A term for purposes of these contracts has been estimated at 24 months. In addition, the Company applies the standard’s optional exemption to disclose information about performance obligations for contracts that have original expected terms of one year or less.

For arrangements that include multiple performance obligations, the transaction price from the arrangement is allocated to each respective performance obligation based on its relative standalone selling price and recognized when revenue recognition criteria for each performance obligation are met. The standalone selling price for each performance obligation is established based on the sales price at which the Company would sell a promised good or service separately to a customer or the estimated standalone selling price.

In certain cases, the Company recorded 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.

The Company’s incremental direct costs of obtaining a contract, which consist primarily of sales commissions, are generally deferred and amortized to sales and marketing expense over the estimated life of the relevant customer relationship of approximately 24 months and are subject to being monitored every period to reflect any significant change in assumptions. In addition, the deferred contract cost asset is assessed for impairment on a periodic basis. The Company’s contract acquisition costs are included in other assets, net in the balance sheet. The Company is applying the standard’s practical expedient permitting expensing of costs to obtain a contract when the expected amortization period is one year or less, which typically results in expensing commissions paid to acquire certain contracts. As of December 31, 2019 and September 30, 2020, the Company had $287,000 and $216,000 of net deferred contract costs, respectively, and the amortization associated with these costs was $72,000 and $229,000 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively.

Stock-Based Compensation

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 over the vesting or service period, as applicable, of the stock-based award using the straight-line method. The Company accounts for forfeitures as they occur.

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 three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and September 30, 2020 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 expirations. 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.