PBTS Powerbridge Technologies Company Ltd

RISK FACTORS

An investment in our Ordinary Share involves significant risks. You should carefully consider the risk factors contained in any prospectus supplement and in our filings with the SEC, as well as all of the information contained in this prospectus and the related exhibits, any prospectus supplement or amendments thereto, and the documents incorporated by reference herein or therein, before you decide to invest in our Ordinary Share. Our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected as a result of any of such risks. The value of our Ordinary Share could decline as a result of any of these risks. You could lose all or part of your investment in our Ordinary Share. Some of our statements in sections entitled “Risk Factors” are forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties that we have described are not the only ones that we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

In addition to the risk factors referenced above, as described in our most recent annual report on Form 20-F, we want to disclose the additional risk factors below.

Risks Relating to Our Advertising and Media Business

We have a limited operating history in our advertising and media business, which may make it difficult for you to evaluate our business and prospects.

Since October 2020, we started to implement our plan to build a network of digital display such as LCD screens and operate an advertisement platform in Shenzhen initially, and then expand to the Greater Bay Area of China. On September 25, 2020, Shenzhen Honghao Internet Technology Co. Ltd. (“Honghao”), the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, entered into a leasing agreement (the “Original Leasing Agreement”) with Shenzhen Kezhi Technology Co., Ltd., a company incorporated under the PRC laws (“Kezhi”), pursuant to which, Kezhi agreed to transfer the right to operate and publish advertisements at certain advertising space it leases or controls in certain shopping centers in Shenzhen, Guangdong, to Honghao. On November 20, 2020, Honghao and Kezhi entered into a supplemental agreement to the Leasing Agreement (the “Supplemental Agreement”), pursuant to which, Kezhi agreed to transfer the right to operate and publish advertisements at certain additional advertising space it leased or controls in several urban villages in Shenzhen, Guangdong, to Honghao.

Accordingly, we have a very limited operating history for our current operations of our advertising and media business upon which you can evaluate the viability and sustainability of our business and its acceptance by advertisers and consumers. It is also difficult to evaluate the viability of our use of advertising displays and our use of advertising poster frames in residential complexes because we do not have sufficient experience to address the risks frequently encountered by early stage companies using new forms of advertising media and entering new and rapidly evolving markets. These circumstances may make it difficult for you to evaluate our business and future operation.

Advertising is particularly sensitive to changes in economic conditions and advertising trends.

Demand for advertising time slots and advertising frame space on our networks, and the resulting advertising spending by our clients, is particularly sensitive to changes in general economic conditions and advertising spending typically decreases during periods of economic downturn. Advertisers may reduce the money they spend to advertise on our networks for a number of reasons, including:

A decrease in demand for advertising media in general and for our advertising services in particular would materially and adversely affect our ability to generate revenue from our advertising services, and our financial condition and results of operations.

Our operating results of our advertising and media business are difficult to predict and may fluctuate significantly from period to period in the future.

Our operating results of our advertising and media business are difficult to predict and may fluctuate significantly from period to period based on the seasonality of consumer spending and corresponding advertising trends in China. As a result, you may not be able to rely on period to period comparisons of our operating results as an indication of our future performance. Factors that are likely to cause our operating results to fluctuate include the seasonality of advertising spending in China, a deterioration of economic conditions in China and potential changes to the regulation of the advertising industries in China. If our revenues generated from our advertising and media business for a particular quarter are lower than we expect, we may be unable to reduce our operating expenses for that quarter by a corresponding amount, which would harm our overall operating results for that quarter relative to our operating results from other quarters.

The out-of-home advertising market is intensely competitive. In addition, we might face competitive pressure from well-established internet companies, marketing agencies and traditional media.

With the introduction of new technologies and the influx of new entrants, we expect competition to continue and intensify, which could harm our ability to increase revenue and attain or sustain profitability. We believe the principal competitive factors in this industry include:

In addition, independent online marketing technology platforms face competitive pressure from large and well-established internet companies which have established stronger and broader presence across the online marketing ecosystem and have significantly more financial, technical, marketing and other resources, more extensive client base, and longer operating histories and greater brand recognition than we do. These companies may also leverage their positions to make changes to their systems, platforms, exchanges, networks or other products or services that could be harmful to our business and results of operations. In addition, these large and well-established companies control content distribution channels and would directly compete with us should we vertically expand our business to own or operate content distribution channels in the future. Further, some of these companies are, or may also become, our content distribution channels and may enter into other types of strategic arrangements with us. We also face competition from marketing agencies, who may have their own relationships with content distribution channels and can directly connect marketers with such channels. Furthermore, we continue to compete with traditional media including direct marketing, television, radio, cable and print advertising companies.

New technologies and methods of online marketing present an evolving competitive challenge, as market participants upgrade or expand their service offerings to capture more marketing spend from marketers. In addition to existing competitors and their existing service offerings, we expect to face competition from new entrants to the online marketing technology industry and new service offerings from existing competitors. If existing or new companies develop, market or resell competitive high-value marketing technology solutions, acquire one of our competitors or strategic partners, form a strategic alliance or enter into exclusivity arrangement with one of our competitors or strategic partners, our ability to compete effectively could be significantly compromised and our business, results of operations and prospects could be materially and adversely affected.

If our advertising business do not achieve widespread market acceptance, our business, growth prospects and results of operations would be materially and adversely affected.

The market for out-of-home advertising is evolving in China and may not achieve or sustain high levels of demand and market acceptance as we expect because we may face competition from mobile and social media. While marketing via search engines or display channels has been established for several years, marketing via new digital channels such as mobile and social media is not as well established and under quick development. The future growth of our out-of-home advertising business could be constrained by our competitors in out-of-home digital display business and competitors from emerging online marketing channels and social media.

Expansion of our outdoor advertising business depends on a number of factors, including the growth of new digital advertising channels such as mobile and social media and the cost, as well as the performance and perceived value associated with online marketing technology solutions. If we do not achieve widespread acceptance, or there is a reduction in demand for out-of-home advertising caused by weakening economic conditions, decreases in corporate spending, technological challenges, data security or privacy concerns, governmental regulation, competing technologies and solutions or otherwise, our business, growth prospects and results of operations will be materially and adversely affected.

If our operating platforms are flawed or ineffective, or if our platform fails to otherwise function properly, our reputation and market share would be materially and adversely affected.

Our ability to attract marketers to, and build trust in, our platform is significantly dependent on our ability to interact with relevant marketing content. The data we collect may not be relevant to all industries, and for certain industries, we may not have sufficient user data to ensure that our platforms would work effectively. Furthermore, we generally do not verify the data we gather, which may be subject to fraud or are otherwise inaccurate. Even if such data are accurate, they may become irrelevant or outdated and thus may not reflect a user’s genuine interest or accurately predict his or her interaction with a given marketing message. For example, following the date we obtain the relevant data, a user’s interest and behavior pattern may change or he or she may have already completed a transaction and is no longer interested in the marketing message.

In addition, we expect to experience significant growth in the amount of data we process as we continue to develop new solutions and features to meet evolving and growing marketer demands. As the amount of data and variables we process increases, the calculations that our algorithms and data engines must process become increasingly complex and the likelihood of any defect or error increases. To the extent our operating platforms fail to accurately assess or predict a user’s interest in and interaction with, the relevant marketing content, or experience significant errors or defects, marketers may not achieve their marketing goals in a cost-effective manner or at all, which could make our platform less attractive to them, result in damages to our reputation and a decline of our market share and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

We plan to use big data platform to run and manage our out-of-home advertising digital displays. However, our ability to collect and use data from various sources could be restricted, and therefore, it may affect our management and operation of our out-of-home advertising digital displays.

We plan to use big data platform to run and manage our out-of-home advertising digital displays. With data collected by and analysis ran by big data platform, we may better identify the target audience of our out-of-home advertising digital displays. The optimal performance and analysis of our big data platform depends on the data that we collect from multiple sources, which we use to build user profiles, develop and refine preferences of our target audience. Our ability to collect and use these types of data is limited by a number of factors including:

Any of the above described limitations on our ability to successfully collect and use data could materially impair the optimal performance of our big data platform as well as the efficiency of our solutions for our clients, which could make our platform less attractive to marketers and result in damages to our reputation, a decline of our market share and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Our failure to maintain existing relationships or obtain new relationships with businesses that allow us to access to desirable locations and platforms on which we operate our network could harm or reverse our growth potential and our ability to increase our revenues.

Our ability to generate revenues from advertising sales depends largely upon our ability to provide large networks of flat-panel displays placed in desirable building, commercial and store locations, of advertising poster frames placed in residential complexes, to secure desirable locations of large outdoor LED digital billboards, throughout major urban areas in China. We also depend on the ability of our third-party location provider to secure desirable LED digital billboard locations for our outdoor LED network. This, in turn, requires that we develop and maintain business relationships with real estate developers, landlords, property managers, hypermarkets, retailers and other businesses and locations in which we rent space for our displays and digital billboards. Although our advertising space leasing agreements have terms of 19 years, we may not be able to maintain our relationships with them on satisfactory terms, or at all. If we fail to maintain our relationships with landlords and property managers, or if our leasing agreement is terminated or not renewed or if we fail to maintain our relationship with our location provider of LED billboard space, advertisers may find advertising on our networks unattractive and may not wish to purchase advertising time slots or advertising frame space on our networks, which would cause our revenues to decline and our business and prospects to deteriorate.

In accordance with PRC real estate laws and regulations, prior consent of landlords and property managers is required for any commercial use of the public areas or facilities of residential properties. With regard to our network of advertising poster frames and some of our LED screen placed in the elevators and public areas of residential complexes, we have entered/plan to enter into frame or display placement agreements with property managers and landlords. For those frame or display placement agreements entered into with property managers, we intend to obtain or urge property managers to obtain consents from landlords. However, if the landlords of a residential complex object to our placing advertising displays in the elevators and public areas of the complex, we may be required to remove our advertising displays from the complex and may be subject to fines. We may not be able to successfully expand our out-of-home advertising network into new regions or diversify our network into new advertising networks or media platforms, which could harm or reverse our growth potential and our ability to increase our revenues.

If we are unable to obtain or retain desirable placement locations for our outdoor digital displays on commercially advantageous terms or if the supply of desirable locations diminishes or ceases to expand, we could have difficulty in maintaining or expanding our network, our operating margins and earnings could decrease and our results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

Our location costs, which include lease payments to landlords and property managers under our advertising space leasing agreement, maintenance and monitoring fees and other associated costs, could comprise a significant portion of our cost of revenues. We may also need to increase our expenditures on our advertising space leasing agreements to obtain new and desirable locations, to renew existing locations, and to secure favorable exclusivity and renewal terms. In addition, lessors of space for our outdoor digital displays may charge increasingly higher display location lease fees, or demand other compensation arrangements, such as profit sharing. If we are unable to pass increased location costs on to our advertising clients through rate increases, our operating margins and earnings could decrease and our results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

In addition, in some developed cities of the Greater Bay Area of China, it may be difficult to increase the number of desirable locations in our network because most such locations have already been occupied either by us or by our competitors, or in the case of outdoor LED billboards, the placement of outdoor installments may be limited by municipal zoning and planning policies. In recently developing cities, the supply of desirable locations may be small and the pace of economic development and construction levels may not provide a steadily increasing supply of desirable commercial and residential locations. If, as a result of these possibilities, we are unable to increase the placement of our out-of-home digital displays into commercial and residential locations that advertisers find desirable, we may be unable to expand our client base, sell advertising time slots and poster frame space on our network or increase the rates we charge for time slots and poster frame space, which could decrease the value of our network to advertisers.

If we are unable to attract advertisers to advertise on our networks, we will be unable to maintain or increase our advertising fees and the demand for time on our networks, which could negatively affect our ability to grow revenues.

The amounts of fees we can charge advertisers for time slots on our out-of-home digital display advertising and media technology networks depend on the size and quality of our out-of-home digital display advertising and media technology networks and the demand by advertisers for advertising time on our out-of-home digital display advertising and media technology networks. Advertisers choose to advertise on our out-of-home digital display advertising and media technology networks in part based on the size of the networks and the desirability of the locations where we have placed our flat-panel displays and where we lease LED digital billboards as well as the quality of the services we offer. If we fail to maintain or increase the number of locations, displays and billboards in our networks, diversify advertising channels in our networks, or solidify our brand name and reputation as a quality provider of advertising services, advertisers may be unwilling to purchase time on our networks or to pay the levels of advertising fees we require to remain profitable.

In addition, the fees we can charge advertisers for frame space on our poster frame network depends on the quality of the locations in which we place advertising poster frames, demand by advertisers for frame space and the quality of our service. If we are unable to continue to secure the most desirable residential locations for deployment of our advertising poster frames, we may be unable to attract advertisers to purchase frame space on our poster frame network.

Our failure to attract advertisers to purchase time slots and frame space on our networks will reduce demand for time slots and frame space on our networks and the number of time slots and amount of frame space we are able to sell, which could necessitate lowering the fees we charge for advertising time on our network and could negatively affect our ability to increase revenues in the future.

Failure to manage our growth could strain our management, operational and other resources and we may not be able to achieve anticipated levels of growth in the new networks and media platforms we are beginning to operate, either of which could materially and adversely affect our business and growth potential.

We have been rapidly expanding, and plan to continue to rapidly expand, our advertising and media operations in China. We must continue to expand our advertising and media operations to meet the potential demands of advertisers for larger and more diverse network coverage and the demands of current and future landlords and property managers for installing and configuring outdoor digital displays in our existing and future commercial, store, residential and urban locations. This expansion has resulted, and will continue to result, in substantial demands on our management resources. To manage our growth, we must develop and improve our existing administrative and operational systems and, our financial and management controls and further expand, train and manage our work force. As we continue this effort, we may incur substantial costs and expend substantial resources in connection with any such expansion due to, among other things, different technology standards, and legal considerations. We may not be able to manage our operations effectively and efficiently or compete effectively in such markets. We cannot assure you that we will be able to efficiently or effectively manage the growth of our operations, recruit top talent and train our personnel. Any failure to efficiently manage our expansion may materially and adversely affect our business and future growth.

We may expand into new networks and new media platforms, however, the new advertising networks and media platforms we pursue in the future may not present the same opportunities for growth of outdoor digital displays as expected. Accordingly, we cannot assure you that the level of growth of our networks will not decline over time. Moreover, we expect the level of growth of our commercial location network to decrease as many of the more desirable locations have already been leased by us or our competitors.

If advertisers or the viewing public do not accept, or lose interest in, our out-of-home advertising network, our revenues may be negatively affected and our business may not expand or be successful.

We compete for advertising spending with many forms of more established advertising media. Our success depends on the acceptance of our out-of-home advertising network by advertisers and their continuing interest in these mediums as components of their advertising strategies. Our success also depends on the viewing public continuing to be receptive towards our advertising network. Advertisers may elect not to use our services if they believe that consumers are not receptive to our networks or that our networks do not provide sufficient value as effective advertising mediums. Likewise, if consumers find some element of our networks, such as the strong light from the billboard, to be disruptive or intrusive, advertisers may decide not to place advertisements on our advertising network and may deem our outdoor billboards as a less attractive advertising medium compared to other alternatives. In that event, advertisers may determine to reduce their spending on our advertising network. If a substantial number of advertisers lose interest in advertising on our advertising network for these or other reasons, we will be unable to generate sufficient revenues and cash flow to operate our business, and our advertising service revenue, liquidity and results of operations could be negatively affected.

We may need additional capital and we may not be able to obtain it, which could adversely affect our liquidity and financial position.

We believe that our current cash and cash equivalents and cash flow from operations will be sufficient to meet our anticipated cash needs including for working capital and capital expenditures, for the foreseeable future. We may, however, require additional cash resources due to changed business conditions or other future developments. If these sources are insufficient to satisfy our cash requirements, we may seek to sell additional equity or debt securities or obtain a credit facility. The sale of convertible debt securities or additional equity securities, could result in additional dilution to our shareholders. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased debt service obligations and could result in operating and financing covenants that would restrict our operations and liquidity.

Our ability to obtain additional capital on acceptable terms is subject to a variety of uncertainties, including:

We cannot assure you that financing will be available in amounts or on terms acceptable to us, if at all. Any failure by us to raise additional funds on terms favorable to us could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity and financial condition.

If we are unable to adapt to changing advertising trends and the technology needs of advertisers and consumers, we will not be able to compete effectively and we will be unable to increase or maintain our revenues which may materially and adversely affect our business prospects and revenues.

The market for out-of-home advertising requires us to continuously identify new advertising trends and the technology needs of advertisers and consumers, which may require us to develop new features and enhancements for our advertising network. In the future, subject to relevant PRC laws and regulations, we may use other technology, such as cable or broadband networking, advanced audio technologies and high-definition panel technology. We may be required to incur development and acquisition costs in order to keep pace with new technology needs but we may not have the financial resources necessary to fund and implement future technological innovations or to replace obsolete technology. Furthermore, we may fail to respond to these changing technology needs. For example, if the use of wireless or broadband networking capabilities on our advertising network becomes a commercially viable alternative and meets all applicable PRC legal and regulatory requirements, and we fail to implement such changes on our commercial location network and in-store network or fail to do so in a timely manner, our competitors or future entrants into the market who do take advantage of such initiatives could gain a competitive advantage over us. If we cannot succeed in developing and introducing new features on a timely and cost-effective basis, advertiser demand for our advertising networks may decrease and we may not be able to compete effectively or attract advertising clients, which would have a material and adverse effect on our business prospects and revenues.

We may be subject to intellectual property infringement claims, which may force us to incur substantial legal expenses and, if determined adversely against us, may materially disrupt our business.

We cannot be certain that our advertising displays or other aspects of our business do not or will not infringe upon patents, copyrights or other intellectual property rights held by third parties. Although we are not aware of any such claims, we may become subject to legal proceedings and claims from time to time relating to the intellectual property of others in the ordinary course of our business. If we are found to have violated the intellectual property rights of others, we may be enjoined from using such intellectual property, and we may incur licensing fees or be forced to develop alternatives. In addition, we may incur substantial expenses in defending against these third party infringement claims, regardless of their merit. Successful infringement or licensing claims against us may result in substantial monetary liabilities, which may materially and adversely disrupt our business.

We face significant competition, and if we do not compete successfully against new and existing competitors, we may lose our market share, and our profitability may be adversely affected.

We compete with other advertising companies in China. We compete for advertising clients primarily on the basis of network size and coverage, location, price, the range of services that we offer and our brand name. We also face competition from other out-of-home television advertising network operators for access to the most desirable locations in cities in China. Individual buildings, hotels, restaurants and other commercial locations and hypermarket, supermarket and convenience store chains may also decide to independently, or through third-party technology providers, install and operate their own flat-panel television advertising screens.

Our out-of-home advertising network faces competition with similar networks operated by domestic out-of-home advertising companies, including but not limited to Shanghai Xicheng Cultural Dissemination Co., Ltd., Focus Media Information Technology, and iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited. We also compete for overall advertising spending with other alternative advertising media companies, such as Internet, wireless communications, street furniture, billboard, frame and public transport advertising companies, and with traditional advertising media, such as newspapers, television, magazines and radio.

In the future, we may also face competition from new entrants into the out-of-home television advertising sector. Our sector is characterized by relatively low fixed costs and, as is customary in the advertising industry. In addition, since December 10, 2005, wholly foreign-owned advertising companies are allowed to operate in China, which may expose us to increased competition from international advertising media companies attracted to opportunities in China.

Increased competition could reduce our operating margins and profitability and result in a loss of market share. Some of our existing and potential competitors may have competitive advantages, such as significantly greater financial, marketing or other resources, or exclusive arrangements with desirable locations, and others may successfully mimic and adopt our business model. Moreover, increased competition will provide advertisers with a wider range of media and advertising service alternatives, which could lead to lower prices and decreased revenues, gross margins and profits. We cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully compete against new or existing competitors.

We do not maintain any business liability disruption or litigation insurance coverage for our operations, and any business liability, disruption or litigation we experience might result in our incurring substantial costs and the diversion of resources.

While business disruption insurance is available to a limited extent in China, we have determined that the risks of disruption, cost of such insurance and the difficulties associated with acquiring such insurance on commercially reasonable terms make it impractical for us to have such insurance. As a result, we do not have any business liability, disruption or litigation insurance coverage for our operations of advertising and media business in China. Any business disruption or litigation may result in our incurring substantial costs and the diversion of resources.

Any negative publicity with respect to us in general or our partners may materially and adversely affect our reputation, business and results of operations.

Complaints, litigation, regulatory actions or other negative publicity that arise about the advertising industry in general or our company in particular, including on the quality, effectiveness and reliability of privacy and security practices, and advertising content, even if inaccurate, could adversely affect our reputation and client confidence in, and the use of, our solutions. Harm to our reputation and client confidence can also arise for many other reasons, including employee misconduct, misconduct of our data and content distribution channel partners, data center providers or other counterparties, failure by these persons or entities to meet minimum quality standards or otherwise fulfill their contractual obligations or to comply with applicable laws and regulations. Additionally, negative publicity with respect to our data or content distribution channel partners could also affect our business and results of operation to the extent that we rely on these partners or if marketers or marketing agencies associate our company with such partners.

If we fail to promote or maintain our brand in a cost-efficient manner, our business and results of operations may be harmed.

We believe that developing and maintaining awareness of our brand in a cost-effective manner is critical to achieving widespread acceptance of our platforms, and is an important element in attracting new clients and partners. Furthermore, we believe that the importance of brand recognition will increase as competition in our market increases. Successful promotion of our brand will depend largely on our ability to deliver value propositions to marketers and on the effectiveness of our marketing efforts If we fail to successfully promote and maintain our brand, or incur substantial expenses in an unsuccessful attempt to promote and maintain our brand, we may fail to attract enough new clients or retain our existing clients and our business and results of operations can be materially and adversely affected.

Risks Relating to Regulations of Our Adverting and Media Business

Our business operations may be affected by legislative or regulatory changes.

There are no existing PRC laws, rules or regulations that specifically define or regulate advertising on billboards. Moreover, we cannot assure you that any new laws, rules or regulations governing advertising on billboards, or out-of-home advertising generally, would not be burdensome to us or otherwise increase compliance and other costs or have a material adverse effect on our business and operations. We also cannot predict the timing and effects of any such new laws, rules or regulations. Changes in laws, rules and regulations governing advertising services, our business licenses or any other aspects of our business and operations may result in substantial additional costs as well as diversion of resources, and could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Adverse changes in the political and economic policies of the PRC government could significantly decrease the overall economic growth of the PRC, which could lead to a reduction in demand for our services and materially and adversely affect our business, financial conditions, results of operations and prospects.

Substantially all of our assets are located in the PRC and substantially all of our revenues are derived from our operations in the PRC. Accordingly, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects are affected significantly by economic, political and legal developments in China. The PRC economy differs from the economies of most developed countries in many respects, including:

While the PRC economy has experienced significant growth, growth has been uneven both geographically and among various sectors of the economy. The PRC government has implemented various measures to encourage economic growth and guide the allocation of resources. Some of these measures may benefit the overall PRC economy, but may also have a negative effect on us. For example, our financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely effected by government control over capital investments or changes in tax regulations that are applicable to us. We cannot predict the future direction of political or economic reforms or the effects such measures may have on our business, financial position or results of operations. Any adverse change in the political or economic conditions in the PRC, including changes in the policies of the PRC government or in laws and regulations in the PRC, could have a material adverse effect on the overall economic growth of the PRC and in out-of-home advertising as well as the overall advertising industry. Such developments could lead to a reduction in demand for our services and materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

We are subject to, and may expend significant resources in defending against, government actions and civil claims in connection with false, fraudulent, misleading or otherwise illegal marketing content for which we provide design, production or agency services.

Under PRC Advertising Law, where an advertising operator provides advertising design, production or agency services with respect to an advertisement when it knows or should have known that the advertisement is false, fraudulent, misleading or otherwise illegal, the competent PRC authority may confiscate the advertising operator’s advertising revenue from such services, impose penalties, order it to cease dissemination of such false, fraudulent, misleading or otherwise illegal advertisement or correct such advertisement, or suspend or revoke its business licenses under certain serious circumstances.

Under the PRC Advertising Law, “advertising operators” include any natural person, legal person or other organization that provides advertising design, production or agency services to advertisers for their advertising activities. Since our solutions involve provision of agency services to marketers, including helping them identify, engage and convert audience, and create content catering to their potential clients across different content distribution channels, we are deemed as an “advertising operator” under the PRC Advertising Law. Therefore, we are required to examine advertising content for which we provide agency services for compliance with applicable laws, notwithstanding the fact that the advertising content may have been previously published, and that the advertisers also bear liabilities for the content in their advertisements. In addition, for advertising content related to certain types of products and services, such as alcohol, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and medical procedures, we are expected to confirm that the advertisers have obtained requisite government approvals, including operating qualifications, proof of quality inspection for the advertised products, government pre-approval of the content of the advertisements and filings with the local authorities. Although we have established internal policies to review and vet advertising content before it is placed on a content distribution channel to ensure compliance with applicable laws, we cannot ensure that each advertisement for which we provide agency services complies with all PRC laws and regulations relevant to advertising activities, that supporting documentation provided by our clients is authentic or complete, or that we are able to identify and rectify all non-compliances in a timely manner.

Moreover, civil claims may be filed against us for fraud, defamation, subversion, negligence, copyright or trademark infringement or other violations due to the nature and content of the information for which we provide design, production or agency services. For example, we generally represent and warrant in our contracts with content distribution channels as to the truthfulness of the advertising content that we place on these channels, and agree to indemnify the content distribution channels for any losses resulting from false, fraudulent, misleading or otherwise illegal advertising content that we place on these content distribution channels. On the other hand, not all our marketing campaign contracts contain a back-to-back representation and warranty as to the truthfulness of the advertising content or an indemnity provision where the clients undertake to hold us harmless in case we incur losses arising out of any false, fraudulent, misleading or otherwise illegal advertising content. In the event we are subject to government actions or civil claims in connection with false, fraudulent, misleading or otherwise illegal marketing content for which we provide agency services, our reputation, business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.