Item 1A. Risk Factors

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. Before deciding to invest in our company or deciding to maintain or increase your investment, you should consider carefully the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all information in this Form 10-K, including our consolidated financial statements and related notes. If one or more of the following risks are realized, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be materially and adversely affected. In that event, the market price for our common stock could decline and you may lose your investment.

Risks Relating to our Business

We can provide no assurance that Advangelists’ business will be able to maintain a competitive technology advantage in the future. Advangelists’ ability to generate revenues is based upon its proprietary intellectual property that we own and protect through trade secrets and agreements with our employees to maintain ownership of any improvements to our intellectual property. Advangelists’ ability to generate revenues now and in the future is based upon maintaining a competitive technology advantage over its competition. We can provide no assurances that we will be able to maintain a competitive technology advance in the future over our competitors, which have significantly more experience and are better capitalized than us.

No assurances can be given that we will be able to keep up with a rapidly changing technology market or that we can prevent unauthorized access to our customer data. Failure to keep up with rapidly changing technologies and marketing practices could cause our products and services to become less competitive or obsolete, which could result in loss of market share and revenues. Advances in information technology are changing the way our clients use and purchase information products and services. Maintaining the technological competitiveness of our data products, processing functionality, software systems and services is key to our continued success. However, the complexity and uncertainty regarding the development of new technologies and the extent and timing of market acceptance of innovative products and services create difficulties in maintaining this competitiveness. Without the timely introduction of new products, services and enhancements, our products and services will become technologically or commercially obsolete over time, in which case our revenue and operating results would suffer. Consumer needs and the business information industry as a whole are in a constant state of change. Our ability to continually improve our current processes and products in response to changes in technology and to develop new products and services are essential in maintaining our competitive position and meeting the increasingly sophisticated requirements of our clients. If we fail to enhance our current products and services or fail to develop new products in light of emerging technologies and industry standards, we could lose clients to current or future competitors, which could result in impairment of our growth prospects and revenues. A significant breach of the confidentiality of the information we hold or of the security of our or our customers’, suppliers’, or other partners’ computer systems could be detrimental to our business, reputation and results of operations. Our business requires the storage, transmission and utilization of data. Although we have security and associated procedures, our databases may be subject to unauthorized access by third parties. Such third parties could attempt to gain entry to our systems for the purpose of stealing data or disrupting the systems. We believe we have taken appropriate measures to protect our systems from intrusion, but we cannot be certain that advances in criminal capabilities, discovery of new vulnerabilities in our systems and attempts to exploit those vulnerabilities, physical system or facility break-ins and data thefts or other developments will not compromise or breach the technology protecting our systems and the information we possess. Furthermore, we face increasing cyber security risks as we receive and collect data from new sources, and as we and our customers continue to develop and operate in cloud-based information technology environments. In the event that our protection efforts are unsuccessful, and we experience an unauthorized disclosure of confidential information or the security of such information or our systems are compromised, we could suffer substantial harm. Any breach could result in one or more third parties obtaining unauthorized access to our customers’ data or our data, including personally identifiable information, intellectual property and other confidential business information. Such a security breach could result in operational disruptions that impair our ability to meet our clients’ requirements, which could result in decreased revenues. Also, whether there is an actual or a perceived breach of our security, our reputation could suffer irreparable harm, causing our current and prospective clients to reject our products and services in the future and deterring data suppliers from supplying us data. Further, we could be forced to expend significant resources in response to a security breach, including repairing system damage, increasing cyber security protection costs by deploying additional personnel and protection technologies, and litigating and resolving legal claims, all of which could divert the attention of our management and key personnel away from our business operations. In any event, a significant security breach could materially harm our business, financial condition and operating results.

The regulatory framework in which our Company operates is constantly evolving and privacy concerns could adversely affect our operation results. The regulatory framework for privacy issues worldwide is currently evolving and is likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future. The occurrence of unanticipated events often rapidly drives the adoption of legislation or regulation affecting the use of data and the manner in which we conduct our business. Restrictions could be placed upon the collection, management, aggregation and use of information, which could result in a material increase in the cost of collecting certain kinds of data. In all of the non-U.S. locations in which we do business, legislation restricting the collection and use of personal data already exists or is presently contemplated. For example, on April 14, 2016, the European Parliament formally adopted the General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”), which will establish a new framework for data protection in Europe when it becomes effective in May 2018. The GDPR will impose more stringent operational requirements for entities processing personal information, such as stronger safeguards for data transfers to countries outside the European Union (“EU”), reliance on express consent from data subjects (as opposed to assumed or implied consent), a right to require data processors to delete personal data, and stronger enforcement authorities and mechanisms. In the U.S., non-sensitive data about a consumer is generally usable under current rules and regulations so long as the person does not affirmatively “opt-out” of the collection of such data. In Europe, the reverse is true. If the European “opt-in” model were to be adopted in the U.S., less data would be available. Furthermore, the costs of compliance with, and other burdens imposed by, the laws, regulations, standards and policies that are applicable to the businesses of our clients may limit the use and adoption of, and reduce the overall demand for, our platform. Privacy concerns, whether valid or not valid, may inhibit market adoption of our platform particularly in certain industries and foreign countries. Unfavorable publicity and negative public perception about our industry could adversely affect our business and operating results.

Significant system disruptions, loss of data center capacity or interruption of telecommunication links could adversely affect our business and results of operations. The loss or prolonged absence of our highly trained and qualified personnel could adversely affect our operations. Significant system disruptions, loss of data center capacity or interruption of telecommunication links could adversely affect our business and results of operations. Our business is heavily dependent upon highly complex data processing capability. The ability to protect these data centers against damage or interruption from fire, flood, tornadoes, power loss, telecommunications or equipment failure or other disasters and events beyond our control is critical to success. Such events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results. Each of our business segments is subject to substantial competition from a diverse group of competitors. Each of our business segments faces significant competition in all its offerings and within each of its markets. The resources we allocate to each market in which we compete vary, as do the number and size of our competitors across these markets. These competitors may be in a better position to develop new products and pricing strategies that more quickly and effectively respond to changes in customer requirements in these markets. Such introduction of competent, competitive products, pricing strategies or other technologies by our competitors that are superior to or that achieve greater market acceptance than our products and services could adversely affect our business. Our failure to meet a client’s expectations in any type of contract may result in an unprofitable engagement, which could adversely affect our operating results and result in future rejection of our products and services by current and prospective clients. The failure to recruit and retain qualified personnel could hinder our ability to successfully manage our business, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial position and operating results. Our growth strategy and future success depend in large part on our ability to attract and retain technical, client services, sales, consulting, research and development, marketing, administrative and management personnel. The complexity of our data products, processing functionality, software systems and services require highly trained professionals. While we presently have a sophisticated, dedicated and experienced team of associates who have a deep understanding of our business and in many cases have been with Mobiquity Technologies for years, the labor market for these individuals has historically been very competitive due to the limited number of people available with the necessary technical skills and understanding, compensation strategies, general economic conditions and various other factors. As the business information and marketing industries continue to become more technologically advanced, we anticipate increased competition for qualified personnel. The loss or prolonged absence of the services of highly trained personnel like the Company’s current team of associates, or the inability to recruit and retain additional, qualified associates, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position or operating results.

Processing errors or delays in completing service level requirements could result in loss of client confidence, harm to our reputation and negative financial consequences . Processing errors, or significant errors and defects in our products, can be harmful to our business and result in increases in operating costs. Such errors may result in the issuance of credits to clients, re-performance of work, payment of damages, future rejection of our products and services by current and prospective clients and irreparable harm to our reputation. Likewise, the failure to meet contractual service level requirements or to meet specified goals within contractual timeframes could result in monetary penalties or lost revenue. Taken together, these issues could result in loss of revenue as service and support costs increase. Data suppliers may withdraw data that we have previously collected or withhold data from us in the future, leading to our inability to provide products and services to our clients, which could lead to a decrease in revenue and loss of client confidence. Much of the data that we use is licensed from third-party data suppliers, and we are dependent upon our ability to obtain necessary data licenses on commercially reasonable terms. We could suffer material adverse consequences if our data suppliers were to withhold their data from us. For example, data suppliers could withhold their data from us if there is a competitive reason to do so, if we breach our contract with a supplier, if they are acquired by one of our competitors, if legislation is passed restricting the use or dissemination of the data they provide or if judicial interpretations are issued restricting use of such data. Additionally, we could terminate relationships with our data suppliers if they fail to adhere to our data quality standards. If a substantial number of data suppliers were to withdraw or withhold their data from us, or if we sever ties with our data suppliers based on their inability to meet our data standards, our ability to provide products and services to our clients could be materially adversely impacted, which could result in decreased revenues. A failure in the integrity or a reduction in the quality of our data could harm our brand and result in a loss of revenue and an increase in legal claims. The reliability of our solutions depends upon the integrity and quality of the data in our database. A failure in the integrity of our database, whether inadvertently or through the actions of a third party, or a reduction in the quality of our data could harm us by exposing us to client or third-party claims or by causing a loss of client confidence in our solutions. We may experience an increase in risks to the integrity of our database and quality of our data as we move toward real-time, non-identifiable, consumer-powered data through our Platform. We must continue to invest in our database to improve and maintain the quality, timeliness and coverage of the data if we are to maintain our competitive position. Failure to do so could result in significant harm to our reputation and growth prospects, as well as a loss of revenue.

Dependence on Contracts. The loss of a contract upon which we rely for a significant portion of our revenues could adversely affect our operating results. In addition, our contracts contain provisions allowing the client to terminate prior to the end of the term upon giving advance notice. Even if renewed by these clients, the terms of the renewal contracts may not have a term as long as, or may otherwise be on terms less favorable than, the original contract. Revenue from clients with long-term contracts is not necessarily “fixed” or guaranteed as portions of the revenue from these clients is volume-driven. Therefore, we must engage in continual sales efforts to maintain revenue and future growth with all our clients or our operating results will suffer. If a significant client fails to renew a contract or renews the contract on terms less favorable to us than before, our business could be negatively impacted if additional business were not obtained to replace or supplement that which was lost.

Widespread economic downturn could adversely affect our business . Acquisition and divestiture activities may disrupt our ongoing business and may involve increased expenses, and we may not realize the financial and strategic goals contemplated at the time of a transaction, all of which could adversely affect our business and growth prospects. Our business is directly dependent upon and correlates closely to the marketing levels and ongoing business activities of our existing clients. If material adverse developments in domestic and global economic and market conditions adversely affect our clients’ businesses, our business and results of operations could equally suffer. Our results of operations are affected directly by the level of business activity of our clients, which in turn is affected by the level of economic activity in the industries and markets that they serve. Future widespread economic slowdowns in any of these markets, particularly in the United States, may negatively affect the businesses, purchasing decisions and spending of our clients and prospective clients, which could result in reductions in our existing business as well as our new business development. In the event of such widespread economic downturn, we will likely experience a reduction in current projects, longer sales cycles, deferral or delay of purchase commitments for our data products, processing functionality, software systems and services, and increased price competition, all of which could adversely affect revenue.

Quarterly revenue predictions are difficult to predict . When purchasing our products and services, our clients and prospects are often faced with a significant commitment of capital, the need to integrate new software and/or hardware platforms and other changes in company-wide operational procedures, all of which result in cautious deliberation and evaluation by prospective clients, longer sales cycles and delays in completing transactions. Additional delays result from the significant up-front expenses and substantial time, effort and other resources necessary of our clients to implement our solutions. For example, depending on the size of a prospective client’s business and its needs, a sales cycle can range from two weeks to twelve months. Because of these longer sales cycles, revenues and operating results may vary significantly from period to period. As a result, it is often difficult to accurately forecast our revenues on a quarterly basis as it is not always possible for us to predict the quarter in which sales will actually be completed. This difficulty in predicting revenue, combined with the revenue fluctuations we may experience from quarter to quarter, can adversely affect and cause substantial fluctuations in our stock price.

We need to protect our intellectual property otherwise our operating results may suffer . Third parties may claim that we are infringing their intellectual property and we could suffer significant litigation or licensing expenses or be prevented from selling products or services. Additionally, third parties may infringe our intellectual property and we may suffer competitive injury or expend significant resources enforcing our rights. As our business is focused on data-driven results and analytics, we rely heavily on proprietary information technology. From time to time, third parties may claim that one or more of our products or services infringe their intellectual property rights. We analyze and take action in response to such claims on a case-by-case basis. Any dispute or litigation regarding patents or other intellectual property could be costly and time-consuming due to the complexity of our technology and the uncertainty of intellectual property litigation, which could divert the attention of our management and key personnel away from our business operations. A claim of intellectual property infringement could force us to enter into a costly or restrictive license agreement, which might not be available under acceptable terms or at all, or could subject us to significant damages or to an injunction against development and sale of certain of our products or services. Our proprietary portfolio consists of various intellectual property including patents, databases, source code, trade secrets, know-how, confidentiality provisions and licensing arrangements. The extent to which such rights can be protected varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. If we do not enforce our intellectual property rights vigorously and successfully, our competitive position may suffer which could harm our operating results.

We need to protect our brand and reputation as a competitive strength. Our brand and reputation are key assets and competitive strengths of our Company, and our business may be adversely affected if events occur that could cause us to be negatively perceived in the marketplace. Our ability to attract and retain clients is highly dependent upon the external perceptions of our level of data quality, our ability to deliver consumer insights, our enterprise data management and analytical capabilities, the competence of our current associate team, and our ability to meet contractual service level requirements in a timely manner. Negative perceptions or publicity regarding these matters could damage our reputation with prospective clients and the public generally. Adverse developments with respect to our industry may also, by association, negatively impact our reputation, or result in higher regulatory or legislative scrutiny. Any damage to our brand or reputation could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results.

We may be required to invest significant monies upfront in capital intensive project(s) which we may be unable to recover . Failure to recover significant, up-front capital investments required by certain client contracts could be harmful to the Company’s financial condition and operating results. Certain of our client contracts require significant investment in the early stages, which we expect to recover through billings over the life of the contract. These contracts may involve the construction of new computer systems and communications networks or the development and deployment of new technologies. Substantial performance risk exists in each contract with these characteristics, and some or all elements of service delivery under these contracts are dependent upon successful completion of the development, construction and deployment phases. Failure to successfully meet our contractual requirements under these contracts over their life increases the possibility that we may not recover our capital investments in these contracts. Failure to recover our capital investments could be detrimental to the particular engagement as well as our operating results.

Other Risks Relating To Our Business

We have a history of operating losses and may not in the future generate consistent revenues or profits. Since our inception, we have experienced a continued history of operating losses and an accumulated deficit of $127,232,553 at December 31, 2018. We have incurred net losses from continuing operations for the years ending December 31, 2018 and 2017 of $58,634,479 and $10,245,494, respectively. Our operating losses for the past several years are primarily attributable to the transformation of our company into an advertising technology corporation. Our Mobiquity Network subsidiary has $718,930 and $385,628 in revenues from its operations for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. We can provide no assurances that our operations will generate consistent or predictable revenue or be profitable in the future. This is particularly the case as we are shifting our business emphasis to focus on our Mobiquity Network business.

We received limited revenues from our new Mobiquity business and we cannot accurately predict the volume or timing of any future revenues. We may be unable to capture revenue from our new Mobiquity business and product offerings in the manner in which we anticipate. As such, we cannot accurately predict the volume or timing of any future revenues.

Our Mobiquity Network business is dependent upon our successful integration of our SDK into various mobile applications (or apps) publishers to collect and analyze data and create product offerings from the data collected. For us to create and expand our business model, we are dependent upon entering into agreements with mobile application third party publishers. The greater the number of publisher apps into which our SDK is embedded, the greater number of original data we can collect and analyze. We currently have entered into agreements with a limited number of third party app publishers. There is a risk that we will be unable to expand our mobile publisher network on terms satisfactory to us, or at all, and if we are unable to do so, our results of operations and overall business prospects would suffer.

The location-based mobile marketing industry is evolving, and our competition may become extensive. Currently, we have not generated significant revenue from this new and unproven segment of our business. While we intend to market our Mobiquity products and services, there is a risk that our location-based mobile data collection and analysis will be unable to compete with large, medium and small competitors that are in (or may enter) the industry with substantially larger resources and management experience.

We expect to derive substantially all of our future revenues from our principal technology, which leaves us subject to the risk of reliance on such technology. Further, our principal technology is subject to pending patent applications which could be rejected by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. We expect to derive substantially all of our future revenues from Mobiquity Networks. As such, any factor adversely affecting our ability to offer and implement our solution to new customers, including regulatory issues, market acceptance, competition, performance and reliability, reputation, price competition and economic and market conditions, would likely harm our operating results.

If our Mobiquity technology fails to satisfy current or future customer requirements, we may be required to make significant expenditures to redesign the technology, and we may have insufficient resources to do so. Our Mobiquity Networks solution is designed to address an evolving marketplace and must comply with current and evolving customer requirements in order to gain market acceptance. There is a risk that we will not meet anticipated customer requirements or desires. If we are required to redesign our technologies to address customer demands or otherwise modify our business model, we may incur significant unanticipated expenses and losses, and we may be left with insufficient resources to engage in such activities. If we are unable to redesign our technology, develop new technology or modify our business model to meet customer desires or any other customer requirements that may emerge, our operating results would be materially and adversely affected.

If we fail to respond quickly to technological developments, our service may become uncompetitive and obsolete. The data collection and analysis market in which we plan to compete is expected to experience rapid technology developments, changes in industry standards, changes in customer requirements and frequent new improvements. If we are unable to respond quickly to these developments, we may lose competitive position, and our technologies may become uncompetitive or obsolete, causing revenues and operating results to suffer. In order to compete, we may be required to develop or acquire new technology and improve our existing technology and processes on a schedule that keeps pace with technological developments. We must also be able to support a range of changing customer preferences. We cannot guarantee that we will be successful in any manner in these efforts.

We cannot predict our future capital needs and we may not be able to secure additional financing. Between January 2013 and December 2018, we raised over $28 million in private equity and debt financing to support our transformation from an integrated marketing company to a technology company. Since we might be unable to generate recurring or predictable revenue or cash flow to fund our operations, we will likely need to seek additional (perhaps substantial) equity or debt financing even following this offering to provide the capital required to maintain or expand our operations. We may also need additional funding for developing products and services, increasing our sales and marketing capabilities and acquiring complementary companies, technologies and assets, as well as for working capital requirements and other operating and general corporate purposes. We cannot predict our future capital needs with precision, and we may not be able to secure additional financing on terms satisfactory to us, if at all, which could lead to termination of our business.

When we elect to raise additional funds or additional funds are required, we may raise such funds from time to time through public or private equity offerings, debt financings or other financing alternatives. Additional equity or debt financing may not be available on acceptable terms, if at all. If we are unable to raise additional capital in sufficient amounts or on terms acceptable to us, we will be prevented from pursuing operational development and commercialization efforts and our ability to generate revenues and achieve or sustain profitability will be substantially harmed.

If we raise additional funds by issuing equity securities, our stockholders will experience dilution. Debt financing, if available, would result in increased fixed payment obligations and may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends. Any debt financing or additional equity that we raise may contain terms, such as liquidation and other preferences, which are not favorable to us or our stockholders. If we raise additional funds through collaboration and licensing arrangements with third parties, it may be necessary to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams or product candidates or to grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. Should the financing we require to sustain our working capital needs be unavailable or prohibitively expensive when we require it, our business, operating results, financial condition and prospects could be materially and adversely affected, and we may be unable to continue our operations. Failure to secure additional financing on favorable terms could have severe adverse consequences to us.

Our future performance is materially dependent upon our management and their ability to manage our growth. Our future performance is substantially dependent upon the efforts and abilities of members of our existing management. This is particularly the case as we seek to ramp up our newer location-based mobile business in 2018 and beyond. The loss of the services of our management personnel could have a material adverse effect on our business. We currently lack “key man” life insurance policies on any of our officers or employees. Competition for additional qualified management is intense, and we may be unable to attract and retain additional key personnel. The number of management personnel is currently limited, and they may be unable to manage our expansion successfully and the failure to do so could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

If our management team does not remain with us in the future, our business, operating results and financial condition could be adversely affected. Our future success depends in large part on our current senior management team and our ability to attract and retain additional high-quality management and operating personnel. Our senior management team’s in-depth knowledge of and deep relationships with the participants in our industry are extremely valuable to us. Our business also requires skilled technical and marketing personnel, who are in high demand and are often subject to competing offers. Competition for qualified employees is intense in our industry, and the loss of even a few qualified employees, or an inability to attract, retain and motivate additional highly skilled employees required for the planned expansion of our business, could harm our operating results and impair our ability to grow. To attract and retain key personnel, we use various measures, including an equity incentive program and incentive bonuses for executive officers and other employees. These measures may not be enough to attract and retain the personnel we require to operate our business effectively. We also have a number of employees who were granted stock options over the past few years that have an exercise price per share that is lower than the current fair market value. If we are successful as a public company, of which there can be no assurances, these employees may choose to exercise their options and sell the shares, recognizing a substantial gain. As a result, it may be difficult for us to retain such employees.

If we are unable to attract additional management and sales representatives, or if a significant number of our manager or sales representatives leave us, our ability to increase our net revenues could be negatively impacted. Our ability to expand our business will depend, in part, on our ability to attract additional management and sales representatives. Competition for qualified managers and sales representatives can be intense, and we may be unable to hire additional team members when we need them or at all. Any difficulties we experience in attracting additional managers or sales representatives could have a negative impact on our ability to expand our retailer base, increase net revenues and continue our growth. In addition, we must retain our current management and sales representatives and properly incentivize them to obtain new relationships. If a significant number of our managers and sales representatives were to leave us, our net revenues could be negatively impacted. In certain circumstances, we have entered into agreements with our managers and sales representatives that contain non-compete provisions to mitigate this risk, but we may need to litigate to enforce our rights under these agreements, which could be time-consuming, expensive and ineffective. A significant increase in the turnover rate among our current managers or sales representatives could also increase our recruiting costs and decrease our operating efficiency, which could lead to a decline in our net revenues and profitability.

Our Mobiquity solution contains and is dependent upon open source software, which may pose particular risks to our proprietary software and solutions. We use open source software in our solutions and will use open source software in the future. Some licenses governing our use of open source software contain requirements that we make available source code for modifications or derivative works we create based upon the open source software, and that we license such modifications or derivative works under the terms of a particular open source license or other license granting third parties certain rights of further use. By the terms of certain open source licenses, we could be required to release the source code of our proprietary software, and to make our proprietary software available under open source licenses, if we combine our proprietary software with open source software in certain manners. Although we monitor our use of open source software, we cannot assure you that all open source software is reviewed prior to use in our solutions, that our programmers have not incorporated open source software into our solutions, or that they will not do so in the future. Additionally, the terms of many open source licenses to which we are subject have not been interpreted by U.S. or foreign courts. There is a risk that open source software licenses could be construed in a manner that imposes unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to market or provide our solutions. In addition, the terms of open source software licenses may require us to provide software that we develop using such open source software to others on unfavorable license terms. As a result of our current or future use of open source software, we may face claims or litigation, be required to release our proprietary source code, pay damages for breach of contract, re-engineer our solutions, discontinue making our solutions available in the event re-engineering cannot be accomplished on a timely basis or take other remedial action. Any such re-engineering or other remedial efforts could require significant additional research and development resources, and we may not be able to successfully complete any such re-engineering or other remedial efforts. Further, in addition to risks related to license requirements, use of certain open source software can lead to greater risks than use of third-party commercial software, as open source licensors generally do not provide warranties or controls on the origin of software. Any of these risks could be difficult to eliminate or manage, and, if not addressed, could have a negative effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.

We rely on information technology to operate our business and maintain competitiveness, and any failure to adapt to technological developments or industry trends could harm our business. We depend on the use of information technologies and systems. As our operations grow in size and scope, we will be required to continuously improve and upgrade our systems and infrastructure while maintaining or improving the reliability and integrity of our infrastructure. Our future success also depends on our ability to adapt our systems and infrastructure to meet rapidly evolving consumer trends and demands while continuing to improve the performance, features and reliability of our solutions in response to competitive services and product offerings. The emergence of alternative platforms will require new investment in technology. New developments in other areas, such as cloud computing, could also make it easier for competition to enter our markets due to lower up-front technology costs. In addition, we may not be able to maintain our existing systems or replace or introduce new technologies and systems as quickly as we would like or in a cost-effective manner.

If we fail to respond quickly to technological developments, our technology may become uncompetitive and obsolete. The mobile data market is expected to experience rapid technology developments, changes in industry standards, changes in customer requirements and frequent new product introductions and improvements. If we are unable to respond quickly to these developments, we may lose competitive position, and our solutions or technologies may become uncompetitive or obsolete, causing revenues and operating results to suffer. In order to compete, we may be required to develop or acquire new technologies and improve our existing technologies and processes on a schedule that keeps pace with technological developments and the requirements for our industry. We must also be able to support a range of changing customer preferences. We cannot guarantee that we will be successful in any manner in these efforts, and our inability to do so could cause our business to suffer.

Our technology and associated business processes may contain undetected errors, which could limit our ability to provide our services and diminish the attractiveness of our offerings. Our Mobiquity technology may contain undetected errors, defects or bugs. As a result, our customers or end users may discover errors or defects in our technology or the systems incorporating our technology may not operate as expected. We may discover significant errors or defects in the future that we may not be able to fix. Our inability to fix any of those errors could limit our ability to provide our solution, impair the reputation of our brand and diminish the attractiveness of our product offerings to our customers.  In addition, we may utilize third party technology or components in our products and we rely on those third parties to provide support services to us. Failure of those third parties to provide necessary support services could materially adversely impact our business.

Changes in consumer sentiment or laws, rules or regulations regarding tracking technologies and other privacy matters could have a material adverse effect on our ability to generate net revenues and could adversely affect our ability to collect data on consumer shopping behavior. The collection and use of electronic information about user is an important element of our Mobiquity technology and solutions. However, consumers may become increasingly resistant to the collection, use and sharing of information, including information used to deliver advertising and to attribute credit to publishers in performance marketing programs, and take steps to prevent such collection, use and sharing of information. For example, consumer complaints and/or lawsuits regarding advertising or other tracking technologies in general and our practices specifically could adversely impact our business. In addition to this change in consumer preferences, if retailers or brands perceive significant negative consumer reaction to targeted advertising or the tracking of consumers’ activities, they may determine that such advertising or tracking has the potential to negatively impact their brand. In that case, advertisers may limit or stop the use of our solutions, and our operating results and financial condition would be adversely affected.

Our business practices with respect to data and consumer protection could give rise to liabilities or reputational harm as a result of governmental regulation, legal requirements or industry standards relating to consumer privacy, data protection and consumer protection. Federal, state and international laws and regulations govern the collection, use, retention, sharing and security of data that we collect. We strive to comply with all applicable laws, regulations, self-regulatory requirements and legal obligations relating to privacy, data protection and consumer protection, including those relating to the use of data for marketing purposes. It is possible, however, that these requirements may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another and may conflict with other rules or our practices. We cannot assure you that our practices have complied, comply, or will comply fully with all such laws, regulations, requirements and obligations. Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with federal, state or international laws or regulations, including laws and regulations regulating privacy, data security, marketing communications or consumer protection, or other policies, self-regulatory requirements or legal obligations could result in harm to our reputation, a loss in business, and proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities, consumers, retailers or others. We may also be contractually liable to indemnify and hold harmless performance marketing networks or other third parties from the costs or consequences of noncompliance with any laws, regulations, self-regulatory requirements or other legal obligations relating to privacy, data protection and consumer protection or any inadvertent or unauthorized use or disclosure of data that we store or handle as part of operating our business. Any such proceeding or action, and any related indemnification obligation, could hurt our reputation, force us to incur significant expenses in defense of these proceedings, distract our management, increase our costs of doing business and cause consumers and retailers to decrease their use of our marketplace, and may result in the imposition of monetary liability.

As we develop and provide solutions, we may be subject to additional and unexpected regulations, which could increase our costs or otherwise harm our business. As we develop and provide solutions that address new market segments, we may become subject to additional laws and regulations, which could create unexpected liabilities for us, cause us to incur additional costs or restrict our operations. From time to time, we may be notified of or otherwise become aware of additional laws and regulations that governmental organizations or others may claim should be applicable to our business. Our failure to anticipate the application of these laws and regulations accurately, or other failure to comply, could create liability for us, result in adverse publicity or cause us to alter our business practices, which could cause our net revenues to decrease, our costs to increase or our business otherwise to be harmed.

We rely on information technology to operate our business and maintain competitiveness, and any failure to adapt to technological developments or industry trends could harm our business. We depend on the use of information technologies and systems. As our operations grow in size and scope, we must continuously improve and upgrade our systems and infrastructure while maintaining or improving the reliability and integrity of our infrastructure. Our future success also depends on our ability to adapt our systems and infrastructure to meet rapidly evolving consumer trends and demands while continuing to improve the performance, features and reliability of our solutions in response to competitive services and product offerings. In addition, we may not be able to maintain our existing systems or replace or introduce new technologies and systems as quickly as we would like or in a cost-effective manner.

Government regulation of the Internet, e-commerce and m-commerce is evolving, and unfavorable changes or failure by us to comply with these laws and regulations could substantially harm our business and results of operations. We are subject to general business regulations and laws as well as regulations and laws specifically governing the Internet, e-commerce and m-commerce in a number of jurisdictions around the world. Existing and future regulations and laws could impede the growth of the Internet, e-commerce, m-commerce or other online services. These regulations and laws may involve taxation, tariffs, privacy and data security, anti-spam, data protection, content, copyrights, distribution, electronic contracts, electronic communications and consumer protection. It is not clear how existing laws and regulations governing issues such as property ownership, sales and other taxes, libel and personal privacy apply to the Internet as the vast majority of these laws and regulations were adopted prior to the advent of the Internet and do not contemplate or address the unique issues raised by the Internet, e-commerce or m-commerce. It is possible that general business regulations and laws, or those specifically governing the Internet, e-commerce or m-commerce may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another and may conflict with other rules or our practices. We cannot assure you that our practices have complied, comply or will comply fully with all such laws and regulations. Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with any of these laws or regulations could result in damage to our reputation, a loss in business, and proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities or others. Any such proceeding or action could hurt our reputation, force us to spend significant resources in defense of these proceedings, distract our management, increase our costs of doing business, and cause consumers and retailers to decrease their use of our marketplace, and may result in the imposition of monetary liability. We may also be contractually liable to indemnify and hold harmless third parties from the costs or consequences of noncompliance with any such laws or regulations. In addition, it is possible that governments of one or more countries may seek to censor content available on our websites and mobile applications or may even attempt to completely block access to our marketplace. Adverse legal or regulatory developments could substantially harm our business. In particular, in the event that we are restricted, in whole or in part, from operating in one or more countries, our ability to retain or increase our customer base may be adversely affected and we may not be able to maintain or grow our net revenues as anticipated.

There may be limitations on the effectiveness of our internal controls, and a failure of our control systems to prevent error or fraud may materially harm our company. Proper systems of internal controls over financial accounting and disclosure are critical to the operation of a public company. We have a limited accounting and finance staff, and such staff has relatively limited experience in operating the accounting function of a growing public company. As such, we may be unable to effectively establish, implement and update our internal control systems. This would leave us without the ability to reliably assimilate and compile financial information about our company and significantly impair our ability to prevent error and detect fraud, all of which would have a negative impact on our company from many perspectives.

Moreover, we do not expect that disclosure controls or internal control over financial reporting, even if properly in place, will prevent all error and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the control system’s objectives will be met. Further, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, have been detected. Failure of our control systems to prevent error or fraud could materially and adversely affect our business, reputation, stock price and results of operations.

Risks Relating to An Investment In Our Securities

Our future sales of common stock by management and other stockholders may have an adverse effect on the then prevailing market price of our common stock. In the event a public market for our common stock is sustained in the future, sales of our common stock may be made by holders of our public float or by holders of restricted securities in compliance with the provisions of Rule 144 of the Securities Act of 1933. In general, under Rule 144, a non-affiliated person who has satisfied a six-month holding period in a fully reporting company under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, may, sell their restricted common stock without volume limitation, so long as the issuer is current with all reports under the Exchange Act in order for there to be adequate common public information. Affiliated persons may also sell their common shares held for at least six months, but affiliated persons will be required to meet certain other requirements, including manner of sale, notice requirements and volume limitations. Non-affiliated persons who hold their common shares for at least one year will be able to sell their common stock without the need for there to be current public information in the hands of the public. Future sales of shares of our public float or by restricted common stock made in compliance with Rule 144 may have an adverse effect on the then prevailing market price, if any, of our common stock.

A significant portion of our total outstanding shares are eligible to be sold into the market in the near future, which could cause the market price of our common shares to drop significantly, even if our business is doing well. A significant portion of our total outstanding shares are eligible to be sold into the market in the near future, which could cause the market price of our common shares to drop significantly, even if our business is doing well. Sales of a substantial number of our common shares in the public market, or the perception in the market that the holders of a large number of shareholders intend to sell shares could reduce the market price of our common shares.

We do not intend to pay dividends. We do not anticipate paying cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. We may not have sufficient funds to legally pay dividends. Even if funds are legally available to pay dividends, we may nevertheless decide in our sole discretion not to pay dividends. The declaration, payment and amount of any future dividends will be made at the discretion of our board of directors, and will depend upon, among other things, the results of our operations, cash flows and financial condition, operating and capital requirements, and other factors our board of directors may consider relevant. There is no assurance that we will pay any dividends in the future, and, if dividends are paid, there is no assurance with respect to the amount of any such dividend.

We lack an established trading market for our common stock, and you may be unable to sell your common stock at attractive prices or at all. There is currently a limited trading market for our common stock on the OTCQB under the symbol “MOBQ.” There can be no assurances given that an established public market will be obtained for our common stock or that any public market will last. As a result, we cannot assure you that you will be able to sell your common stock at attractive prices or at all.

The market price for our securities may be highly volatile. The market price for our securities may be highly volatile. A variety of factors may have a significant impact on the market price of our common stock, including:

In addition, the markets in general can experience extreme price and volume fluctuations that can be unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of the companies listed or quoted. Broad market and industry factors may negatively affect the market price of our common stock, regardless of actual operating performance. In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of a company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against companies. This type of litigation, if instituted, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources, which would harm our business.

Our principal stockholders, directors and executive officers have a material level of control over us, which could delay or prevent a change in our corporate control favored by our other stockholders. As of the date of this Form 10-K, our principal stockholders, directors and executive officers beneficially own, in the aggregate, more than 50% of our outstanding common stock. The interests of our current directors and executive officers may differ from the interests of other stockholders. As a result, these current directors and officers could have the ability to exercise material influence over all corporate actions requiring stockholder approval, irrespective of how our other stockholders may vote, including the following actions:

Our certificate of incorporation grants our board of directors the authority to issue a new series of preferred stock without further approval by our shareholders, which could adversely affect the rights of the holders of our common shares. Our board of directors has the power to fix and determine the relative rights and preferences of preferred stock. Our board of directors also has the power to issue preferred stock without further shareholder approval, subject to applicable listing regulations. As a result, our board of directors could authorize the issuance of new series of preferred stock that would grant to holders thereof certain preferred rights to (i) our assets upon liquidation: (ii) receive dividend payments ahead of holders of common shares; (iii) and the redemption of the shares, together with a premium, prior to the redemption of our common shares. In addition, our board of directors could authorize the issuance of new series of preferred stock that is convertible into our common shares, which could decrease the relative voting power of our common shares or result in dilution to our existing shareholders.

Research analysts do not currently publish research about our business, limiting information available to shareholders, and if this continues to be the case or if analysts do publish unfavorable commentary or downgrade our common shares it could adversely affect our stock price and trading volume. The trading market for our common shares will depend, in part, on the research and reports that research analysts publish about us and our business and industry. The price of our common shares could decline if one or more research analysts downgrade our stock or if those analysts issue other unfavorable commentary or cease publishing reports about us or our business. If one or more of the research analysts ceases coverage of our company or fails to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our common shares could decrease, which could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.

As a public company, we are subject to complex legal and accounting requirements that will require us to incur significant expenses and will expose us to risk of non-compliance. As a public company, we are subject to numerous legal and accounting requirements that do not apply to private companies. The cost of compliance with many of these requirements is material, not only in absolute terms but, more importantly, in relation to the overall scope of the operations of a small company. Our management team is relatively inexperienced in complying with these requirements, which may lead to errors in our accounting and financial statements and which may impair our operations. This inexperience may also increase the cost of compliance and may also increase the risk that we will fail to comply. Failure to comply with these requirements can have numerous adverse consequences including, but not limited to, our inability to file required periodic reports on a timely basis, loss of market confidence and/or governmental or private actions against us. We cannot assure you that we will be able to comply with all of these requirements or that the cost of such compliance will not prove to be a substantial competitive disadvantage vis-à-vis our privately held and larger public competitors.

We may be subject to shareholder litigation, thereby diverting our resources that may have a material effect on our profitability and results of operations. The market for our common shares may be characterized by significant price volatility when compared to seasoned issuers, and we expect that our share price may continue to be more volatile than a seasoned issuer for the indefinite future.  In the past, plaintiffs have often initiated securities class action litigation against a company following periods of volatility in the market price of its securities.  We may become the target of similar litigation. Securities litigation will result in substantial costs and liabilities and will divert management’s attention and resources.

Compliance with changing regulation of corporate governance and public disclosure will result in additional expenses and pose challenges for our management. Changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and SEC regulations, have created uncertainty for public companies and significantly increased the costs and risks associated with accessing the U.S. public markets. Our management team will need to devote significant time and financial resources to comply with both existing and evolving standards for public companies, which will lead to increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from revenue generating activities to compliance activities.

Our common stock may be considered “penny stock” and may be difficult to trade . The SEC has adopted regulations that generally define “penny stock” to be an equity security that has a market or exercise price of less than $5.00 per share, subject to specific exemptions.  The market price of our common stock may be less than $5.00 per share and, therefore, may be designated as a “penny stock” according to SEC rules, unless our common shares are trading on a national exchange. This designation requires any broker or dealer selling these securities to disclose certain information concerning the transaction, obtain a written agreement from the purchaser and determine that the purchaser is reasonably suitable to purchase the securities. These rules may restrict the ability of brokers or dealers to sell our common stock and may affect the ability of investors to sell their common shares.