pre_text: Results of Operations The following table sets forth our consolidated statement of operations for the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018, and 2017. (1) Includes stock-based compensation expense and related payroll taxes as follows:
table: Years ended December 31,
table: 2019 2018 2017
table: (in thousands, except share and per share data)
table: Revenues:
table: Subscription solutions $642,241 $464,996 $310,031
table: Merchant solutions 935,932 608,233 363,273
table: 1,578,173 1,073,229 673,304
table: Cost of revenues(1)(2):
table: Subscription solutions 128,155 100,990 61,267
table: Merchant solutions 584,375 375,972 231,784
table: 712,530 476,962 293,051
table: Gross profit 865,643 596,267 380,253
table: Operating expenses:
table: Sales and marketing(1)(2) 472,841 350,069 225,694
table: Research and development(1)(2) 355,015 230,674 135,997
table: General and administrative(1) 178,934 107,444 67,719
table: Total operating expenses 1,006,790 688,187 429,410
table: Loss from operations (141,147) (91,920) (49,157)
table: Other income 45,332 27,367 9,162
table: Loss before income taxes (95,815) (64,553) (39,995)
table: Provision for income taxes 29,027 — —
table: Net loss $(124,842) $(64,553) $(39,995)
table: Basic and diluted net loss per share attributable to shareholders $(1.10) $(0.61) $(0.42)
table: Weighted average shares used to compute net loss per share attributable to shareholders 113,026,424 105,671,839 95,774,897
question: Analyse this data from a financial earnings document. What is the change in the average total operating expenses between 2017-2018 and 2018-2019?