Trivago NV (TRVG) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Trivago Q2 earnings call 2024. (Operator Instructions) I must advise you the call is being recorded today, Wednesday, July 31, 2024.

女士們、先生們，美好的一天，歡迎參加Trivago 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。 。

We are pleased to be joined on the call today by Johannes Thomas, Trivago's CEO and Managing Director; and Robin Harries, Trivago's CFO and Managing Director. The following discussion, including responses to your question reflects management views as of today, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, only.

我們很高興今天邀請 Trivago 執行長兼董事總經理 Johannes Thomas 參加電話會議。以及 Trivago 財務長兼董事總經理 Robin Harries。以下討論（包括對您的問題的答案）僅反映截至今天（2024 年 7 月 31 日星期三）的管理層觀點。

Trivago does not undertake any obligation to update or revise this information. As always, some of the statements made on today's call are forward-looking, typically preceded by words such as we expect, we believe, we anticipate or similar statements. Please refer to the Q2 2024 operating and financial review and trivago's other filings with the SEC for information about factors which could cause trivago's actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements.

Trivago 不承擔更新或修改此資訊的任何義務。像往常一樣，今天電話會議上發表的一些聲明具有前瞻性，通常前面有「我們期望」、「我們相信」、「我們預期」或類似的聲明。請參閱 2024 年第二季營運和財務審查以及 trivago 向 SEC 提交的其他文件，以了解可能導致 trivago 的實際結果與這些前瞻性陳述存在重大差異的因素的資訊。

You will find reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measures today in trivago's operating and financial review, which is posted under our Investor Relations website at ir.trivago.com. You are encouraged to periodically visit trivago's Investor Relations website for important content. Finally, unless otherwise stated, our comparison on this call will be against the comparable period of 2023. With that, let me turn the call over to Johannes.

您可以在 trivago 的營運和財務審查中找到非 GAAP 衡量標準與當今最具可比性 GAAP 衡量標準的對賬，該審查發佈在我們的投資者關係網站 ir.trivago.com 下。我們鼓勵您定期造訪 trivago 的投資者關係網站以獲取重要內容。最後，除非另有說明，我們對本次電話會議的比較將與 2023 年的可比較時期進行比較。

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining our Q2 2024 earnings call. The second quarter of 2024 marks the fourth consecutive quarter with improved top line trajectory. We are pleased to see positive branded revenue growth in all three segments. Despite the challenges posed by Google's ad format changes, our branded revenue growth has largely offset the negative impact from performance marketing.

大家早安。感謝您參加我們的 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。 2024 年第二季標誌著營收軌跡連續第四個季度有所改善。我們很高興看到所有三個細分市場的品牌收入都有正面成長。儘管Google的廣告格式變化帶來了挑戰，但我們的品牌收入成長在很大程度上抵消了效果行銷的負面影響。

These known headwinds will likely persist for the remainder of the year and should cease in early 2025. We remain confident that we can return to growth in the second half of the year. Now let's move on to our strategic priorities. Our first strategic priority is branded growth. We remain one of the most recognized travel brands in the world and are pleased with the outcomes of our brand marketing campaigns in Q2.

這些已知的不利因素可能會在今年剩餘時間內持續存在，並應在 2025 年初停止。現在讓我們繼續討論我們的策略重點。我們的首要策略重點是品牌成長。我們仍然是世界上最受認可的旅遊品牌之一，並對我們第二季品牌行銷活動的結果感到滿意。

Our marketing teams continue to push boundaries. In the first half of 2024, our in-house creative production team developed six new master sports power TV campaigns. These ads were tested live, and the best-performing creators were localized based on the impact in the market. Using AI, the team produced over 100 tailored TV spots, showcasing our unique capabilities to test assumptions and optimize campaigns across our segments.

我們的行銷團隊不斷突破界限。 2024年上半年，我們的內部創意製作團隊開發了六部新的運動力量大師電視廣告片。這些廣告經過了現場測試，並根據市場影響力對錶現最好的創作者進行了本地化。團隊利用人工智慧製作了 100 多個客製化電視廣告，展示了我們測試假設和優化跨細分市場活動的獨特能力。

Our second strategic priority is to improve our hotel search experience. We aim to help travelers find their ideal hotel. We have expanded our AI-powered hotel highlights to mobile and our app platform. We are focused on improving quality and put particular focus on surfacing unique selling points of hotels through that feature. I'm also excited to share that since we arrived, we had the strongest quarter in terms of the number of experiments we run on our website. These incremental improvements have collectively led to a tangible increase in conversion rate, which is our strongest proxy for user satisfaction and retention. This impact demonstrates the accelerated pace of execution and learning of our tech teams.

我們的第二個策略重點是改善我們的飯店搜尋體驗。我們的目標是幫助旅客找到理想的酒店。我們已將人工智慧驅動的酒店亮點擴展到行動裝置和應用程式平台。我們專注於提高質量，並特別注重透過此功能展現酒店的獨特賣點。我也很高興與大家分享，自從我們到達以來，我們在網站上進行的實驗數量方面經歷了最強勁的季度。這些漸進式改善共同帶來了轉換率的實際提高，這是我們衡量用戶滿意度和保留率的最強指標。這種影響顯示我們技術團隊的執行和學習速度加快了。

Our third strategic priority is to offer the best deals cover experience. We strive to help travelers find great deals and better prices. We have improved the visibility and quality of deals in our search results. We experimented with new formats for highlighting deals and increase the coverage of member-only rates from our advertising partners. These special rates offer additional savings and require users to sign up for trivago.

我們的第三個策略重點是提供最佳的優惠體驗。我們努力幫助旅行者找到超值優惠和更優惠的價格。我們提高了搜尋結果中交易的可見度和品質。我們嘗試了新的格式來突出顯示優惠，並擴大廣告合作夥伴的會員專屬價格的覆蓋範圍。這些特價可提供額外的節省，並要求用戶註冊 trivago。

Our fourth priority is to create value for our advertising partners. Compared to last year, we have seen improved booking conversion rates, delivering more effective traffic to them. The improved marketplace dynamics across all segments suggests that our branded and higher converting traffic is valued by our advertisers. We are also excited to announce the completion of our global rollout of the second price auction model in our marketplace.

我們的第四個優先事項是為我們的廣告合作夥伴創造價值。與去年相比，我們看到預訂轉換率有所提高，為他們提供了更有效的流量。所有細分市場的市場動態的改善表明我們的品牌和更高的轉換流量受到廣告商的重視。我們也很高興地宣佈在我們的市場中完成了第二個價格拍賣模型的全球推廣。

This complex project was delivered on time, thanks to the strong collaboration with our partners. I'm also pleased to share news about our investment in Holisto. The company is an AI-driven travel tech platform and serves as a wholesale rate aggregator. In 2022, we partnered with them on trivago Book & Go, a co-branded booking funnel developed and hosted by Holisto. This initiative proves successful, increasing their conversion rates and growing their market share. In the US, they have become a top five advertiser on our platform and globally ranked among the top 10.

由於與我們合作夥伴的密切合作，這個複雜的專案得以按時交付。我也很高興分享有關我們對 Holisto 投資的消息。該公司是一個人工智慧驅動的旅遊技術平台，也是批發價格聚合商。 2022 年，我們與他們合作開發了 trivago Book & Go，這是一個由 Holisto 開發和託管的聯合品牌預訂管道。這項舉措被證明是成功的，提高了他們的轉換率並擴大了他們的市場份額。在美國，他們已成為我們平台上排名前五名的廣告客戶，並在全球排名前十。

The investment and strong partnership will allow us to offer trivago Book & Go to all our advertising partners. Our goal is to provide a more consistent booking experience for our users and help our advertising partners to drive conversion. Holisto's footprint and rate optimization and price accuracy is best-in-class. The team is leveraging AI to optimize rate exposure and dynamic pricing, delivering tangible value to travelers. We are impressed by their tech teams and expansion in the recent years.

這項投資和強大的合作夥伴關係將使我們能夠向所有廣告合作夥伴提供 trivago Book & Go。我們的目標是為用戶提供更一致的預訂體驗，並幫助我們的廣告合作夥伴提高轉換率。 Holisto 的足跡和費率優化以及價格準確性是一流的。該團隊正在利用人工智慧來優化費率曝光和動態定價，為旅客提供有形的價值。他們的技術團隊和近年來的擴張給我們留下了深刻的印象。

In summary, our brand investments are yielding positive returns that we anticipate will drive sustainable growth and enhance long-term monetization. Despite some headwinds, we remain optimistic about the rest of the year and in our ability to achieve double-digit top line growth in the medium term. We expect the strengthened partnership with Holisto to contribute to our growth through an improved user experience. We are looking forward to collaborating with the entrepreneurial Holisto team, and I would like to express my gratitude to our teams for their ongoing hard work and dedication. With this, I'll hand over to Robin.

總之，我們的品牌投資正在產生正回報，我們預計這將推動永續成長並增強長期貨幣化。儘管存在一些阻力，我們仍然對今年剩餘時間以及我們在中期實現兩位數收入成長的能力保持樂觀。我們期望與 Holisto 加強合作夥伴關係，透過改善使用者體驗為我們的發展做出貢獻。我們期待與 Holisto 創業團隊合作，並對我們團隊的持續努力和奉獻表示感謝。這樣，我就把任務交給羅賓了。

Thank you, Johannes, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to our second quarter earnings call. I've been back at trivago for four months now, and I'm really encouraged by our focus on our key strategic priorities. During this quarter, we've continued to see positive trends that move us closer to our midterm goal of achieving double-digit year-over-year revenue growth. We believe that trivago as one of the strongest travel brands in the world is both an interesting and powerful marketing channel for our advertisers. A significant part of our marketing budget is invested in brand marketing, including TV advertising, which allows us to also reach offline consumers and bring them into the online world.

謝謝你，約翰內斯，大家早安。歡迎參加我們的第二季財報電話會議。我回到 trivago 已經四個月了，我們對關鍵策略優先事項的關注讓我深受鼓舞。在本季度，我們繼續看到積極的趨勢，使我們更接近實現兩位數同比收入成長的中期目標。我們相信，trivago 作為世界上最強大的旅遊品牌之一，對我們的廣告商來說既是一個有趣且強大的行銷管道。我們行銷預算的很大一部分投資於品牌行銷，包括電視廣告，這使我們能夠接觸到線下消費者並將他們帶入線上世界。

Our strong brand marketing delivers incremental users to advertisers that they can acquire performance based on a global scale. We have seen the positive impact of our brand marketing campaigns, not only in branded revenue growth, but also an increased booking conversion and improve the quality. I will now review our Q2 results and provide an update on our outlook for the remainder of 2024.

我們強大的品牌行銷為廣告商提供了增量用戶，使他們能夠在全球範圍內獲得業績。我們已經看到了品牌行銷活動的正面影響，不僅在品牌收入成長方面，而且還提高了預訂轉換率並提高了品質。我現在將回顧我們第二季的業績，並提供 2024 年剩餘時間的最新展望。

Unless otherwise stated, all comparisons for 2024 are on a year-over-year basis. During the second quarter of 2024, we achieved total revenues of EUR118.6 million, representing a 5% decline compared to the prior year's second quarter. However, the year-over-year decline was less pronounced than what we observed in the past four quarters.

除非另有說明，2024 年的所有比較均以同比為基礎。 2024 年第二季度，我們實現總營收 1.186 億歐元，比去年第二季下降 5%。然而，同比下降幅度沒有我們在過去四個季度觀察到的那麼明顯。

With further revenues increased by 12% in the Americas but decreased by 17% in the Developed Europe segment and by 2% in the Rest of World segment. We observed positive revenue growth from our branded traffic channels across all three segments and are pleased with the results of our brand marketing efforts. Although we are still early in our journey to scale print marketing investments and our spending remains low compared to pre-COVID levels, we see significant upside potential in the coming years. We are confident that we will return to double-digit top line growth in the midterm.

美洲地區的收入進一步成長了 12%，但歐洲已開發地區的收入下降了 17%，世界其他地區的收入下降了 2%。我們觀察到所有三個細分市場的品牌流量管道均實現了積極的收入成長，並對我們的品牌行銷工作的結果感到滿意。儘管我們在擴大印刷行銷投資方面仍處於早期階段，而且與新冠疫情爆發前的水平相比，我們的支出仍然較低，但我們認為未來幾年有巨大的上升潛力。我們有信心在中期恢復兩位數的營收成長。

Despite positive branded revenue development, we continue to observe negative revenue declines in our performance marketing channels across all three segments. Significant changes in Google advertisement formats, which began in the second quarter of 2023, increased exposure to less favorable formats for us. These changes led to increased volatility and traffic volume losses in our performance marketing channels. We expect this to continue and will maintain a disciplined opportunity-driven investment strategy. We do not intend to compensate for volume losses at the expense of our long-term brand investment.

儘管品牌收入取得了積極的發展，但我們仍然觀察到所有三個細分市場的績效行銷管道收入出現負下降。自 2023 年第二季開始，Google 廣告格式發生了重大變化，增加了對我們不太有利的廣告格式的曝光度。這些變化導致我們的效果行銷通路波動性增加和流量損失增加。我們預計這種情況將持續下去，並將維持嚴格的機會驅動投資策略。我們不打算以犧牲長期品牌投資來彌補銷售損失。

The second quarter saw healthier bidding dynamics in our Americas segment, whereas Developed Europe and the Rest of World continue to lag behind the prior year but show signs of improvements. In summary, our Americas segment experienced positive branded revenue growth, healthy monetization levels and offset by performance marketing losses, resulting in overall referral revenue growth and develop Europe and Rest of World, while branded revenue growth was positive, performance marketing losses and softer building dynamics compared to the same period in 2023, offset the growth, resulting in an overall decline.

第二季美洲市場的投標動態更加健康，而歐洲已開發國家和世界其他地區的投標動態繼續落後於去年，但顯示出改善的跡象。總而言之，我們的美洲部門經歷了積極的品牌收入增長、健康的貨幣化水平，並被績效營銷損失所抵消，導致整體推薦收入增長並發展了歐洲和世界其他地區，而品牌收入增長為正，績效行銷損失和建築動力疲軟與2023年同期相比，抵消了成長，導致整體下降。

Regarding operational expenses, we incurred EUR11.5 million higher operating expenses totaling EUR127.4 million during the second quarter of 2024. This increase was primarily due to EUR12 million higher selling and marketing expenses, partially offset by EUR0.7 million lower general and administrative costs. Advertising spend increased by 31% in Americas and by 38% in Rest of World.

關於營運費用，2024 年第二季度，我們的營運費用增加了1,150 萬歐元，總計1.274 億歐元。歐元所抵消。美洲的廣告支出成長了 31%，世界其他地區的廣告支出增加了 38%。

In Developed Europe, advertising spend decreased by 10% due to a significant reduction in performance marketing spend. Read marketing spend increased in all three segments. As anticipated, the increased brand investments during the quarter resulted in a decline in our return on advertising spend, ROAS, our key metric comparing referral revenue with advertising spend across all three segments. Overall, we had a net loss of EUR4.9 million and an adjusted EBITDA loss of EUR5.4 million during the second quarter.

在歐洲已開發國家，由於效果行銷支出大幅減少，廣告支出下降了 10%。所有三個細分市場的閱讀行銷支出均有所增加。正如預期的那樣，本季品牌投資的增加導致我們的廣告支出回報率（ROAS）下降，這是我們比較所有三個細分市場的建議收入與廣告支出的關鍵指標。整體而言，第二季我們的淨虧損為 490 萬歐元，調整後的 EBITDA 虧損為 540 萬歐元。

I would like to now share some further details on our investment in Holisto. We are happy about our initial investment in Holisto, which closed on July 30, 2024. Holisto is an AI-driven tech company that serves as a hotel rate aggregator and white label booking engine. Holisto was founded in 2015 and have several brands under its umbrella like Holisto, I would say, Traveluro. In 2023, Holisto generated around USD37 million net revenues and have been growing double-digit year-over-year top line over the last years. They were almost breakeven in terms of operating income in 2023.

我現在想分享一些有關我們對 Holisto 投資的更多細節。我們對 Holisto 的初始投資感到高興，該投資已於 2024 年 7 月 30 日完成。 Holisto 成立於 2015 年，旗下擁有多個品牌，例如 Holisto，我想說的是 Traveluro。 2023 年，Holisto 實現了約 3,700 萬美元的淨收入，並且在過去幾年中一直以兩位數的同比增長率增長。 2023年，他們的營業收入幾乎達到損益兩平。

We have invested USD10 million to acquire a 30% interest and have an option to acquire the remaining 70% interest in Holisto to fully acquire the company within the next 15 months. Maximum exercise price for the call option is set to USD60 million. If we were to exercise the option, we may elect to settle the purchase price partially in cash and partially in trivago shares, with shares not representing more than 50% of the purchase price.

我們已投資1,000萬美元收購Holisto 30%的權益，並可選擇收購Holisto剩餘70%的權益，以在未來15個月內完全收購該公司。買權的最高行使價設定為6000萬美元。如果我們要行使該選擇權，我們可能會選擇部分以現金、部分以 trivago 股票的形式結算購買價格，其中股票所佔比例不超過購買價格的 50%。

We believe that this strategic investment will help us to further improve our user experience and look forward to the entrepreneurial and data-driven team. Looking ahead, we see a solid travel demand. We continue to provide our partners with high-quality traffic and expect advertisers to appreciate this over time. We plan to maintain our profitability targets and will not offset performance marketing volume losses as we focus on our brand marketing campaigns for long-term growth. We still expect revenues to grow year-over-year during the second half of 2024 and we continue to guide our adjusted EBITDA for the full year to be around breakeven levels. We are pleased with the results of our bank marketing campaigns and remain confident that these investments will further increase our branded revenue over time, driving long-term growth and profitability.

我們相信這項策略投資將幫助我們進一步提升用戶體驗，並期待創業和數據驅動的團隊。展望未來，我們看到強勁的旅行需求。我們將繼續為合作夥伴提供高品質的流量，並希望隨著時間的推移廣告商會欣賞這一點。我們計劃維持獲利目標，並且不會抵消績效行銷量的損失，因為我們專注於品牌行銷活動以實現長期成長。我們仍預期 2024 年下半年營收將年增，並繼續將全年調整後 EBITDA 控制在損益兩平水準附近。我們對銀行行銷活動的結果感到滿意，並堅信這些投資將隨著時間的推移進一步增加我們的品牌收入，推動長期成長和獲利能力。

With that, let's open the line for questions. Operator, we are now ready to take the first question.

接下來，讓我們打開提問熱線。接線員，我們現在準備回答第一個問題。

(Operator Instructions) Jeremy Liu, UBS.

（操作員指示）Jeremy Liu，UBS。

Hey good morning, guys. I have two questions. So number one, can you go into some of the product gaps that the Holisto investment will help fill? What drove the decision to invest in them now if you've been partnered to in 2022. And second question, it looks like ROAS has improved versus 1Q, while we'd expect the step down given the historical seasonality what's driving this? Are you seeing better payback in the brand channel?

嘿，早上好，夥計們。我有兩個問題。那麼第一，您能談談 Holisto 投資將有助於填補的一些產品空白嗎？如果您在2022 年與他們合作，那麼是什麼促使您現在決定投資它們。下降，是什麼推動了這一趨勢？您是否在品牌管道中看到了更好的回報？

Jeremy, thank you for your question. I will comment on Holisto. The product gap is basically that we see user irritation with leaving our site and landing on dozens of different sites. So we have on a hotel comparing lots of options. And whenever the user leaves, especially in a world that is mobile, that it creates irritation with different landing pages. I need to get used to or I need to sign up to the sites. And we want to create consistency in the user experience when users leave our site, in particular, when they are locked in.

傑里米，謝謝你的提問。我將對霍利斯托發表評論。產品差距基本上是我們看到用戶對離開我們的網站並登陸數十個不同的網站感到惱火。所以我們在酒店上比較了很多選擇。每當使用者離開時，尤其是在行動世界中，就會對不同的登陸頁面產生刺激。我需要習慣或需要註冊這些網站。我們希望在用戶離開我們的網站時，特別是當他們被鎖定時，創造一致的用戶體驗。

So -- or when you are using our app, that you have a smooth experience, you're not bouncing back and forth to different landing pages. And that is something we used to have pre-pandemic. We had the product Express Booking, which we had a team, a dedicated office in building that -- and maintaining that. During the pandemic, when we consolidated, this has reduced and focus and then was deprecated in 2022.

因此，或者當您使用我們的應用程式時，您將獲得流暢的體驗，而不會來回跳到不同的登陸頁面。這是我們在大流行前曾經有過的事。我們有 Express Booking 產品，我們有一個團隊，一個專門的辦公室來建造和維護它。在大流行期間，當我們進行整合時，它已經減少並受到關注，然後在 2022 年被棄用。

Holisto picked up the product, rebuild it on their own costs and basically have shown that they were very well capable building a booking funnel that we're well converting over the last year, they have gained substantial share in the US of well-converting booking funnel, aggregate rates on a very competitive level with high-rate accuracy, which is always a challenge. And that's why we think they are an exceptional tech provider in offering a funnel that we can offer to other advertising partners as well to help them lift conversion rate, and that is a result of a more consistent user experience, and we do a co-branding.

Holisto 選擇了該產品，自費重建它，基本上表明他們非常有能力建立一個預訂管道，我們在去年很好地轉換了該管道，他們在美國的轉換良好的預訂中獲得了相當大的份額漏斗，在非常有競爭力的水平上以高費率準確性聚合費率，這始終是一個挑戰。這就是為什麼我們認為他們是一家出色的技術提供商，我們可以向其他廣告合作夥伴提供管道，幫助他們提高轉換率，這是更一致的用戶體驗的結果，我們做了一個合作品牌推廣。

So you have these less known booking sites that like the price line might be known in the US, but it's not known in Europe and then we would have a co-branded booking funnel that gives price line more trust and would also be part of lifting conversion. We just think it's a good timing. We have seen they delivered on what we partnered on, and that's why we think it was a good timing to do that now.

因此，您擁有這些不太知名的預訂網站，例如價格線可能在美國廣為人知，但在歐洲卻不為人所知，然後我們將擁有一個聯合品牌的預訂管道，使價格線更加信任，也將成為提升的一部分轉換。我們只是認為這是一個好時機。我們已經看到他們兌現了我們合作的目標，這就是為什麼我們認為現在是這樣做的好時機。

And to the second question, so ROAS is effect of our marketing mix. And we saw branded revenues growth and also segments. We are happy about the development. And so this contributes to our overall ROAS development.

對於第二個問題，ROAS 是我們行銷組合的效果。我們看到了品牌收入和細分市場的成長。我們對事態的發展感到高興。因此，這有助於我們整體 ROAS 的發展。

Great. Thank you, guys.

偉大的。謝謝你們，夥計們。

Naved Khan, B. Riley Securities.

納維德汗 (Naved Khan)，B. 萊利證券 (Riley Securities)。

Yeah, hi. Thanks. Two questions from me. One, in Developed Europe, the revenue decline was steeper in the second quarter versus the first quarter. And if I look at Americas, that growth turned positive. So what's causing the divergence between developed Europe from the Americas? And the second question I had is just on your guidance of positive growth in the back half. If I have to kind of think about third quarter versus the fourth quarter, do you expect to be positive in both of these? Or how should I think about that? And any trends you can share maybe for July would be very helpful. Thank you.

是的，嗨。謝謝。我有兩個問題。首先，在歐洲已開發國家，第二季的營收下降幅度比第一季更大。如果我看看美洲，這種成長變成了正數。那麼是什麼導致了已開發歐洲與美洲之間的差異呢？我的第二個問題是關於您對後半段積極增長的指導。如果我必須考慮第三季與第四季的情況，您預計這兩個季度都會有正面的結果嗎？或者說我該如何思考這個問題？您可以分享的任何七月趨勢都會非常有幫助。謝謝。

Yeah. Thanks for your questions. So regarding Developed Europe, we had more headwinds from Google in Europe. So this is the case when you look at the performance, Americas positive, Developed Europe negative. We had headwinds from Google in all three segments, but it was worse in Developed Europe.

是的。感謝您的提問。因此，對於發達的歐洲，我們在歐洲遇到了更多來自谷歌的阻力。因此，當你觀察表現時，情況就是如此，美洲是積極的，發達的歐洲是消極的。我們在所有三個領域都遇到了來自谷歌的阻力，但在已開發國家的歐洲情況更糟。

So the performance marketing revenue decline was much stronger in developed Europe than in Americas. So -- and when you consider that we have branded revenue growth in all three segments, you get a feeling about the impact of the Google development. To your second question, in terms of guidance, we expect to return to growth over the course of the second half of this year. We expect Q3 still to be challenging because we already invested into brand marketing campaigns last summer and still happens from Google. So challenging comps for Q3, and we expect to see Q4 to be better.

因此，歐洲已開發國家的效果行銷收入下降幅度比美洲大得多。因此，當您考慮到我們在所有三個細分市場都實現了品牌收入成長時，您會感受到 Google 發展的影響。關於你的第二個問題，就指導而言，我們預計今年下半年將恢復成長。我們預計第三季仍然具有挑戰性，因為我們去年夏天已經投資了品牌行銷活動，而且仍然來自Google。第三季的競爭如此激烈，我們預計第四季會更好。

Great. Maybe just a clarification on the Google headwinds that you saw. Is that due to the DNA that could have kind of impacted that? And then the bidding dynamics which you also mentioned seem to be better in the Americas. What's driving that?

偉大的。也許只是對您所看到的谷歌不利因素的澄清。這是由於 DNA 可能對此產生影響嗎？然後你也提到了美洲的競標動態似乎比較好。是什麼推動了這一點？

So the -- of course, the Google format changes, they started in Q2 '23, and they have been increasing the GHA and PPA share over time. And when you look at the development -- so Q4 was worse than Q3, Q1 was worse than Q2 and Q2 was even worse than Q1. So we have the worst effect we saw in Q2. So this is definitely a driver. And to your second question, in terms of monetization, we see healthy monetization in the Americas. This is nice marketplace dynamics. Developed Europe and Rest of the World is softer compared to last year, but we see positive trends there.

當然，Google 的格式發生了變化，他們從 23 年第二季開始，隨著時間的推移，他們一直在增加 GHA 和 PPA 份額。當你看看發展情況時，第四季比第三季更糟糕，第一季比第二季更糟糕，第二季甚至比第一季更糟。因此，我們在第二季度看到了最糟糕的影響。所以這絕對是一個司機。關於你的第二個問題，就貨幣化而言，我們看到美洲的貨幣化狀況良好。這是很好的市場動態。與去年相比，發達的歐洲和世界其他地區的情況更加疲軟，但我們看到了積極的趨勢。

Thank you, Johannes.

謝謝你，約翰內斯。

Tom White, D.A. Davidson.

湯姆懷特，D.A.戴維森。

Hey this is Wyatt on for Tom. Thanks for taking our questions. I have one on Google as well. Could you just talk about the impact expectations during the second half of 2024 relative to 2Q? Do you expect it to continue getting worse like you've seen and I think you mentioned you expect it to stop going into -- do you expect the impact to stop going into 2025. Can you just give some more color on your expectations regarding that? Thank you.

嘿，這是湯姆的懷亞特。感謝您回答我們的問題。我在谷歌上也有一個。您能否簡單談談2024年下半年相對於第二季的影響預期？你是否預計情況會像你所看到的那樣繼續變得更糟，我想你提到你預計它會停止進入- 你是否預計影響會在2025 年停止。更多資訊？謝謝。

The Google changes started. So this is Johannes, thank you for the question, Tom. The Google changes started in Q2 last year and they gradually have increased exposure of the Google changes. And they were peaking in Q1 this year, they've done a massive change on top of what they had done in the course of the last year already.

谷歌的變革開始了。我是約翰內斯，謝謝你的提問，湯姆。谷歌的變革從去年第二季開始，他們逐漸增加了Google變革的曝光度。他們在今年第一季達到頂峰，在去年所做的基礎上做了巨大的改變。

So the comps will soften in the course of the second half of the year. And then after Q1, let's say, they start seizing in Q1. This is based on the known headwinds we have seen whether Google will do more changes or not, that's hard to say. We see them continue doing changes. The exposure has stabilized. So we are not seeing massive changes on top of what we have seen right now.

因此，下半年的競爭將會減弱。然後在第一季之後，比如說，他們開始在第一季抓住機會。這是基於我們所看到的已知阻力，谷歌是否會做出更多改變，這很難說。我們看到他們繼續做出改變。曝光已經穩定。因此，除了我們現在所看到的之外，我們還沒有看到巨大的變化。

They have done algorithmic changes about two weeks ago, where they increased the diversity of advertiser mix in their placements. So there are continued changes. We see overall the exposure stabilizing. That's our observation. And over the course of the year, the comps will get better and start seizing in Q1 next year.

大約兩週前，他們對演算法進行了更改，增加了展示位置中廣告商組合的多樣性。所以不斷有變化。我們看到整體暴露趨於穩定。這是我們的觀察。在這一年中，比較將變得更好，並在明年第一季開始抓住機會。

Understood. Thank you very much.

明白了。非常感謝。

Ron Josey, Citibank.

羅恩喬西，花旗銀行。

Hi this is Robert on for Ron. Thanks for the question. Great to see the rollout of second price auction across all markets. Can you guys maybe talk to the initial feedback from your partners and then perhaps expand on the expected impact bidding activity in second half of this year and then adding into 2025.

大家好，我是羅恩的羅伯特。謝謝你的提問。很高興看到在所有市場上推出第二價格拍賣。你們能否談談合作夥伴的初步回饋，然後擴大今年下半年競標活動的預期影響，然後再加入 2025 年。

Yeah. So this has been a process we started last year and it was an appreciated change from all -- most advertising partners, big ones, small ones, because it simplifies our marketplace. It makes bidding more simple, that bidding algorithms that work on second price auction and other performance marketing channels. So the feedback in the process was positive, and there was a strong demand to roll this out quickly.

是的。因此，這是我們去年開始的一個流程，這是所有人（大多數廣告合作夥伴，無論大小）都讚賞的變化，因為它簡化了我們的市場。它使出價變得更加簡單，出價演算法適用於第二價格拍賣和其他績效行銷管道。所以這個過程中的回饋是正面的，並且強烈要求盡快推出。

It's technically challenging from algorithmic -- doing this right was a big challenge but has gone pretty well. And so the satisfaction of the advertiser side is high. And then we want to see positive impact on the search results which we are happy with and the marketplace over time should become more competitive because smaller players are easier to -- can easily -- more easily optimize in our marketplace, which should drive a healthy marketplace.

從演算法上來說，這在技術上具有挑戰性——正確地做到這一點是一個很大的挑戰，但進展得相當順利。所以廣告主方的滿意度很高。然後，我們希望看到對我們滿意的搜尋結果產生積極影響，並且隨著時間的推移，市場應該變得更具競爭力，因為較小的參與者更容易——可以——更容易地在我們的市場中進行最佳化，這應該會推動健康的發展市場。

Got it. That's helpful. And then one quick follow-up. On the broader travel environment, how would you describe user trends so far in July? And to what extent are those trends translating to auction bidding demand?

知道了。這很有幫助。然後是快速跟進。在更廣泛的旅行環境中，您如何描述 7 月迄今為止的用戶趨勢？這些趨勢在多大程度上轉化為拍賣投標需求？

Yeah. This is Robin. We believe that the demand remains solid for the second half of the year. We also expect ABBs to be solid. So this looks healthy. And maybe you're interested in what we saw in Q2 in Americas, stable ABBs, stable ADRs, length of stay was stable, so healthy. Developed Europe, we had stable ABBs, but slightly decreased ADRs, but longer length of stay. And the Rest of World, we have stable length of stay, but slightly decreased ADRs, which led to slightly decreased ABBs.

是的。這是羅賓。我們認為下半年需求依然強勁。我們也預期 ABB 會表現穩定。所以看起來很健康。也許您對我們在美洲第二季度看到的情況感興趣，穩定的 ABB、穩定的 ADR、住院時間穩定，非常健康。歐洲已開發地區，我們的ABB穩定，但ADR略有下降，但停留時間更長。與世界其他地區一樣，我們的停留時間穩定，但 ADR 略有下降，這導致 ABB 略有下降。

Got it. Thanks for that color.

知道了。謝謝那個顏色。

Doug Anmuth, JPMorgan.

道格·安姆斯，摩根大通。

Hey this is Dae on for Doug. Thanks for taking the question. First one, on the monetization in recurrent Developed Europe and Rest of World, could you remind us if you're seeing improvement there? And how we should think about monetization in those regions going forward? And then secondly, your comments about returning to growth in the second half. Is there something that could happen regardless of what Google does?

嘿，這是道格的戴安。感謝您提出問題。第一個，關於經常性發達歐洲和世界其他地區的貨幣化，您能否提醒我們您是否看到了那裡的改善？我們該如何考慮這些地區未來的貨幣化？其次，您對下半年恢復成長的評論。無論谷歌做什麼，是否都會發生一些事情？

Rest of the World was slightly negative. We expect it to be positive in the second half of the year. Developed Europe is challenging because I mentioned this because of the headwinds that we have from Google, software monetization. We expect that it's getting better, but it will be challenging in the second half of the year.

世界其他地區略有負面。我們預計下半年將呈現正面態勢。發達的歐洲面臨挑戰，因為我提到這一點是因為我們面臨來自Google、軟體貨幣化的阻力。我們預計情況會好轉，但下半年將面臨挑戰。

And on Google, maybe I can comment on Google. We don't see increasing headwind rather softening in the course of the year. We expect some volatility. I think overall, it's also important to understand, they have become less relevant in our overall revenue mix. So the volatility will have also less impact on our business moving forward. So regardless of what Google is doing, drastic change will impact us. We think the most drastic changes are behind us. And we are adapting to the formats, we are improving those formats as well. And we think that we are very confident that we are on a good track to return to growth in the second half of the year.

在谷歌上，也許我可以對谷歌發表評論。我們認為這一年中的逆風不會增加，反而會減弱。我們預計會出現一些波動。我認為總體而言，了解它們也很重要，它們在我們的整體收入組合中的相關性已經降低。因此，波動對我們業務發展的影響也較小。因此，無論谷歌在做什麼，巨大的變化都會影響我們。我們認為最劇烈的變化已經過去。我們正在適應這些格式，我們也在改進這些格式。我們認為，我們非常有信心在下半年恢復成長。

Great. Thank you.

偉大的。謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) James Lee, Mizuho.

（操作員說明）James Lee，Mizuho。

Great. Thanks for taking my question. A couple of questions here. I'm sorry, I joined the call a little bit late, so I apologize if the questions repeated here. Can you maybe start talk about the rationale for investments for Holisto? What are kind of the key use cases for the company? And can you talk about what you're hoping to achieve with this technology? And also secondly, increased geo-political tension in Middle East, any impact on bookings that you're seeing in Developed Europe? Thank you.

偉大的。感謝您提出我的問題。這裡有幾個問題。抱歉，我加入通話的時間有點晚，所以如果問題在這裡重複，我深表歉意。您能否開始談談投資 Holisto 的理由？公司的關鍵用例有哪些？您能談談您希望透過這項技術實現什麼目標嗎？其次，中東地緣政治緊張局勢加劇，對您在歐洲已開發國家看到的預訂有什麼影響嗎？謝謝。

So let me comment on Hollister. I think our rationale is user experience. If we improve conversion, that translates into higher quality of leads and that translates into a higher willingness to pay fairly for our leads. And if we are able to lift conversion for our advertising partners, they are able to compete more in our auction. And if you -- the more people we have, the more advertisers we have competing in our auction, the more healthy it is.

那麼讓我評論一下霍利斯特。我認為我們的理由是用戶體驗。如果我們提高轉換率，就會轉化為更高品質的潛在客戶，並且更願意為我們的潛在客戶公平支付費用。如果我們能夠提高廣告合作夥伴的轉換率，他們就能夠在我們的拍賣中更具競爭力。如果你——我們擁有的人越多，我們在拍賣中競爭的廣告商就越多，那麼它就越健康。

So and on the one side, that is a rationale. And then this better conversion is the best proxy for user satisfaction. So if we drive higher satisfaction across our core users, that has a high implication for returning. So lifting retention is an aspect that also should drive growth moving forward. So it's a marketplace aspect to drive diversity, make more advertisers competitive in our auction and then a better conversion, better user experience, leading to more satisfaction and higher retention.

因此，一方面，這是有道理的。那麼這種更好的轉換就是用戶滿意度的最佳代表。因此，如果我們提高核心用戶的滿意度，就會對回頭率產生很大影響。因此，提高保留率也是推動成長的一個面向。因此，市場方面推動多樣性，使更多廣告商在我們的拍賣中具有競爭力，然後獲得更好的轉換、更好的用戶體驗，從而帶來更高的滿意度和更高的保留率。

Hi James, this is Robin. Not sure if I fully get your second question. So did you ask if we see a negative impact of the developments in the Middle East?

嗨詹姆斯，我是羅賓。不確定我是否完全理解你的第二個問題。那你有沒有問過我們是否看到中東事態發展帶來負面影響？

Yes.

是的。

Okay. So there are certainly impacts, but it's not significant from what we see because the top markets, other markets in the Rest of World segment. And there was also something, I think, related to developed Europe. So can you repeat it, please?

好的。因此，肯定會產生影響，但從我們所看到的來看，影響並不重大，因為頂級市場、世界其他地區的其他市場。我認為還有一些與發達的歐洲有關的事情。那你能重複一下嗎？

No. That was exactly the question. The increase in your political tension in Middle East, how that impacts Europe's bookings. So you answered that question. Thank you so much.

不，這正是問題所在。中東政治緊張局勢加劇，這對歐洲的預訂有何影響。所以你回答了這個問題。太感謝了。

So, Robin, if I can ask one more question here, you guys talking about shifting to brand spending in the past. And can you share about maybe the progress you've made so far? And anything that gives you confidence to continue moving forward this marketing strategy? Thanks.

所以，羅賓，如果我可以在這裡再問一個問題，你們談論的是過去轉向品牌支出的問題。您能分享一下您迄今為止所取得的進展嗎？有什麼能讓您有信心繼續推動這項行銷策略嗎？謝謝。

Sure. So we started the new campaigns in the end of last year, and then we have been increasing the investments. And with our investments, we follow seasonality. So the summer season is important for us. This is where we see the highest demand. This is also where we invest most of our budget. And this is also where we expect the highest revenues. The summer season is important. We are investing -- we keep increasing the investments. As we said, we saw in Q2, we saw branded revenue growth in all three segments. This is, I guess, this is good news. And we keep investing. We keep optimizing.

當然。所以我們在去年年底就開始了新的活動，然後我們就一直在增加投資。在我們的投資中，我們遵循季節性。所以夏季對我們來說很重要。這是我們看到需求最高的地方。這也是我們投入大部分預算的地方。這也是我們預期收入最高的地方。夏季很重要。我們正在投資——我們不斷增加投資。正如我們所說，我們在第二季度看到，所有三個細分市場的品牌收入都在成長。我想，這是個好消息。我們繼續投資。我們不斷優化。

Brand marketing is not easy. It's complex. So you have to -- there are several drivers. You have to measure it. You have to understand it. You have to improve it. So negotiations are important. The spots are important. And then it's a test and learn approach, but we are happy about the development in Q2. We keep investing, and we move forward step by step.

品牌行銷並不容易。這很複雜。所以你必須——有幾個驅動因素。你必須測量它。你必須理解它。你必須改進它。所以談判很重要。斑點很重要。然後這是一種測試和學習方法，但我們對第二季度的發展感到高興。我們不斷投入，一步一腳印向前邁進。

And in terms of confidence, this is Johannes, maybe I can add. So we're comparing what and in what channels we invested pre-pandemic. And we are certainly testing the health of these channels, and we see substantial upside potential and investing more in certain channels. And that gives us the confidence that there's growth opportunity in brand marketing activities. And we also see the positive effects of our brand marketing investments in terms of higher booking conversions, higher quality of leads to our advertisers. So the traffic really has high quality. And this will -- we anticipate that this will have a positive impact also on our monetization over time.

就信心而言，也許我可以補充一下，那就是約翰內斯。因此，我們正在比較大流行前我們投資的內容和管道。我們當然正在測試這些管道的健康狀況，我們看到了巨大的上升潛力，並對某些管道進行了更多投資。這讓我們相信品牌行銷活動存在成長機會。我們也看到了我們的品牌行銷投資在提高預訂轉換率和提高廣告商潛在客戶品質方面的正面影響。所以流量確實是高品質的。我們預計，隨著時間的推移，這也會對我們的貨幣化產生正面影響。

Great. Thank so much.

偉大的。非常感謝。

There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the conference back over to Johannes. Johannes?

目前沒有其他問題。我現在將把會議轉回給約翰內斯。約翰內斯？

Thank you all for joining our earnings call today. We appreciate your time and interest in our company. We look forward to updating you on our progress and results in the next call. Thank you.

感謝大家今天參加我們的財報電話會議。感謝您抽出寶貴時間對本公司有興趣。我們期待在下次電話會議中向您通報我們的最新進展和結果。謝謝。

This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。