Webtoon Entertainment Inc (WBTN) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by. My name is John, and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the WEBTOON Entertainment third quarter 2024 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to turn the call over to Soohwan Kim, Vice President of Investor Relations. Mr. Kim, please go ahead.

謝謝你的支持。我叫約翰，今天我將擔任你們的會議操作員。現在，我歡迎大家參加 WEBTOON Entertainment 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）我現在想將電話轉給投資者關係副總裁 Soohwan Kim。金先生，請繼續。

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us. As a reminder, our remarks today will include forward-looking statements, including those regarding our future plans, objectives, expected performance and in particular, our guidance for the next quarter. Actual results may vary materially from today's statements. Information concerning risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause these results to differ is included in our SEC filings, including those stated in the Risk Factors section of our filings with the SEC.

下午好，感謝您加入我們。提醒一下，我們今天的言論將包括前瞻性陳述，包括有關我們未來計劃、目標、預期業績，特別是我們對下一季的指導的陳述。實際結果可能與今天的聲明有重大差異。有關風險、不確定性和其他可能導致這些結果出現差異的因素的資訊包含在我們向 SEC 提交的文件中，包括我們向 SEC 提交的文件的風險因素部分中所述的資訊。

These forward-looking statements represent our outlook only as of the date of this call. We undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements. Additionally, the matters we will discuss today will include both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures.

這些前瞻性陳述僅代表我們截至本次電話會議之日的展望。我們不承擔修改或更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務。此外，我們今天將討論的事項將包括公認會計原則和非公認會計原則財務指標。

Reconciliations of any non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are set forth in our earnings press release. Non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, GAAP measures.

我們的收益新聞稿中列出了任何非公認會計原則財務指標與最直接可比較的公認會計原則指標的調節表。應考慮非公認會計原則財務指標作為公認會計原則指標的補充，而不是取代公認會計原則指標。

Joining me today on the call are Junkoo Kim, Founder and CEO; David Lee, CFO and COO; and Yongsoo Kim, Chief Strategy Officer. With that, I will now turn the call over to our Founder and CEO, Junkoo Kim.

今天和我一起參加電話會議的是創辦人兼執行長 Junkoo Kim； David Lee，財務長兼營運長；和首席策略長 Yongsoo Kim。現在，我將把電話轉給我們的創辦人兼執行長 Junkoo Kim。

Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. I'll make a few brief comments on our third quarter performance, and then David will provide more detail on our results and outlook. For my full thoughts on the quarter and our path forward, please refer to the shareholder letter posted on our Investor Relations website.

謝謝大家今天加入我們。我將對我們第三季的業績做一些簡短的評論，然後大衛將提供有關我們的業績和前景的更多詳細資訊。有關我對本季和我們未來發展道路的完整想法，請參閱我們投資者關係網站上發布的股東信。

The third quarter was a strong one for WEBTOON, marked by 9.5% revenue growth on a reported basis and double-digit growth on a constant currency basis, coupled with solid profitability, and supported by deepening engagement from our user base. In this first full quarter as a public company, we continued to advance our strategy and mature and streamline our operations as we further scale globally. We also reached an exciting milestone this year as we celebrated our 10th anniversary in North America. Looking back to when we first launched in this geography a decade ago, webcomics were unfamiliar to most comic fans in this region. But now, we have seen the popularity of webcomics continue to grow outside of Asia. This was especially clear when we attended Comic Con in both San Diego and New York as fans came out in droves to support their favorite WEBTOON creators in person. This event proved that webcomics have become a significant global content medium, with fandoms that rival traditional comics.

WEBTOON 第三季表現強勁，報告營收成長 9.5%，以固定匯率計算營收成長兩位數，獲利能力穩健，並得到用戶群參與度加深的支持。在作為上市公司的第一個完整季度中，我們繼續推進我們的策略，並隨著我們進一步在全球範圍內的擴張而成熟和簡化我們的營運。今年，我們慶祝了北美成立 10 週年，達到了一個令人興奮的里程碑。回顧十年前我們首次在這個地區推出時，網路漫畫對該地區的大多數漫畫迷來說並不熟悉。但現在，我們看到網路漫畫在亞洲以外的地區繼續流行。當我們參加聖地牙哥和紐約的動漫展時，這一點尤其明顯，因為粉絲成群結隊地親自出來支持他們最喜歡的 WEBTOON 創作者。這事件證明網路漫畫已成為重要的全球內容媒體，其粉絲群可與傳統漫畫相媲美。

Growth in Q3 benefited from an increased use of technology. Developed by our top-notch AI team, we believe our recommendation engine takes a cutting-edge approach to optimize the user experience. As a result of applying this technology in Korea, the number of weekly episodes viewed per user increased by 3 points year-over-year in what is already our seasonally strongest quarter. We also saw great success in Japan, which was primarily driven by optimization and improvement of our existing personalized recommendation capabilities. We'll continue to improve this AI recommendation technology globally in the future.

第三季的成長得益於技術使用的增加。由我們頂尖的人工智慧團隊開發，我們相信我們的推薦引擎採用尖端方法來優化使用者體驗。由於在韓國應用了這項技術，每個用戶每週觀看的劇集數量比去年同期增加了 3 個百分點，這已經是我們季節性最強的季度。我們在日本也取得了巨大的成功，這主要得益於我們現有的個人化推薦能力的最佳化和改進。未來我們將在全球範圍內繼續完善這項人工智慧推薦技術。

I also want to highlight the continued momentum we had in IP adaptations. We had a number of launches and development in some of our most exciting up-and-coming entertainment projects. I'm pleased to report that we had success around the world, and I'd like to highlight just three examples.

我還想強調我們在智慧財產權改編方面的持續勢頭。我們推出並開發了一些最令人興奮的新興娛樂項目。我很高興地向大家報告，我們在世界各地都取得了成功，我只想強調三個例子。

First, Studio N released season three of "Sweet Home" on Netflix, marking the third season of the show to hit the Top 10 Non-English charts. Second, we debuted Crunchyroll anime adaptations of "Tower of God Season 2" and "True Beauty," two of our most popular global titles, among other key anime launches. Finally, in Europe, we announced the two key webnovel adaptation projects with Amazon Prime, "Sigue Mi Voz" in Spain and "Love Me Love Me" in Italy.

首先，Studio N 在 Netflix 上發布了《甜蜜之家》第三季，標誌著該劇第三季躋身非英語排行榜前 10 名。其次，我們推出了根據《神之塔第 2 季》和《真美》改編的 Crunchyroll 動畫，這是我們在全球最受歡迎的兩部作品，還有其他重要的動畫作品。最後，在歐洲，我們宣布了與亞馬遜Prime合作的兩個重點網路小說改編項目，西班牙的《Sigue Mi Voz》和義大利的《Love Me Love Me》。

Before I close, I'd like to share an exciting news update in North America. We are expanding our Wattpad leadership team, bringing on Aron Levitz as Co-President alongside KB Nam. Aron will also continue in his role as President of Wattpad WEBTOON Studios, and both Aron and KB will continue to report to me. KB has done an exceptional job improving Wattpad's core product and enhancing community safety over the last few years. Aron has deep knowledge of Wattpad's creators and community, and brings pioneer experience building and launching Wattpad WEBTOON Studios. Together, they are the right leaders to oversee Wattpad's next phase of growth. Our success in Q3 was made possible by our community of creators and users who share and consume content on WEBTOON. As always, I also want to thank our employees for their continued dedication.

在結束之前，我想分享北美的一個令人興奮的最新消息。我們正在擴大 Wattpad 領導團隊，並聘請 Aron Levitz 與 KB Nam 一起擔任聯合總裁。Aron 也將繼續擔任 Wattpad WEBTOON Studios 總裁，Aron 和 KB 都將繼續向我報告。過去幾年來，KB 在改進 Wattpad 核心產品和增強社區安全方面做出了出色的工作。Aron 對 Wattpad 的創作者和社群有深入的了解，並帶來了建造和啟動 Wattpad WEBTOON Studios 的先驅經驗。他們共同成為監督 Wattpad 下一階段發展的合適領導者。我們在第三季的成功得益於我們在 WEBTOON 上分享和消費內容的創作者和使用者社群。一如既往，我還要感謝我們的員工持續的奉獻。

With that, I will now turn the call over to David. David, please go ahead.

現在，我將把電話轉給大衛。大衛，請繼續。

Thank you, JK, and thank you, everyone, for joining us. Let's talk a bit about how our global flywheel powered the strong results we saw in the third quarter and for the first nine months of the year. During the quarter, we grew revenue 13.5% on a constant currency basis with growth across all regions and revenue streams. Our reported revenue was up 9.5% year-over-year as a result of strength in Paid Content and Advertising, partially offset by our exposure to weaker foreign currencies. As we grew our paid content business outside of Korea, we also gained greater structural leverage on our gross profit, which expanded well over 300 basis points year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA grew to $28.9 million in the quarter, a significant increase compared to the same quarter of 2023. This was the result of our strong gross profit and effective cost controls, including a focus on higher returning marketing spend. As one example, we recently launched a partnership with Duolingo, which is increasing our brand awareness and exposure to our platform. Net income of $20 million in the quarter also increased significantly compared to a loss of $11.5 million in the year prior, driven by notably improved gross profit as well as increased interest income and an income tax benefit. As a result, our Adjusted EPS for the quarter was $0.22 compared to $0.03 in the prior year.

謝謝你，JK，也謝謝大家加入我們。讓我們談談我們的全球飛輪如何推動我們在第三季和今年前九個月看到的強勁業績。本季度，以固定匯率計算，我們的營收成長了 13.5%，所有地區和收入流均實現成長。由於付費內容和廣告的強勁，我們報告的營收年增 9.5%，但部分被我們疲軟的外幣曝險所抵消。隨著我們在韓國境外發展付費內容業務，我們的毛利也獲得了更大的結構性槓桿，比去年同期成長超過 300 個基點。本季調整後 EBITDA 成長至 2,890 萬美元，與 2023 年同季相比大幅成長。這是我們強勁的毛利和有效的成本控制的結果，包括注重更高回報的行銷支出。舉個例子，我們最近與 Duolingo 建立了合作夥伴關係，這提高了我們的品牌知名度和平台曝光度。在毛利潤顯著改善以及利息收入和所得稅優惠增加的推動下，本季淨利潤也顯著增加，較上年同期的虧損 1,150 萬美元大幅成長。因此，本季調整後每股收益為 0.22 美元，而前一年為 0.03 美元。

Turning to operational health. It's important to note that our MAU base consists of both web users as well as app users, and we've been increasing our focus on the app over time. This is a strategic priority of ours as we find the app drives greater user engagement and further monetization. And in Q3, while we saw a decline in MAU overall, we were pleased to see that users on the app increased 1%.

轉向營運健康。值得注意的是，我們的月活躍用戶群由網路用戶和應用程式用戶組成，隨著時間的推移，我們一直在增加對應用程式的關注。這是我們的策略重點，因為我們發現該應用程式可以提高用戶參與度並進一步實現盈利。在第三季度，雖然我們看到 MAU 整體下降，但我們很高興看到該應用程式的用戶數量增加了 1%。

Now I'd like to provide an update on our revenue streams at a consolidated level. Starting with Paid Content. In the quarter, we posted 12.7% revenue growth on a constant currency basis, and year-to-date, we posted 13.2% revenue growth on a constant currency basis. Our Q3 performance was driven by deepening engagement and spend from paying users globally, particularly in Japan, which saw record high performance, as well as successful monetization efforts in Rest of World. Additionally, our ARPPU growth on a constant currency basis of 14.7% in the quarter and 14.1% year-to-date represents continued success in driving paying user engagement as they discover new hits and become more accustomed to spending on quality content. Strong ARPPU growth was partially offset by MAU declines in Korea and Rest of World. But as I just noted, this was the result of our efforts to strategically shift users from the web to the app. And we were pleased to see that global MAU on the app increased 1% year-over-year, demonstrating that our strategy is working. Our business is widely diversified and is not concentrated in a small number of creators or users. As a result, we think of ARPPU as an indicator of increased habituation amongst an emerging set of users in Rest of World.

現在我想提供有關我們綜合收入流的最新資訊。從付費內容開始。本季度，我們公佈的以固定匯率計算的收入增長了 12.7%，而今年迄今為止，我們公佈的按固定匯率計算的收入增長了 13.2%。我們第三季業績的推動因素是全球付費用戶的參與度和支出的加深，尤其是日本，其業績創歷史新高，以及世界其他地區成功的貨幣化努力。此外，我們的ARPPU 以固定匯率計算，本季成長14.7%，年初至今成長14.1%，這顯示我們在推動付費用戶參與度方面持續取得成功，因為他們發現了新的熱門內容，並且更加習慣於在優質內容上花錢。強勁的 ARPPU 成長被韓國和世界其他地區每月活躍用戶數下降所部分抵消。但正如我剛才指出的，這是我們策略性地將用戶從網路轉移到應用程式的結果。我們很高興看到該應用程式的全球月活躍用戶數年增 1%，這表明我們的策略正在發揮作用。我們的業務廣泛多元化，並不集中於少數創作者或使用者。因此，我們認為 ARPPU 是世界其他地區新興使用者習慣程度提高的指標。

Advertising posted 24.3% revenue growth in the third quarter on a constant currency basis year-over-year. This strong performance was driven by double-digit growth across all regions. In Korea, we saw increased ad sales from both NAVER and other partners. And Japan's growth was driven by higher sequential and year-over-year MAU, especially for LINE Manga, where we saw record highs. We also rolled out several successful product improvements in Japan, including home tab optimization, which led to better targeting in achievement-based ads. And in Rest of World, we saw good growth from both achievement-based ads and new premium placement display ads on our app. This included our continued efforts to integrate our global ad platform across WEBTOON offerings to improve the advertiser experience and streamline our ability to address demand. Year-to-date, we posted 17.1% advertising revenue growth on a constant currency basis.

以固定匯率計算，第三季廣告收入年增 24.3%。這一強勁的業績得益於所有地區的兩位數增長。在韓國，我們看到 NAVER 和其他合作夥伴的廣告銷售額都有增加。日本的成長是由較高的環比和同比月活躍用戶數推動的，尤其是 LINE Manga，我們看到了歷史新高。我們也在日本推出了幾項成功的產品改進，包括主頁選項卡優化，這使得基於成就的廣告能夠更好地定位。在世界其他地區，我們的應用程式上基於成就的廣告和新的優質展示廣告都取得了良好的成長。這包括我們不斷努力將我們的全球廣告平台整合到 WEBTOON 產品中，以改善廣告商體驗並簡化我們滿足需求的能力。今年迄今為止，我們的廣告收入以固定匯率計算成長了 17.1%。

Finally, our IP adaptation business continues to support brand awareness globally, driving traffic to our platforms. On a constant currency basis, Q3 IP adaptation revenue grew 5.3% year-over-year, driven by growth in Japan and Rest of World. Through the first three quarters of the year, IP adaptation revenue was up 16.5%. And while adaptation revenue in Korea was down year-over-year, we're excited about our strong pipeline of entertainment projects in that region. That said, we had some project delays that impacted our Q3 growth, which may also extend into Q4.

最後，我們的 IP 改編業務持續支持全球品牌知名度，增加我們平台的流量。以固定匯率計算，在日本和世界其他地區成長的推動下，第三季 IP 改編營收年增 5.3%。今年前三季度，IP改編營收成長16.5%。儘管韓國的改編收入同比下降，但我們對該地區強大的娛樂項目感到興奮。也就是說，我們的一些專案延遲影響了我們第三季的成長，這也可能延續到第四季。

Now I'd like to look at our results in the context of core geographies. In Korea, our revenue grew 1.7% year-over-year on a constant currency basis, primarily driven by growth in Paid Content and Advertising revenue. This was the result of a successful rollout of our AI-driven recommendation model and the previously mentioned increase in ad sales from NAVER and other partners.

現在我想在核心地區的背景下看看我們的結果。在韓國，我們的營收以固定匯率計算年增 1.7%，這主要是由付費內容和廣告收入的成長所推動的。這是我們成功推出人工智慧驅動的推薦模型以及前面提到的 NAVER 和其他合作夥伴廣告銷售額成長的結果。

Compared to the year ago period, MAU of 25 million decreased 5.8%, MPU of 3.9 million declined 8.8% and our paying ratio of 15.4% was down 51 basis points. That being said, ARPPU on a constant currency basis was up a solid 8.8% compared to the third quarter of 2023, representing the strong relationship we have with our existing users.

與去年同期相比，每月活躍用戶數為 2,500 萬，下降了 5.8%，MPU 為 390 萬，下降了 8.8%，付費比率為 15.4%，下降了 51 個基點。話雖如此，與 2023 年第三季相比，以固定匯率計算的 ARPPU 成長了 8.8%，這反映了我們與現有用戶之間的牢固關係。

While user metrics in Korea declined on a year-over-year basis, we're pleased that, as a result of improvements implemented on the platform, both MAU and MPU improved sequentially by 7.9% and 3.4%, respectively. As mentioned earlier, the substantial majority of the decline in MAU year-over-year was driven by a reduction in web users as we executed on our strategy to prioritize our app. As we shared on our Q2 call, we recently implemented our AI-driven, personalized recommendation model, which personalizes each individual's home page rather than providing a uniform display for all users. The model went live in May of 2024 and we completed the rollout for all users in June of 2024. As a result, we've seen a rise in user spending and engagement with new episodes.

雖然韓國的用戶指標較去年同期下降，但我們很高興地看到，由於平台上實施的改進，MAU 和 MPU 分別較上季提高了 7.9% 和 3.4%。如前所述，MAU 年比下降的主要原因是我們執行應用程式優先策略時網路使用者的減少。正如我們在第二季電話會議上分享的那樣，我們最近實施了由人工智慧驅動的個人化推薦模型，該模型可以個性化每個人的主頁，而不是為所有用戶提供統一的顯示。該模型於 2024 年 5 月上線，我們於 2024 年 6 月完成了所有使用者的部署。因此，我們看到用戶支出和新劇集的參與度增加。

Moving to Japan. For the quarter, Japan posted revenue growth on a constant currency basis of 25%. This record high performance was driven by significant growth in each of our revenue streams on a constant currency basis during what is seasonally Japan's strongest quarter of the year. According to SensorTower, LINE Manga topped the overall app market by revenue in Japan, including games, in August and September. Revenue growth on a constant currency basis of 28.2% was similarly strong through the first nine months. Japan's user engagement was impressive in the quarter with PU reaching record highs. Compared to the prior year quarter, Japan's MAU of 22.5 million increased 4.3% and MPU of 2.3 million grew 14.1%, the paying ratio of 10.3% was up 89 basis points compared to the prior year. Engagement with paid users deepened with the third quarter ARPPU of $23.80 growing 8% year-over-year on a constant currency basis. Q3 is seasonally the highest quarter for comic consumption in Japan and we capitalized on this opportunity by launching an impressive 189 new original titles during the quarter. This also coincided with our efforts to optimize and improve our existing AI-based personalized content recommendation capabilities and targeted advertising. This is a particularly exciting accelerator for us given Japan has continued to show both healthy monetization and steady increases in MAU.

搬到日本。本季度，日本公佈的以固定匯率計算的收入成長了 25%。這項創紀錄的高業績是由我們每個收入來源在日本一年中季節性最強的季度按固定匯率計算的顯著增長推動的。根據 SensorTower 的數據，8 月和 9 月，按收入計算，LINE Manga 在日本（包括遊戲）整體應用市場中名列前茅。前 9 個月，以固定匯率計算的營收成長同樣強勁，達 28.2%。本季日本的用戶參與度令人印象深刻，PU 創下歷史新高。與去年同期相比，日本的 MAU 為 2,250 萬，成長 4.3%，MPU 為 230 萬，成長 14.1%，付費比例為 10.3%，與去年同期相比成長 89 個基點。與付費用戶的互動加深，第三季 ARPPU 為 23.80 美元，以固定匯率計算年增 8%。第三季度是日本漫畫消費量最高的季度，我們利用這個機會在該季度推出了令人印象深刻的 189 部新原創作品。這也與我們優化和改進現有的基於人工智慧的個人化內容推薦能力和定向廣告的努力不謀而合。鑑於日本繼續表現出健康的貨幣化和每月活躍用戶數的穩定增長，這對我們來說是一個特別令人興奮的加速器。

In Rest of World, our opportunity remains significant. We saw revenue growth on a constant currency basis of 11.1% in the quarter, driven by growth across all revenue streams. Revenue on a constant currency basis grew 22.3% year-to-date. While third quarter MAU and MPU declined year-over-year, paying ratio grew 5 basis points to 1.4%. ARPPU of $6.70 grew 12.3% year-over-year on a constant currency basis, representing strong and growing engagement with core users.

在世界其他地區，我們的機會仍然很大。在所有收入流成長的推動下，本季以固定匯率計算的營收成長了 11.1%。年初至今，以固定匯率計算的營收成長了 22.3%。儘管第三季 MAU 和 MPU 年減，但付費比率成長 5 個基點至 1.4%。以固定匯率計算，每位用戶平均收入 (ARPPU) 為 6.70 美元，年增 12.3%，這表明與核心用戶的互動強勁且不斷增長。

Similar to Korea, we saw stable MAU on our app year-over-year, offset by decreases from web users. It's important to note, we don't monetize web users in North America, which is why we are laser-focused on converting users to the app. Of note, roughly a third of the MAU decline in Rest of World was isolated to one country where the government banned a number of global content sites, including Wattpad, during the quarter. We expect to see a full quarter impact from this in Q4 versus a partial quarter impact in Q3. And while we're disappointed our users can't access our platform in this one country, we did not withdraw from this market by choice.

與韓國類似，我們的應用程式的每月活躍用戶數同比保持穩定，但被網路用戶的減少所抵消。值得注意的是，我們不會透過北美的網路用戶獲利，這就是為什麼我們專注於將用戶轉化為應用程式。值得注意的是，世界其他地區大約三分之一的每月活躍用戶數量下降是由於某個國家/地區政府在本季度禁止了包括 Wattpad 在內的多個全球內容網站。我們預計第四季將受到整個季度的影響，而第三季將受到部分季度的影響。雖然我們對用戶無法在這個國家訪問我們的平台感到失望，但我們並沒有選擇退出這個市場。

As we continue our global expansion, France remains a bright spot for us. We again saw double-digit growth in the number of professional creators in this geography. As we are in the early stage of growing our presence in this country, we also saw a nearly 30% increase in the number of titles in serialization.

隨著我們繼續全球擴張，法國仍然是我們的一個亮點。我們再次看到該地區專業創作者數量的兩位數增長。由於我們正處於在該國拓展業務的早期階段，我們也看到連載圖書數量增加了近 30%。

On the advertising front, we saw good growth from both achievement-based ads and new premium placement display ads on our app. We continue to advance our plans to integrate our global ad serving platform across WEBTOON offerings to improve the advertiser experience and streamline our ability to address demand.

在廣告方面，我們的應用程式上基於成就的廣告和新的優質展示廣告都取得了良好的成長。我們繼續推進計劃，將我們的全球廣告服務平台整合到 WEBTOON 產品中，以改善廣告商體驗並簡化我們滿足需求的能力。

Turning to profitability. Gross profit for the quarter was $91.4 million compared to $72.1 million in the prior year, representing growth of 26.7%. This resulted in a healthy gross margin of 26.3%, which expanded 358 basis points compared to the prior year as we have a structural advantage in areas with greater P&L leverage outside our market of origin in Korea.

轉向盈利能力。本季毛利為 9,140 萬美元，較上年同期的 7,210 萬美元成長 26.7%。這帶來了 26.3% 的健康毛利率，與前一年相比擴大了 358 個基點，因為我們在韓國原產地市場以外的損益槓桿較高的地區擁有結構性優勢。

We were able to excises high OpEx control to deliver Adjusted EBITDA margin of 8.3%. On the cost side, total G&A expenses for the quarter were $66.7 million as compared to $45.8 million in the prior year quarter, primarily as a result of public company costs.

我們能夠取消較高的營運支出控制，達到 8.3% 的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率。在成本方面，本季的總管理及行政費用為 6,670 萬美元，而去年同期為 4,580 萬美元，這主要是由於上市公司成本造成的。

While we made similar levels of marketing investment compared to last year on a global basis, we've become more efficient with that spend. We've had particularly good results in Japan, where we've been able to reduce marketing as a percent of sales by more than 3 points while driving significant revenue growth. As we have experimented with different marketing strategies over the last year, we've been better able to recommend relevant content for users and entice them to become paid users after they reach the end of their promotions.

雖然我們在全球的行銷投資水準與去年相似，但我們的支出效率更高。我們在日本取得了特別好的成果，我們能夠將行銷佔銷售額的百分比降低 3 個百分點以上，同時推動營收顯著成長。由於我們在去年嘗試了不同的行銷策略，我們能夠更好地為用戶推薦相關內容，並在促銷結束後吸引他們成為付費用戶。

Interest income was $6.5 million compared to $0.9 million in the prior year and other income was $11.8 million compared to a loss of $0.7 million in the prior year period. Income tax benefit of $9.9 million in the quarter compared to a $5.9 million expense in the prior year. Depreciation and amortization was $10 million compared to $9.2 million in the prior year.

利息收入為 650 萬美元，去年同期為 90 萬美元，其他收入為 1,180 萬美元，而去年同期虧損 70 萬美元。本季所得稅收益為 990 萬美元，而前一年的支出為 590 萬美元。折舊和攤提為 1,000 萬美元，而上一年為 920 萬美元。

As mentioned earlier, excluding adjustments and other nonrecurring costs, our Adjusted EBITDA grew to $28.9 million. This was the result of strong gross profit and effective cost controls, including a focus on higher returning marketing spend. To align with best practices, and given the more significant impact of interest income this quarter, we have removed interest income from our Adjusted EBITDA definition moving forward.

如前所述，排除調整和其他非經常性成本，我們的調整後 EBITDA 成長至 2,890 萬美元。這是強勁的毛利和有效的成本控制的結果，包括注重更高回報的行銷支出。為了與最佳實踐保持一致，並考慮到本季度利息收入的更重大影響，我們已從調整後 EBITDA 定義中刪除了利息收入。

Net income of $20 million was primarily driven by strong gross profit, growth in interest income, and an income tax benefit. As a result, GAAP EPS was $0.15 compared to a loss per share of $0.10 in the prior year period. Adjusted EPS was $0.22 in the quarter compared to $0.03 in the prior year period. Before I wrap up, I'd like to spend a few moments discussing our fourth quarter outlook.

2000 萬美元的淨利潤主要得益於強勁的毛利、利息收入的成長和所得稅優惠。結果，GAAP 每股收益為 0.15 美元，去年同期每股虧損為 0.10 美元。本季調整後每股收益為 0.22 美元，去年同期為 0.03 美元。在結束之前，我想花一些時間討論我們的第四季前景。

For the fourth quarter of 2024, we expect to deliver revenue growth in the range of 10.3% to 13.3% on a constant currency basis. This represents revenue in the range of $375 million to $385 million, assuming FX rates remain relatively stable at the end of Q3, consistent with our guidance practice. FX rates used as the basis of guidance were 1,320 Korean Won to USD and 143 Japanese Yen to USD. That being said, we recognize that subsequent to the last day of the quarter, there have been significant movements in these currencies that may have an impact on the quarter. For example, if the recent rate of 1,383 Won to USD and 152 Yen to USD were to hold steady for the rest of Q4, this would result in a negative impact of roughly $20 million relative to our revenue guidance.

對於 2024 年第四季度，我們預計以固定匯率計算，營收成長將在 10.3% 至 13.3% 範圍內。假設匯率在第三季末保持相對穩定，這意味著營收在 3.75 億美元至 3.85 億美元之間，這與我們的指導實踐一致。作為指導基礎的匯率為 1,320 韓元兌美元和 143 日圓兌美元。話雖如此，我們認識到，在本季度最後一天之後，這些貨幣出現了重大變動，可能會對本季產生影響。例如，如果近期 1,383 韓元兌美元和 152 日圓兌美元的匯率在第四季度剩餘時間內保持穩定，相對於我們的收入指導，這將導致約 2000 萬美元的負面影響。

We anticipate fourth quarter Adjusted EBITDA in the range of $9 million to $14 million, representing an Adjusted EBITDA margin in the range of 2.4% to 3.6%, as our ongoing efforts to source more content globally will be offset by increased IP adaptation costs as well as increases in marketing. Similar to the top line, recent FX changes would result in a negative impact of roughly $2 million to EBITDA relative to our guidance.

我們預計第四季度調整後EBITDA 在900 萬美元至1400 萬美元之間，調整後EBITDA 利潤率在2.4% 至3.6% 之間，因為我們在全球範圍內採購更多內容的持續努力也將被IP改編成本的增加所抵銷隨著行銷力度的增加。與頂線類似，相對於我們的指導，最近的匯率變動將對 EBITDA 產生約 200 萬美元的負面影響。

As a general guideline, assuming a stable relationship between the Korean Won and the Japanese Yen, a roughly 5% move in the US dollar compared to these currencies would impact our revenue and Adjusted EBITDA by approximately $20 million and $2 million, respectively.

作為一般指導方針，假設韓元和日圓之間的關係穩定，美元相對於這些貨幣的匯率波動約 5%，將分別影響我們的收入和調整後 EBITDA 約 2000 萬美元和 200 萬美元。

In closing, I'm pleased with the progress we made in the quarter and excited for an anticipated strong end to our first year as a public company.

最後，我對我們在本季度取得的進展感到滿意，並對我們作為上市公司第一年的預期強勁結束感到興奮。

With that, I'd like to turn it back to our operator to begin our Q&A session.

至此，我想將其轉回給我們的操作員以開始我們的問答環節。

(Operator Instructions) Doug Anmuth, JPMorgan.

（操作員指令）Doug Anmuth，摩根大通。

This is Dae on for Doug. First one, could you explain a little bit more on the rationale or I guess, your decision to prioritize app users in Korea and in the US. I guess in the US, you're not monetizing web users, but in Korea, I thought web platforms do have a benefit of lower platform costs. So I was curious like why that decision? And then as a follow-up, could you give us an update on how you're progressing on building up your own direct sales team in Japan and in the US?

這是道格的戴昂。首先，您能否詳細解釋一下您決定優先考慮韓國和美國的應用程式使用者的基本原理。我想在美國，你不會透過網路使用者獲利，但在韓國，我認為網路平台確實具有較低平台成本的好處。所以我很好奇為什麼會做出這個決定？作為後續行動，您能否向我們介紹一下您在日本和美國建立自己的直銷團隊的進展？

Sure. Thanks for the questions. First, just to take a step back, it's important that when we look at the health of the business, starting with MAU, the reason why we look at it on a web and an app basis is the app gives us the opportunity to apply more levers to improve engagement to maintain higher rates of retention and monetization.

當然。感謝您的提問。首先，退後一步，重要的是，當我們審視業務的健康狀況時，從 MAU 開始，我們在網路和應用程式的基礎上查看它的原因是應用程式讓我們有機會應用更多提高參與度的槓桿，以保持更高的保留率和貨幣化率。

I mean the clear example you note in Rest of World is that we primarily do not monetize from a paid content standpoint on the web at all. But even with regard to our results in Korea, the 50% penetration we have in Korea creates an opportunity for us to constantly apply new technology like the AI personalization engine we mentioned that rolled out in Korea as well as other product innovation.

我的意思是，您在《世界其他地區》中提到的明顯例子是，我們根本不從網路上的付費內容的角度進行貨幣化。但即使就我們在韓國的業績而言，我們在韓國的滲透率達到了50%，這為我們創造了一個不斷應用新技術的機會，例如我們提到的在韓國推出的人工智慧個人化引擎以及其他產品創新。

So when you look at the business, our overall app MAU -- the portion of our MAU that is more retentive, that has greater levers applied, and that we think monetize better in the quarter actually modestly increased 1% year-on-year, reflecting, we believe, the health of the business.

因此，當你觀察業務時，我們的整體應用程式MAU（我們的MAU 中更具保留性、應用了更大槓桿的部分，並且我們認為本季度貨幣化效果更好的部分）實際上同比小幅增長了1%，我們相信，這反映了業務的健康狀況。

Now to answer your question on Korea, when we look at Korea, you'll note that there is still a strong performance on overall revenue of a positive 1.7%, driven by ARPPU, right? We talk about how ARPPU is so critical, particularly when you have such dominant -- we are the digital Cleanex of storytelling in -- 50% penetration is strong.

現在回答你關於韓國的問題，當我們看看韓國時，你會注意到，在 ARPPU 的推動下，整體收入仍然表現強勁，增長了 1.7%，對嗎？我們討論 ARPPU 為何如此重要，特別是當你擁有如此主導地位時——我們是說故事的數字 Cleanex——50% 的滲透率很強。

So when you have a business this strong, your focus needs to be on continually improving the experience for the consumer and bringing new content in ways that they can find. And so this ARPPU increase driven by product improvements to the app, the example we give is this AI-driven personalization engine, but it's just one example of the product roadmap that the team continuously applies. That's the reason why we're so focused on it is it's not just financial. It's for the health of the experience for the consumer and the creator.

因此，當您擁有如此強大的業務時，您的重點需要放在不斷改善消費者的體驗上，並以他們可以找到的方式提供新內容。因此，這種 ARPPU 的成長是由應用程式的產品改進所推動的，我們給出的例子是這個人工智慧驅動的個人化引擎，但這只是團隊不斷應用的產品路線圖的一個例子。這就是我們如此關注它的原因，因為它不僅僅是財務方面的。這是為了消費者和創作者的健康體驗。

With regard to your question on investment in direct sales, first, just to note, the advertising progress we made in the quarter is quite significant. Constant currency growth of up 24.3% overall, and it's up in every region. And while we didn't disclose it in the script you heard, it's very significantly up in the areas that you're interested in, up teens, double-digit constant currency in Rest of World. And in Japan, it's frankly astounding growth.

關於你提到的直銷投資問題，首先要說明的是，本季我們在廣告上的進展是相當顯著的。整體貨幣穩定成長 24.3%，每個地區都有成長。雖然我們沒有在您聽到的腳本中透露這一點，但在您感興趣的領域，它的漲幅非常顯著，在世界其他地區，上漲了十幾歲，兩位數的恆定貨幣。在日本，坦白說，這是令人震驚的成長。

And that growth has not been driven yet by a significant investment in direct sales. It's a huge opportunity, but our investment, which has begun in Rest of World will not deliver. As you know, the sales cycle for direct sales in North America, the largest ad market can be 12 to 18 months.

而且這種成長還不是由直銷的大量投資所推動的。這是一個巨大的機會，但我們在世界其他地區開始的投資不會兌現。如您所知，最大廣告市場北美直銷的銷售週期可達12至18個月。

So we're preparing in '24 and the first half of '25 for the really big upside in Rest of World advertising we expect in '26 and beyond, but we're still delivering 24.3% year-on-year growth as a company in advertising from all three of our major regions.

因此，我們正在為 24 年和 25 年上半年做好準備，以應對我們預計在 26 年及以後的世界其他地區廣告的巨大增長，但作為一家公司，我們仍然實現 24.3% 的同比增長我們所有三個主要地區的廣告。

ahaney, Evercore ISI.

哈尼，Evercore ISI。

This is David on for Mark. Could you talk a little bit about some of the specific initiatives that you're using to drive users from the web to the app? And is there any room to improve the conversion tools to reduce churn?

這是大衛替馬克代言。您能否談談您用來推動用戶從網路轉向應用程式的一些具體舉措？轉換工具是否還有改進空間以減少客戶流失？

Well, part of the -- first of all, the product experience is different by region. I think when you -- for example, if you're using our product here in the United States and you're either on our Wattpad or our WEBTOON US product, the experience that you have on the app is the fundamental product differentiation.

嗯，首先，產品體驗因地區而異。我認為，例如，如果您在美國使用我們的產品，並且使用我們的 Wattpad 或我們的 WEBTOON US 產品，那麼您在應用程式上的體驗就是基本的產品差異化。

We have levers to deliberately drive traffic from the web to the app. We've been underway, and we had reported on, in the last quarter, that as an ongoing effort. But this is not a hard cut over the way you see in subscription business. Remember, this is a business where consumers are free to find the content they want. So think of this as an encouragement versus a hard cutover, and it's primarily driven by a better experience and better product that they can find on the app.

我們有手段故意將流量從網路轉移到應用程式。我們一直在進行中，我們在上個季度報告了這是一項持續的努力。但這並不是你在訂閱業務中看到的方式的硬性削減。請記住，這是一個消費者可以自由找到他們想要的內容的行業。因此，將此視為一種鼓勵，而不是硬切換，這主要是由他們可以在應用程式上找到更好的體驗和更好的產品驅動的。

In terms of -- I think your question is about retention. This is not like many other businesses in consumer tech, where you're adding to the top of the funnel passive eyeballs with the hopes that they monetize. Here, you have a business where we let the consumer explore for free intentionally because when they choose to make a micro payment, remember, these are $0.15 to $0.70 on average purchases for an episode, an episode they want, we can see as they access more and more episodes that their ability to deepen their relationship to us and cohort data means that their ARPPU will increase over time.

就我而言，我認為你的問題是關於保留。這與消費科技領域的許多其他業務不同，在這些業務中，您將被動眼球添加到漏斗的頂部，希望它們能夠貨幣化。在這裡，你有一家公司，我們故意讓消費者免費探索，因為當他們選擇小額支付時，請記住，每集的平均購買量為0.15 至0.70 美元，他們想要的一集，我們可以在他們訪問時看到越來越多的事件表明，他們加深與我們的關係的能力和隊列數據意味著他們的 ARPPU 將隨著時間的推移而增加。

So for us, this is less about adding to the top of the funnel and improving retention as it is making sure we're flowing content for them to self-select into stories they love that increases their confidence to access more episodes over time because that's our payment structure versus sometimes I think when you look at other businesses, you're thinking about it either as a social media business or a subscription business where you have a forced migration from either a web to an app, that's not our business. We have the benefit of having 120,000 new titles arrive every day, and it allows us to be more organic in our movement from web to app as well as more retentive.

因此，對我們來說，這不是增加頻道頂部和提高保留率，而是確保我們為他們提供內容，讓他們自行選擇他們喜歡的故事，從而增加他們隨著時間的推移訪問更多劇集的信心，因為這是我們的支付結構與有時我認為當您查看其他業務時，您會將其視為社交媒體業務或訂閱業務，其中您必須從網絡遷移到應用程序，這不是我們的業務。我們的優勢在於每天都會有 120,000 個新遊戲到達，這使我們能夠更有機地從網路到應用程式的移動，並且更具保留性。

Got it. That's really helpful. And if I could with a follow-up. Could you please remind us of the underlying drivers behind the Q3 seasonality in Japan? And are there any other similar seasonalities in Korea or any of your other major markets?

知道了。這真的很有幫助。如果我可以跟進的話。您能否提醒我們日本第三季季節性背後的潛在驅動因素？韓國或其他主要市場是否有其他類似的季節性？

We've only highlighted in Japan that the overall category consumption of Manga and its category has a high point in the month of September in the quarter. Beyond that, it is not something we've articulated that we're driving. We benefit from it, and we capitalize on it. Yongsoo, JK, anything you want to add to the seasonality question?

我們僅強調在日本，漫畫及其類別的整體類別消費在本季的 9 月達到最高點。除此之外，我們並沒有明確表示我們正在推動這個目標。我們從中受益，並利用它。Yongsoo、JK，對於季節性問題您還有什麼要補充的嗎？

I think that covers it from our standpoint.

我認為從我們的角度來看這涵蓋了這一點。

The other one that we want to mention is that when people have more time, they have the ability to consume more content. So over certain holiday periods such as the summer period, we do also see more Q3 consumption of paid content beyond the phenomenon that we articulated in Japan. But other than that, there aren't any major significant increases that we've disclosed.

我們要提到的另一個問題是，當人們有更多的時間時，他們就有能力消費更多的內容。因此，在某些假期期間（例如夏季），我們確實也看到第三季付費內容的消費量超出了我們在日本闡述的現象。但除此之外，我們沒有透露任何重大的顯著成長。

Andrew Marok, Raymond James.

安德魯馬羅克，雷蒙詹姆斯。

I guess one on marketing. How would you characterize the marketing environment right now in terms of ROIs? And have there been any kind of particularly accommodating areas or channels that you've chosen to lean into?

我想其中一個是關於行銷的。您如何從投資報酬率角度描述目前的行銷環境？您是否選擇了任何特別適合的領域或管道？

Yeah. Marketing has been a very interesting area for us. We -- first, on marketing. Sequentially, you'll note that in Q3, we did increase our marketing by 40% in the quarter versus Q2 to the $9.2 million that you mentioned. But interestingly, it's actually been flat versus a year ago as we've increasingly found ways to deliver higher revenue with higher returning marketing spend.

是的。行銷對我們來說是一個非常有趣的領域。我們——首先是行銷。接下來，您會注意到，在第三季度，我們的行銷費用確實比第二季度增加了 40%，達到您提到的 920 萬美元。但有趣的是，實際上與一年前相比持平，因為我們越來越多地找到透過更高的行銷支出回報來提供更高收入的方法。

The two examples that we talked about, one of which is in Japan, where the team has developed a strong ability to regularly find high-returning investment in marketing that's delivered top of funnel and bottom line results. But the other -- the specific example we talked about is in Rest of World, when we have the ability to partner with someone who has a similar audience, remember, our audience is quite attractive in Rest of World, it skews younger.

我們討論的兩個例子，其中之一是在日本，那裡的團隊已經形成了強大的能力，可以定期尋找高回報的行銷投資，從而實現漏斗頂部和底線結果。但另一個- 我們談到的具體例子是在世界其他地區，當我們有能力與擁有相似受眾的人合作時，請記住，我們的受眾在世界其他地區非常有吸引力，它傾向於年輕化。

So Duolingo is the example that we mentioned, the campaign, the mini-series we launched is called "Duo Unleashed!" that actually occurred here in the beginning of Q4. But it's an example of, why in our guidance, even though we deliver a positive Adjusted EBITDA midpoint range of $11.5 million, in our guidance, we intend to spend 42% more in marketing in Q4 than you would see a year ago because we're finding more and more of these high ROI opportunities that combine product, content and partnership. I think that's a good example.

Duolingo 就是我們提到的例子，我們推出的活動和迷你係列名為“Duo Unleashed！”這實際上發生在第四季度初。但這是一個例子，為什麼在我們的指導中，儘管我們提供了1150 萬美元的正調整EBITDA 中點範圍，但在我們的指導中，我們打算在第四季度的營銷支出比一年前多42 %，因為我們「我們正在尋找越來越多的結合產品、內容和合作夥伴關係的高投資報酬率機會。我認為這是一個很好的例子。

And it's also important to note that we've placed strong leaders now. Yongsoo Kim, the leader of our business in US WEBTOON, is driving this push for higher returning investment in marketing because we see the opportunity there. So we're very pleased with our return.

同樣重要的是要注意，我們現在已經任命了強有力的領導者。我們美國 WEBTOON 業務的負責人 Yongsoo Kim 正在推動行銷方面更高回報的投資，因為我們看到了那裡的機會。所以我們對我們的回歸感到非常高興。

It happens to be a great Adjusted EBITDA benefit in Q3, but that was not our objective. Our objective was really to spend at higher return levels when we have the right combination of product and partnership.

這恰好是第三季調整後 EBITDA 的巨大收益，但這不是我們的目標。我們的目標實際上是，當我們擁有正確的產品和合作夥伴關係時，我們能夠獲得更高的回報水平。

Really appreciate the detail there. And maybe one that's sort of connected, but you mentioned timeshare in an earlier answer. I guess one, to the extent that you're winning time, do you know where that other channels you're winning time from? And two, as you're looking at some of these partnerships with other digital media entities like Duolingo, is there even a kind of partnership opportunity in timeshare?

真的很欣賞那裡的細節。也許是有某種聯繫的，但你在之前的答案中提到了分時度假。我想，就你贏得時間而言，你知道你從其他管道贏得時間嗎？第二，當您考慮與 Duolingo 等其他數位媒體實體的合作夥伴關係時，是否存在分時度假方面的合作機會？

Well, first with -- in terms of timeshare, I think what we've talked about is the fact that right now as the category leader, JK created, our Founder, created this format in this business. We're the leader, and we don't compete at the expense of anybody else's business. We don't see the need to steal share because we're establishing a new format. In fact, our digital stories are a little (technical difficulty) right? They show up. We have 100 examples of them becoming rich adaptations.

嗯，首先是——就分時度假而言，我認為我們所討論的是這樣一個事實：作為類別領導者，JK 創建了我們的創始人，在這個行業中創建了這種格式。我們是領導者，我們不會以犧牲其他人的業務為代價來競爭。我們認為沒有必要竊取份額，因為我們正在建立一種新的格式。其實我們的數位故事有點（技術難度）吧？他們出現了。我們有 100 個它們變得豐富的改編的例子。

You heard JK talk about "Sweet Home" in Korea. You heard us talk about our Crunchyroll developments with "Tower of God Season 2." So for us, we're in a privileged position of being able to expand the category we created.

你聽過JK在韓國談論《甜蜜之家》。您聽到我們談論了「神之塔第二季」的 Crunchyroll 開發工作。因此，對於我們來說，我們處於能夠擴展我們創建的類別的特權位置。

But with regard to your question, the two examples we've talked about in Rest of World do include very attractive consumer bases that are interested in our business and there's a Discord, was the one that we mentioned in the previous quarter, and now we're talking about Duolingo.

但關於你的問題，我們在世界其他地區討論的兩個例子確實包括對我們的業務感興趣的非常有吸引力的消費者群，並且存在一個不和諧的地方，這是我們在上一季度提到的那個，現在我們正在談論多鄰國。

When you have an attractive engaged consumer base that's spending 30 to 60 minutes per day on our stories, it gives us the ability to do this idea of cross-promotion and partnership with other very interesting consumer tech platforms. But to be clear, we don't really feel the need to share or compete for time. Our consumer is deeply engaged because 70%-plus of them say in, for example, North America, they can't get the stories we offer anywhere else. And so that's the reason why we don't really need to compete for time.

當你擁有一個有吸引力的、積極參與的消費者群體，每天花 30 到 60 分鐘閱讀我們的故事時，我們就有能力實現交叉推廣以及與其他非常有趣的消費者技術平台合作的想法。但要明確說明的是，我們並不真正覺得有必要分享或競爭時間。我們的消費者高度參與，因為 70% 以上的消費者表示，例如在北美，他們無法在其他任何地方獲得我們提供的故事。這就是為什麼我們真的不需要爭奪時間的原因。

(Operator Instructions) Mark Mahaney, Evercore ISI.

（操作員說明）Mark Mahaney，Evercore ISI。

Sorry, this is David again for Mark. Would you mind sharing some of the components of your IT adaptation costs?

抱歉，馬克又是大衛。您介意分享一下您的 IT 適應成本的一些組成部分嗎？

It's a good question. At this point, we have not broken down in disclosures the components. But we have talked about the fact that we have a relatively derisked structure. We don't heavily bet large amounts of CapEx. We're not creating studios that are changing the fundamental use of cash. You know that we're generating cash even as we deliver our pipeline.

這是一個好問題。目前，我們還沒有詳細揭露這些組件。但我們已經討論過這樣一個事實，即我們擁有相對低風險的結構。我們不會投入大量資本支出。我們創建的工作室並不會改變現金的基本用途。您知道，即使我們交付管道，我們也在產生現金。

So our business is one where we have data around stories that we know are hits and can more reliably, we think, identify ways in which they can cross over to rich film adaptation. The examples we gave you of "True Beauty," "Tower of God Season 2," "Sweet Home," these are on Netflix and on Crunchyroll are Korean examples.

因此，我們的業務是，我們擁有有關我們知道熱門故事的數據，並且我們認為可以更可靠地確定它們可以跨入豐富的電影改編的方式。我們為您提供的「True Beauty」、「Tower of God Season 2」、「Sweet Home」的範例，這些在 Netflix 和 Crunchyroll 上都是韓國的範例。

But I'd also highlight in Rest of World, there are great examples. For example, Amazon Prime in Europe, "Love Me Love Me" in Italy or with our Spanish release of "Sigue Mi Voz," there are examples across all of our regions where stories begin in our platform and then find life almost inexpensively and organically with the help of our Studio, and WWS studios.

但我還要強調，在世界其他地區，也有很好的例子。例如，歐洲的Amazon Prime、義大利的“Love Me Love Me”或我們在西班牙發行的“Sigue Mi Voz”，在我們所有地區都有這樣的例子：故事在我們的平台上開始，然後幾乎以低廉的成本和有機的方式找到生活在我們工作室和 WWS 工作室的幫助下。

There is some expense that we can deliberately choose to spend, but these are development expenses like developing a script. We're not interested and nor do we need to make heavy, heavy investment. That is usually borne by the folks who are going to bring the crossover IP to market at this point. And there's one -- let me just turn it over to Yongsoo because he's been patiently waiting to offer a point of view on this statement. Yeah.

有一些費用是我們可以刻意選擇花費的，但這些都是像開發腳本一樣的開發費用。我們不感興趣，也不需要進行大量的投資。這通常由此時將跨界 IP 推向市場的人員承擔。還有一個 - 讓我把它交給 Yongsoo，因為他一直在耐心等待就這一聲明提出觀點。是的。

For the IP adaptation cost, actually, in our IP adaptation business, in most cases, our business model is licensing or pre-products. And in that case, we don't have actually any actual cost for them. Honest, we have -- we need to spend some money for the development, the packaging or development of script. We have some cases of co-production. So in that case, we have -- we take the different cost structure, but that is not our major business model for IP adaptation side.

對於IP改編成本，實際上，在我們的IP改編業務中，大多數情況下，我們的商業模式是授權或預產品。在這種情況下，我們實際上沒有為他們支付任何實際成本。老實說，我們需要花一些錢來開發、打包或開發腳本。我們有一些合拍的案例。因此，在這種情況下，我們採取了不同的成本結構，但這不是我們 IP 適配的主要商業模式。

And actually, I can add some more points to address your earlier question about what kind of initiatives we are taking to attract more users into app from web. And in some cases, then we actually download our latest episode only in the app, and our app user can enjoy the latest episode earlier than web. That is a very powerful tool, and we can attract more users to the app product.

實際上，我可以添加更多要點來解決您先前的問題，即我們正在採取哪些舉措來吸引更多用戶從網路使用應用程式。在某些情況下，我們實際上只在應用程式中下載最新劇集，而我們的應用程式使用者可以比網路更早欣賞最新劇集。這是一個非常強大的工具，我們可以吸引更多的用戶使用該應用程式產品。

(Operator Instructions) As there are no further questions -- my apologies. It seems we have another question. Benjamin Black, Deutsche Bank.

（操作員說明）由於沒有其他問題了——我很抱歉。看來我們還有另一個問題。班傑明·布萊克，德意志銀行。

Could you just talk a little bit about the sort of the customer acquisition environment, both in Japan and also in North America? So just maybe dig a little bit into the strategy to effectively acquire more users?

能否簡單談談日本和北美的顧客獲取環境？那麼，是否可以深入研究有效獲取更多用戶的策略？

Sure. I think this relates a bit to some of the commentary earlier on how we are leveraging our higher returning marketing. For us -- and let me just cover -- you may not have heard what we said before. We are very pleased with our performance. When you see our app MAU increased 1% with essentially flat marketing expense in the quarter, it's the reason why we have confidence to include, in our forward-looking guidance for Q4, this 40% -- 42% increase in marketing in Q4 year-on-year and still deliver really strong midpoint Adjusted EBITDA of $11.5 million.

當然。我認為這與之前關於我們如何利用高回報行銷的一些評論有關。對我們來說——讓我簡單介紹一下——你可能沒有聽到我們之前說過的話。我們對我們的表現非常滿意。當您看到我們的應用程式MAU 成長了1%，而本季的行銷費用基本上持平時，這就是為什麼我們有信心在第四季度的前瞻性指導中納入第四季度行銷費用40% - 42%的成長與去年同期相比，仍然實現了非常強勁的中點調整後 EBITDA 1150 萬美元。

The example we're giving is to leverage the attractive engaged demographics of our user base in partnership with others. So you recall, Ben, we talked about Discord last quarter. The example we're giving that is going to be in Q4, it just began in October, is our partnership with Duolingo. We call it "Duo Unleashed!," where we have the ability not just to have to spend on our own, but to partner because of a mutually attractive audience and engagement, which improves the ROI as we increase the MAU on the business.

我們給出的例子是與其他人合作，利用我們用戶群中有吸引力的參與人口統計。本，你還記得嗎，我們上個季度討論過 Discord。我們給出的例子是我們與 Duolingo 的合作夥伴關係，該例子將於 10 月開始在第四季度進行。我們稱之為“Duo Unleashed！”，我們不僅有能力自己花錢，而且有能力透過相互吸引的受眾和參與而進行合作，這在我們增加業務的月活躍用戶數的同時提高了投資回報率。

I think that's our best example of how we intend to continue to grow versus more lower ROI passive spend on top of funnel, which is thankfully not something that we have to do to deliver the strong revenue performance you see in the quarter.

我認為這是我們打算如何繼續成長的最佳例子，而不是在漏斗頂部投資回報率更低的被動支出，值得慶幸的是，這不是我們必須做的事情才能提供您在本季度看到的強勁收入表現。

As there are no further questions at this time, this concludes our Q&A session as well as WEBTOON's third quarter 2024 earnings conference call. Thank you all for attending today's session. You may now disconnect. Have a pleasant day, everyone.

由於目前沒有其他問題，我們的問答環節以及 WEBTOON 的 2024 年第三季財報電話會議到此結束。感謝大家參加今天的會議。您現在可以斷開連線。祝大家有個愉快的一天。