I think things will stay relatively the same for the majority of us. The biggest change I see happening is a shift in the content that gets featured.
I mean, to the individual creators, how well their webcomics did matters but for statistical reason it's only the total numbers of viewers site wide that matter for selling ad space to potential advertisers. They have to increase that number... not guarantee good results.
Like buying Super Bowl ad space, the network doesn't care if it's a good game when selling ads...or the potential advertiser is a good match demographic wise... they're just selling space.
But as far as I know that isnt how they got their or get their money. A lot of their money came from investments and their mobile apps. Gaining as many views as possible and paying a minimum of $2,000 a month regardless of how well the comic performs doesn't sound ideal as a business plan. Especially if you aren't cutting under performing content.
I'm pretty sure they cut under performing comics. The Dane Man(or whatever it's called) was cut and so was Dr. Frost. I don't keep up with it too much but I've heard of atleast those two.
I believe they get a set budget from their parent company. My understanding (Which I admit could very well be wrong cause some of this is stuff I hear/read randomly) is their goal right now is less about building profit and more about establishing themselves as the dominant webcomic app.
I see! Hmm so browsing the completed section and does seem like a a couple of them stop abruptly. And for those than end at 15-40 chapters can't really know if they were that short because of Line, comic is just short, or some say its hiatus/creator's decision. Also, Dr.Frost had over 100 chapters and Daneman had over 200, so don't really know what to make of that. But Line Webtoon has always been rather secretive so could be cutting comics and I'm just not paying attention.
Definitely heard a couple years ago that a major goal for them was to make themselves known abroad, but they always intended to make profit and it might be more urgent that they do so now idk (source3) Granted, I don't know how these things work, what with million dollar corporations and all lol. Hasn't been too long since they've launched in 2014?? and I think they've definitely had success in establishing themselves as the #1 comic platform/publisher?? app at over 10 million downloads. But maybe they had higher expectations, have spent most of their set budget, or want to move into multimedia adaptations like they do in Korea as a way to turn a profit. They apparently wanted to grow local comics rather than just only translate Korean comics, which I appreciate but felt like it could've been done more effectively. Comics being made into movies/shows in the states are a select few, and little to none of those are webcomics (I think???). Articles say that naver was investing $134 million in overseas expansion (including Japan and China), so who knows how much of that is gone. And even they know ad revenue isn't sustainable. But I'm just speculating, so uhh take my words with a grain of salt.
That might explain why XOY (Japan's version of LINE Webtoons) stopped updating their Korean webtoons there. I don't think Japanese readers were happy about that.
Maybe they're just expanding too fast compared to the market's expansion.
I mean, webcomics have been a thing in Korea and Japan for a very long time while in America the phenomenon is still very young (and I'm not even talking about Europe, where I live, where it's still practically unknown).
It's a bit like the comic book market: the offer is always expanding but the number of readers stagnates.
They translated this with 'if you wanna add readers you'll have to tap into other generations than teens and other type of comics than manga'. Which isn't wrong per se, but is this because they considered that the teen/manga tier was already saturated? I don't think so. They could have indulged a bit more in the manga/manwa frienzy and flourish there before the competition attacks (and it's already attacking).
Also: is America the only English market in which you can look for comic readers of all generations?
I don't think so.
They had the potential to talk to the whole world as their platform is in English (thing that a korean or japanese or chinese platform can't do) and they targeted exclusively a slightly older readrship that likes american comics.
Well, great... But american comics doesn't even represent the 10% of what we read, for exemple, in Europe.
So perfect, expand your readership! But why only american comics?? ^_^'
Sometimes it felt like Tom Akel was realizing his childhood's dreams more than doing what was good for Webtoon...
I really don't think there was anything wrong with bringing in Western comics, I think the problem was the manner in which they flooded the website with them in what felt like a few months(I admit it may have been longer but just felt like a sudden surge). This causes those comics to compete against eachother, therefore setting up a number of them for failure since well they all came so shortly one after another. I don't think there was a large enough audience for that big of a dump, and the type of target audience is usually older people who in my experience have less time to subscribe to multiple comics. They're more likely to pick a a comic here and there but not a bunch all at once. Meanwhile the larger demographic of readers felt alienated by the sudden surge of western comics and lack of their korean manhwa style. (although who knows- maybe their end goal was to set those comics up for as much success as possible?)
I think it would have worked better if there was a slower integration of western comics, and making sure that the all comics they launch come out in a diverse manner, never having too many new releases of any single type or genre. Also think they should have some western-korean hybrid style comics that can kinda bridge the two genres together so that you can get people to branch out more. Some may be put off by a completely different style/genre, but if they see a comic that is a blend of the two this could slowly open up their mind to be more accepting of the other- like "Hey I really ended up liking this one, maybe I should give those other comics a try".
But that's just my view on the situation.
They underestimated weebs, we're everywhere lol. But it'd be interesting to see a manga/manhwa contest or something like that. Or I can even think of some french comic artists that I would love to see published on Line.
And yeah can't help but get that feeling when Tom Akel was cowriting the Stan Lee comic. There's also just the possibility that he was in an LA bubble that told him to keep doing it. I don't think it was a totally bad idea, but the way it was managed just doesn't seem all that pragmatic.
What I also found interesting was that when those comics were being published in October, a lot of the comments section were worried about Line becoming pay to read for featured comics. I guess it was the big names, but interesting since it shows how readers are aware of other webtoon platforms that are pay-to-read. Though I doubt Line would ever take up Lezhin's model for example, don't think it would hurt too much to make recent chapters pay to read ahead like on their korean site. There'll always be Discover for free comics (even if we keep plugging our patreon lol).
Staring inward at a turgid window of Webtoons, I saw something happening there and wondered what it was--now I know some of it--and predict changes.
They probably eliminated or are considering eliminating all of Akel's hires or friends, to clean house. He brought in a lot of dead culture that rode down American print comics since the late 80s. Add to that that Webtoons is a beachhead for Korean culture in America, and Akel was a lose-loser for the central planning of Naver. Imagine bringing back big band music of the 30s! Culture is begging to move on from what was and into something new and fresh and current. Western culture has become constipated since the early 80s, and the Koreans hope to ride a new wave they create online. Ultimately to produce major profits from a larger market: the USA, Canada, maybe Europe, and Australia.
Good, sound investment!
Problem: they won't make that wave if the site is mired in yesterdecades's American culture.
Problem: if the Head Of Content can't discern new-cool-vibrant from has-beens, he's failing.
Problem: Print comics have less readers than online, newer offerings on Webtoons! Why revisit the failed past?
Problem: much of the content on Webtoons lacks story. Story>art to an engaged audience.
Problem: I doubt Webtoons understands that, and there isn't a lot they can do about it until they recognize that problem.
Pretty pictures sell on Webtoons, but they only keep people interested for so long. Hopefully the new HoC will figure it out. They must promote story above all else, but try to help shape and edit content better. And if they REALLY want content/earnings, they have to get more ads (in Discovery mostly) and promote-promote-promote Discovery until adviews inflate and float the site.
I agree pretty much on what was stated here. Western comics is dying so as its readers. There is a new generation wanting eastern content but with western sensibilities in mind.
(PS: I tried looking up the job opening at Line and it's not posted yet. I wonder if they are gonna have it open for the public or they already have someone in mind to hire. XD)
I'll say it's a good thing that he's leaving. He might have been the causes of many suspiscious things happening at webtoon. This includes massive unexplained loss of PVs and subs that happens only when authors update. Very suspiscious. i hope they remove more staffs. Hopefully they could be a positive change after this.
I don't believe western style comics are dying... just the big two business model that refused to change to meet the next generation(s) of readers.
But It'd be unhealthy and unrealistic business wise to think that anything predated on appealing to just "new" generation tastes will last indefinitely. Tastemakers are even more mercurial than those that established the Big 2 business model.
I mean, webcomics have been a thing in Korea and Japan for a very long time while in America the phenomenon is still very young (and I'm not even talking about Europe, where I live, where it's still practically unknown).
Webcomics being a thing in Japan for a "long time"? Actually Japanese publishers and some mangaka were against the idea of online comics for quite a while. I think part of that was being ripped off by fan scanlations made some kind of impression, just not the good kind. Most of the webcomics in Japan were translated webtoons until more Japanese started making their own.
I definitely agree with some of what you suggested. I don't know if its a matter of one dying, but we do know that media is very fractured nowadays and Line Webtoon probably isn't going to consolidate the different comic genres onto their site as much as they wanted (especially by cutting off mature/adult comics).
Idk what's with this inability of sites to choose between publisher or platform recently, but looks like they chose to be on the publisher end. Other publishers will pick up where their lacking, and other korean companies have seen the opportunity in foreign markets and are pursuing it.
For creators, more options and opportunities are good for us, we just need to be active in taking them. I'm gonna make a thread to address this topic of alternative publishers. Especially because I don't think pledge programs are going to continue, ad revenue isn't going to be enough incentive, and getting discover people to support on patreon can be like pulling teeth (for those wanting to be serious about comics). I'm predicting Line to eventually put Discover more on the sideline so to invest more into Featured, though Discover will still be a good place for aspiring independent creators and hobbyists.
Time will tell what changes this new era of Webtoon will set forth.
I'm not too excited for it. There's no other way to monetize a free platform other than ads. They have to come up with something quick or they'll cut it off.
PS: Webtoons is experiencing the same fate as Youtube. Both are huge platforms but none of them make money.
Big company use some of their services as something to marketing their brand. It's a business strategy, they don't really need to make money from that kind of services, they only need it to be popular.
Youtube is a part of Google, Line Webtoon is a part of Naver, and they're both dominate the market.
Dude, they cut LOTS of comics! Cut or dont renew for new seasons... some of the 'completed' titles are still updating in korea or kickstarter or whatever. Can't blame them tho. They need the dosh 
There's no business if there's no profits. They have investors who invested $$$$$$$$$ and they are not getting their money back. The platform need to generate profits or it will die off (examples: Vine, Periscope, Myspace, etc.)
They hinted about new features. I hope it's for additional monetization for creators not some BS system upgrade like algorithm of recommended comics.
They profit from their other services. Sometime you have to lose money in one thing to profit more from other thing. This type of strategy is not new and you can see everywhere, especially in the new market.
Vine, Periscope, Myspace,.... are not a part of any multi-services company.
I would wish for the algorithm! At least you would have a chance to be recommended to the type of readers you're aiming to, and not being BS by the staffs (who are 99% BL fangirls) and wait to be recommended.
I kinda don't know where you're getting that conclusion from. From what I've seen in both Daily Featured and Popular on LINE Webtoons, BL is not the only thing that's popular. I would understand if you said certain genres are over saturated with a lot of creators.
On that note, a company still has to maintain profit flows from all points of the market, especially in the case that those other services stop bringing in income. All fronts have to be worked out, and while not all of them get dedicated time -- a company just can't focus too much energy into one part and not maintain the rest.
I'm hoping for better features for the creators. I'd rather they start figuring out how to better themselves AND the creators that make the comics they're trying to sell to audiences.
It's call "exaggeration". (but 2 years ago, it was not)
Next time I will put a note when I'm not serious, it's my mistake.
Naver is bigger than you think it is.
Their net income are about 700 million dollars of total 1 billion dollars a year, and they only spend about a million or couple on Line Webtoon. (Naver Webtoon is older and Korean exclusive)
No need. Just, when you wanna argue, exaggerations not exactly something you wanna lead with.
And still -- being a big company doesn't mean that profit today can't and won't go away in the next few years. After all, only 12% or so of the original fortune 500 companies are still around today, compared to what they were in 1955.
While it's good to keep up with numbers and current flow now, it's also important to plan for things long-term and continuing to find ways to maintain that current status. Hence is why I mentioned that a company like Naver still continues to focus on ads, even if it's not to a large extent. They're making 700 million dollars/1 billion a year now, and maybe they're not spending all of the profits they gain from their outlets (Line Webtoons included). Still doesn't cover what could happen in the future.
Course, that's all hypothetical. No one knows what might happen to Naver 10, 20, even 30 year down the line. Because these things are unpredictable. However, preparing for some of that is just another business method, and in doing so, a lot of big businesses will think about the changes they have to make and the progress they're seeing so far.
They're doing good by not spending all of their profits. And they're also doing good by investing in the different parts that make up their possible income.
They're covering all basis because they're a big company and because they have so much to gain and lose. So, in order to maintain the profit they're gaining, they look at all fronts.
With all that said, I would personally like to see more site improvements from Webtoons. Particularly in the case where they update the comic uploading page and move the delete button a little further down. You'd think with all that money they're seemingly making, they could afford to fix up the site so that people don't accidentally delete their entire works when they're just trying to upload.
For romance stories, I go to WebComicsApp. Webtoon's romance are horrible and not appealing. it's like watching "twilight" with old actors in their fifties instead of young and handsome actors. Webtoon doesn't get it that when you're a woman, you want to read or watch a love story with beautiful and handsome characters. Even for a serie, why do you think people fangirl over the actors? we want beautiful love stories with beautiful people! This is not discrimination but preference. Do you know why korean dramas are so popular? it's because of the handsome actors. Webtoon doesn't understand that. webtoon seem to believe the best and most successful love stories are the ones with art like the simpson. Just look at the winner of "most feel". No hate to the author but how am i suppose to have any feels with art like that? I'm not saying her art is bad but for a romance story and to be a winner of over 3,000 entries? very disappointing. I mean, how would you feel if for a contest of romance and shoujo, a comic with same art as "king of the hill" won? or if a comic with the Simpson 's art won the best romance most feels? too ridiculous! Things like this only happen on webtoon because they never miss an occasion to push the western style agenda down our throats. I'm glad Tom Ackel's gone, he was doing an awful job especially with the content of romance. They just don't get what makes a romance appealing to women audience. They don't give a damn and just want to westernize everything. At least WebComics get what its women readers want. Webtoon does have a few very good romance in discover, but apart from those, webtoon's romance content is the worst. A lot of people are starting to turn to WebComics for romance now.
???
Maybe I'm seeing things very differently, but it seems like the most successful romance comics on webtoon are the ones with clear anime influences in the art (the exception--off the top of my head-- being Lore Olympus).
And the judges in the contest are reportedly a third party entity (if the rules they posted are to be believed), so Akel's influence in that was probably minimal. I wasn't a particular fan of the Western styles they were trying to push, but only looking to a romance story for pretty people is kinda vapid (coming from someone that loves looking at pretty people lol).
I'm also starting to wonder if you actually read the "Most Feels" winner 
I read the most feels winner. It was decent and ok but there was better choices with more appealing art, storytelling, plot and strong characters. This victory for me is comparable to Sponge Bob winning a shounen contest against Naruto, one piece, one punch man... I mean come on! I love sponge bob but seriously? That most feels victory is also comparable to Sailor Moon winning in a contest of marvel comics beating spiderman, ironman, etc... Come on! You get the picture. And no, I don't only look at the art but beautiful characters are a very big part of a romance story's success.It's like going to a beauty pageant, beauty is the main thing.
where did you see that third party was judging the contest? it is said it's the webtoon staff who does the judging. Since Tom Ackel was the head of content, he probably played some significant part in picking winners. Look at the winning titles, most r western style. How was he involved minimally? if i was line webtoon korea and I see the winners, I'll definately want Tom Ackel fired.
I was slightly horrified to see some of my students at the high school I was at previously reading on LINE Webtoon when I had a comic on there.
But I saw on the girl's reading list that basically all she read were manhua/manwha/manga style artwork romances.
If Akel's departure really was due to his curating and the sudden influx of western-style comics, I would somewhat agree that perhaps he wasn't catering to the larger audience like Naver wanted.
I also agree with @MelloYello that the only reason I would read a romance in the first place is for the handsome characters. If the art was ugly or unappealing, I wouldn't read it at all. Art makes a good impression! Gimme my hot Kpop-looking dudes!! I feel that LINE korean-translated webtoons are successful because America currently is in a BIG hallyu-wave involving the Korean-culture obsession. Make use of it!
They should make less specific requirements for their webcomics. Just let me upload PNGs, for christ's sake!
Also, they gotta fix up their site on Windows 10 Google. It never stops loading whenever I try to add a thumbnail for a new series.
And also develop descent statistic viewers. It would be much easier to know WHEN people subscribe to me and WHO.
I avoid using Webtoon Line because of that. Very laggy, very specific. I don't have that much space in my computer.
I apologize! I misinterpreted one aspect of the rules (I think I assumed the "Administrator" had a hand in judging). This was also the primary reason why I assumed the winners weren't what would obviously gain the most popularity/interest on the platform (now I'm starting to wonder about that, too 
).
I'm still not seeing how most of the genre winners are Western style though. Sure some will probably have some Western art/storytelling influences since the main participants were probably expected to be Westerners, but I wouldn't call them "Spongebob" compared to "Naruto."
Because most participant were westerners doesn't mean their art style was western. if you looked at the entries and the percentage of anime styled art you'll see that was dominant but somehow webtoon (again) managed to pick a 2 western style winners in romance (as it's always picking those same styles to be featured), I don't know what they're tryin to prove by doing this continiously and so agressively instead of picking the most appealings and better romances. They want to dream so badly, that ugly western art in america can beat anime handsome character's type of romance and IN ROMANCE nonetheless. They want to believe and prove that so badly that they don't care about losing large numbers of readers. Sorry webtoon, but this generation prefer anime style and good looking characters especially in romance. It's time webtoon understands this because right now, it's starting to lose to other sites like WebComics, tapas, etc.
We must use a different Webtoons. The majority of their romance comics (featured and Discover ones) are about cutsy bishonen and bishojos in a Japanese or Korean style.
There is a fair amount of hybrid styles. But the pure âuglyâ cartoon styles are a minority, at least in the romance section.
Also why so bitter about that âmost feelsâ finalist. Itâs a different style with its own sense for elegance and I think itâs nice to see some diversity in artstyle.
Because itâs not appealing to you doesnât mean it didnât deserve to win in its category.
What I would want out of a major change like this is for them to drop the comic "pros"(I use that term very lightly). From what I understand, Webtoons was built on the backs of independent creators, so seeing them throwing money at these guys feels like a slap in the face. Also, being pitted against creators on our own level is difficult enough; we don't need former Marvel/DC writers and artists making things even harder.
<< This generation. I don't really like anime/chibi artstyle that much, in fact I'm tired of it and I'm asian. Sooooo maybe each has different preferences? I'm more into hybrid of both western/anime style, so from my point of view generalization is a bit too much. I know webtoon is a bit shady but just because I don't like this style or that style doesn't mean it's ugly/other people also don't like it.
The irony here is that the indie artists were complaining before this that anime/manga styles were already too popular and they wanted more variety. Now that the contest is over and some underdogs ended up winning, people are salty their super popular favourites didn't win (then again, apparently a bunch of other comics got featured after the contest anyways sooo it's not like this is the only chance for them to get featured)
I'm personally indifferent to the western style comics. They're not my thing, and I do wish they didn't launch like all of them in a week right after the contest. It did feel like a minor slap in the face when thousands of Discover comics were competing for just 8 feature slots, but they launch a ton of outsourced comics without batting an eye.
I don't know if anyone remembers, but they actually held some surveys for Discover creators a couple months ago? Some of the questions were about style preferences, comparing examples of their current featured comics and which ones people preferred. So I don't think they're dense to what their demographic likes, and they've clearly been researching it as well.
Anyways I just hope they roll out their new monetization features already lol More long term support and incentive for Discover creators to use their platform would be nice, especially if other platforms are starting to contract indie creators that didn't win the contest.
I'm not bitter about the winner of most feels. That was just another example to prove how much western comics they aggressively push down our throats. if when you think romance you think ugly characters, and think it's the best way to go it's your problem. That doesn't mean the majority of woman wants that. From what I seen through the years, in romance more than 90% of women goes for the good looking characters. Because the winner of most feels was different from the usual manga/manhwa style doesn't mean it's better and certainly doesn't mean it deserved to win as you seem to believe just in the name of diversity. For your info this wasn't a contest of diversity.
I feel like that could be said about any contest entry since different people have different tastes. This isn't a math competition or something where there is only 1 right solution.
This is where you're going south in your argument. You're using subjectivity as an objective angle, and you can't do that. Words like "ugly" and "good-looking" are subjective in nature.
You personally think that the characters are "ugly". While that's all well and good for your tastes, you cannot speak for the majority. Just because a style is generally preferred over others, in the sense of mainstream popularity, doesn't mean the other styles are inherently "ugly" or that the popular style is inherently "good-looking".
Yes -- anime style is more popular. We can see that now based on the Featured and Popular lists on LINE Webtoons. But popularity doesn't mean superiority, and it doesn't mean that every reader liking said style doesn't like any other style or doesn't read something different.
You would do better to reword your claims into "this type of style isn't as well received, looking at what's popular now". Because objectively, disregarding taste or anything of that nature, the art has appeal. It might not appeal specifically to you, but you should be able to still see that it can appeal to someone else.
Right now, it just feels like you're trying to use your personal preference as fact.
Oh? so you're sayin because beauty is subjective we shouldn't say anything?
yes, words like beauty are subjective in nature but sometimes it can easily be decided too. if i ask 100 woman who is more handsome? Homer simpson or Sasuke (from naruto)? I'm pretty sure 99% of woman will pick Sasuke. Maybe you think homer simpson is the most handsome but to say I can't speak for the majority, I'm sorry that seems foolish, we can totally speak for the majority in many cases and obvious ones like this.
and for the record, I'm not bashing the winner of most feels' art and I do believe it has some appeal to some people but not the majority.I only pointed out an obvious fact: that on a general scale, 90% of woman prefer handsome characters. if you believe 90% of women readers of romance are into into art like king of the hill, you can believe it. But don't stop me from stating obvious things like saying women like handsome men in their romance love stories.
what I'm seeing here, people who like anime style wants webtoon to stop pushing westernizing agenda, and people who have western style comics will defend everything western no matter what.
LOL how is that comparable? Homer by design is supposed to be fat and ugly XD
I imagine it'd be really different if you say compare Homer to someone from this image search: https://www.google.com/search?q=ugly+fat+anime+characters&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS763US764&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj3nNXrqsreAhVaCjQIHTcpAN8Q_AUIEygB&biw=1411&bih=67210
I actually bet Homer would win XD