Cyworld Shakes Naver in Video Clips Search
By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter
When it comes to Web searching, Naver has long been the leader on the Korean market. But that title doesn't translate to video searches, with the Internet superpower struggling with the competition.
Following Web portal Daum, Cyworld, a local social networking service, has overwhelmed Naver in the field, according to recent data.
The total number of page views of Cyworld amounted to 142.6 million last month, up 55.8 percent from a year ago, KoreanClick, a local Web research firm, said Sunday.
Cyworld's July performance went almost head-to-head with 142.7 million of the current leader Daum, which suffered an 18.2 percent fall in page views. Naver, on the other hand, was well behind with 29.9 million in a 44.3-percent, year-on-year contraction, only one-fifth of the two companies.
A growing pool of content is enabling Cyworld to make such a surge, industry watchers say. The service, which currently has some 150 million clips in accumulation, is adding 40,000 to 50,000 new ones per day at a pace five to 10 times higher than its competitors.
As a social network service, Cyworld has an edge in exchanges among its users than other Web portals, as it guarantees a more prompt spread of content when they become the talk of the town within the online communities.
It is likely that Naver will suffer a further setback in the video search market, as its investment is not showing any improvement, according to industry watchers.
SK Communications, the operator of Cyworld, said Sunday it would delve into a profitable business model to make the best of its video clip database.
``The company is considering introducing a new online video advertising method,'' SK Communications President and Chief Executive Joo Hyung-chul was quoted as saying by Yonhap News.
``Competition for a higher ranking is not important in the current market. Our business will be conducted under the aim of initiating new services and ideas rather than sticking to more traffic and sales,'' the executive said.
Cyworld is threatening Naver's stronghold in news services. It posted 1.53 billion page views in its news section last month, outnumbering Naver's 1.37 billion by 9 percent, while trailing Daum's 3.47 billion.