Naver remains dominant player in Korea's search market

Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon speaks during the company's annual general meeting of shareholders at Naver Green Factory in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, March 23. Courtesy of Naver

Korea’s web portal Naver is maintaining its dominance in the country’s search market despite the growing public use of artificial intelligence (AI) services.

According to market tracker InternetTrend, Naver’s average monthly share in the domestic web search market stood at 63.8 percent in March, followed by Google with 28.7 percent.

On Feb. 28 and March 1, Naver’s share briefly exceeded 70 percent, reaching 70.6 percent and 70.4 percent, respectively.

Naver’s market share is rising on a yearly basis, reaching 62.9 percent in 2025 from 58.1 percent in 2024.

Naver’s high market share came despite doubts over its market dominance amid the growing use of generative AI services, as users increasingly turn to ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI tools for information searches.

Industry officials said Naver's market share is attributable to the introduction of AI Briefing, an AI-powered service that generates summarized search answers, as well as the growing demand for cross-checking information on Naver after getting answers from generative AI tools.

Naver’s vast pool of locally tailored content, built by Korean users across its blogs and community services, is also seen as a key factor that global AI services cannot easily replicate, helping the portal maintain its strong market position.

Despite the company’s stable market control, concerns remain over its growth momentum, given its heavy reliance on ad revenue and the rapid pace of AI service development.

"Naver's revenue from advertising has continued to grow at a near double-digit pace, delivering stronger performance than global local search platforms such as Baidu and LY (Line Yahoo), but it is difficult to be confident that this trend will continue in the future,” DS Investment & Securities analyst Choi Seung-ho said.

“Rather than relying on advertising, the company needs to strengthen its competitiveness in sectors less affected by AI and global platforms, such as commerce and cryptocurrency."