Photo = Getty Image Bank The presence of Nate, which once rose to second place in the portal market while chasing Naver, is fading. Nate, which was classified as one of the top three domestic portal sites along with Naver and Daum, is pursuing continuous change by recently deploying an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot at the front of the portal this year following a major service reorganization in 2020, but a meaningful turnaround is expected. It’s a difficult situation.
“Are you still using it?”… Nate’s market share is less than 1%, ‘humiliating’
Domestic portal market share as of the 15th. Photo = Internet Trend Capture According to BizSpring’s ‘Internet Trend’, which provides Internet statistical data on the 16th, Nate’s current market share is less than 1%, meaning its influence is minimal. Nate, run by SK Communications (SK Communications), started its service in 1999, acquired Lycos and Empas, and continued to grow with the messenger Nate On and Cyworld services, rising to the top three along with Naver and Daum in 2005.
‘Nate On’, a messenger service provided by Nate, ranked first in terms of users in Korea, surpassing Microsoft’s MSN. In 2012, after the start of the smartphone era, it overtook Daum App and ranked second after Naver in the portal app (application) field. In the past, its influence was so great that a dedicated button was created on mobile phones for SK Telecom subscribers.
Nate, which had a domestic portal market share of over 10% (at the end of 2009), began to gradually decline in market share due to an incident in July 2011 in which the personal information of 35 million subscribers was leaked and a decrease in the number of Cyworld users. . In particular, with the popularization of smartphones and the spread of KakaoTalk, it quickly began to be pushed out of the mainstream business.
Change BI and introduce AI chatbot… ‘Nate’ struggles to revive the driver.
Nate app. Image = Apple App Store capture To overcome the crisis, Nate began a major service overhaul in 2020. We changed our brand image (BI) for the first time in 11 years and introduced ‘Today’, which shows major news keywords in real time. The flagship service ‘Nate On’ is also specialized for business use and has been improved to increase work efficiency such as email, text messaging, and PC control. The ‘Team Room’ and ‘File Box’, which facilitate working from home during the COVID-19 period, have also been completely reorganized.
‘ChatGPT’, a generative AI search that has emerged rapidly recently, was also introduced the fastest among domestic portals. Last May, Nate was the first domestic portal to apply the chatbot service ‘AI Chat’ to its main screen. Chat service is provided through Open AI’s ChatGPT API (Application Program Interface). It can also be used in a mobile environment. This is an example of application six months earlier than Naver, which introduced its own AI search ‘Cue:’ last month. Last August, the company appeared to be seeking various avenues of action, including adding an ‘AI chat’ function to messenger chat rooms. A SK Communications official said, “The newly introduced ‘NateOn Chat Room AI Chat’ function provides a richer and more efficient communication support environment within the messenger chat window where various topics are exchanged. It was applied to expand users’ accessibility and acceptance of AI services. “He explained.
Nate Mobile main screen. Photo = Nate homepage capture, Jo A-ra, Hankyung.com reporter rrang123@hankyung.com
