The Naver Corp. website arranged on a screen in Gimpo, South Korea on Sept. 9, 2021.
SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images
While artificial intelligence chatbots like ChatGPT pose a threat to the search ad market, South Korean web giant Naver sees the rise of AI as a chance for the corporate.
Naver is South Korea’s most used search engine, in response to Statista, commanding a 61.2% market share of monthly lively users. In contrast, the ever ubiquitous Google has a 28.55% market share within the country.
AI-powered chatbots like ChatGPT pose a threat to engines like google as they can provide answers to users’ questions directly, as a substitute of presenting an inventory of webpages that the user has to flick through to search out a solution.
This could lead on to a quicker search process for the user — assuming all the data presented is correct.
If fewer people use engines like google, that will result in a decline in search ad revenue, often the biggest revenue stream for his or her operators. In 2022, Alphabet generated over 57% of its revenue, or $162 billion, from Google searches alone.
While Naver, like Google, also primarily operates a search engine, it also has other business units, similar to its content platform Naver Webtoon and multimedia mobile application Snow, fintech arm Naver Pay and an e-commerce platform in Naver Shopping.
Talking to CNBC’s Chery Kang in South Korea, Kim says AI will probably be a “huge opportunity” for every of its businesses, “whether it’s enhanced search [results], whether it’s [an] enhanced shopping experience, whether it’s fintech and even in terms of Webtoon recommendations, and even Webtoon illustration tools.”
He believes that AI will only strengthen Naver’s offerings, mentioning that “AI is something that is not foreign to us, but it’s extremely necessary to every of our businesses.”
When it comes to the user experience, Kim says an AI-powered Naver would mean an enhanced search experience, shopping experience in addition to travel recommendations for users.
He believes that Naver is the biggest go-to site by way of travel itinerary searches. “So to the extent that AI can actually higher that have, I feel it is a game changer for the user.”
In its first-quarter earnings presentation, Naver revealed that the corporate is ready to launch its “hyperscale AI” product, named HyperCLOVA X this summer. The corporate said it will “provide generative AI-driven seek for users and recent customized services for enterprises.”
Over the primary quarter, the corporate’s sales rose 23.6% year-on-year to 2.28 trillion won (1.72 billion), but its net profit tumbled 71.2% to 43.7 billion won compared with the identical period last 12 months. Operating profit stood at 330.5 billion won, a 9.5% increase year-on-year.
Shares of Naver were trading 1.93% higher on Tuesday, constructing on their 5.56% gain Monday after the corporate released ends in the morning.