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What sort of impact will this have for those of you who have some business in Korea? Does this change the Korean SE market dramatically?
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The thread will probably get moved over here eventual by moderators I bet though. ;)
This is gotta be making Overture sweat. (remember OVER recently signed exclusive deal for sponsored listings with DAUM)
Google has had trouble in Korea and as such should help them, and help (eventually) introduce PPC to the Korean market (which currently has only one in ACTIVE (in business) PPC player www.Zingu.com.
Otherwise...it really shouldn't change the landscape of SE market much (for now).
The Korea Times announcement talked about combining Google technology with Daum content but the meaning is a bit fuzzy.
BTW just to introduce myself. I am also a long term, 15 years Korea Resident; all of it in the IT area, mostly marketing and management. Now living in South East Asia with my Korean wife.
We would be interested in hearing anything you observe about this. Have you seen any other articles in the local English press that give insite into this relationship? I got just about as much as you did out of that Korea Times article it seems ;)
There doesn't seem to have been a Korean language press release at all ...or at least I can't find one.
The Daum web search results show "powered by Google" but the data looks like it's from their own index.Are the SERP [webmasterworld.com]s on Daum very different from those on the Korean version of Google for popular keywords?
Let me check it a bit more rigorously but it seems like Daum is now showing almost the same results as Google when a 2 word English term popular for travel is used and the Google result is resricted to Korean language results only. Last night it was completely different.
For example a 4 syllable Hangul travel query was returning 3 results on Daum last night and is now showing the same several thousand as Google. The same search using the 2 word equivalent English term also gives the same results as Google provided it is restricted to Korean serps only.
Daum does not show the non Korean language Google results on an English term search and doesn't have an option to do so ...at least at present. There are .com as well as .co.kr sites appearing in the top results so it looks like the filter on English term query serps is on the character set only.
What was Daum's search like before? Are you seeing more traffic after the switch?
Combining Overture and Google to present a searcher interested in buying or researching a purchase with some quality and different choices should be a good move for Daum. They can ramp up very quickly this way and simultaneously take a lot of their competitors options off the table.
Can’t speak to the traffic question as I’ve only just completed the Korean version of our site; was rushing to get it done in time for the Overture launch. Obviously I’m optimistic as this had been a backburner project for at least 18 months.
Also, Daum is the biggest portal, but not the biggest search provider. Daum users are true community site "netizens", not search hounds, so to speak. So that 80% reach Over likes to publish isn't a little misleading. And also, Koreans use many different search techniques...like the popular Naver question and answer search. However, Daum completely restructured their site to put more focus on their search giving their deals with Google and Overture, so maybe that should help.
Can't speak to the traffic question as Ive only just completed the Korean version of our site; was rushing to get it done in time for the Overture launch. Obviously I'm optimistic as this had been a backburner project for at least 18 months.
Is the KRW200,000 (yikes!)---about $180) initial deposit and KRW200 (16cents!) minimum bid going to backburner that again? It did for me. Hopefully, that won't be required for current over users looking to add a market. I'd check out the small upstart Zingu (www.zingu.com) looks have its affiliate base growing quickly with the Tier 2 sites, and has a free KRW25,000 ($20) worth of clicks for first-timers (KRW50---4cent minimum bid). Couldn't hurt.
small PPC now, but you know how Korean get about homegrown stuff (nods to Daum and Naver vs Yahoo).
I think just about all the Korea homegrown portals spider and/or crawl!
most either made their own...or use one of the also-homegrown search solution companies.
like I said, although google is gaining some popularity nowadays, as of yet, it is NOT a popular engine (relatively) . Again, the only reason for this seems to be the "Koreanization" factor. So, the Daum deal is very significant...since most netizen won't notice/know where the results are coming from.
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The comment on Yahoo Korea is interesting and their recent history illustrates the difficulty of sustaining market leadership against local companies. Google though as you subsequently pointed out are not pushing their own direct site but having Daum do it for them in a completely Korean framework i.e already localized.
When it comes to the PPC products however both Google and Overture will have to engage directly with the Korean advertising market and that will be a challenge. Overture is arguably better able to address this right now and that’s important for Daum’s immediate time to market objective.
It’s a reasonable guess that “helping” with the ongoing localization challenge will be a key negotiation point for eventual contract renewals. Daum are unlikely to want to pay for a PPC service indefinitely, particularly if the advertiser base is predominantly Korean. They will push for some kind of closer partnership and technology sharing.
Overture will of course be unhappy to share Daum with Google but playing off G/Adwords against the full PPC & search suite of OAF will suit Daum very well. Just as long as it gets a worthwhile advertising channel up and running more quickly and with a better chance of success in this important market, I’m all in favor too.
For Naver search, Daum are a very serious challenge. Regardless of how you analyze it, they can present their product to 80% of Korean netizens in a way those folks relate to. Fortunately they, Naver and the others won’t roll over and die but will quite likely give us more options to access the Korean market and at a good price, like Zingu’s.
My understanding of the current announcements is that Google will supply the search results and Overture the PPC. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
My understanding of the current announcements is that Google will supply the search results and Overture the PPC.
yes, that is the case at this point.
OV has a 3 year exclusive with Daum. It "only" cost OV about 5.5mill in guarunteed revenue to get it. But I think OV is going to be hard pressed to make up that 5.5mill (hence $200 min sign up deposit and 16cent min bid) and keep the deal with Google and even Zingu in the game for next time. (IMO)
Thanks for the tip on Zingu Grendel they are certainly worth a try. That Overture 200,000 won deposit is really irritating, any idea why it is set that high? It’s not a showstopper for me and nor is the W50 cpc but it’s grating.
Yah, I'm sure its not a show stopper for many who already know and understand PPC. The question is whether it will be for this new market. PPC IS relatively complicated for n00bs, especially n00bs in a new market. Nothing to do but wait and see. :D
