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Any info on the Naver community search would be gratefully received, i'm not having much joy in translating the Korean!
"browse" function meaning? I can think of like 8972983473 areas where you could be referring to. user created content? are you referring to the Knowledge search? (지식검색)?
if you need to post the parts in Korean that you are referring to that is fine (for clarity) and will help me understand what you are talking about. If you have a korean enabled browser you can post in Korean here.
(see?..... 안녕하셨습니까? ^^)
Also, I've gotten a Korean friend to translate stuff - thanks!
You might want to search through some of our older threads concerning this topic if you don't have specific questions yet. One of the better ones that comes to mind is To alternate SERPs and beyond! [webmasterworld.com]
If you're having trouble finding things take a look at Additional Search Tools for WebmasterWorld [webmasterworld.com] to add some better search capability to your profile. Our site search is currently being reworked.
We're looking at the phenemenon of community search for a project, with Naver as the focus. However, while we know page view statistics and such, I'm confused over the level of user-created content, and the use of different types of search. One of the ideas that came up in the brief was that users could search around a subject, but then browse the content - not necessarily visiting an external site. Sorry, I know that that seems vague, but any info around this subject would be great.
Also, I've gotten a Korean friend to translate stuff - thanks!
yikes. that's a huge undertaking given how robust the korean market is for that stuff (esp. at naver and daum).
you have to break down the scope what you are saying/looking for, specifically:
"community search" means what?
-sign up with at a duam "cafe" or blog and search withIN the cafes?
-do a cafe or a blog search? (looking for a particular cafe)
-searching for content created by a community? (in which case, is the "community" all of korea's netizens?)
-search around a subject has certainly been done for a while now in the portals here, so its pretty advanced. Further, if keep drilling down in a search and its STILL all naver/daum content. Don't even get me started on Waggle search (a daum creation). :/
Anyway, they all have VAST content both user-created (eg. knowledge search still reigns supreme--and that's all user created), AND inhouse content (via boughtout companies and ...er... staff I guess)...and its all very well integrated. You really don't have to leave the portal if don't want. Heck they even sell there own insurance. heh.
What is the goal of the project? just research? or are you trying to start something and diggin around korean stuff for inspiration? (something I've been recommending people should do around here for years).
As bill pointed out, there are some threads on this stuff already that may help you get started.
If you have someone who is translating korean that's a great way to get going since just USING naver and daum is half the ball game and a LOT quicker than me explaning. (btw, don't discount daum...they are number #1 in terms of portal COMMUNITY features like blogs and cafes etc. NAver is #1 for SEARCH). You may run into snags when a portal inevitably asks you for your login/pw. The only way around this is find a Korean friend who has one (need jump 98789 hoops or a korean registration social security-like number to register). I suppose at that point I can try to answer questions best I can also.^^
Also, if community phenonomens are your focus of interest (not necessary the search aspect)...
I'd also do a lot of digging through CYWORLD. That is Korea's newest and still hottest internet trend. and its no joke. Its like community blogging technology on lots of steroids. Search there is almost IRRELEVANT if you can believe that. :/
I checked out Cyworld - insane! I'm quit einterested in how you feel Naver, Daum et al will react to this instant phenomenon. It seems that all these portal/search/blog/community sites that i've been looking at - Naver, Daum, Empas, Paran, Yahoo Korea and Cyworld - are all constantly aware of what the others are doing, and are attempting to catch up or overtake. Would this be a fair assumption?
Naver is undoubtedly a dominant force right now, but i'm intrigued to learn your opinion on WHY it has gotten where it has. Superior technolgy? Better business model? Fast adopter of emerging trends? How do you think this will change now that Cyworld has grown so big?
I read somewhere that Cyworld has a quarter of the Korean population signed up. You were right - its no joke!
Thanks for that Grendel!
I checked out Cyworld - insane! It seems that all these portal/search/blog/community sites that i've been looking at - Naver, Daum, Empas, Paran, Yahoo Korea and Cyworld - are all constantly aware of what the others are doing, and are attempting to catch up or overtake. Would this be a fair assumption?Naver is undoubtedly a dominant force right now, but i'm intrigued to learn your opinion on WHY it has gotten where it has. Superior technolgy? Better business model? Fast adopter of emerging trends? How do you think this will change now that Cyworld has grown so big?
I read somewhere that Cyworld has a quarter of the Korean population signed up. You were right - its no joke
sorry for the VERY delayed reply....crazy nowadys. and I only check in once in a while...... :( (*when they let me out.^^ )
I swear one day soon I'm going to do a full write up about cyworld, naver and the korean internet. heh.
let me be direct (g2run!)
I'm quit einterested in how you feel Naver, Daum et al will react to this instant phenomenon.
they have: Daum launched a competitive product "daum Planet" and bought lycos and launched CIRCLES...the US VERY watered down version of cyworld. MSN followed with Spaces.
naver blogs are very popular....they have other plans right now that I am not privy to get into.
yahoo.... well..... they are interesting in that they basic aren't the big guys here but have most direct access to both markets. I'm pretty sure they basically suffer from not enough autonomy from US parent company blues.
are all constantly aware of what the others are doing, and are attempting to catch up or overtake. Would this be a fair assumption?
yes. word is the big guns even meet up regularily for a mutual business group hug of sorts. lol. :-0
Naver is undoubtedly a dominant force right now,
but i'm intrigued to learn your opinion on WHY it has gotten where it has. Superior technolgy? Better business model? Fast adopter of emerging trends?
its pretty well accepted that NHN's coup was when it bought hangame. A hugely popular online GAMING site. That really propelled it. From there...they hit big with KNOWLEDGE SEARCH. (search for it -- I've written about it before). And make no mistake their technology is impressive and monetization scheme sophisticated (all of hte portals here are in their respect). PPC was unique in that it came later FROM THE OUTSIDE (a first)...but now and will soon be just another notch on the belt of the portals I can strongly bet. They don't adopt faster...they MADE the trends. There SEARCH wars were about adding a NEW kind of search on.
And the people here RESPOND FAST (that's key)...koreans have got to be "nettiest" ppl in world. heehee^^....which propels any introduced tech faster.
How do you think this will change now that Cyworld has grown so big? ......
its already happening. As I said, some have focused internationally, some seem to be thinking mobile, and some are looking to further the mini-hompy next-step evolution.
(I've seen some COOOOL stuff that not big .....YET).
one side point about: Cyworld they are number one...daum second in the mini-hompy market.
Daum already has gone to the US with this idea..... so what do you think Cyworld will do maintain lead?
well they launched in Japan and China already.... I'd keep my eyes peeled for Cyworld product stateside down the road. ;)
I read somewhere that Cyworld has a quarter of the Korean population signed up. You were right - its no joke
FINALLY! a believer! lol :p
I'm really into the Asian community search phenomenon now, but the more I research, the more questions I find I don't have the answers for:
I'm really interested in the points systems for community sites in Korea and Japan. It seems to me that points which translate only into online status are particularly popular in Korea - on Naver and Cyworld for example, whereas Japaneses netizens prfer points to be able to be turned into real cash, or some other kind of tangible reward (eg free mp3 downloads, extra storage space). What are your opinions on this? Does anyone know any good examples of this type of thing?
Also, i'm intersted in the beginnings of these sites, especially when it comes to launch advertising, and 'seeding' knowledge based systems with a pool of answers. Did this happen often? What type of advertising strategies were employed to launch the major community search sites?
Soory to be asking so many questions, but its difficult for a non-asian languages speaker to get to the heart of the discussion!
Many thanks!
I'm really interested in the points systems for community sites in Korea and Japan. It seems to me that points which translate only into online status are particularly popular in Korea - on Naver and Cyworld for example, whereas Japaneses netizens prfer points to be able to be turned into real cash, or some other kind of tangible reward (eg free mp3 downloads, extra storage space). What are your opinions on this? Does anyone know any good examples of this type of thing?
1. good observation. this was surprising to me AT FIRST when I came here. I can't say anything about the Japanese market, but a lot of notoriety can come from this--even though no monetary or items are specifically offered.
It's an "internet" fame thing and reflective a lot of the Korean personality.
That said...
1. I relate. Actually, on US based forums...there IS a lot of similar stuff happening. Games and points systems are used (reputation points) etc, for nothing more than perhaps upgrading moderator status or just ...well... use for fun stuff like a glowing user name. I see this a lot and do it a lot myself, soo....its not THAT wacky.
2. Korean are certainly not AGAINST receiving more tangible awards for participation and it happens A LOT more. Again, the scope of the converstaion is the problem.
--some smaller sites have direct rewards.
--different parts of the portals have DO different incentives other than just points.
--legally its difficult to set up some of this stuff.
--a lot of it is cultural (huge topic in itself discussing the billion nuances of Korean netizens do the things they do.)
--its changing.
eg:
--within portals (just looking at "knowledge search" participation)... it was a pride thing (back in the day).
But remember, korean registrations are unique...as they are tied to the social security number...so there is much more "real" pride attached to being an internet smarty when you know its your only account (and people can much more easily figure out who you are in real life). And you did get some tangible notoriety as EVERYONE used the portals--you've heard some of the statistics on Korean internet use I'm sure. Fame online can become a very "real incentive/disincentive" here.
Heck, Korea's President got elected because of internet movements via portals. That is incredible. Think about that.
--nowdays, things like cyworld have changed the game a lot since you can get rewards...like points for "acorn" items and special placement of your mini-hompy etc...based on hits or popularity. that's a whole converstaion in itself.
--There are lots of examples nowadays of how internet popularity/participation resulted in actual direct tangible "rewards" offline as well. The most obvious would be the "(ul/mome/...)-jjang" craze (where people upload mobilephone pics of their face, body...whatever) and they get voted on.
Long story short, one campaign was run where netizens nominated their friends who they thought should be a "star" and via "whatever-jjang" voting.... these people actually won talent celebrity CONTRACTS and money (some became members of music groups,etc). There you have direct reward and fame for just participating in an online community. Other prizes were giving out to those with the most points for whathaveyou (active replying etc).
Also, i'm intersted in the beginnings of these sites, especially when it comes to launch advertising, and 'seeding' knowledge based systems with a pool of answers. Did this happen often? What type of advertising strategies were employed to launch the major community search sites?Soory to be asking so many questions, but its difficult for a non-asian languages speaker to get to the heart of the discussion!
Many thanks!
yikes! big topic. might have to put off till next time to answer fully...but......
knowledge search I've written about here a lot. its the most popular type of search here by far. All the big portals have their own. Naver started it...it caught on big time (this was what won Naver its huge search volume market share)...and everyone copied of course.
that is different story than how portals iniitially launched here though.
long story SHORT:
--Yahoo Korea was first. It got too comfortable being the only big gun around.
--Koreans, being Koreans, launched their own portals making it more "Korean".
--I have to check, don't remember well...but it was basically under a large mass advertising through major media channels, like TV and newspaper.
--Yahoo is slow is localizing here. (relatively better than it used to be nowadays but still much slower, imo).
This is big factor and will always be a factor keeping them from the top.
imo:
--too slow to adopt due to the long of the yahoo headquarters.
--its always YAHOO--ahem KOREA. ie. its not a Korean company...you know... "made in Korea". ie: Homegrown is "better and faster and more intune with the culture" etc etc. (the famous "line-extension" product position trap.)
ASIDE: this is and will be google's problem for a while to come here, imo (unless they sink some HEAVY dollars into advertising as "the simple/alternate search engine" to the portal hustleandbustle)
--Other portals are kicking yahoos butt.
--Duam got big from the popularity of its CAFES.
--Naver got big from its acquistion of HANGAME (gaming portal) and then solified its search dominance with the popularity of its KNOWLEDGE SEARCH.
--NATE/CYWORLD got big from its mini-hompies and mobiel integration savvy (owned by SK telecom--largest mobile phone telcom company here).
How did they launch?
well...unfortunately to be big...you have have to spend big....
Mass advertising (TV, newspaper, radio) WORK very effectively here as the penetration is so high...and the price tags along with it.
PR PR PR. Advertising Advertising Advertising. And they were first. heh.
Note: timing IS a factor, as the noise is an many Nth degrees greater now and so its obvioulsy relatively more expensive to launch big and/or be heard via other more target marketing or guerrilla mrting channels.
varies with the product/site of course. but in general.
---------------
ok...that should do it for now. Sorry for the ramble. Hope I didn't make too many grammer mistakes (didn't really have mind to edit much and really gotta run).
Feel free to keep asking questions if I wrote something that didn't make sense (again, grammar challenged sometimes ;))
oh and ...pre-apologies if I can't get to answering questions right away. ^^
[edited by: bill at 5:20 am (utc) on Sep. 13, 2005]
[edit reason] tidying up [/edit]
