Daum’s market share in the internet search market has significantly declined, leading to a historic shift in rankings as Bing surpasses it for the first time since tracking began in 2010.
According to Internet Trend, a web log analysis site, Daum’s internet search market share decreased by 1.19 percentage points (P) from 4.64% on Jan. 1 this year to 3.45% on the 15 of this month.
On the other hand, Bing’s market share increased by 2.2 percentage points from 1.79% on this year to 3.99% over the same period. This marks the first time since Internet Trend began tracking the domestic internet search market share in Jan. 2010 that the rankings of Daum and Bing have reversed.
Last year, Bing incorporated Microsoft’s generative AI assistant, ‘Copilot,’ into its search functionality. Copilot can summarize and analyze web pages and various document materials based on user commands. It continuously learns the latest information from the web in real-time, providing instant answers to recent news and new issues.
In contrast, Daum has not yet integrated AI search capabilities into its portal. The in-house independent company (CIC) responsible for Daum’s portal business within Kakao is focusing on developing generative AI-based search functions but has not yet achieved results. A Kakao representative stated, ‘We are conducting technical and business reviews regarding new search services using AI.”
Naver regained a 60% market share in just ten months after launching its AI search service ‘Cue:’ on its PC integrated search bar last December. ‘Cue:’ features the ability to input complex and lengthy queries conversationally, with AI summarizing and providing the desired results. It also connects users to customized services such as shopping and local (regional) information.
In May, Google applied its generative AI, Gemini, to its portal search. Gemini can answer complex questions and present search results in various formats, such as images and videos. It analyzes information within photos and provides insights to users.
Choi Byung-ho, a professor at Korea University’s Human-inspired Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, commented, “The dominance of big tech’s AI is shaking the position of domestic search engines. While Naver and Kakao may not be able to outperform Google and Microsoft immediately, they need to focus on developing specialized AI models and maintaining their market share.”
