Report Reveals Search In South Korea
July 1st, 2010
A recent Reform Digital report has unearthed the interesting search market in South Korea.
South Korea is extremely digitally advanced, and has often been ahead of the western world in terms of internet development. 95% of homes have broadband access, and the country was one of the first to receive TV via the internet.
The report found that Google accounts for less than 5% of the search engine market share in South Korea, and it’s local search engines Naver and Daum which hold 77% and 11% respectively.
PPC and paid advertising are hugely prevalent in South Korea, in fact the report states that ‘natural search plays little or no role in this market’, and SEO is more about social media saturation than content or link-building as it is on Google.
Social networks are big news in South Korea. CyWorld is the most popular, with over 90% of adults having accounts. As in China, Facebook and Twitter are barely heard of, and local social network sites and online communities are far more popular. Virtual goods have managed to generate a lot of revenue for social networking sites, and users can buy ‘add-ons’ for their social networking profiles. It is here that social networks are seen as more successful than those in the West in terms of financial gain. CyWorld is a very popular advertising platform, and brands engage users by including interactive advertisements.
http://www.netimperative.com/news/2010/june/south-korea-search-market-review-a-nation-of-web/
