Kakao to Remove 'Daum' News Algorithm Recommendation and Ranking Service

Next News, Transition to Subscription Service Model

Photo by Kakao

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] Kakao will end the Daum news article ranking and arrangement service starting with mobile in January next year. After the mobile application, it will be sequentially introduced to the PC version.

On the 24th, Kakao held an 'Online Briefing Session on Daum News Service Reorganization' for content partner media companies and disclosed this plan.

Kakao will terminate the algorithm recommendation and ranking-based news service provided on Daum. Instead, it will introduce a 'subscription-based service.' In August, Kakao launched the curation service 'View' on KakaoTalk, and from mid-January next year, it plans to expand the 'View' service to mobile Daum as well.

'View' is a service where anyone can act as an editor to publish differentiated content with their own perspective and consume content tailored to their preferences.

Kakao will create a new 'Discover' tab on Daum and also develop 'My View,' where users can view only the boards of channels they have subscribed to. For existing news service users and media companies, an additional 'News' tab will be provided, allowing subscription to boards exclusively from media companies. Media companies can directly edit various types of articles such as news, photos, and videos and publish them in the form of 'boards.'

So far, major domestic portals have been criticized for issues such as misuse of real-time search terms and news algorithm manipulation, especially from political circles. In response, Kakao has continuously pursued news service reorganization. Last year, it abolished real-time issue search terms, and in March this year, it provided a media selection feature on Daum News, followed by this complete overhaul announcement.

A Kakao official said, "Through this reorganization, we aim to go beyond content distribution and create an ecosystem where media companies can build relationships with subscribers, communicate interactively, and form bonds." He added, "We will continuously develop the service by introducing relational tools and paid models to enable various content businesses in the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.