Under YouTube and TikTok Assault... Naver Strikes Back with Short-Form 'Clip'

Naver is launching a counterattack by bundling short-form (short video) content into 'Clips.' This move aims to reclaim market share lost to global platforms like YouTube Shorts and TikTok amid the surge in demand for videos around one minute long.

Naver recently named its short-form service 'Clip.' Currently, its short-form content is scattered across shopping, blogs, and other areas, but it will now be unified under one brand. This will provide content consistency and strengthen the newly added short-form tab in the Naver app.

To enhance Clip content, Naver has also started nurturing creators. Until the 7th of next month, it is recruiting creators to upload short-form content monthly on five themes: fashion, beauty, leisure & sports, hot places (Hot Places), and daily life. A total of 1 billion KRW will be supported through activity fees and awards for outstanding content. Additionally, Naver Shopping is operating the 'Short Clip Creation School' in partnership with the Small Enterprise and Market Service to help sellers produce short-form videos.

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Naver is strengthening short-form content because it has become a mainstream content trend. As TikTok, which shares videos lasting 15 seconds to 3 minutes, rapidly grows, platforms are reinforcing their short-form offerings. YouTube leads with its under-one-minute video service 'Shorts,' and Instagram promotes 'Reels.'

These platforms attract users with short-form content, threatening the domestic market. According to mobile big data platform IGAWorks' Mobile Index, last month YouTube's monthly active users (MAU) reached 40.95 million, closely trailing the top-ranked KakaoTalk at 41.45 million. Naver, ranked third, had 38.88 million users, widening the gap. Given this trend, it is predicted that YouTube will become the number one platform in South Korea for the first time this year. Since Instagram introduced Reels in February 2021, usage time among the 10-20 age group increased from 7.5 hours to 12.8 hours.

Younger generations are even using these platforms to search for information, encroaching on Naver’s core search service. According to the consumer data platform Open Survey’s 'Social Media & Search Portal Report 2023,' younger users tend to seek information on YouTube or Instagram. In the past week, 85.4% of teenagers chose YouTube as their platform for information search, and 56.5% chose Instagram. These figures rose by 3.3 and 2.4 percentage points respectively compared to the same period last year.

A Naver representative said, "We will expand our short-form service so that more creators and sellers can connect with users, and users can organically use Naver services such as short-form content, shopping, blogs, and maps."

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