[Fact Check] Are Naver Search Results Different Only for 'Choo Miae'?

Inclusion of Spaces During Keyword Entry Causes Aggregation Errors in User Preferences
Search Results May Differ Between PC and Mobile Devices
Order of Search Exposure Varies According to User Preferences

'Choo Miae' Search Results Before Correction (Left) and After Correction

[Asia Economy, reporter Lee Jingyu] Naver announced on September 21 that it had corrected an error in its search aggregation system after suspicions were raised regarding search results for Minister of Justice Choo Miae.

Some in the political sphere pointed out that when searching for 'Choo Miae' on the Naver mobile application, the order of tabs displayed at the top differed from those for other politicians, and that search results did not automatically appear when entering the name using an English keyboard layout.

Why did the search keyword aggregation error occur?

Won Sungjae, the lead developer in charge of Naver's search development, explained, "There was an error in the process of aggregating user click data," and added, "We found errors not only for Minister Choo's name but also for some other keywords, so we urgently began correcting them and completed the work around 12:50 a.m. on the 20th."

This error occurred because invisible spaces were included when users copied and pasted certain search keywords. For example, when searching for 'Hong Gildong', click data for 'Hong Gildong', '(space or special character) Hong Gildong', and 'Hong Gildong (space or special character)' should all be aggregated, but only the click data for '(space) Hong Gildong' was being counted due to the error.

Did the aggregation error occur only for the keyword 'Choo Miae'?

Naver also reported that this error occurred not only for Minister Choo but also for other politicians, celebrities, and even common nouns. Won explained, "After investigating, we found that the error frequently occurred for keywords that were copied and pasted into the search box, instead of being typed directly in consonants and vowels," and continued, "Invisible space codes were included during the copy-paste process, and recently, this method of use has caused errors for many keywords." He added, "For tab order, if the number of queries and clicks exceeds a certain threshold, the order is automatically adjusted based on user responses."

Why were English auto-conversion results not displayed for 'Choo Miae'?

Regarding why English auto-conversion results did not appear immediately, Won explained that when 'Choo Miae' is typed using an English keyboard, it becomes 'cnaldo', which is used to refer to the famous Portuguese football player Cristiano Ronaldo. English auto-conversion means that when a user searches for a Korean word but enters it using the English keyboard layout, the system automatically provides Korean search results. For example, if a user wants to search for 'sagwa' (apple) and types 'tkrhk' on an English keyboard, the search results for 'sagwa' will still appear.

Won stated, "When a keyword entered in English coincidentally has meaning as an English word, the system asks the user whether to search using the English word or the Korean word," and explained, "The keyword 'cnaldo', which results from typing 'Choo Miae' on an English keyboard, falls into this category." He added, "This is because the term is often used to refer to Cristiano Ronaldo in online gaming communities and elsewhere," and "In fact, when searching for 'Cnaldo', a large number of related contents can be found."

"Search results may differ between PC and Naver mobile"

Naver further explained that search results may differ between PC and mobile devices. The company stated, "Even with the same search keyword, results may differ between mobile and PC environments," and explained, "This is due to differences in search patterns between mobile environments such as smartphones and tablets, and PC environments." Naver added, "We provide search results optimized for the user's environment to reflect these differences," and "If you want to see the same search results on mobile as on PC, you can use the 'PC version' link at the bottom of the search results page to view the same content on your mobile device."

"Search result order varies according to user search preferences"

Additionally, Naver stated that the order in which integrated search results are displayed may vary depending on user search preferences. The company explained, "The order of integrated search results is determined by the system to best reflect user demands, and the results are frequently updated according to user preferences." Naver further stated, "The reason why the search results for the same keyword may differ from one day to the next is because user search demands are constantly changing," and explained, "For example, User A may see the order VIEW-News-Image, while User B may see News-VIEW-Image, as the order of sections displayed can differ depending on each user's search preferences."