"Innovation or Misstep? Eyes on KakaoTalk and Webtoon’s 'Bold Attempt'"

Kakao has recently received mixed reviews after drastically revamping its webtoon service and KakaoTalk. While some praise the changes as innovative attempts, others among users point out that the updates have actually made the experience more inconvenient.

According to Kakao on the 24th, the KakaoTalk ‘View’ launched on the 3rd is a content curation service. Located in the third tab of KakaoTalk, it replaced the space originally edited for ‘Daum News’ and now includes a variety of content across 22 themes such as hobbies and culture, in addition to news. The ‘View Editor,’ an editor role, was also designed with a novel structure that allows for revenue generation.

The industry regards Kakao’s attempt as groundbreaking. Typically, in the IT sector, revamps are implemented gradually to allow users time to adapt. There is also analysis that Kakao took a bold move to compete with Naver. An industry insider said, "Kakao, which had a strong image of following Naver, seems to have succeeded in drawing attention this time." There are opinions that it served as a stimulus. Kim Jun-gu, CEO of Naver Webtoon, stated, "It is true that Kakao attracted attention," adding, "It had a positive influence by encouraging fresh attempts."

However, there are many harsh reviews of Kakao View in user ratings on Google Play and elsewhere. When searching for ‘Kakao View’ on portals, ‘Delete Kakao View’ even appears as a related search term. Users complain about the subscription system of View. To see content such as news, users must add desired fields and channels one by one and even register KakaoTalk Plus Friends. Moreover, there are consistent criticisms that the various contents are arranged haphazardly, making it inconvenient to view.

The situation is similar for Kakao Webtoon, which was expanded and revamped on the 1st. Despite promoting a bold UI/UX (user interface/user experience), users have many complaints about the black background, infinite scrolling, and payment policies. The animation effects are flashy but reduce readability.

Kakao stated that since it is still early in the revamp, they plan to continuously improve. A Kakao representative said, "Since there are so many diverse opinions, we are not overly affected by them," adding, "We will listen to various feedback and make improvements."