"Famous Restaurants? Naver For You Helps You Find Your Own Favorite Spots"

Naver Airspace Team Interview

AI-Based 'Airspace'
Analyzing Metadata Such as Menu, Atmosphere, and Visit Purpose
Patent Filed for Location Recommendation System
Customized Evolution of Naver Search

Naver AiRSPACE team leader Jin-ho Kim (center) and researchers Jae-hoon Kim (left) and Young-hwan Jeon

In the future, the hassle of having to sift through blog and cafe posts when searching for popular restaurants is expected to disappear. This is because Naver has advanced its artificial intelligence (AI) engine technology to provide recommendations automatically. Naver is also gradually evolving the results shown on its ‘Chorokchang’ (Green Window) to become more personalized for each individual.

AI Finds Your Preferences and Recommends

According to Naver on the 14th, it has established a new ‘For You’ tab since last month and is conducting a beta service. The For You tab provides restaurant search results tailored for the user. Kim Jin-ho, leader of Naver’s AiRSPACE team, explained in an interview with Asia Economy, "It shows restaurant search results that match the user’s preferences, age, gender, and time of day." This service is made possible thanks to Naver’s place recommendation AI technology called ‘AiRSPACE.’

The AiRSPACE team collects ‘preference data’ based on the traces users leave on Naver to understand their tastes and identify similar businesses to recommend. Researcher Kim Jae-hoon explained, "We collect data such as likes clicked on Naver services, places saved for future visits, and reviews." Then, based on this data, the process of finding businesses that match the user’s preferences takes place. The AiRSPACE team utilizes a graph-based deep learning model. It analyzes ‘metadata’ related to restaurants such as menus, atmosphere, and visit purposes to find places similar to those preferred by the user. This metadata is connected and represented as a single graph. Naver has continuously enhanced the AiRSPACE engine, enabling ‘hyper-personalized’ recommendations centered on users’ age, gender, and preferences. Researcher Jeon Young-hwan added, "We are also preparing to file a patent for this preference-based place recommendation system."

Naver’s ‘For You’ also has the effect of increasing exposure frequency for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Previously, neighborhood stores that were overshadowed by highly ranked famous restaurants can now be exposed to users as preference recommendations are reflected. The number of businesses receiving clicks solely through AiRSPACE reaches about 20,000 per day. Leader Kim said, "For example, a shabby gukbap (soup with rice) restaurant might not appear in integrated search results, but for a certain user in their 50s, it could be shown as the top result." SMEs in local areas are important to Naver’s business. For Naver, where search result quality is crucial, SMEs are both users and information producers of local data. When they use services like Smart Place to upload menu information to help their business, users can access more and better information on Naver, creating a virtuous cycle that helps Naver maintain its search competitiveness.

Evolving into Preference-Discovery ‘Search’

Naver is applying various AI engines to its core service, ‘Integrated Search,’ gradually transforming it into a ‘personalized’ experience. In the AI search brand ‘Air Search,’ current trends and individual interests are reflected. Personalized results that help discover user preferences are provided in various forms as ‘Smart Blocks.’ Naver plans to expand Smart Blocks, which currently make up about 10% of search results, to around 30% this year. In particular, it will expand from existing topics like shopping to local themes such as ‘places good for dating.’ Leader Kim said, "We plan to focus on Smart Blocks this year," adding, "When searching for geographic information, we will provide a ‘discovery-type search’ service that allows users to explore related themes."

Competing with YouTube, Google, and others, it remains to be seen whether Naver can capture the hearts of future customers, the MZ generation (Millennials and Generation Z). Among For You users, nearly half are in their 20s. Leader Kim said, "We believe For You can attract users in their 20s and 30s," and added, "It will serve as a connecting link that allows various SMEs to meet diverse users."