Ads appear in open chats, and 'Likes' are left on profile pictures... KakaoTalk is changing drastically

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] KakaoTalk will transform its appearance in the second half of the year. KakaoTalk will strengthen features that share daily life, similar to Instagram and Facebook, moving beyond its current real-time conversation-centered service. Additionally, advertising and commerce areas will expand, including the integration of advertising business into Open Chat.

Namgoong Hoon, CEO of Kakao, said at the Kakao Q2 earnings conference call on the 4th, "The profile area has been a space where I unilaterally express myself, but through a revamp within this year, when friends discover my profile, it will become an interactive space where they can leave a 'thumbs up' on the status message or fun emoticons, enabling mutual communication."

To overcome the limitations of KakaoTalk, the plan is to expand from the current real-time communication-centered service to a more casual, non-purposeful interaction service where users can engage more lightly.

CEO Namgoong added, "Events where you want to receive congratulations or comfort can be expressed in the profile space, and without the burden of continuing a conversation, users will be able to leave empathy marks or easily send gifts within the profile area."

While strengthening connections with acquaintances through profiles, for those who are not acquaintances, the independently launched 'Open Link' will take charge. He said, "Open Chat will be launched as an independent app called Open Link to solidify the domestic base and plan overseas expansion." He added, "I look forward to meeting webtoons on Kakao Webtoon Open Link and discussing works."

CEO Namgoong also announced enhancements to KakaoTalk's advertising and commerce functions. A representative feature is the advertising service introduced in Open Chat.

Namgoong explained, "Starting in the second half of the year, we plan to introduce search and content ads in interest-based Open Chats and improve their completeness. We will also consider and experiment with products that advertisers would find attractive in places where user interests gather, such as shopping within KakaoTalk or local searches through KakaoMap."

He diagnosed, "A fundamental improvement needed is shifting from image-based ads to video-based ads. The biggest reason advertisers have not allocated a large portion of their budgets is the lack of expansion in video advertising."

Furthermore, there are plans to expand touchpoints for KakaoTalk's 'Gift' feature to increase commerce revenue. CEO Namgoong said, "After displaying the birthday friend area on the first tab of KakaoTalk, Gift has achieved high growth. Although there was a lack of connection points between events worth celebrating or comforting and Gift, we will increase these."