Google suspends popular search service in Korea
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Google did not elaborate on the reason and timing of its discontinuation of real-time popular searches in South Korea.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
SEOUL – US tech giant Google has recently discontinued offering real-time popular searches in South Korea, a feature long banned by its Korean rivals such as Naver and Daum due to the possibility of manipulating public opinion.
“We have decided to remove the feature from Google Search in Korea. The feature is no longer available here,” Google Korea said in a statement on July 17. No further elaboration on the reason and timing of the suspension was given.
Naver and Daum suspended their popular search term features in 2020 and 2021 respectively, amid mounting pressures that these could be abused to manipulate public opinion during politically sensitive periods such as elections.
Google started providing daily trending searches via its Google Trends feature globally, and the real-time service only became available in South Korea late in June. Daily trending searches remain available.
“Despite Korea making up a tiny 1 per cent of Google’s traffic flow, it may be well aware of the negative sentiment towards real-time search terms,” an industry source said.
“With the latest decision, concerns about the possible reverse discrimination against Naver and Daum have also been relieved.”
The source, however, said the feature could have boosted Google’s traffic in South Korea, which is dominated by the two Korean portals. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
