Korea Online
Traffic of major portal and news sites decreased in 2013. Only Naver stood tall and maintained its grip on number one.
According to figures released by DMC Media on February 3, traffic for Naver, Korea’s top portal, increased by 0.4 percent, while those of Daum and Nate dropped by 2.4 percent and 21.5 percent, respectively.
Traffic for major news sites took a major hit, after their carrier, Naver, redesigned its front page and rearranged the appearance of major news listings. The Chosun Ilbo dropped 28.4 percent, MK Business News 32.6 percent, and The Dong-a Ilbo 21.3 percent. MoneyToday fell by 28.3 percent, dropping to fourth place. Hankyung.com and the Hankook Ilbo also lost 33.7 percent and 37.7 percent and dropped to fifth and sixth places, respectively.
Among top sites, only SBS saw its traffic gain. Joins.com took a nosedive with a 76.1 percent drop, as a result of the parent company’s split, which now has become Joins MSN. DMC Media pointed out in its report, “Major news sites losing stature was due to the end of the the newscast service on major portals, which took effect in April 2013.” It also wrote, “SBS, which is a site for a television network, was able to keep its traffic volume intact, as it rode on the popularity of its television content.”
The decrease in traffic became more vivid in the low-echelon news media, which is a sign that ads are disproportionately concentrated on top sites. DMC Media stated in its report, “Top major news sites’ ads make up 20 percent of the market.” Naver and Daum also saw increases in ads by a huge amount, and maintained the top two positions, but third place Nate dropped by 45 percent.