‘실적 반등’ 카카오…하반기엔 ‘무더기 별점 1’ 카톡 신뢰 회복 나선다

Kakao has made history by achieving its highest-ever quarterly profitability in the second half of the year, thanks to a surge in ad and e-commerce operations. The upcoming half-year will see the company implement its 'user-first' strategy, aiming to soothe public opinion and rebuild user trust after a major overhaul of KakaoTalk.

On December 12th, Kakao launched the 'Kakao Now' page to engage with users and communicate about improvements. Following the September 2022 overhaul, the company has been actively incorporating user feedback, starting in October, into sequential service updates. Last year, Kakao underwent its 15th anniversary as an app, introducing short-form content and transforming the 'friends' tab into a feed format to increase user engagement time.

However, the overhaul resulted in backlash, with users rating the app a '1-star' on the app market. Despite the negative response, Kakao's advertising revenue expanded, leading the company to declare the second quarter as its highest-ever performance. CFO Shin Young-hwan described the platform business based on KakaoTalk as having "re-entered a structural growth phase."

The remaining challenge for Kakao is rebuilding user trust, as it is closely tied to the service's competitive advantage. Kakao's CEO emphasized that the ultimate goal is to prioritize user preference and trust in all major decision-making processes, from service planning to development and launch. A Kakao spokesperson noted that the company learned from the previous overhaul that applying service changes all at once is ineffective, and moving forward, they plan to implement new features monthly through regular updates.