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KakaoTalk

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KakaoTalk
카카오톡
Developer(s)Kakao Corp.
Initial releaseMarch 18, 2010; 14 years ago (2010-03-18)
Operating systemiOS, macOS, Android, Bada, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, Windows NT, Nokia Asha, WatchOS, Wear OS
Available in15 languages
List of languages
Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese, Turkish
TypeMessaging app
LicenseFreeware
Websitekakaocorp.com/service/KakaoTalk

KakaoTalk (Korean: 카카오톡), commonly referred to as KaTalk (Korean: 카톡) in South Korea, is an instant messenger and online services platform operated by Kakao Corporation.[1] It was launched in 2010 and the app is available on mobile and desktop platforms. Originally designed for messaging, it has evolved into becoming a super-app providing mobile payments and banking, taxi hailing, games and others.[1]

As of August 2022, KakaoTalk had 53 million monthly active users, 47 million inside Korea.[2] It is available in 15 languages.[3] The app is used by 93% of smartphone owners in South Korea, where it is the most widely used instant messenging app.[4]

History

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Before becoming a communication empire, Kakao started with KakaoTalk, an instant messaging application in March 2010, and followed up with a social media network that integrated with the messenger app. Kakao’s next step into Korea’s lifestyle habits was to tap into one of the top mobile gaming markets in the world.[5]

KakaoGames, a gaming platform that integrated into the KakaoTalk app. The addition of KakaoGames, allowed users to connect and play with their offline friends all through the convenience of the Kakao network. When riding the subway or bus, you can see people playing Anipang, one of Kakao’s most classic games or Cookie Run Online, one of their more recent titles. KakaoTalk was nominated for the Most Innovative Mobile App Award at the Global Mobile Awards 2014.[6]

Kakao has taken steps to make KakaoTalk a safer platform. In December 2020, KakaoTalk introduced Safebot, an AI-based comment-filtering function. The function automatically filters comments that violate KakaoTalk’s operational policies such as profanity. Profanity is covered with musical notes, and comments that may be offensive are marked with a warning.[7]

According to a press release published by Kakao on December 14, 2022, the quality of KakaoTalk comment culture has improved since the introduction of Safebot. From the second half of 2020 before the introduction of Safebot to 2022, comments containing profanity were reduced by one-third. In the same time period, the proportion of abusive comments reported by users among all comments decreased from 4.2% to 2.4%.[8]

Kakao is set to roll out an “AI commerce MD” feature in the fourth quarter, which will assist users in selecting gifts on KakaoTalk, further advancing AI-based enhancements to bolster user interaction on the platform. These changes are ultimately aimed at boosting engagement, driving growth in Kakao’s advertising and commerce businesses, as well as laying the groundwork for future ventures.[9]

Service

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Free calling and messaging service

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KakaoTalk provides free calling and messaging services. Like most of its type, the user is able to share photos, videos, voice messages, locations, webpage links, and contact information.[10] Users are able to create one-on-one conversations, as well as group chats with no limit on users. It allows the user to synchronize contact lists to connect to friends who also use the service, among other options that provide this service.[11]

Search for friends by KakaoTalk ID

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The app automatically synchronizes the user's contact list on their smartphones with the contact list on the app to find friends who are on the service. Users can also search for friends by KakaoTalk ID without having to know their phone numbers. The KakaoTalk service also allows its users to export their messages and save them.[12]

Plus Friend

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KakaoTalk began as a messenger service but has become a platform for the distribution of various third-party content and apps, including hundreds of games, which users can download and play with their friends through the messaging platform.[13] Through the "Plus Friend" feature, users can follow brands, media and celebrities to receive exclusive messages, coupons and other real-time information through KakaoTalk chatrooms. Users can also purchase real-life goods through the messenger's "Gifting" platform.[14]

Kakao Pay

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Main article: KakaoPay

Kakao Pay is a mobile payment and digital wallet service by Kakao based in South Korea that allows users make mobile payments and online transactions.[15] The payment service first launched on September 4, 2014 with integration with their messaging app, KakaoTalk, allowing people to request and send money to people in their contacts.[16] Since its launch, Kakao has expanded into other financial services by launching their own online bank called KakaoBank and releasing their own debit card.[17] In April 2017, KakaoPay Co., Ltd. was established to run the payment services operated by the company.

Emoticon Plus

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On January 13, 2021, KakaoTalk released an emoticon monthly fixed-rate service. "Emoticon Plus" is a service that allows unlimited use of Kakao's selected collection of emoticons for ₩6,900 per month. After subscribing to 'KakaoTalk Wallet', users purchase Emoticon Plus through the wallet platform rather than through in-app payment.[18]

Company business model

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Main article: Kakao

KakaoTalk, a free mobile messenger application for smartphones, revealed its first profits of $42 million in 2012 and $200 million in revenue for 2013. With 93% of South Korea's population using KakaoTalk on their smartphones, Kakao Corp. has provided users a large range of services including games and retail commerce.[19]

KakaoTalk API

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KakaoTalk made its platform API available for developers. A user administration-based API and a push-based API are currently available, and an analytic API is planned for release.[20]

Influence

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Korean

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A solitary chat room is a kind of open chat room, where many anonymous people gather to talk about specific topics, communicating only with images, without using text or emoticons. In other words, it is making a story out of images only. Similar chat rooms have sprung up as an open chat room that exchanges food pictures without a word became popular. As the popularity of the celebrity themed "solitary chat rooms" grew, celebrities went into the chat room themselves.[21]

International

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KakaoTalk is available in 15 languages and used in over 130 countries.[22] On July 26, 2011, Kakao Corp. established Japanese Corp., Kakao Japan and appointed Cha-Jin Park as a representative. According to company officials, the app appears to be very actively used in Japan.[23] When a massive earthquake hit Japan on March 11, 2011, KakaoTalk's messaging traffic in Japan surged as millions of people sought to confirm the safety of friends and family. KakaoTalk played an important role as a data network-based communication method; it successfully replaced disabled wired and wireless networks and helped connect the disaster-stricken.[24]

KakaoTalk has targeted countries in Southeast Asia where no dominant mobile messenger service stands. KakaoTalk is forming strategic partnerships in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, as well.[25] In 2013, KakaoTalk began airing TV commercials in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam featuring Big Bang. In the ads, local celebrities and BigBang appear together to promote KakaoTalk.[26] In late 2013, Indonesia became the country with the second-most users of KakaoTalk, after South Korea, with 13 million users and the potential to become KakaoTalk's largest market worldwide. The former co-CEO of KakaoTalk, Sirgoo Lee, stated "We grew our user base by more than 25 times in one year, so hopefully, we will continue at that rate." KakaoTalk has tailored their service to the local environment by collaborating with local designers and companies to generate "Indonesian-specific content".[27] In February 2014, KakaoTalk launched for Nokia Asha 500, 501, 502, and 503 devices, expanding its reach to users of a wider audience.[28]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Che, Chang; Young, Jin Yu (2022-10-19). "South Korean Super App Goes Down, Putting a Halt on Life". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-08-02.
  2. ^ "South Korea's President Yoon calls for quick resumption of popular messaging, portal services after fire | the Straits Times". The Straits Times. 16 October 2022.
  3. ^ "KakaoTalk on the App Store". App Store. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  4. ^ Nay, Josh Robert (23 December 2013). "Kakaotalk on 93 Percent of Smartphones in South Korea, Expecting $200 Million in Revenue". TruTower. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  5. ^ igon@bizwatch.co.kr, 임일곤 기자 (2015-10-23). "카카오톡안의 내 공간…'나와의 채팅'". 비즈니스워치 (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-11-08.
  6. ^ matthew (2014-02-03). "KakaoTalk Nominated for Most Innovative Mobile App Award at Global Mobile Awards 2014". Businesskorea (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-10-13.
  7. ^ "카카오 "AI '세이프봇' 적용 후 욕설 댓글 3분의1로 줄어"". 다음 - 데일리안. Retrieved 2024-11-08.
  8. ^ "카카오, 뉴스 댓글 서비스에 '세이프봇' 적용 성과 공개". kakaocorp.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2023-01-09.
  9. ^ "Kakao to boost profitability with KakaoTalk AI, subscription models". 다음 - 매일경제. Retrieved 2024-11-08.
  10. ^ igon@bizwatch.co.kr, 임일곤 기자 (2015-10-23). "카카오톡안의 내 공간…'나와의 채팅'". 비즈니스워치 (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-10-18.
  11. ^ 최민영 (2021-01-14). "카카오 첫 구독 서비스…딩동~ 이모티콘 왔어요". 한겨레 (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-10-18.
  12. ^ "KakaoTalk TruTower". 2013-02-06. Retrieved 2013-02-06.
  13. ^ "Korean Messaging App Kakao Talk's Games Platform Grossed $311 Million in H1 2013". 2013-07-16. Retrieved 2014-04-23.
  14. ^ Cheng, Jonathan (2014-02-26). "South Korea's Kakao Pushes Boundaries of Social Media". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2014-04-21.
  15. ^ TechForKorea. "Kakao Pay Launches Mobile Authentication Service, 'Kakao Pay Authentication' | Korean Startups News". www.techforkorea.com. Retrieved 2018-02-12.
  16. ^ "KakaoTalk goes into the mobile payment business with KakaoPay". Tech in Asia. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  17. ^ "Kakao Corp to launch debit cards to compete in offline payment market". The Korea Herald. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  18. ^ 윤, 민혁 (2021-01-13). "카카오톡, 구독 서비스 '이모티콘 플러스' 출시... 월 3,900원". 서울경제 (in Korean). Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  19. ^ "Kakao". kakaocorp.com (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-10-18.
  20. ^ "KakaoDevelopers API". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-06-11.
  21. ^ "말 한마디 없이 무척 시끄러운… '고독한 채팅방' 아시나요". kmib.co.kr. 2018-03-12. Archived from the original on 2018-03-18. Retrieved 2024-10-25.
  22. ^ "KakaoTalk CEO Talks of Innovation". The Korea Herald. 2014-02-24. Retrieved 2014-04-21.
  23. ^ Koo, Bonguon. "KakaoTalk, Going into the World 카카오톡, 세계로 간다." Hani.co.kr. Korean Daily Hankyoreh, 26 July 2011.
  24. ^ Lee, Jung-Ah. "Korean Mobile App Helps Connect People After Quake." Wall Street Journal Korea RealTime, 28 March 2011. Web. 08 Apr. 2013.
  25. ^ "Kakao Close to Signing Morgan Stanley, Samsung Securities as IPO Advisers". The Wall Street Journal. 2014-02-19. Retrieved 2014-04-23.
  26. ^ "KakaoTalk Offers Rare Sight of True Innovation". BusinessKorea. 2014-04-21. Archived from the original on 2014-04-25. Retrieved 2014-04-23.
  27. ^ "KakaoTalk Seeks to Boost Market Penetration in Indonesia". The Jakarta Post=2013-12-16. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  28. ^ "Mobile Messaging App KakaoTalk Is Now Available for Nokia Asha Phones". The Korea Herald. 2014-02-17. Retrieved 2014-04-21.
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