Kakao to end advertisement reward service in June > IT/과학기사 | it/science

South Korean platform giant Kakao Corp. will terminate t reward-based advertising service on its mobile messenger KakaoTalk in June 2024.

Kakao had added an app tech feature to KakaoTalk that provided points to retain users, but industry insiders noted that the move has failed to gain traction with the saturation of the app tech market, as financial companies and e-commerce platforms jump into the market, seen as a background factor. App tech refers to financial technology that uses smartphone applications.


According to the platform industry on Tuesday, Kakao will end the so-called “benefit accumulation” service on KakaoTalk on June 20th, 2024, just a year after its introduction in June 2023.

Benefit accumulation is a service that provides shopping points that can be used on Kakao Shopping when users add a channel of a business listed on KakaoTalk or sign up for membership. Users earn 200 to 300 points by adding a specific partner’s channel, for example.

The reason for the termination is the lower-than-expected usage. “The service did not expand as much as expected,” a Kakao official said, adding that it was a “strategic decision to end the service.”

The aim was to increase users’ time spent on KakaoTalk by adding app tech elements to enhance benefits, but Kakao’s monthly active users MAU only saw a slight increase. According to Kakao, KakaoTalk’s MAU was 48.7 million in the first quarter of 2024, up 240,000 from 48.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Kakao also aimed to attract more users through the service and expand advertisers to create additional revenue.

Sources also noted that the market is saturated thanks to a flood of app tech services and many platforms have been introducing various app tech elements, such as pedometers and mini games, since 2023.



E-commerce apps such as “Kurly” have also incorporated app tech elements alongside existing app tech specialized apps such as “Time Spread” and “Cash Walk.” According to Mobile Index statistics, however, the MAU of major app tech-related apps mostly declined in April 2024 compared to the end of the previous year.

“App tech is now an unavoidable strategy for attracting users,” an industry insider said. “From a business perspective, app tech involves spending money, which requires a considerable amount of deliberation.”

The competition is intensifying as more platforms adopt app tech, and Kakao’s Benefit Accumulation service struggled to find a distinctive edge in this process, sources said. Unlike other platforms that use experiential services or fun elements, Kakao’s service only provided points based on adding channels or signing up for sites.

“From a user experience perspective, additional benefits such as health or learning must be provided when using the platform to increase user retention,” Incheon National University processor of consumer studies Lee Young-ae said.

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