Daum (daum.net)
South Korea's long-running web portal, now part of the Kakao ecosystem.
Daum at a glance
Daum is a technology website and one of the most visited sites in South Korea, currently ranked #2 in the country. It was founded in 1995 by Lee Jae-woong and is headquartered in Jeju / Seongnam, South Korea. Today Daum is owned by Kakao Corp. Our estimates put its audience at ≈ 220 million visits per month. The business earns money mainly through display and search advertising, daum shopping affiliate commissions, news content licensing. Its closest rivals include Naver, Zum, Google Korea.
Traffic statistics
Traffic history
| Period | Visits | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | ≈ 225 million / month | -1% |
| Q2 | ≈ 220 million / month | -2% |
| Q3 | ≈ 215 million / month | -2% |
| Q4 | ≈ 220 million / month | +2% |
Traffic sources
- Direct45%
- Organic search27%
- Referral12%
- Social9%
- Paid & other7%
Audience & demographics
- Men54%
- Women46%
- Age 18-2410%
- Age 25-3420%
- Age 35-5442%
- Age 55+28%
Daum's audience skews slightly older than Naver's, retaining loyal long-term users of its email, cafe communities and news aggregation dating back to the early 2000s.
Geographic reach
- South Korea91%
- United States3%
- Japan1%
- Other5%
SEO profile
- Organic keywords
- ≈ 2.5 million
- Estimated organic traffic
- ≈ 55 million visits / month
- Strongest clusters
- News aggregation, webtoons, cafes
Top organic keywords
| Keyword | Position | Volume | Traffic share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 다음 | 1 | Very high | — |
| 다음 뉴스 | 1 | High | — |
| daum mail | 1 | Medium | — |
| 다음 카페 | 1 | Medium | — |
Backlink profile
- Referring domains
- ≈ 600,000
- Link profile
- Widely linked from Korean cafes, blogs and news sites
Top referral sources
- Direct45%
- KakaoTalk15%
- Google12%
- Naver (cross-search)8%
- Other20%
Technology stack
Website technologies
Advertising & analytics technologies
Daum runs on Kakao's shared cloud and advertising infrastructure, benefiting from cross-platform data with KakaoTalk and Kakao's other services.
Mobile app statistics
- App downloads (cumulative)
- ≈ 10 million+
Company information
- Website
- daum.net
- Sector
- Technology
- Owner
- Kakao Corp
- Owner type
- Subsidiary of a public company (KRX: 035720)
- Founders
- Lee Jae-woong
- Founded
- 1995
- Headquarters
- Jeju / Seongnam, South Korea
- Employees
- ≈ 1,000 (Daum-focused teams within Kakao)
- Ownership
- Wholly owned subsidiary of Kakao Corp since the 2014 Daum-Kakao merger
- Valuation
- Not separately valued; integrated into Kakao's overall market capitalisation of ≈ USD 8-10 billion
- Revenue
- Contributes to Kakao's portal/advertising segment, estimated at several hundred billion KRW annually
- Languages
- Korean
- Top traffic sources
- Direct navigation, organic search, KakaoTalk integrations
Ownership, investors & funding history
| Date | Round | Amount | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Founded as Daum Communications | N/A | — |
| 2014 | Merger with Kakao | N/A | Kakao Corp |
Financials
- Kakao portal/talk biz segment revenue
- Included within Kakao's multi-trillion KRW group revenue
Business model & revenue
Daum operates as a legacy web portal offering search, news, email and community services, monetised chiefly through advertising and integrated into Kakao's broader ad and content ecosystem.
- Display and search advertising
- Daum Shopping affiliate commissions
- News content licensing
- Daum Cafe community advertising
Products & services
Web and mobile search engine.
Aggregated news portal.
Long-running online community platform.
Free webmail service.
Webcomic platform integrated with Kakao content.
Related deals on Amazon
As an Amazon Associate, Global Site Index earns from qualifying purchases.
Seller ecosystem
- Advertisers
- Tens of thousands of Korean SMEs and brands via Kakao Ads
International presence
- Kakao group
- Parent company operates KakaoTalk, KakaoPay and KakaoBank
Employee statistics
Customer statistics
API & developer information
- Kakao Developers API
- Search, maps and login APIs shared across Kakao/Daum services
Website rankings
- South Korea portal traffic
- #2 after Naver
Main competitors
Website comparisons
| Website | Monthly visits | Rank | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Naver | Roughly one quarter of Naver's traffic | — | Naver leads the portal market |
Overview
Daum is one of South Korea's oldest and most recognisable web portals, offering search, news, email and community services, now operated as a subsidiary brand of Kakao Corp.
Traffic Statistics
Daum.net draws an estimated 220 million monthly visits, with average sessions of around six minutes across roughly five pages, reflecting its role as a secondary but well-established portal.
Traffic Sources
Direct navigation makes up the largest share of traffic, followed by organic search, with KakaoTalk integrations helping funnel additional visits from Kakao's messaging ecosystem.
Audience & Demographics
Daum's audience skews slightly older than rival Naver, retaining loyal long-time users of its email and cafe community products first launched in the late 1990s.
Geographic Reach
Around 91% of traffic originates in South Korea, with small overseas audiences among Korean communities in the United States and Japan.
SEO Profile
Daum ranks for roughly 2.5 million Korean keywords, particularly strong in news aggregation, webtoon and community-related searches.
Technology Stack
Daum runs on Java and Kotlin services hosted on Kakao's shared cloud infrastructure, with React front ends and Nginx serving traffic.
Social Media Statistics
Daum maintains modest official YouTube and Facebook followings, with most social engagement flowing through Kakao's broader platforms.
Mobile App Statistics
The Daum app has surpassed 10 million cumulative downloads, remaining a steady presence in Korea's app stores.
Company Information
Founded in 1995 as Daum Communications, the portal is now operated by Kakao Corp with roughly 1,000 employees focused on Daum-branded services.
Ownership & Investors
Daum has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Kakao Corp since the 2014 Daum-Kakao merger, which later led to the renaming of the combined company as Kakao Corp.
Financials
Daum's financial results are folded into Kakao's portal and advertising business segment rather than reported separately.
Business Model
Daum monetises primarily through display and search advertising, complemented by shopping affiliate commissions and news content licensing, integrated with Kakao's advertising stack.
Products & Services
Core products include Daum Search, Daum News, Daum Cafe communities, Daum Mail webmail and Daum Webtoon.
Competitors
Key competitors include Naver, the smaller portal Zum, and Google Korea.
Company History & Milestones
From its 1995 founding and the 1997 launch of Hanmail webmail through the 2014 merger with Kakao, Daum has evolved from an independent portal into a legacy brand within the Kakao ecosystem.
Latest News
Kakao continues integrating Daum News further into the KakaoTalk messaging app to sustain engagement with the portal's content.
User Reviews & Ratings
Daum is viewed as a reliable, nostalgic portal that has lost significant ground to Naver but retains a loyal niche audience, especially for its cafe communities.
Pros & Cons
Pros: established brand, strong community features, Kakao ecosystem integration. Cons: declining market share, perceived as a legacy product, smaller advertiser base than Naver.
Key Statistics
≈220 million monthly visits, founded in 1995, and owned by Kakao Corp since 2014.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who owns Daum? Kakao Corp, following the 2014 Daum-Kakao merger. Is Daum still popular? Yes, it remains a top Korean website, though it trails Naver significantly in traffic.
Data Sources
Kakao Corp Annual Report and Similarweb estimates.
Last Updated
September 2026
Related Websites
Naver, Kakao and Zum.
Website Rankings
#2 among South Korean web portals, behind Naver.
Revenue & Funding History
Daum Communications was founded independently in 1995 and merged with Kakao in 2014, after which its results have been reported as part of Kakao's consolidated financials.
Employee Statistics
Roughly 1,000 employees within Kakao focus specifically on Daum-branded products and services.
Customer Statistics
Daum reaches approximately 15 million monthly active users within South Korea.
Backlink Profile
Daum.net has around 600,000 referring domains, widely linked from Korean cafes, blogs and news sites.
Top Organic Keywords
Leading keywords include "다음", "다음 뉴스", "daum mail" and "다음 카페".
Top Referral Sources
Direct traffic leads, followed by KakaoTalk shares, Google and cross-search traffic from Naver users.
Website Technologies
Java, Kotlin, Kakao Cloud infrastructure, Nginx and React front ends.
Advertising & Analytics Technologies
Kakao's advertising platform, Kakao Moment, and partner integrations with Google Ad Manager.
API & Developer Information
Kakao Developers provides shared search, maps and login APIs used across both Daum and Kakao services.
International Seller Opportunities
Advertisers can reach Daum's audience through Kakao's unified advertising platform, spanning Daum, KakaoTalk and other Kakao services.
Company history & milestones
- 1995
Daum Communications founded
- 1997
Hanmail free webmail service launched
- 1999
Daum Cafe community platform launched
- 2014
Merger with Kakao forms Daum Kakao
- 2015
Company renamed Kakao Corp
- 2026
Daum continues as Kakao's legacy portal brand
Latest news
- Kakao integrates Daum News further into KakaoTalkKakao Newsroom · 2026
Pros & cons
Pros
- Long-established trusted portal brand
- Strong community features via Daum Cafe
- Integration with the wider Kakao ecosystem
- Popular news aggregation service
Cons
- Losing market share to Naver over the past decade
- Perceived as a legacy product within Kakao
- Smaller advertiser base than Naver
- Less investment in new feature development
Key statistics
Frequently asked questions
Who owns Daum?
Daum is owned by Kakao Corp, following the 2014 Daum-Kakao merger.
Is Daum still popular in Korea?
It remains a top-five Korean website, though it trails Naver significantly in traffic.
Popular searches
Data sources & confidence
- Kakao Corp Annual ReportKakao
- Similarweb estimatesSimilarweb
- Data confidence
- High for ownership and history; traffic and financial figures are third-party approximations.
- Last updated
- September 2026
Traffic figures are modelled estimates as Kakao does not break out Daum-specific metrics separately in filings.
Social media profiles & statistics