Naver asking media outlets about its online comment system

Naver has begun receiving opinions from media outlets on whether they would like it to adopt an "outlink system" that leads newsreaders to the website of news producers.

Korea's largest portal operator sent an email to its news providers Friday, asking for opinions about introducing the outlink system. Naver has maintained an "inlink system," where newsreaders read articles posted on its platform, whereas foreign portals such as Google use the outlink system.

The top portal website is being blamed for letting a few power bloggers manipulate public opinion.

To dispel the ongoing turmoil, Naver announced self-help measures Wednesday to limit the number of comments a user can post on news articles and the number of times a user can click "like" or "dislike" a day.

However, the operator has hesitated to adopt the outlink system which experts have recommended. With the current inlink system, Naver has generated huge ad revenues by keeping users on its website for longer.

"As there have been opinions from media and political circles that Naver needs to adopt a Google-equivalent outlink system, we would like to take opinions from our partners to decide the direction of our news management system," Naver said in the email to news providers. The portal operator set a deadline for a response at 1 p.m. May 2.

Naver also said in the email that there would be no money for its news providers if it decides to adopt the outlink system. Korea's portal sites including Naver have purchased content from media while Google does.

Previously, Naver CEO Han Seong-sook told lawmakers of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party the company may consider introducing the outlink system. The lawmakers visited the company's headquarters on Wednesday to protest alleged online opinion-rigging led by a power blogger nicknamed "Druking" and two of his followers.

More detail at:-
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/tech/2018/04/133_248060.html