Naver debuts new mobile page layout on Wednesday

[Photo provided by Naver Corp.]

From Wednesday, Naver, South Korea’s top search engine, drops news and real-time hot keywords out of its first page of its mobile site, leaving only its logo and search window on the page like Google’s homepage.

Naver said on Tuesday it will debut the new layout of its mobile web around search functions, effective on Wednesday, its first makeover since the mobile web was launched in 2009.

The new plan was materialized last October after the search engine was engulfed in an online opinion rigging scandal that sparked a fierce political dispute and led to the arrest of influential blogger "druking" and his associates a year ago. Amid mounting criticism over neutrality of the search engine, Naver announced it would stop editing news articles and instead direct link to the online sites of news publishers and vowed to change the page layout.

The new first page shows the search window and service links only, removing its top menu that comes along with five news articles, two photos and hot keywords.

On the new mobile page, users can swipe to left to go to the news section customized to individual needs. A swipe to the right guides to shopping and other commercial services. Green Dot, a navigation button for search and links to mail, blog and catchalls, is at the bottom of the page.

Naver, however, will maintain the existing layout for its more commonly used mobile app version, where news and real-time hot keywords are still available on the first page. The decision was made after a user pattern analysis based on a beta version released after the company’s previous announcement.

[ⓒ Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]