[Edaily Reporter Yun Junghoon ] Naver (NAVER(035420)) has launched an unprecedented cleanup campaign targeting its core community service, “Naver Cafe.” As large cafes with hundreds of thousands of members are successively subjected to “access restrictions (temporary suspension),” analysts suggest this is not merely a tightening of operational policies but rather a fundamental overhaul of the platform aimed at the AI era.

According to the IT and marketing industries on the 14th, Naver has imposed access restrictions on about 10 large cafes over the past month or so, including Miznet (320,000 members), I Love Busan Moms (260,000 members), Culture Bloom (220,000 members), and Neyoungka (180,000 members). It is reported that service was restored to these cafes only after they forcibly terminated tens of thousands of irregular accounts and deleted a large number of promotional posts and macro-generated content that had accumulated over several years.

Industry analysts attribute this action to corporate-style viral marketing exceeding the platform’s permissible limits. Recently, some marketing firms have been running ads by combining multiple accounts with automation programs (macros) and VPNs to post messages and comments that appear to come from ordinary users, thereby pushing specific posts to the top of search results.

Viral marketing is a prime example. For instance, in a parenting forum, if a user asks, “I’m 20 weeks pregnant—is this normal?” multiple accounts will naturally leave comments recommending specific health supplements or brands. While these appear to be genuine user experiences on the surface, they are, in fact, organized advertising campaigns.

It has been reported that the recently exposed forums exhibited a combination of the following activities: △excessive affiliate advertising links; △multi-account operations using macros; △IP bypassing via VPN; △artificial traffic spikes during specific time periods; and △mass influxes of abnormal accounts created for advertising purposes.

The IT industry cites Naver’s efforts to strengthen AI reliability as the reason behind its tough stance. This is because, in the era of generative AI search, content quality is more important than quantity.

Currently, about 70% of Naver AI Briefing search results are generated based on user-generated content (UGC), such as blog posts and cafe posts. Since a significant portion of the data that AI uses to generate or cite answers comes from cafe posts, the credibility of AI search results will inevitably decline as the number of promotional posts and false information increases.

There is also analysis suggesting that this is a large-scale self-regulatory effort in line with the recently enacted “Act on the Eradication of False and Manipulated Information.”

A media industry expert who requested anonymity explained, “It is unclear exactly how the amendments to the Information and Communications Network Act will be applied,” adding, “Since large platforms like Naver have no choice but to be cautious, this can also be viewed as a preemptive measure.”

Market conditions are also putting pressure on Naver. This is because Karrot, which has been focusing on local communities, has been rapidly attracting users, causing Naver Cafe’s influence to wane.

According to Mobile Index, a solution by IGAWorks, user metrics from January 2025 to June 2026 show that Naver Cafe’s monthly active users (MAU) decreased from approximately 7.8 million to 7.47 million. In contrast, Karrot’s MAU increased from 17.87 million to 21.90 million during the same period, further widening the gap.

The gap in user engagement time is even more pronounced. Total usage time on Naver Cafe fell by approximately 29%, from 27.74 million hours to 19.63 million hours, while Karrot’s usage time steadily increased from 43.54 million hours to 51.57 million hours. Analysts suggest that users, growing weary of commercial ads and viral posts, are migrating to local communities with relatively fewer advertisements.

In response, Naver has unveiled a two-track strategy combining “punishment” and “rewards.”

First, it continues to impose strict penalties for advertising abuse while actively supporting the activities of regular users. Recently, it introduced the “Member Rewards” feature, which allows Cafe administrators to award Naver Pay points to outstanding members. By comprehensively evaluating post and comment activity, view counts, and “likes,” administrators can award up to 500,000 won per instance and up to 2 million won per month to active members.

Additionally, it is running the “Tiki-Taka Cafe” event—with a total budget of 200 million won—targeted at lifestyle-focused cafes, providing growth grants of up to 1 million won to outstanding cafes. Furthermore, the “Naver Mate” program, which supports top creators contributing to AI Briefing, has been expanded to include the Cafe platform, offering activity grants of up to 10 million won per month.

Naver made it clear that these measures are not directly linked to the enforcement of any specific laws or the schedule for AI search overhauls.

A Naver spokesperson stated, “The access restrictions are unrelated to the amendment of the Information and Communications Network Act or the advancement of AI search,” adding, “To foster a safe community environment, we have consistently monitored and taken action against abusive behavior—such as the use of macro programs or repetitive advertising posts—in accordance with our operating policies.”