TechnoKimchi

I just wanted to say "THANK YOU" to you all for all your support throughout and interests in TechnoKimchi. Although I have not been the most diligent (or even dependable) blogger, what I have actually learned through TechnoKimchi goes far beyond what words can describe.

So, I'm excited about 2009. There are still many cool and awesome things happening around the Internet in Korea and I'm just more than eager to see how my life will change along.

I've made some new years' resolutions already and one of them is to make TechnoKimchi one of the top priorities next year. Hopefully I'll have the tenacity to execute them. :)

The beautiful lady bowing in Korean traditional costume called 한복 (Hanbok) in the picture above is Jang Yoon Jung, one of the best known singers in Korea. Of course, I won't dress and bow to you guys like that, I really want to express how thankful I am.

2008 was personally a very difficult year for me in many ways; at the same time, TechnoKimchi really opened up many ways for me to explore more opportunities out in the world, and especially to meet you!

Expect more from TechnoKimchi; both you and I will enjoy 2009 more ^-^

Happy New Year! 새해 복 많이 받으세요!

In this 3-minute video interview, I talk about the impact of the Internet and new media on society, the candlelight vigil, and the fading of Cyworld. I look pretty nervous in the video, so take that into consideration :)

Yesterday, I came across an interesting article about the the Internet usage stats in Korea in 2008. (As you know, it's the end-of-the-year time and we're getting tons of statstical reports summarizing 2008, so it's good time for TechnoKimchi.)

So, to make it brief, you know that the top 3 traffic sites in Korea are Naver, Daum, and Cyworld. And guess what the top 3 search keywords for 2008 are? Yup. They are Daum, Cyworld, and Naver.

Wait a minute. Am I saying that people don't type in the URLs for those sites, but search for them to get there? Apparently so. Basically what this means is that Naver is the biggest traffic generator for Daum and Cyworld. It's like saying "most of Yahoo traffic comes from Google."

Indeed. Among other top 10 search keywords are gMarket (4), Auction (5) (gMarket and Auction are the top two ebay-like sites in Korea), Kookmin Bank (6), Yahoo (7), Woori Bank (8), and Shinhan Bank (9). Take notice the keyword ranking almost exactly aligns with the the most popular sites in Korea.

I've been personally watching some young kids at my church (around elementary school age) use the Internet. They actually do search on Naver for the names of sites they want to get to and get there by clicking on the links. I asked them, "why do you search instead of typing in the URLs?" The answers typically come in two ways: "Why not?" or "URLs?"

This is the power of the search economy. The fact that the top search keywords are Daum and Cyworld, not Naver and Cyworld, means it's the No.1. search portal Naver that sends out traffic to Daum and Cyworld, making them the greatest beneficiaries of their greatest competitor in Naver. Traffic means money, but apparently that's the cost Naver will gladly take.

Display ads are dying. URL games are dying. Newspapers are dying. The only thing that seems to be certain in the midst of economic downturn and flood of information is the efficiency of search engines. No wonder Google is the king no matter what.

(After reading through comments provided by Channy and Chang, I realized this is not a trend only unique to Korea but rather a universal one. Guess who's been behind, haha. Sorry, folks :)

Loic came to Korea for Open Web Asia and obviously he deeply understands what it means to have global presence on the Web: he's French, doing his business in the Valley, with lots of interests in Asia.

So here is my brief inteview with Loic. It's unedited, but the content is great :)

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As I said, I'm in paris, attending the Le Web '08 conference. I've decided to update some pictures from the So, I'm in Paris now, attending Le Web '08. It's really great to be here, especially to represent to cool and stylish Internet fellows in Europe! I'm sketching out some scenes from the conference below. I'll do my best to update the conference info.

If you want to talk to me, don't hesitate! Remember, there aren't too many Asian guys around at this conference, so it should be easy for you to spot me :)

See you soon!

An unusual site for a conference. I persnoally love it!

Seesmic's Loic and his wife Geraldine's grand opening.

Mike Arrington of TechCrunch is working hard!

Steve Gillmor is inteviewing Microsoft's Dan'l Lewin on BizSpark.

Nikesh Arora from Google Europe and Loic are talking about the entrepreneurship in Europe. Many questions here were very similar to those discussed at Open Web Asia.

Now you might ask, "so, is the fall/winter of 2008 a conference time for you?"

I go, "Yes!" After my stints with X Media Lab and Open Web Asia.

So, I'm heading to Paris on Monday for LeWeb '08 Paris. Why? I've been invited to be on the panel called "Embracing Asia's Market Explosion." What else would I talk about? :) Also on the panel are:

More than anything, I'm just honored to be on the panel and also thankful for those who got me there! Can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to meet the great people there and also visit Paris for the first time in my life!

I'm sticking around for few more days in the glorious city of Paris, so if you're planning to be there as well, don't hesitate to contact me.

You can always reach me at twdanny@gmail.com.

See you all there :)

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