Naver is being excluded from Toss's reward-based advertising, which has sparked controversy over distorting search rankings. Considering existing contracted advertising volumes, Toss decided to remove the Naver search pathway from its reward-based ads starting from the third week of this month. It is analyzed that damage to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and advertisers weighed on Toss as a burden.
According to materials received by the office of People Power Party lawmaker Cho Jung-hoon from Toss on the 1st, Toss will terminate its reward-based advertising service called "One-Week Visit Mission" starting from the third week of this month. Toss explained that it could not implement the termination immediately, taking into account its obligation to notify users and fulfill contracts with advertisers.
It takes approximately 30 days to fulfill existing contracted advertising volumes. Toss will not sign new contracts during this period. It is expected to take about 7 to 15 days for user notifications.
The "One-Week Visit Mission" is a type of attendance check mission provided within the Toss app. It guides users to search for specific restaurants or locations on search sites such as Naver, and provides point rewards upon completion. For example, if a mission appears asking users to guess the menu price of a specific restaurant, they can receive points by searching on Naver or other platforms and entering the answer.
However, Toss clarified that it is not completely terminating the "One-Week Visit Mission" itself. A Toss official stated to MoneyToday, "We are only ending the Naver search pathway, while maintaining existing pathways such as Google, Kakao, and Olive Young."
Previously, issues were raised that Toss's advertising method influenced search rankings and exposure. Specifically, searches could concentrate on specific keywords regardless of public interest. In response, in February last year, Naver requested an investigation from the Gyeonggi Southern National Police Agency, alleging that Toss's reward-based advertising method distorted its search rankings, citing charges of business obstruction and violation of the Information and Communications Network Act.
The SMB industry also previously expressed its stance that Toss's reward-based advertising should be halted. The Federation of Small and Medium Businesses stated on the 9th of last month, "General small business owners who have maintained top exposure through excellent products and services and genuine customer reviews are suffering massive damage as their rankings drop outside the top 5 to 6 overnight," pointing out that "even a slight drop in search exposure ranking causes SMB sales to plummet by more than 30% to 40%."
In response, Toss stated, "This is a decision made so that advertisers do not bear unnecessary uncertainty," adding, "Judgments on the related matters will be made by the investigative authorities in accordance with the ongoing investigation procedures."
The conflict between Toss and Naver does not end there. Toss's subsidiary, Toss Place, recently reported Naver to the Fair Trade Commission, alleging that Naver Place unfairly excluded the "Toss Force" system.
In addition, Toss explained to the Jo (Rep.) Office that it would strengthen the payment security of FacePay, which had been controversial for "rear person payments." FacePay is a technology that processes payments by recognizing users' faces. Recently, controversy arose over cases where the face of a person standing behind was recognized by FacePay installed in cafes, resulting in erroneous payments.
Starting from the second week of this month, Toss will add a system to "mark" all faces exposed to the camera so that users are aware of them. It also plans to additionally display the message, "Please have only the payer come close to the center position." A system that prevents payment processing when multiple people's faces are captured by the camera simultaneously and their distance is narrow has already been developed and implemented.
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