The essence of Daum and Kakao is messages.
Messages that connect one person to another.
If the form of that message used to be email,
today's form is instant messages - messengers.
In the past, with email-sending and receiving as the backdrop, they generated revenue through portals.
Today, with messengers as the backdrop, they generate revenue through platforms.
The old portals were built on an advertising business model that targeted 3rd parties (content providers) and encouraged participation and competition among them /* charging fees after a deal is struck, surfacing sales info more prominently */
Today's messengers are built on distribution-platform business models that directly distribute 3rd-party content on demand. /*gift vouchers, emojis, content, banking, investments, maps, sports...*/
Email these days is a pain. It serves as a hub for spam, phishing, and personal-data leaks, or its usability has degraded so badly from excessive mail that it's barely usable.
Messengers, too, are gradually seeing more and more abuse via spam, phishing, and personal-data leaks.
