--- title: "AI as an Ad Product — Our Takeaways from Naver's HyperCLOVA X Conference" description: "How will Naver's HyperCLOVA X reshape marketing for hotels and hospitality businesses?" published: 2023-08-25T03:00:00+00:00 author: "ONDA 편집팀" category: "Insights" image: "https://zqcfqfqgiyckyhazcfrk.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/blog-images/webflow/6316f3f75130788ec2d762dd/65d61a777227afd803673703_Frame_63.jpg" canonical: https://global.onda.me/en/blog?slug=ije-aido-gwanggo-sangpumyi-sidae-haipeokeulrobax-keonpeoreonseu-dan23-camga-sogam locale: en --- # AI as an Ad Product — Our Takeaways from Naver's HyperCLOVA X Conference Last Friday, ONDA attended Naver's generative AI conference DAN 23 by invitation. ![(Source: ONDA)](https://zqcfqfqgiyckyhazcfrk.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/blog-images/webflow/6316f3f75130788ec2d762dd/65a407ecb0b3ef69313a3215_64e863d220192fc520eb663a_20230824_093843.jpeg) Naver unveiled new tech across the board — HyperCLOVA X (their generative AI engine), CUE: (next-gen AI search), Enterprise HyperCLOVA X, plus applications in webtoons and fintech. For technical deep dives, check out [HyperCLOVA's official site](https://clova.ai/hyperclova) or [this coverage](https://byline.network/2023/08/dan23-%ec%98%a4%ed%94%88ai%eb%8f%84-ms%eb%8f%84-%ea%b5%ac%ea%b8%80%eb%8f%84-%ec%95%84%eb%83%90%eb%84%a4%ec%9d%b4%eb%b2%84%ea%b0%80-%ec%9e%90%ec%8b%a0%ed%95%9c-%ec%9d%b4%ea%b2%83/). My immediate reaction? Very different from when I first encountered ChatGPT last year. ChatGPT felt like: *"Here's the tech. Go build whatever you want."* That's the mindset of an English-language platform chasing massive user scale. Naver's pitch was more like: *"Our generative AI is packaged into these specific services. You can plug them straight into your business model and start monetizing. Not sure how? Call us — we'll walk you through it!"* Naver has always thrived in Korea's smaller, Korean-speaking market by tightly controlling the value chain. That playbook is now extending into AI. If ChatGPT is an open-world sandbox game, HyperCLOVA X is a beautifully designed RPG with structured quests and clear progression paths. So what does this mean for hotels and hospitality? **Advertising is about to change — a lot.** ## **AI-Powered Search = The Evolution of Keyword Ads** "Recommend a Busan itinerary for a trip with my 5-year-old." During the CUE: demo, Naver showed this sample result: **Here's a Busan itinerary perfect for traveling with a 5-year-old.** Busan offers beaches, museums, and plenty of family-friendly activities. Recommended stops include Si-rang-ri 164 Brunch & Breaden Co., Busan Children's Museum, Gwangalli 273, and the Gwangalli M Drone Light Show. These spots feature kid-friendly menus, learning through play, and family events. Visit these places to make wonderful memories with your child. ![The answer comes with a list of bookable venues — all integrated with Naver Booking. (Source: ONDA)](https://zqcfqfqgiyckyhazcfrk.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/blog-images/webflow/6316f3f75130788ec2d762dd/65a407ecb0b3ef69313a3221_64e864485e8fbd1a6b52c3ec_CUE.png) This format launches in November — which is right around the corner. Now imagine the same query, but for hotels: "Recommend a hotel in Busan for a trip with my 5-year-old." CUE: will describe a few hotels, explain why they fit, and surface properties with Naver Booking integration. Until now, digital marketers optimized for *keyword visibility* — ensuring your hotel appeared when users typed specific search terms. **Going forward, your job is to create signals that help generative AI recognize your property as the right match for a user's intent.** Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon said at the event: "Naver has applied AI-based recommendation tech across search, shopping, bookings, reviews, UGC, maps, video, and more. Decades of user understanding, operational know-how, and technical capabilities now form the backbone of HyperCLOVA X." ([Official press release](https://www.navercorp.com/promotion/pressReleasesView/31373)) Translation: Naver's AI will draw answers from user reviews, official homepages, blog posts, and other online content about your property. **The quality and depth of your digital footprint — your site, guest reviews, blog mentions — just became even more critical.** There's a lot of talk about AI replacing marketers. I don't think the job disappears. I think the job becomes: *be the marketer who knows how to use AI.* This conference confirmed that. **What Naver Shopping Search Queries Really Mean** Naver Shopping search has always been about connecting users with products — or users with sellers. About 84% of Naver Shopping users have tried AI recommendations, and that number keeps climbing as the tech improves. Around 56% of Naver Shopping merchants now get visibility via AI-driven recommendations. (The above summary was auto-generated by Naver's Clova Note during the conference. Seems about right to me.) So what should you *do* about all this? Remember when I said HyperCLOVA X is like a well-designed RPG? **You don't need to panic.** Naver has already laid out the roadmap for you. ![(Source: Screenshot from Naver DAN 23 presentation)](https://zqcfqfqgiyckyhazcfrk.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/blog-images/webflow/6316f3f75130788ec2d762dd/65a407ecb0b3ef69313a320d_64e86550aecc80774eefbf19_EA_B7_B8_EB_A6_BC1.png) They've mapped the whole journey for you. (Of course, it'll cost money and take time to adapt. But the path is there.) ## **Brand Advertising 2.0: "Naver Will Assign You an AI Brand Manager"** Naver also teased major changes to brand advertising. Traditionally, "Brand Search Ads" put your company's content at the top when users searched your brand name. Now, AI-powered conversational search will let brands engage users across *all* search contexts — not just branded queries. At the demo, Naver showed how brand ads surface within conversational search results — complete with suggested follow-up questions. ![(Source: Screenshot from Naver DAN 23 presentation)](https://zqcfqfqgiyckyhazcfrk.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/blog-images/webflow/6316f3f75130788ec2d762dd/65a407ecb0b3ef69313a321c_64e865c0f86a47fe7facec12_EB_82_98_EC_9D_B4_ED_82_A4_20_EA_B4_91_EA_B3_A0.jpeg) When you search for "Nike," for example, you now see suggested question buttons. ![(Source: Screenshot from Naver DAN 23 presentation)](https://zqcfqfqgiyckyhazcfrk.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/blog-images/webflow/6316f3f75130788ec2d762dd/65a407ecb0b3ef69313a3208_64e865fc09611ca1310aa2e5_ddd.png) Here's how Naver's Clova Note summarized this section: **Naver's First Generative AI Ad Products** Naver's first generative AI ad products introduce new question buttons within familiar formats like Brand Search and Power Link. Users begin with a starter question, the brand responds, and a multi-turn conversation unfolds. The dialogue can include rich media — not just text — and ultimately drive product purchases. Naver's pitch: Just like in-store sales assistants boost conversion, an AI assistant that answers questions and suggests next steps online will lift purchase rates and reduce bounce. **Each brand gets what feels like a dedicated AI brand manager living inside Naver.** ![(Source: Screenshot from Naver DAN 23 presentation)](https://zqcfqfqgiyckyhazcfrk.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/blog-images/webflow/6316f3f75130788ec2d762dd/65a407ecb0b3ef69313a3218_64e86b4befcf82063b7b245d_223.png) Yoon Jong-ho, Head of Biz Dev at Naver, highlighted three key points: "First: **We deliver the answers brands want to deliver.** This isn't one-way broadcasting. It's interactive dialogue that leads to conversion." He stressed this isn't intrusive — no friend requests, no push notifications. (We'll let you imagine which platforms he's contrasting with 🙂.) "Second: **The AI only answers using brand-approved information.** Many brands worry generative AI will fabricate content that damages brand equity." "So we're building brand-controlled LLMs. Brands with rich internal content libraries can use their own data. Brands that want to leverage Naver's ecosystem can curate from Naver's corpus. Either way, you stay in control." ![(Source: Screenshot from Naver DAN 23 presentation)](https://zqcfqfqgiyckyhazcfrk.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/blog-images/webflow/6316f3f75130788ec2d762dd/65a407ecb0b3ef69313a3210_64e86bb902a77ac06a2fcfc6_213213.png) Finally, he noted that the AI integrates across Naver's entire ecosystem — search, ads, organic content — creating compounding synergy. That's table stakes for a platform, but worth stating. My reaction swung between *"Wow, this is impressive"* and *"Wow, how much is this going to cost?"* We won't know for sure until it launches. But one thing is clear: **If your hotel's sales, PR, or marketing strategy involves Naver, you need to start adapting to the AI era — now.** --- ⚠️ All rights reserved. Cite this piece as 'ONDA (온다)' when quoting.