Daum (; ) is a popular
web portal in
South Korea, with its rival
Naver. Daum offers many Internet services to web users, including a popular free web-based
e-mail,
messaging service,
forums,
shopping and
news.
The popularity of Daum is a reflection of the high level of
internet use in South Korea. The country has the highest level of
broadband users, and one of the most widespread levels of computer and Internet access.
The popularity of Daum stems from the range of services it offers, but also from the fact that it was the first Korean
web portal of significant size. Its popularity started when it merged with the then most popular
e-mail service,
daum.net or
hanmail.net. After the merging, Daum started the forum service
DaumCafe which brought its firm status in the market. The term
cafe and even
internet cafe (Different from what is supposed to refer to in Western usage) is now used as the synonym for "Internet forum" in
Korean.
On
August 2,
2004 Daum announced the purchase of
Lycos for
$95.4 million, and closed the transaction on
October 6.
Daum has about 874 employees as of Mar,
2009.
See also
Notes and references
