Naver said on Thursday that, compared with before the introduction of its "AI Briefing", the income and scale of support for creators on its blog platform have increased by about twofold.

As of June this year, the combined total of AdPost payouts, Brand Connect earnings and Naver Mate activity grants was about double the level in February last year, before AI Briefing was introduced. AdPost payouts increased 14 percent over the same period.

The AI search service "AI Briefing", introduced in March last year, presents source originals such as blog posts used as the basis along with answers to users' questions. The company said this increased touchpoints where creators' original content meets new users, leading to a tangible expansion in income.

Naver is diversifying its blog monetisation programmes. It runs AdPost, which shares advertising revenue; Brand Connect, which links businesses and creators; Shopping Connect, which shares product sales revenue; and group buying, which helps boost short-term sales.

In particular, Naver Mate, launched in June, is a programme that selects about 3,000 creators each month based on a comprehensive assessment of AI Briefing citation counts, expertise and activity, and pays activity grants worth about 20 billion won a year. It pays selected recipients a basic 300,000 won per month and provides additional grants of 3 million won per month for top creators in 10 fields and 10 million won per month for the highest-ranked creator.

Lee Il-gu (이일구), head of Naver's content service division, said, "Through AI search, we have made it possible for good content to be discovered by more users while also supporting creators' monetisation and activities through programmes such as AdPost, Brand Connect and Naver Mate." He added, "We will continue to expand opportunities for income and support that creators can tangibly feel, and strengthen a virtuous cycle in which creators' growth leads back to the production of high-quality content."