Naver’s Search Rules Open a Gap for Local Information Services

The limits of borrowing search results are clearer

Naver plans to apply more specific rules to its Search Connection feature from September 7, 2026. The feature is a connection through which an external service sends a query to Naver and receives results. Going forward, received results may be used only to show Naver search results to users.

A results screen must identify the content as Naver search results, show the original source, and include a link to the original page. It is also prohibited to edit titles or descriptions, change the order of results, or insert a service’s own recommendations in the middle so that the page appears to be a separate set of search results. Details such as logo size and placement should be checked against Naver’s latest display guidelines when implementing the feature.

Using search results as material for AI-generated answers is also within the prohibited scope. The rules cover not only training, but also answer generation, performance improvement, evaluation, and the process of showing results to users. Adding ads to a search-results page or earning revenue through this connection feature is also listed as prohibited.

The permitted storage period is short as well. Device-side temporary storage for service-failure response or personalisation is allowed only for up to 24 hours, or until a new query is made, whichever comes first. Server-side storage for showing search history is allowed for up to 21 days. In practice, a service needs deletion procedures for when one day or three weeks has passed.

The connection method itself is changing. Existing services that meet the conditions can use the previous method until June 30, 2027, but new services must apply through NAVER API HUB. The previous method for shopping, book, and specialised-material search features ended on August 1, 2026, and no official replacement feature was announced.

Build a record of one neighbourhood instead of a national search product

Consider an operator running a pet-friendly travel guide for Yeongdo, Busan, with four staff. When a user searches for a place, the service pulls in Naver blog and local search results, then places staff-selected venues and short descriptions on the same screen. Suppose popular places are moved higher and long descriptions are shortened.

Each week, staff download queries into a document and save parts of the search results to compare with the previous week. An automated-answer feature reads several results and summarises parking availability or pet-entry conditions in three lines. The operator covers costs by selling advertising and paid recommendation placements.

Under the new rules, several parts of this flow are difficult to keep unchanged. Reordering Naver results, mixing in summaries, sending results to an AI system, retaining them for a long time, and earning revenue from a results screen each need to be reviewed separately. It is also safer to ask in writing whether Naver results and a service’s own content can appear on the same screen.

That does not mean giving up the local travel guide itself. Naver search results can be shown unchanged on a separate screen, with the required label and original-page links. The centre of the service can shift to Yeongdo information that staff have verified directly: shop names, opening hours, parking conditions, the scope of pet entry, and the date of the last check, recorded through shop owners or official notices.

This changes why people would use the service. Rather than collecting a large volume of posts from across the country, it becomes a service that tells users whether they can visit today and who confirmed the information. Even in a neighbourhood with low search volume, direct contact with shops and users can make it easier to gather the first records and correct inaccurate information.

The screen can be split clearly into two paths. One path contains place cards verified directly by the service. The other is a Naver search-results screen that follows the display rules. Paid products should be built from the service’s own material rather than Naver results: directly researched itineraries, tools for shops to correct their information, or notice submissions for local event operators.

There is still substantial work for people. Someone needs to call a shop to confirm whether it really admits pets, reflect temporary closures and cancelled events, and check permission to use photos and descriptions. The benefit of narrowing to a local area is not that this work disappears, but that it is reduced to a distance where direct verification is possible.

How others have handled search tools

Point Loma Nazarene University in the United States used Google Custom Search for free for several years so visitors and students could find content on the university website. It later moved through AddSearch to another site-search tool. This was an institution operating a search function, not a service charging users a search fee.

The university, whose web team had three people, concluded that the search results did not read the site’s content sufficiently and did not meet expectations for relevance. It is an example that following display rules and achieving the required search quality are separate matters. However, this is a self-published case study from SearchStax, the supplier of the new tool, so its performance claims need separate verification.

Brave, a US browser company, has an automated-answer tool called Leo in its browser. It began adding live web search on desktop in June 2024 and now offers it on desktop, Android, and iPhone. Answers that reflect current search include a link to explore further through Brave Search.

Leo is available for free, while a monthly subscription of about KRW 20,000 provides higher usage limits and optional features. The charge is for higher limits on the automated-answer tool, not for a bundle of search results. It is an example of pricing a separate feature without hiding the search provider in the user flow.

Four things you could build from this

1. Local portal search-screen checker

A service that finds screens containing Naver search results and checks their labels, original-page links, result modifications, ads, automated-answer connections, and storage periods. It could be used by small web agencies in Busan and South Gyeongsang Province that operate tourism, festival, or hospital information sites for clients.

There is a reason to start now: from September 7, the concrete items to check increase, and a person responsible may need to inspect every screen manually. The first screen can contain a service URL field and six items: “source label,” “original-page link,” “result reordering,” “advertising,” “AI connection,” and “retention period.”

2. Local information source ledger

A service that records who confirmed neighbourhood place information and when, then prompts the operator to contact them again after the verification period has passed. It could be used by editors and tourism-guide operators who directly introduce cafés, accommodation, and activity venues in a compact area such as Yeongdo.

It is worth building now because directly verified information has become more valuable than borrowed search results. The first screen can show, in order, “places to reconfirm today,” phone number, existing information, last verification date, and an edit button.

3. Independent bookstore stock connector

A service where bookstores in one area directly post whether a book is in stock and available for reservation, then connect users to a nearby bookstore for an enquiry. It could serve neighbourhood independent bookstores that cannot easily build a separate online inventory system, and residents seeking a specific book on the same day.

Naver’s book-search connection feature has ended and no official replacement feature was announced, creating a reason to start small with information provided directly by bookstores. On the first screen, place “arrived today,” “reservation available,” and “contact the bookstore” ahead of a book-title search field, along with the time the information was updated.

4. Search-dependency map for local services

A service that shows which screens depend on Naver search results and sets an order for replacing them with directly collected data or another contracted supplier if a feature ends. It could be used by operators managing multiple local newspaper searches, district-office commissioned portals, and tourism-information sites.

Different search features now have different end dates and usage conditions, making it harder to respond simply by changing a connection URL. The first screen can show one row per service: “current search provider,” “screens using it,” “whether data is stored,” “whether replacement data exists,” and “impact if discontinued.”

Make one call today

Call one nearby local web agency and ask to see just one screen from a site it currently manages that displays Naver search results. If the person responsible cannot immediately explain the source label, original-page link, ads, automated-answer connection, and storage period for that screen, and wants help reviewing it, a local rules-checking service may be worth testing.

Why this matters where you are

Search providers in your market may set different limits on result display, reuse, storage, AI use, and monetisation. Check the terms for any search results your product receives from another provider, then separate borrowed results from information your team has verified directly. A narrow local service may make that direct verification easier to maintain.