미래부, 구글과 손잡는다

Published : Oct 18, 2013 - 17:22 Updated : Oct 23, 2013 - 09:49

최근 국정감사에서 연신 두들겨 맞은 구글이 쾌적한 온라인 환경 조성에 앞장서기로 약속했다.

“구글은 이미 미래창조부와 여러 협력 방안들을 구체적으로 논의 중인 것으로 알고 있다,”고 한 업계 관계자가 전했다.

또, 미래부에 따르면, 구글은 조만간 정부의 정책자문기구에도 합류할 예정이다.

이번 국정감사에서 의원들은 네이버와 다음 등의 한국형 포털은 규제강화의 대상이 되고 있는 반면, 외국에 본사를 둔 구글이나 페이스북과 같은 포털은 전혀 영향을 받지 않게 되었다며 집중 공격했다.

지난 4일 발표된 미래부 방안으로 인해 논란은 더욱 가열됐다. 이번 권고안에 따르면 네이버와 다음 등의 국내 포털에 대해 검색서비스의 원칙 공개와 광고와 비광고를 구분을 요구하는 등 압박의 수위가 높아졌다.

이를 놓고 국정감사에서는 한국기업에 대한 역차별이라는 주장이 난무했다. 하지만 미래부는 검색원칙의 투명성이나 광고구분 등으로 볼 때 이미 구글은 국제적인 선도 기업이며 오히려 한국의 온라인 환경에 기여할 수 있는 바가 크다고 설명했다.

또한 4일 발표된 방안은 권고안일 뿐 처벌 대상이 아니라는 점도 강조했다. 이에 공정위가 처벌규정을 만들겠다고 나섰지만 아직까지 구체적인 내용이나 성과는 없다.

네이버는 광고를 보다 명확하게 구분할 수 있도록 조치를 취했다고 밝혔지만, 검색서비스 원칙 공개는 협의중이다.

현재 구글은 전세계 1위의 검색 포탈인 반면, 네이버는 300위 정도의 하위권에 머물고 있다. (코리아헤럴드 김지현 기자)

<관련 영문 기사>

Google to support plans for improving online environment

Google, which has recently come under heat by lawmakers for allegedly receiving preferential treatment from the government, is willing to support Korea’s efforts to improve its local online environment, sources said on Thursday.

“The company has been in talks with the government on working closer together for some time now, before the current parliamentary audit,” said one source close to Google Korea, who declined to be identified.

The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning also confirmed that Google is planning to take part in future policy consultation sessions.

“The sessions will focus on how Google, as one of the more transparent and advanced players in the business, can set the right examples,” said an official of the ministry’s Internet Policy team.

Google, the world’s largest search portal, tries to stringently manage its content to help users discern ads from other non-commercial data. It also publicizes some of the criteria for its search results.

“When Google takes more steps toward advancement, local portals and others, such as Facebook that also offers search options, may follow suit,” said another source.

Lawmakers this week bashed the Science Ministry for being too harsh against domestic portals such as Naver and Daum, while their overseas-based counterparts ― namely Google ― had more advantages.

Earlier this week, the Science Ministry drew up a set of recommendations aimed at improving the quality of Internet searches.

Portals such as Naver and Daum were prodded to make ads look more like ads and reveal search mechanisms.

Many believe these recommendations would eventually become mandatory, but the ministry insists they would have to undergo more policy consultations before they become fixed.

Naver became a prime target for the Park Geun-hye government on allegations that it was engaging in unfair practices toward both those who search for content and those who sell it.

Since then, Naver has tried to make amends by offering remedies to a number of its problematic practices but Science Minister Choi Mun-kee indicated he was far from satisfied, and that more could be expected against Korea’s top portal.

Meanwhile, figures provided by lawmaker Yoo Seung-hee showed that Google had caught up significantly with Naver, with the two neck-and-neck in terms of visitors. In fact, Naver barely beat Google in September with a monthly 31 million visitors, while Google had 30 million.

Naver is the world’s 311th largest search portal.
(jemmie@heraldcorp.com)