Kakao to launch new subscription-based content platform in August

Kakao, the nation’s largest mobile messenger operator, is preparing to launch a new subscription-based content platform in August, according to the company on Thursday.

The company is currently running a closed beta test of the new platform among its content partners, it said.

The platform will allow producers to create, edit and publish various forms of content including news, videos, music and texts.

Users can choose the content they want and subscribe via KakaoTalk.

Unlike Facebook, the yet unnamed platform will take the form of a message board and will enable creators to select particular items and control how they appear.

It will be connected with other Kakao services, including KakaoTV, Brunch, Tistory, Content View and Daum News, the company said.

The service will be free of charge in the beginning, but the company will introduce advertisements and paid services later.

“Unlike other feed-style platforms, Kakao will introduce a new way of creating and supplying content,” Joh Su-yong, co-CEO of Kakao, said last year at a developers’ conference. “Anyone can be content creators and curators through our platform.”

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)