Daum seeks affiliation with Google

Daum Communications Corp., Korea’s No. 2 portal company, said yesterday that it will increase cooperation with the world’s largest Internet company, Google Inc.
Daum CEO Seok Jong-hoon met with Google founder Eric Schmidt earlier in the day in Seoul and discussed a broad range of issues affecting both companies, Daum said in a press release.
“The two discussed how to expand their cooperation, which has been confined to Internet keyword advertising,” a Daum spokesperson said.
Schmidt is currently in Seoul to attend a three-day digital forum where global IT leaders will have a chance to share opinions on the industry’s future. Some market observers have suspected the meeting might be designed for a deal in which Daum could use a large pool of video clips held by Google.
Daum, the distant second portal operator after Naver, has been making efforts to differentiate itself from its rival by providing video clip-linked online advertisements and search services.
For this purpose, it has signed deals with content providers, including Sony Pictures, to lure more visitors to its site with attractive movies and other video content.