Naver has nailed down in its terms of use that the search API (application programming interface) it opened to external developers cannot be used for training or answering by artificial intelligence (AI). It is also moving the distribution channel for the search API from the existing "Developer Center" to the "Naver API Hub" on Naver Cloud Platform (NCP) and is working to introduce usage-based billing. Timed with the expansion of the Conversational AI search service "AI Tab," this is seen as closing off the channel through which Naver's search data could flow to external AI.
According to Naver on the 24th, Naver's Developer Center recently announced it will revise the "Naver API Service Terms of Use." The current terms, regarding the "search API," simply stipulate, "Do not expose search results independently or distort them." The revision explicitly prohibits: ▲ entering data into AI or using it for training, improvement, evaluation, and exposure ▲ using the search API for gain ▲ providing or selling data to third parties ▲ copying, storing, or caching data. The revision takes effect on Aug. 7.
An API is a mechanism that allows external programs to receive the functions and data of a particular service in a defined format. Developers can use the search API that Naver has opened to display Naver search results in their own web or mobile apps by category, including news, encyclopedia, blogs, shopping, web documents, professional information, Knowledge iN, books, and cafe posts. Naver opened its search service as an open API in 2006 to expand its ecosystem.
The core of the revision is "ban on AI use." The revision restricts not only training AI models with Naver search data, but also entering data into AI and exposing results. If only training were blocked, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), which pulls search data in real time and displays it in answers, could slip through, but banning exposure effectively closes the path for external AI to use Naver's search API. On top of that, resale and monetization are also prohibited. Since last year, Naver has been blocking unauthorized collection by AI through crawling (data extraction), and this API terms revision extends restrictions to AI use of data provided through the official API.
Separately, Naver recently changed the provider of three APIs—search API, search term trends, and shopping insights—from the "Developer Center" to the Naver API Hub. While the search API was offered free on the Developer Center, the Naver API Hub applies usage-based billing to calls that exceed the free quota. In effect, the search API is moving into a paid service. However, Naver has not applied paid billing immediately and has announced it will do so later.
These steps are seen as tied to Naver's AI search strategy. In June, Naver officially launched "AI Tab" for all users. It provides answers based on its own content such as blogs, cafes, shopping, and Places. It aims for action-oriented AI that leads to purchases and reservations. AI Tab's competitiveness comes from Naver content and Korean-language data, and if external AI uses the same data by leveraging Naver's search API, AI Tab's edge could weaken. Starting on the 1st of this month, Naver decided not to provide shopping search data via the search API, and shopping data is a core asset that leads to action-oriented search in AI Tab.
Overseas, there have been cases of closing search APIs that were open for free and making them paid. Microsoft (MS) ended the Bing search API, which developers used to add search functionality to their services, in Aug. 2025. Instead, it introduced "Grounding with Bing Search" within Azure Cloud as an alternative; to use this service, an Azure project must be set up and there is an expense for each call.
Lee Kyung-jeon, a professor in the Department of Big Data Applications at Kyunghee University, said, "There have been cases where various AI services called the Naver API to use Naver search data for training, applied it to their own services, or had AI agents call the API directly," and analyzed, "This is a move to block that." He added, "Going forward, the content AI uses will be as important as the model's performance," and said, "Naver sees the power of AI services as coming from the content the company holds, and is trying to prevent potential competitors from indiscriminately accessing the API."