SEOUL, KOREA - Kakao, which runs a mobile messenger service KakaoTalk, decided to suspend its Chatting Plus service which has been acclaimed as Kakao’s flagship win-win business model.Chatting Plus has attracted attention as a platform that promotes cooperation between Kakao and small- and medium-sized application developers.
Chatting Plus underwent an update at the end of last year but is now set to disappear from the market due to its sluggish performance.
According to industry sources on March 26, Kakao decided early this year to stop operations of the Chatting Plus service and notified the cancellation of the contracts to the app developers.
Kakao’s contracts with the apps which are related with Chatting Plus, are known to be expired during the period from January to May 2014.
Chatting Plus was launched early last year, drawing strong interest from the related industries. Chatting Plus consisted of six utility apps (Android), including ladder riding, photo decoration and memo note, which Kakao users can enjoy while using the messenger.