Naver DataLab is Naver’s free search trend tool, available at datalab.naver.com. It shows how search interest for Korean keywords moves over time, broken down by device, gender and age group, plus separate shopping category data. It is the closest thing Korea has to Google Trends, and for anyone doing Korean keyword research it is essential, with one significant limitation worth understanding before you rely on it: DataLab gives you relative interest, never absolute search volume.
Here is how to use it properly, and how to work around what it does not tell you.
Why DataLab matters
Most Western keyword tools carry thin or unreliable Korean data. They are built on Google’s index, and Google handles under a third of Korean search. For queries where the real action is on Naver, a Western tool is measuring the smaller half of the market.
DataLab measures Naver’s own search data directly. When you are trying to work out whether Koreans search for your product category at all, and in what words, this is the primary source.
It is also free, with no account required for the main trend tool.
What DataLab actually contains
DataLab has several sections. Two matter for keyword research.
Search Trends is the main tool. Enter up to five keyword groups and see relative search interest over time, with filters for date range, device, gender and age.
Shopping Insight shows trends within Naver Shopping categories, including which keywords are rising inside a category and the demographics of people searching them. If you sell physical products, this is often the more commercially useful of the two.
The remaining sections cover regional statistics, card spending data and local business trends. Interesting for market research, rarely necessary for keyword work.
A step-by-step walkthrough
1. Go to datalab.naver.com and open Search Trends.
The interface is Korean-only. Browser translation handles it well enough, though the tool itself will only return meaningful results for Korean-language queries.
2. Build your keyword groups.
This is the part people get wrong. Each group is a theme, and you can add multiple related terms into a single group: synonyms, spelling variants, spaced and unspaced forms. DataLab sums them.
This matters more in Korean than in English, because Korean spacing conventions vary and the same concept is often written several ways. Putting all variants of one concept into a single group gives you a truthful picture of that concept’s demand. Splitting them across groups fragments it.
You can compare up to five groups at once.
3. Set your date range.
Search Trends data runs from 2016 onward. For seasonality, use at least two full years so you can distinguish a genuine annual pattern from a one-off spike.
4. Apply the segment filters.
Device, gender and age. This is where DataLab earns its place. Discovering that a keyword skews 60-plus female changes your channel strategy, your creative and sometimes your product positioning.
5. Read the results as an index, not a count.
The highest point in your selected period is set to 100, and everything else is expressed relative to it. A line at 50 means half the interest of that peak, not 50 searches.
Naver keyword research tools compared
DataLab is one of three sources, and each answers a different question. Using only one is the most common reason Korean keyword research goes wrong.
Naver DataLab
Answers: is interest rising or falling, when does it peak, and who is searching. Cost: free, no account. Limitation: relative index only, so it never tells you how many searches a term actually gets.
Naver Search Ads keyword planner
Answers: how many monthly searches a Korean keyword actually receives, split by PC and mobile. This is the closest thing Naver offers to a keyword planner in the Google Ads sense, and it is where real Naver search volume comes from.
Cost: free, but it sits inside the Naver Search Ads platform, which generally requires a Naver account and, for full access, Korean business verification. That requirement is what stops most foreign brands, and it is the usual reason people end up relying on DataLab alone.
Naver autocomplete and related searches
Answers: what phrasing Koreans actually use. Type a seed term into Naver and read the suggestions, then check the related search terms at the foot of the results page. Free, instant, and often the fastest way to find the exact wording a translated keyword misses.
Putting them together
The workable method for a foreign brand is to use autocomplete to find the real Korean phrasing, DataLab to check whether interest is growing and who holds it, and the Search Ads keyword planner for absolute volume once you have access. Western tools such as Ahrefs or Semrush can fill gaps, but they report Google data, and Google handles under a third of Korean search, so they systematically understate anything Koreans search on Naver.
The limitation that trips people up
Because DataLab is purely relative, you cannot compare across separate queries. A keyword that peaks at 100 in one search and another that peaks at 100 in a different search may differ in real volume by orders of magnitude.
The workaround is comparison within a single query. Put your target keyword in one group and a keyword whose approximate volume you already know in another. The ratio between the lines gives you a rough sense of scale.
For actual numbers, you need a second source:
- Naver Search Ads keyword planner gives monthly search counts for Naver, but requires a Naver Ads account and, in most cases, Korean business verification.
- Western tools provide absolute numbers but from Google data, so they systematically understate keywords where the Korean audience searches on Naver.
The practical method most Korean SEO work uses: DataLab for trend, seasonality and demographics; the Naver Ads keyword planner for volume; and cross-checking against what actually ranks on the results page.
Using DataLab well
Test which Korean word people actually use. Foreign brands routinely translate their English category term and build a strategy around a word Koreans do not search. Loanwords versus native Korean terms is a real fork: sometimes the English-derived word wins, sometimes it does not, and DataLab settles it in about a minute. This is one of the reasons Korean localisation should precede keyword strategy rather than follow it.
Find seasonality before you plan a calendar. Many Korean categories move sharply around specific periods: Seollal, Chuseok, back-to-school, summer holidays. Pull two years of data and plan content and campaigns to land ahead of the rise rather than during it.
Validate demographics against your assumptions. If your Korean customer is supposedly women in their twenties, check that the keyword confirms it. When it does not, you have found something valuable early rather than after a quarter of spend.
Use Shopping Insight for product categories. It surfaces rising keywords inside a category, which is a much faster route to opportunity than guessing terms and testing them one by one. Directly useful if you are planning a Naver Smart Store.
Check the results page for every keyword you shortlist. DataLab tells you interest exists. It does not tell you what Naver returns. A term dominated by blog and cafe results needs a completely different approach from one showing shopping listings, and that distinction determines whether the answer is content and community work or a product listing.
A note on why this is not optional
Korean keyword research done from English keyword tools produces confident, wrong answers. The tool reports low volume, the brand concludes there is no demand, and the demand was on Naver the whole time.
DataLab is free and takes an afternoon to learn. If you are doing anything in Korean search, it belongs in your process before you commit to a keyword strategy, not as a sanity check afterwards.
Frequently asked questions
Is Naver DataLab free?
Yes. The Search Trends and Shopping Insight tools are free and require no account for basic use.
Does DataLab show actual search volume?
No. It shows relative interest on a 0 to 100 index, where 100 is the peak within your selected period and query. For absolute monthly search counts you need the Naver Search Ads keyword planner.
Is Naver DataLab available in English?
The interface is Korean-only. Browser translation makes it usable, but the data itself only covers Korean-language searches, so your keywords need to be in Korean.
How far back does DataLab data go?
Search Trends covers 2016 onward, which is enough to establish reliable seasonal patterns.
Does Naver have a keyword planner?
Yes. The Naver Search Ads keyword planner gives monthly search volumes for Korean keywords, split by PC and mobile. It is free to use but sits inside the Naver Search Ads platform, which generally requires a Naver account and Korean business verification for full access.
How do I find Naver search volume?
Absolute search volume comes from the Naver Search Ads keyword planner. DataLab only shows relative interest on a 0 to 100 index, so it cannot tell you how many searches a term receives. Most Korean SEO work uses DataLab for trend and demographics and the keyword planner for volume.
How is DataLab different from Google Trends?
Same concept, different data. Google Trends reflects Google searches, which is under a third of Korean search. DataLab reflects Naver, which is around 63%. For Korean keyword research, DataLab is the more representative source, and using both gives you the fullest picture.
Can I use DataLab without a Korean business?
Yes. DataLab needs no business verification. The Naver Search Ads keyword planner, which gives absolute volumes, generally does.
DataLab will tell you what Koreans search for. Turning that into rankings on a platform that favours its own blog, cafe and Q&A content is the harder half.
Our Naver SEO service covers that side, and our Korean SEO and backlink building handles the authority work underneath it. If you would rather start with a view of what your category actually looks like in Korean search, tell us what you sell and we will run the research.