Naver Brand Search Ads (BSA): Enhancing Brand Visibility on Korea’s Leading Search Portal

For brands operating in this unique ecosystem, maintaining visibility on Naver is often critical to reaching local audiences effectively.

This article takes a closer look at one of Naver’s ad types, Brand Search Ad (BSA), a tool designed to help brands secure top placement on Naver’s results pages and strengthen their digital footprint in Korea.

What is Naver BSA?

Naver’s Brand Search Ad (BSA) is a type of search-optimized display ad that appears above the fold on Naver’s search results for brand term searches. When users search for a specific brand on Naver, BSA secures the top section of the search results, above organic and other paid listings.

This is especially important on Naver, where search results are organized into strict categories and sections. BSA not only ensures that users see official brand information first, but also allows companies to guide the search experience, reinforcing credibility and increasing the likelihood of engagement or conversion tightly controlled by the brand.

A typical BSA unit is composed of several elements:

Basic structure of BSA for PC. Source: Naver Ad Center

Basic structure of BSA for Mobile. Source: Naver Ad Center

• Main Title : The primary headline directs users to the brand’s main landing page. This component typically attracts the highest click-through rate (CTR) from PC users due to its prominent placement and common user behavior.

• Main Image: A central visual element that draws immediate attention and often plays a key role in driving user conversions on mobile devices.
• Thumbnails and Sublinks: Additional links that lead to specific landing pages the brand wants to highlight, such as product pages, services, or promotional content, based on anticipated user intent or demand.

Each BSA campaign allows advertisers to select up to 30 brand keywords, with fixed costs determined by the combined search volume of these keywords, categorized into ranges (e.g., 0-8,000 or 8,001-15,700). The keywords can include brand names, product lines, or localized keyword variants. However, approval is not guaranteed—Naver reviews each keyword based on brand ownership, existing content presence, and overall visibility on the platform. These components allow brands to tailor their presence and optimize specific objectives, such as brand awareness, campaign promotion, or lead generation.

So, why should your company invest in Naver Brand Search Ad?

Given Naver’s dominance in the Korean search market, utilizing BSA can be a strategic move to capture user attention and drive traffic directly to brand-owned channels.

Features and Benefits of Naver BSA

Premium Visibility

Naver BSA secures the top spot on the SERP for branded queries, transforming traditional ads into immersive brand microsites. These placements blend seamlessly into Naver’s native layout, making your brand appear as a credible and authoritative source of information—particularly crucial in Korea’s portal-centric search culture. While securing the top spot on the SERPs, BSA ensures that your brand ranks higher than competitors bidding on your search terms across other ad formats.

Customizable and Rich Content

BSA offers a range of templates that vary in exposure and format—Light for basic listings, Premium for higher visibility with rich media.

Light structure of BSA for PC. Source: Naver Ad Center

Premium structure of BSA for PC. Source: Naver Ad Center

These can include wide-format banners, auto-playing videos, carousels, and deep links to event pages or product catalogs. This flexibility empowers brands to design contents that resonates with visual identity and user behavior across PC and mobile. Additionally, it provides superior control over messaging, allowing brands to steer users to specific campaign pages, such as event registration or sale pages.

Impact on Engagement and Search Behavior:

Based on Naver’s internal analysis of 10 brands (source – Naver Ad Center – BSA Introduction), BSA campaigns led to a 33% increase in brand-specific keyword searches and a 40% rise in consumption of brand-related review content. This shows that users aren’t just noticing the ads—they’re actively exploring and engaging with the brand at a deeper level, often leading to heightened interest or purchase consideration.

Integrating BSA with SEO Strategies

In Korea, integrating both paid and organic strategies is crucial.

Why is integration important? Naver evaluates a brand’s organic visibility for BSA campaign eligibility. Without localized SEO, brands might face restrictions for key branded terms, especially when there’s a clash between a foreign brand name’s translation and a local brand name. Additionally, for new entrants with low brand search volume, BSA alone may not generate immediate results. In these cases, implementing a localized SEO strategy can significantly enhance overall performance, ensuring both channels support each other effectively. Early investment in SEO improves organic rankings, enhancing eligibility and performance for BSA campaigns.

How do they work together? By viewing SEO and BSA as complementary tools, brands benefit from increased visibility and credibility across Naver SERP. (Check out our ultimate guide on how to do Naver SEO!) While SEO gains traction over time, especially for global brands new to Korea, BSA offers immediate exposure, which strengthens and maximizes the overall strategy. Improved SEO has been key to unlocking access to branded terms and maximizing BSA performance, highlighting the value of a well-integrated strategy.