Kakao will roll back an update to its flagship KakaoTalk messaging app after coming under fire for its ill-fated attempt to turn the service into an Instagram-like social platform and maximize ad revenue by locking in users. For the past week, the feed-style tab has been the target of mounting complaints from users, as it randomly showed profile photos of a user’s friends — along with ads — in an Instagram-like format. Since the update, users have been scrambling for a way to roll back the function and even seeking alternative messaging apps. “Unlike Instagram, where users explore feeds based on their interests, KakaoTalk friends are mostly connections saved out of necessity rather than shared interests,” Korea Investment & Securities analyst Jung Ho-yoon said. The controversy is not just about the messaging app becoming inconvenient, but about whether Kakao still has the pioneering spirit it once had.”