When it comes to search engines, it’s hard to imagine any country where Google isn’t number one. However, in Russia, an interesting phenomenon occurs—Yandex is the search engine that has captured the hearts of Russian users. Today, Sixtygram will take you on a journey to get to know Yandex, Russia’s number one search engine, a little better.
The Origins of Yandex
Back in 1997, two Russian entrepreneurs, Arkady Volozh and Ilya Segalovich, founded Yandex. The name Yandex is a combination of the words “Search” and “Index,” with the Russian letter “Ya” (Я), meaning “I,” integrated into it. This created the pronunciation of Yandex (Я́ндекс in Russian). Who would have thought that this small project would grow into the largest technology company in Russia today, Yandex Internet Group
From this humble beginning, Yandex grew rapidly and was listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange in 2011 under the symbol YNDX. In 2018, Yandex achieved a remarkable milestone by increasing its global revenue by 20% compared to the previous year.
Yandex in the Search Engine Market
While Google dominates the global search engine market with a 92% market share, an interesting phenomenon occurs in Russia. Yandex, the local search engine, has captured the hearts of Russian users more effectively. In fact, Yandex holds a market share of 71.53%, compared to Google’s 27.3% in Russia.
This success is not merely a coincidence but a result of Yandex’s deep understanding of the local language and culture. Specifically, Yandex is designed to support the Russian language, which is highly complex, including the ability to handle up to 20 different word forms and a grammatical system that divides nouns into three genders. This allows Yandex to deliver more accurate and user-relevant search results. Additionally, Yandex benefits from support from the Russian government, which has a special agreement ensuring that Android users in Russia default to Yandex as their search engine, in alignment with the country’s cybersecurity policies.
However, the influence of Yandex is not limited to Russia; it has also expanded to neighboring countries that were once part of the Soviet Union. Yandex holds the second position in search engine rankings, following Google, in Belarus (22.38%), Kazakhstan (21.88%), and Tajikistan (15.12%). This reflects the influence of the Russian language and culture in the neighboring region. While globally, Yandex holds only a 0.5% market share and ranks fifth, following Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Baidu, it can still be considered a great success for a search engine that started out serving just one country.
For marketers and business owners interested in the Russian market, SEO on Yandex is an essential strategy that should not be overlooked. While the basic principles are similar to Google, Yandex has unique features, such as its continued emphasis on Meta Keywords Tags for rankings, giving less weight to links to prevent spam, and focusing on geographic targeting. Understanding these differences will help you develop a more effective digital marketing strategy for the Russian market. With less competition and lower costs on Yandex compared to Google, this presents an interesting opportunity for businesses looking to enter Russia and nearby countries. Therefore, if you’re seeking business opportunities in Russia, SEO on Yandex is a crucial strategy your brand should consider.
How to Use Yandex
Using Yandex is not as complicated as many people might think. Although it is a search engine from Russia, Yandex has an interface that is quite familiar and similar to Google, which we use extensively in Thailand.
- Users can access Yandex through the website yandex.com (in English) or ya.ru (in Russian).
- Simply visit the site, type your query in the search bar, and press Enter.
- Yandex will display relevant results, including websites, images, videos, maps, and translations based on your search keyword.
Besides basic search, Yandex offers other interesting and user-friendly services, such as:
Yandex 360: An email service with storage space (Yandex Disk) and an efficient spam filtering system.
Yandex Maps: A mapping and navigation service offering accurate directions, especially in Russia and neighboring countries.
Yandex Translate: A translation tool that supports over 90 languages.
Yandex Games: A massive catalog of free games available to play directly on the website (available in Thai).
What’s impressive about Yandex is the seamless integration of its services. When you create a Yandex account, you can access all services with a single login (Single Sign-On), making it easy to switch between them. For example, you can search for a restaurant through Yandex Search, view the location and directions in Yandex.Maps, and then book a ride through Yandex.Taxi to get there immediately. If you receive an email with an address attached, you can view it on the map with just one click.
Yandex offers a comprehensive range of services
Yandex has developed services that cover all aspects of digital life for Russians, including:
Yandex.Translate: A language translation tool that supports over 90 languages.
Yandex.Games: A catalog of free-to-play games available on the website.
Yandex.Direct: An online advertising platform, holding a 61% market share.
Yandex.Mail: For sending and receiving emails.
Yandex.Maps: Navigation and online map service.
Yandex.Market: An e-commerce platform with 19 million active monthly users.
Yandex.Taxi: A ride-hailing service with a 60% market share, forcing Uber to sell its operations in Russia.
Yandex.Music and Yandex.Video: Entertainment platforms with a combined 4.3 million active users.
Alice: An AI assistant that understands the Russian language.
And more
In addition, Yandex has developed smart home technology, application analytics systems, data management systems, and artificial intelligence technologies, making it a comprehensive digital ecosystem for Russians.
Currently, voice search through Alice accounts for 20% of all searches on Yandex. Additionally, Yandex has expanded its services to cover over 70 types of internet-related businesses.
However, despite Yandex’s tremendous success in Russia, it still faces significant challenges due to the depreciation of the ruble resulting from economic sanctions and security concerns from the government. As a result, Yandex has had to restructure its shareholder structure, limiting any single shareholder to a maximum of 10%, with foreign shareholders collectively holding no more than 50% of the company.
