Yandex, Russia’s most popular search engine portal, have announced record profits for last year. Net profit of the company in 2005 was $13,6m, and turnover (revenue) was $35,6m (on US GAAP, without including NDS). Those figures have doubled since 2004.
They put this growth down to the wider expansion of the internet in Russia, they report to be at 20% of the population. As a whole the audience of the Russian speaking internet grew by 25%. The total volume of this market reached $100m.
Both contextual and media (banner) advertising sales increased in 2005: about $60m spent on the purchase of media advertisement (+71% in comparison with the previous year), and $40m on contextual (+120%).
“A year ago we forecast the doubling of the market and that has happened”,says Arkady Volozh, CEO and Founder of Yandex, “Internet advertising grew more rapidly than any other form of advertisement.
If in 2004 advertisers spent on the Internet around 1% of their budget, in 2005 it is already 2%. So far that only amounts to $5 adverting dollars per user in Russia – in comparison with $120 advertising dollars spent per user in the US. So we have a large potential for increase”.
Yandex also put some of their success here in RuNet down to their rapid application development over the past year, some of which may sound strangely familiar:
- Yandex Direct – contextual advertising system
- Yandex Address – mapping system/business directory
- Yandex Desktop Search – local desktop/internet search
- Yandex Money – web payments system
Another key success for the company in 2005 was their expansion into Ukraine, which targeted Russian speaking users in the country.
Source: Yandex News | Internet in Russia Fall Report – Public Opinion Foundation (FOM)
Nick Wilsdon
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[…] these findings are supported by the rapid expansion into the country by the Russian mega-portal Yandex. As a marketer looking to break into the Ukraine market, a dual […]