Google hit again in Russia as Yandex and Rambler announce partnership

Russian search engine Yandex is not resting on its laurels following its successful IPO last month but continuing to consolidate its leading position in the Russian market through a collaboration with fellow Russian engine Rambler.

From 23 June, Rambler will be using Yandex to power its search results, as well as joining the Yandex.Direct ad network, however it will also continue to show ads placed on Begun, an alternative advertising platform in which it has controlling interest. The partnership will enable advertisers to increase their reach and appear in front of new customers.

Figures from LiveInternet.ru in March 2011 show that Rambler’s search share in Russia had dropped to just 2%, compared with the 26% it held in 2005. This is in contrast to Google, who only had 5% share in 2005, which has now increased to 22%. The Silicon Valley search giant still has a long way to go to make any impact on Yandex, which has 65%.

Yandex has also been gaining ground in other Russian speaking markets, namely Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus. It is yet to overtake Google for the majority share in those countries, but its understanding and handling of the complex Russian language makes it an increasingly popular choice in Russian-speaking markets.

Yandex intends to continue to focus solely on Russian markets, and there are no plans for the engine to roll out into other markets. As Co-Founder Arkady Volozh said, “We still have huge room to grow. The Russian advertising market is projected to triple in the next several years”. The partnership with Rambler is further proof of Yandex’s intention to dominate its home market – and Google now has an even greater fight on its hands to increase its presence -and revenue – in Russia.

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Gemma Houghton

Director of Marketing at Webcertain

Gemma has worked in international search marketing for over 15 years and is Director of Marketing at Webcertain, overseeing all marketing activities for the Group. She also organises and programmes Webcertain’s International Search Summit and International Social Summit, Barcelona-based conferences focusing on international and multilingual digital marketing. Gemma holds a Professional Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, a Diploma in Management and Leadership from the Chartered Management Institute, and a BA joint honours degree in French and German.

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