In what is yet another testament to the rising global ambitions of Yandex, Russia’s leading search engine now offers a PPC expert test for non-Russian speaking marketers.
Upon successful completion of the test, which is in English and can be accessed here, individuals (not agencies) will gain internationally recognised Yandex expert status demonstrating proficiency in managing Yandex.Direct campaigns.
The test is free of charge and has been adapted for the Western market (it differs from the Russian version in terms of the content and technical specifications).
I have taken the test myself and here is some information for those of you who wish to give it a go too.
Technical information:
- 45 questions
- 55 minutes
- 6 mistakes allowed
- Passing rate- 87%
- Multiple choice questions
- Only one correct answer
- You cannot pause or save the test halfway through
If you do not pass the test first time round, you can try again in a week’s time. The following two attempts will be available after three month intervals. If you were still unable to pass the test, you will be able to try again in six months (when all your attempts will be restored).
Before taking the actual test you will be presented with an option to take a mock test. This will allow you to familiarize yourself with the interface and check your knowledge about movies with questions such as this one:
It made me realize that perhaps I should catch up on my cinema time -.-
Once you are comfortable with the way the test looks, you will be able to start the real exam.
But before you do so, bear in mind that once you start the actual test you will not be able to pause or save it half way through and come back to it later. The exam has to be completed in one go.
Moreover, in comparison to the Google Adwords examination, there is no option to leave the question blank and come back to it later on. All questions have to be answered in the given order.
Be prepared for some technical questions involving specific numbers, rules etc. such as:
- How much time certain changes take to be applied to the system
- How many ads/keywords/sitelinks are allowed
- Ad positioning rules
- Bidding strategies rules
- Reporting options etc.
In addition, the test involves many questions checking your practical knowledge on match types, ads regulations, best practices and similar.
This is not a Bing style examination which you can pass even with a basic knowledge! This is a serious, quite difficult exam leading to a professional status desired by many employers targeting countries where Yandex has its presence.
You have to be well prepared to pass the test, but before you dive into the Russian language course to be able to understand some materials on Yandex.Direct I have some great news for you! Yandex spent a lot of time translating their materials to English to help their foreign advertisers get the most of the PPC platform.
And here they are:
- help.yandex.com/direct – Yandex.Direct bible covering many subjects in relation to their platform, best practices and useful tools
- direct.yandex.com – the whole interface of their Yandex platform is now available in English, therefore if you currently are not running any Yandex clients and are a self learner, create a mock up campaign and play around with it – practice makes perfect!
- And my personal favourite: “Ad serving Rules” document – a comprehensive legal document explaining in very nitty-gritty detail(!) how the ad positioning rules work!. Fascinating reading, and I bet you have never seen anything like this from Google or Bing! Plus of course an essential read to pass the Yandex test.
Upon the completion of the test you will immediately receive your results broken down by each section, meaning that if you were unlucky and did not pass, you will know which areas need more revising.
If you do pass the test (huraaay!), a little present from Russia will reach your doorstep in a few weeks time – a hard copy of a personalized certificate with a unique number all written in Cyrillic (something worth putting in a nice frame, if you ask me)!
What is more? Besides passing the test, Yandex have other conditions for agencies to gain certified status. Ask your Yandex account manager for more information on this.
Gaining a Yandex.Expert status is not easy, however, as with anything in life, you can achieve it if enough preparation is taken! So good luck and let me know how it went!
Note: Justyna Wilner is a bilingual PPC expert at Webcertain Media. Trained at the Yandex headquarters in Moscow, she is also a practitioner and tutor of Yandex.Direct courses at the International Marketing School in Barcelona. Justyna is the first non-Russian speaking person in the world to pass the Yandex.Expert test.
Justyna Wilner
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