Yandex challenges Google Chrome in Russia through launch of own browser

There is a new internet browser in town – and it is from Yandex. As the last of the world’s major search companies to launch its own browser, Yandex now joins the likes of Chrome, IE, and Baidu Explorer.

A brief look at desktop browser market shares in Russia reveals that the launch might be a necessary step to prevent Google from further building on its competitive edge in this area. According to Statcounter, Chrome is currently the leading desktop browser in Russia, with close to one-third of all Russian internet users accessing the web through the Google browser.

New gateway to Yandex products and services

The cloud-based browser integrates the best of Yandex’s products and services and is open to other web developers, says company CEO Arkady Volozh. As such, the launch paves the way for bringing more internet users not only to Yandex’s search engine but many of its other products and services as well.

Certainly, the potential impact of having an own-branded browser can be huge. The most recent example to this is Qihoo’s launch of 360 Search back in July, which made the Chinese software company (best known for its antivirus software and popular web browser) the second largest search engine in China practically overnight (more on this to come this week here on the site).

The impact of this latest move from Yandex to defend its home turf against the preeminent global leader in search is still unknown, but it undoubtedly strengthens its competitive position.

A more detailed description of the browser and its functionalities can be found in the company’s press release.

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Immanuel Simonsen

Research Manager at Webcertain

As the Research Manager of multilingual web marketing agency Webcertain, Immanuel heads up the company’s global market research activities and large content marketing projects. He is the author of several reports and guides, including ‘The Essential Guide to Rel-Alternate-Hreflang’ and ‘The Webcertain Global Search and Social Report 2013’. Apart from being a tutor at the International Marketing School -- teaching online marketing professionals on business opportunities around the globe -- Immanuel is a regular speaker at the International Search Summit, a leading event series dedicated to multilingual search and social media marketing.

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