The Russian search giant Yandex, a site of multi-purpose design, has made quite a bit of news as of late. Eight years of growth has allow its revenue to increase from about $400,000 to a reported $167 million in 2007. And as we let known earlier this year, the company, currently comprised of some 1,200 employees, plans to introduce itself on the NASDAQ stock exchange this autumn.
The most recent profile of the company comes from the Times of London, which seems to peg it squarely against Google. In short, Times reporter Mark Franchetti, with Yandex co-founder and chief executive Arkady Volozh taking to the spotlight, paints the company as a serious challenge to the Mountain View, CA-based Web giant on the Eurasian landscape. For one, it commandeers 55% of the Russian market. Google, on the other hand, holds 21%.
The challenges posed by both forces are in fact quite interesting to observe at present. Google just last month purchased a Russian contextual ad firm by the name of Begun, formerly a Rambler Media property, for $140 million. Presumably it was in order to capitalize on solid growth in Russia’s Internet sector as well as invest in a greater percentage of the search pie in the region. At least while the taking is still good, anyway. Though Google holds a portion less than half the size of Yandex, its position is not so firmly set in place as it is in more Western reaches of the world.
Of course, Yandex recognizes this fact, and so it is wasting no time to push hard for its own growth. That goes as much for the Russian market as places outside its border. It was said just this week that Yandex has significantly upgraded its data connections to Ukraine. And earlier still, it make it a point to mention upgrades to its search engine to support so-called world standards and enhance users’ access to video to better compete with the ever-advancing Google.
Yet the growth of Yandex may not impact Google world ranking as much as some, like the Times, have intimated. 33 million Russian citizens are said to be using the Web. That number is expected to nearly double in five years’ time. A sizable figure, for sure. Looking at recent estimates of Russia’s total population, however, which sits at around 142 million, down from a purported 145 million in 2002, the penetration rate of Web services does not nearly match that of Western audiences. The U.S., for example, home to some 300 million people, is over 70% connected, with an estimated 219 million users. Europe as a whole sits just shy of the 50% mark. Germany, Norway, UK, Switzerland, Denmark and Sweden, all show rates similar to that of the US. France is about 55%.
That said, there’s no question Yandex is capitalizing fully on Russia’s measured ascent in Internet development. According to Quintura, a search company itself, Yandex has become something of a household name in its home state, and in so doing intends to go so far as to refresh its logo to an entirely Cyrillic designation, rather than the largely English-language label it has maintained.
Semantics aside, it is becoming increasingly evident that what was for a number of years a very Western-influenced Internet marketplace has internationalized greatly, to the point that actors in China (Baidu, et al.) and, to somewhat lesser degree, Russia, have achieved heavyweight or near-heavyweight status. That goes for search as well as social networking service, video channels, and Web software. And it’s perhaps safe to say that current trends will continue. Of course, it’s highly unlikely that Google will hurt as a result. Virtually all large markets around the world have considerable room left to expand. Only, those of China and Russia have more fresh terrain from which to sow financial largesse, so to speak.
---
Related Articles at Mashable! - The Social Networking Blog:
Report: Russian Search Leader Yandex Set for Massive IPO
Last.fm Coming to Moscow through Partnership with LiveJournal
YouTube Mobile, Yandex, Orkut Polls, Amazon PPA, FunMobility, Motorola, MobilePlay, The Onion, Jott, Congoo
Google Answers to Make Triumphant Return?
Odnoklassniki.ru Set To Top $30 Million In Revenue
MySpace Speaking Portuguese, Russian, Polish and More
Google: Vulnerable After All?
No user resposed " Russian Search Leader Yandex is Hungry for International Renown "