How Yandex advertising solutions help building a bridge between brands from APAC and the Russia-CIS market

Earlier this year, ad agencies from over 26 countries convened at Doha, Qatar, for an event with all the trappings of an ad festival: an award ceremony, forward looking keynote presentations, and significant announcements — in this case an over $400 million commitment to developing search in Türkiye, starting next year.

This was not, as you may have imagined, an initiative led by an American or Chinese tech company. The organiser was Yandex Ads, the leading advertising platform in Eastern Europe and the CIS, and a division of Yandex, a Russia-headquartered tech firm.

Yandex is among the handful of companies worldwide that can truly lay claim to the super-app title. The range of services on offer from Yandex include search and email, cloud-based solutions, ride-hailing, consumer facing AI products, and fintech. The search engine has 64% market share in Russia. Over the years, Yandex Ads has become a window to an otherwise hard to reach audience in Russia and the CIS nations. The investments in Türkiye are a testament to Yandex Ads ambitions in making a wide swathe of the online population accessible to brands across the world.

The Asia Pacific region is no exception. Agencies from China, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka were at the Yandex Ads Gala. APAC represents one of the biggest markets and is already approaching category leader status for certain verticals within Yandex Ads.

Powering the APAC growth story

Growing APAC amid a turbulent time has been the mandate of Sergey Ustinov, general manager APAC, Yandex Ads. He is a veteran of the region with over two decades of experience, having studied, lived, and worked in China. He joined Yandex Ads in 2017 and the adtech firm’s recent expansion happened on his watch. From a solitary operation in mainland China, the company expanded to South Korea in 2018 and began to service Southeast Asia in 2019. In 2024, Yandex Ads staged its first big event in mainland China, unaccompanied by external partners. Ustinov said, “It was a significant milestone, reassuring the market that we are serious about investing.”

_{(Left to right) Min Li, Sergey Ustinov and Lijun Duan at Yandex Ads Agency Gala 2024 in Doha}

Yandex Ads currently works with 1,500 active clients in APAC. The adtech firm saw a 54% growth in revenue year-on-year (YOY), with expectations of a similar trajectory next year. China is currently the largest market within APAC, but Ustinov is bullish on Southeast Asia — particularly Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam, powered by travel and hospitality as growth engines. He also expects a resurgent South Korea, rooted in the intense mobile gaming culture in that market as well as in China.

How Yandex Ads evolved to reflect changing market dynamics in APAC

Yandex Ads began its APAC foray focused on ecommerce. Covid brought some rapid changes in its wake. Ustinov said, “Ecommerce is now an insignificant part of our business. It has shifted to more localised marketplaces and is no longer based out of China.”

Gaming has stepped in to fill the void. Ustinov observed, “Younger mobile-centric internet users are giving up gaming on PCs or consoles. Chinese game publishers are giants of the industry — dominating the Top 50 globally.” Yandex is at the right place and at the right time to benefit from the change in user behaviour and trends driven by China-based publishers. The sector has seen astronomic growth clocking in 145% in 2024 alone. Ustinov said, “Gaming is growing twofold or threefold and will continue to grow if not at 145%, at 50% YOY.”

Russia is a top five install market globally and provides an opportunity for even smaller companies to increase their user base. Ustinov said, “Companies thinking about IPOs or investors should focus on Russian gamers who are very loyal and spend a long time playing per day, per week. If they like a game, they will support it for years.” Besides gaming, another huge source of business for Yandex from China is the B2B sector given the nation’s status as a manufacturing hub.

When it comes to Southeast Asia, the critical sector is travel. Ustinov said, “Depending on the market, Russians are usually top three or top five visitors.” Searches for travel in Asia among Yandex users increased 35% through the H1 2024 with China, Thailand, and Vietnam cornering the bulk of attention.

A category that Ustinov believed has yet to reach its potential and which he expected to pick up to a greater degree is fashion. With several European brands leaving Russia, the time is ripe for Chinese design houses to fill the void — not just with fast fashion but at more premium price points.

Forging a deeper connection

Yandex Ads suite of adtech solutions include search and a vast programmatic ad network. A distinct advantage is conferred on Yandex Ads by the super app status of its parent company. Ustinov explained, “An average Russian speaking user interacts with one or often many Yandex products through the day.” These multiple points of contact leave Yandex Ads with a deeper understanding of its users, including their food preferences, travel patterns, and even the income bracket that they belong to. Ustinov said, “It gives us targeting opportunities in the ad industry that a lot of other platforms just do not have.” Yandex uses this data in a privacy-safe way to serve better, more targeted communication to its audience.

Search ads are still very relevant in Russia and CIS given the frequent queries from internet users, especially in the B2B sector as well as travel and real estate. The ad network provides a range of programmatic options including performance-based  solutions or more brand awareness-oriented advertising. The suite of in app advertising solutions track installs and then provide more granular information. Ustinov explained, “There's a clear shift globally from what happens after installs to user retention. Are they registering within the app? Do they spend? We are obviously following where the market goes.”

Yandex Ads solutions have delivered for clients. A case study produced with a global chain demonstrated how its properties across Russia and CIS were successfully promoted as an option for domestic travel. Intercontinental Hotel Bali — a favourite destination for Russian travellers — managed to increase its intake of tourists from the country by 130% and saw an 89% increase in its reach over the last six months. Chinese gaming companies were in the top 10 of Yandex Ads overall clientele. Ustinov said, “This includes banking and telecom who pay pretty significant amounts to increase their user base and have their app installed.”

Moving towards an AI-driven future

AI is playing a critical role in the future of Yandex Ads and improving the efficacy of its solutions. Ustinov said, “About 70% of our ad budgets are already managed by AI. We hope to increase that number as we raise the success rate and quality. We also expect to use AI to create ad text, banners etc.”  

Having these solutions will help Yandex Ads’ smaller advertisers who have limited budgets invest in making their own creatives. Ustinov also saw an opportunity in this space for hyperlocal advertising from restaurants for example targeting Russian tourists overseas.  Ustinov said, “When they already at the destination, if they refer to Yandex, we will be able to target them. The main blocker is inability of these businesses to localise.” He concluded,  “We hope that AI will help with localisation as we expand our business in APAC.”