Yandex Launched the Eighth Annual Open Internet Search

Internet, October 8, 2007. Yandex has announced that the Eighth Annual Open Internet Search Cup, which the company has held since 2001 will begin on October 11, 2007. At stake is a combined prize fund of 1,249,000 roubles (almost $50,000 USD).

This year’s Cup will offer three cash prizes, the amounts of which will be revealed after prospective contestants conduct a warm-up exercise, seeking characteristics of obscure geographical features prior to the official contest launch. Contestants will be competing for three spots, with the top prize winner will receive a monetary rouble equivalent of 1/1000 part of Myrdalsjokull’s area in square meters. The first runner-up will claim the prize amount equal to Lake Titicaca’s depth in millimeters, and the second runner-up will obtain a sum equivalent to the length of the Krasivaya Mecha in meters.

”You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed,” says Antoine de Saint Exupery, a French writer, one of Air Mail pioneers. “We expect the competition will keep contestants not far from their computers until November,” says Natalia Ostasheva, head of the Yandex Special Projects department. “This year’s competition will be challenging and we wish everyone the best of luck.”

The first round of the search contest will start on October 11, 2007 and end November 1, 2007. The Yandex Search Cup finals are scheduled for December in Moscow. The winner of the Search Cup Finals will receive the major cash prize and the title of “The Person Who Found Everything 2007.” As part of the contest rules, winners of previous Search Cups cannot take part in this year’s competition.

Contact:
Media Relations
Vladimir Isaev, Ochir Mandzhikov
Phone: +7 495 739-7000
E-mail: pr@yandex-team.com