Yandex Enhances Latest Content in Search Results

Moscow, February 29, 2012. Yandex (NASDAQ: YNDX) has made it easier for users to find the latest information on the search results pages. In response to search queries about the latest events, Yandex returns a group of links to the most recent web documents, including the links shared on Twitter, graphically separated from other search results. Yandex users can now instantly see, for example, the latest news on the Oscars, grouped together on Yandex’s search results page.

Search queries about the latest news and events are among the most popular on Yandex, comprising 3% to 10% of all searches. To return results to these queries, Yandex uses its real-time robot, Orange, specifically designed for indexing frequently updated websites. Now, using a new ranking formula, Yandex ranks all of the most recently appearing results by relevance to offer those that are most historically relevant to the user. All results can also be filtered to view only those that appeared in the past three days.

The microblogging community has become one of the most important information sources on the internet. Every piece of news receives an instant response from bloggers who post updates and share links. Now, Yandex users can see most popular links and videos from Twitter, the largest microblogging service, among the most recent web documents in Yandex’s search results. Yandex users can also view more Twitter results relevant to their search query. Yandex’s Twitter search technology is powered by Topsy Labs.

“Social networking has given people the opportunity to share the latest news and exchange links. Using this information, we can significantly improve our news results and provide our users with the information that is interesting for many. This is only one of a few ways how a search engine could benefit from social content. We have just launched a special social search program aiming at utilizing all things social, available online,” says Fedor Romanenko, Search Quality Manager at Yandex.

As part of its social search program, Yandex announced last week a partnership deal with Twitter Inc. and rolled out a Twitter search engine. This launch followed the company’s release of a personal profile search on February 20. Read more about Yandex’s social search on the company’s blog (in Russian).

About Topsy Labs

Topsy Labs is a realtime search and analytics platform powered by the social web. Unlike traditional web search engines, Topsy Labs' technology calculates the most relevant search results by applying its influence algorithm. By searching links, posts and other content produced from millions of people each day, Topsy brings consumers and businesses the freshest, most valuable metrics and content from the social web. Headquartered in San Francisco and founded in 2006.

About Yandex

Yandex (NASDAQ: YNDX) is the leading internet company in Russia, operating the country’s most popular search engine and most visited website. Yandex also operates in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Turkey. Yandex’s mission is to answer any question internet users may have.

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