Yandex

What Yandex does

Yandex is a Russian multinational technology company founded in 1997 and publicly traded on the Moscow Exchange under ticker YNDX. It operates an integrated ecosystem of consumer internet services including Yandex Search, Yandex Maps and navigation, Yandex Browser, Yandex.Music, Yandex.Mail, Yandex Disk, Yandex.Taxi, Yandex Food delivery, and Yandex.Afisha ticketing — all unified through the Yandex ID single sign-on authentication platform. On top of this consumer base, Yandex runs a B2B Maps API developer platform comprising JavaScript API, MapKit SDK, Geocoder, Router/Distance Matrix, NaviKit SDK navigation, Tiles, Static, Geosuggest, and Geolocation APIs, with tailored solutions for e-commerce, logistics, automotive manufacturers, finance and telecom, non-profits, and SMBs. The company maintains a Robotics R&D center in Moscow and an in-house generative AI capability anchored by YandexGPT and YandexART neural networks, which power the Shhedevrum image generation application.

Yandex's business model is diversified across seven revenue streams: contextual advertising via Yandex.Direct (matched to user behavior, location, and search history), transaction fees from Yandex.Taxi and Yandex Food delivery platforms, subscription revenue from Yandex.Music, usage-based fees for Maps API licensing, transaction fees from Yandex.Afisha ticketing, and subscription revenue from Yandex.Radar web analytics. The go-to-market motion is product-led for consumers (direct distribution through owned websites, mobile apps, and Yandex ID cross-promotion) and hybrid direct-sales/self-serve for enterprise (Maps API developer portal plus sales-assisted onboarding for larger accounts). Certifications and compliance posture include PCI DSS for payments, SOC 2 Type 2 (annually audited under SSAE 18 since 2020) for Yandex ID, and ISO 27001/ISO 31000 compliance for all services, supported by a bug bounty program operational since 2012.

Following the 2022 corporate restructuring triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, AI infrastructure and data center assets were spun off into Nebius, which relocated to Amsterdam and listed independently on Nasdaq. Yandex itself remains the core Russian-facing business, headquartered at the Krasnaya Roza Business Center in Moscow, with additional offices at Aurora, Oko, Neva, and Lotte Plaza business centers, a Robotics R&D facility, and two museum/showroom locations at Krasnaya Roza and Aurora serving as brand engagement touchpoints. The company reports to Russian data protection regulators and publishes semi-annual Transparency Reports covering government data requests, content removal, and copyright enforcement (497.5 million links removed cumulatively since 2018 under the Memorandum of Cooperation for Protecting Exclusive Rights).

Name

Yandex

Legal name

Yandex LLC

Website

https://yandex.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

Yandex is a Russian technology company operating an integrated ecosystem of internet services — search, maps, navigation, ride-hailing, food delivery, and music streaming — plus a B2B Maps API platform. Founded in 1997 and publicly traded on the Moscow Exchange, it serves millions of users primarily in Russia and CIS markets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Internet Search and Location Services

NAICS

Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (51929), Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (516210), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Personalization, Recommendations & Search (MPAHAJAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Enterprise AI Data & Knowledge Platforms (Vector Databases, Knowledge Graphs) (HDAEANAH), Customer Support, CRM & Retention Tooling (Helpdesk, Churn, Messaging) (MPAHAJAM)

Keywords

• Internet search engine
• Maps and navigation
• Ride-hailing platform
• Food delivery service
• Online advertising

Headquarters

HQ city

Moscow

HQ country

Russia

HQ region

Europe

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Search advertising (Yandex.Direct): Personalized contextual advertising served through Yandex's search engine and partner network, with ads matched to individual user interests, search history, and location.
2. Taxi and ride-hailing (Yandex.Taxi): Yandex.Taxi operates as a platform connecting passengers with taxi companies and drivers. Location data is shared with partner taxi companies to enable passenger pickup.
3. Food delivery (Yandex Foodtech): Food delivery service connecting users with restaurants and couriers.
4. Music and entertainment subscriptions (Yandex.Music): Music streaming service recommending artists and songs based on individual user preferences, operating on a subscription model.
5. Maps API licensing and usage fees: Enterprise customers (e-commerce, logistics, car manufacturers, SMBs) pay for access to Yandex Maps APIs and SDKs, with rate plans based on usage volume.
6. Ticketing (Yandex.Afisha): Concert and event ticketing platform where Yandex shares user data with venue box offices for ticket delivery.
7. Web analytics (Yandex.Radar): Web analytics reporting tool providing aggregated statistics on user behavior to analytics service customers. Does not share personal user information, only aggregated data.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Yandex builds and operates an internet search engine, mapping and navigation platform, and a portfolio of consumer internet services including ride-hailing (Yandex.Taxi), food delivery (Yandex.Food), music streaming (Yandex.Music), email (Yandex Mail), cloud storage (Yandex Disk), and a browser. It also sells a developer Maps API platform (JavaScript API, MapKit/NaviKit SDKs, Geocoder, Router, Distance Matrix, Tiles, Static, Geosuggest) to enterprise customers and runs the Yandex.Direct contextual advertising platform.

Product overview

Yandex is a multi-service technology company offering a portfolio of interconnected internet services centered around its core Maps and Search platforms. The ecosystem includes consumer-facing products (Yandex Maps for navigation, Yandex Search, Yandex Browser, Yandex Music with recommendation engine, Yandex Mail, Yandex Disk cloud storage, Yandex.Direct advertising, and Shhedevrum image generation), unified authentication via Yandex ID, and an extensive developer platform with the Yandex Maps API suite for business solutions and integrations. The Yandex Maps API products (JavaScript API, MapKit SDK, Tiles API, Static API, Distance Matrix API, NaviKit SDK, Router API, Geocoder API, Geosuggest, Organization Search, Geolocation) enable developers and businesses to embed mapping, navigation, and location features into applications.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Yandex Drops: A service or product under the Yandex brand.
• Neurometeum
• Volcanic Ash
• Yambda
• Сoastlines Cleanup

Products and services

• Yandex Search Internet search engine for Russian-speaking users, with results personalized based on individual search history and preferences.
• Yandex Maps Consumer mapping and navigation service with detailed maps, real-time navigation, location search, and public transport information for Russia and worldwide.
• Yandex Maps API Developer platform exposing JavaScript API, MapKit SDK, NaviKit SDK, Geocoder, Geosuggest, Geosearch, Router, Distance Matrix, Tiles, Static, and Locator APIs for embedding maps, geocoding, routing, navigation, and device location features into websites and applications.
• Yandex Browser

Quantifiable outcome

• 497,519,372 copyright-infringing links removed from search results since 2018 under the Memorandum of Cooperation with copyright holders.
• +1 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature14 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Copyright holders (Memorandum of Cooperation for Protecting Exclusive Rights)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018In fall 2018, Yandex signed the Memorandum of Cooperation for Protecting Exclusive Rights alongside other major IT companies and copyright holders. This partnership created a register of links to pages potentially violating copyright, continually updated by rights holders. Under this arrangement, Yandex has removed a total of 497,519,372 infringing links from its search results (81,260,293 in H2 2025 alone). The relationship is ongoing and represents a core operational partnership for Yandex's copyright compliance program.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Spotify: Global music-streaming leader and natural benchmark for Yandex.Music's subscription economics, recommendation-quality, and ARPU trajectories — though Spotify does not operate in Russia.

Broad incumbents

• Sberbank / SberTech: Russia's largest bank building an adjacent tech ecosystem (SberCloud, SberDevices, SberFood) and competing with Yandex across voice assistants, food delivery, and lifestyle services. Increasingly a domestic super-app competitor.
• Google (Alphabet): Global search, maps, advertising, and consumer-tech incumbent. Yandex mirrors Google's architecture (search + maps + ads + identity + developer APIs) in a single-country market; comparing Yandex's Maps API economics and ad ARPU against Google's benchmarks is the most direct valuation reference, even though Google is currently constrained in Russia.
• Baidu: China's dominant search engine with a similar integrated ecosystem of maps (Baidu Maps), advertising, AI (ERNIE), and cloud. Baidu is the closest structural analog to Yandex — a regionally dominant, partially walled-off internet platform — making it the most relevant public-market comparable.
• TomTom: European mapping and navigation company serving automotive and enterprise customers. Comparable to Yandex Maps API in OEM-routing and traffic-data licensing, and useful as a public-market comparable for the location-platform segment.

Direct peers

• Naver Corporation: Korean internet conglomerate running search, maps (Naver Maps), payments, content, and AI services. Similar 'national search + maps + super-app' architecture to Yandex and a useful proxy for valuation multiples in non-Anglo internet platforms.
• VK (formerly Mail.ru Group): Largest Russian social network and internet group (VK, Odnoklassniki, Mail.ru). Operates Russia's other major consumer internet properties and competes with Yandex across portal, advertising, and content; together they define the Russian consumer-internet duopoly.
• 2GIS: Russia/CIS-focused digital mapping and city-guide platform with a strong enterprise API business. Direct competitor to Yandex Maps in Russia, especially for B2B directory, geocoding, and logistics use cases.
• Mapbox: Developer-focused mapping and location platform offering tiles, routing, and navigation APIs/SDKs. Closest global peer to Yandex Maps API on product surface, pricing model (usage-based), and target customer (enterprise developers and OEMs).
• HERE Technologies: Global location platform specializing in automotive-grade maps, routing, and embedded navigation. Comparable to Yandex Maps API for OEM and logistics customers, and a relevant benchmark for embedded-license economics.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubopensource.yandex/en
• Xx.com/yandex_ua
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/yandex

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Yandex