# Yandex

> Russian technology company

**Wikidata**: [Q5281](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5281)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yandex)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/yandex

## Summary
Yandex is a Russian technology company founded in 1997 that operates as one of the largest internet companies in Russia, offering services including search engines, maps, taxi services, food delivery, cloud storage, and artificial intelligence products. The company was co-founded by Arkady Volozh and Ilya Segalovich and has grown into a major technology conglomerate with various subsidiaries and services.

## Key Facts
- Founded: September 23, 1997
- Co-founders: Arkady Volozh and Ilya Segalovich
- Headquarters: Moscow, Russia
- Parent organization: Nebius Group
- Official websites: https://yandex.com/, https://yandex.ru, https://ya.ru/
- Industry: Internet industry, software industry, information technology
- Employees: Various counts including 7,500, 6,271, 8,854, and 26,700 at different times
- Stock exchange: Moscow Exchange
- Country of origin: Russia
- Member of: Moscow Exchange
- Influenced by: Google
- Instance of: Public company, business
- Revenue figures: 59,790,000,000, 75,920,000,000, and 94,054,000,000
- Net profit figures: 9,769,000,000, 6,783,000,000, and 8,776,000,000
- Total assets: 130,183,000,000
- Official motto: "Найдётся всё" (Something will be found)

## FAQs
### What is Yandex and what services does it offer?
Yandex is a Russian technology company that operates as one of the largest internet companies in Russia. It offers a wide range of services including search engines, maps, taxi services, food delivery, cloud storage, email, browser, artificial intelligence products, and various other digital services.

### Who founded Yandex and when?
Yandex was co-founded by Arkady Volozh and Ilya Segalovich in 1997. Both were Russian computer scientists and entrepreneurs who developed the company into Russia's leading search engine and technology platform.

### What is the relationship between Yandex and its subsidiaries?
Yandex operates numerous subsidiaries including Yandex Taxi, Yandex.Eda, Yandex Maps, Yandex Market, Yandex Mail, Yandex Browser, Yandex Disk, Yandex Translate, and YandexGPT. These subsidiaries provide various services under the Yandex brand and ecosystem.

### What happened to Yandex's ownership?
Yandex was originally a public company but was later acquired by Nebius Group, a Dutch company developing AI-related technology assets. The company continues to operate as a major technology conglomerate under this ownership structure.

### Who are the key people associated with Yandex?
Key people include co-founders Arkady Volozh (former CEO, born 1964) and Ilya Segalovich (CTO, died 2013), along with other executives like Elena Bunina. Volozh renounced Russian citizenship by 2026 and acquired citizenship in Malta and Israel.

## Why It Matters
Yandex matters as Russia's dominant internet company and technology platform, fundamentally transforming how Russian-speaking populations access and process information online. The company pioneered search technology specifically tailored to the Russian language, addressing unique challenges in Cyrillic text processing that international search engines couldn't adequately handle. Without Yandex's contributions, Russian internet users would have relied primarily on non-local search technologies that didn't account for linguistic and cultural nuances.

The company's influence extends far beyond search, encompassing transportation (Yandex Taxi), food delivery (Yandex.Eda), mapping services (Yandex Maps), cloud storage (Yandex Disk), email (Yandex Mail), and artificial intelligence (YandexGPT). This comprehensive ecosystem has made Yandex a central player in Russia's digital economy and technological development. The company's evolution from a search-focused startup to a diversified technology conglomerate demonstrates the potential for regional tech companies to develop comprehensive digital ecosystems that serve local markets effectively.

Yandex's significance also lies in its role as a major competitor to Western technology companies in the Russian market, representing an alternative model for internet services that is specifically adapted to local language, culture, and regulatory environments. The company's journey from a 1997 startup to a major public company and eventual acquisition by Nebius Group illustrates the dynamic nature of the global technology industry.

## Notable For
- Developing Russia's largest search engine specifically optimized for the Russian language and Cyrillic script
- Creating a comprehensive ecosystem of services including search, maps, taxi, food delivery, and AI products
- Being the first Russian search technology company to achieve global recognition and public listing
- Pioneering natural language processing technologies specifically for the Russian language
- Operating as a major technology company in Russia despite international sanctions and geopolitical tensions
- Developing YandexGPT, a generative AI chatbot competing with global models like GPT-4 and Claude
- Maintaining significant market share in multiple sectors including search (approximately 60% in Russia), taxi, and e-commerce
- Successfully transitioning from a search-focused company to a diversified technology conglomerate
- Being led by co-founders who were both accomplished computer scientists and entrepreneurs
- Operating the popular Yandex.Market e-commerce platform and Yandex.Taxi ride-hailing service

## Body

### History and Founding
Yandex was founded on September 23, 1997, by Arkady Volozh and Ilya Segalovich, two Russian computer scientists and entrepreneurs. The company emerged from the need for search technology specifically tailored to the Russian language and Cyrillic script processing. Ilya Segalovich, born on September 13, 1964, in Nizhny Novgorod, Soviet Union, served as the company's chief technology officer and was instrumental in developing search algorithms specifically designed to handle the unique challenges of Russian language processing. He died from cancer in 2013 at the age of 48. Arkady Volozh, born on February 11, 1964, in Atyrau, Soviet Union (now Kazakhstan), served as CEO from 2000 to 2014 and later renounced Russian citizenship by 2026, acquiring citizenship in Malta and Israel.

### Corporate Evolution and Ownership
The company initially operated as a public company and achieved a public listing on NASDAQ in 2011, making it the first Russian search technology company to achieve global recognition and public trading status. However, the company later transitioned under different ownership structures, with Nebius Group, a Dutch company developing AI-related technology assets, becoming the parent organization. The company has various legal names including "ООО «Яндекс»" and "Yandex LLC".

### Core Services and Products
Yandex operates a comprehensive suite of services under its ecosystem. The flagship search engine became Russia's dominant search platform by providing more accurate results for Russian morphology and word forms than existing international search engines. Yandex Maps, launched on August 27, 2004, provides web mapping services specifically adapted for Russian locations. Yandex.Taxi, launched on October 26, 2011, became a major ride-hailing service in Russia. Yandex.Eda, launched in 2018, provides food delivery services. Yandex.Disk offers cloud storage services, while Yandex.Translate provides translation services for text and web pages.

### Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technologies
Yandex has invested significantly in artificial intelligence development. YandexGPT, launched on May 17, 2023, is a generative artificial intelligence chatbot and large language model that competes with global models like GPT-4 and Claude. The company also developed Alisa, a Russian intelligent personal assistant software launched on October 10, 2017. Additionally, Yandex created Catboost, an open-source gradient boosting framework on decision trees, and ClickHouse, an open-source column-oriented database management system for online analytical processing.

### Ecosystem and Subsidiaries
The Yandex ecosystem includes numerous services and subsidiaries. Yandex Market, launched on November 30, 2000, provides an online service for selecting goods and shopping. Yandex Mail, launched on June 26, 2000, offers free email services. Yandex Browser, launched on October 1, 2012, is a web browser developed by the company. Yandex Video, launched on July 3, 2008, operates as a streaming platform. The company also operates Yandex.Labs and has developed various other services including Yandex.Games and Yandex.Navigator for automotive navigation.

### Financial Performance and Scale
Yandex has demonstrated significant financial performance with revenue figures of 59.79 billion, 75.92 billion, and 94.054 billion rubles in different periods. The company reported net profits of 9.769 billion, 6.783 billion, and 8.776 billion rubles. Total assets reached 130.183 billion rubles. The company has employed varying numbers of staff, including 7,500, 6,271, 8,854, and 26,700 employees at different times, reflecting its growth and operational changes.

### Competitive Position and Market Impact
Yandex holds a dominant position in the Russian internet market, handling approximately 60% of all search queries in Russia at its peak. The company competed directly with international players like Google in the Russian market but maintained significant market share through its superior understanding of Russian language processing and local market needs. The company's influence extended to various sectors including search, e-commerce, transportation, and digital services, making it a central player in Russia's digital transformation.

### Organizational Structure and Personnel
Beyond the co-founders, Yandex has been associated with various personnel including Elena Bunina, a Russian mathematician. The company has operated with headquarters in Moscow and has been listed on the Moscow Exchange. The company has also been involved in various technology initiatives including GIS Technologies, a subsidiary that operated from 2008 to 2010 specializing in geographic information systems before dissolving.

## References

1. [Яндекс поменял логотип. Yandex. 2021](https://yandex.ru/company/press_releases/2021/31-03-2021)
2. [Третья версия логотипа «Яндекса». Art. Lebedev Studio. 2008](https://www.artlebedev.ru/yandex/identity3/)
3. [Вторая версия знака и фирменного стиля «Яндекса». Yandex Browser. 2004](https://www.artlebedev.ru/yandex/identity2/)
4. [Source](https://www.kp.ru/online/news/4775007/)
5. [Source](https://www.rbc.ru/business/03/06/2022/629a0db89a79472e9e52e0e4)
6. Open ISNI for Organizations
7. [Source](https://cve.mitre.org/cve/request_id.html#cna_participants)
8. Freebase Data Dumps. 2013
9. [ООО "Яндекс" - MusicBrainz](https://musicbrainz.org/label/a738aa3e-c76f-46e7-88d9-e7200cef9801)
10. [Яндекс.Транспорт охватил не все города-миллионники](http://radiovesti.ru/episode/show/episode_id/31507)
11. [Source](https://ya.ru/project/ydex)
12. BBC Things
13. [Alexa Internet](https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/yandex.ru/)
14. Google Knowledge Graph
15. [Source](http://km.aifb.kit.edu/services/crunchbase/)
16. [Source](https://yandex.gcs-web.com/static-files/d4dda674-fd6b-4144-91c7-096890926aed)
17. [Source](https://yandex.ru/company/press_releases/2017/0216)
18. [Рейтинг крупнейших компаний России по объему реализации продукции. Expert RA](https://raexpert.ru/rankingtable/top_companies/2018/main)
19. GRID Release 2017-08-10
20. [Source](https://ir.yandex/financial-releases)
21. Quora
22. Microsoft Academic Knowledge Graph
23. YouTube API
24. [yandex · GitHub Topics · GitHub](https://github.com/topics/yandex)
25. [OpenAlex](https://docs.openalex.org/download-snapshot/snapshot-data-format)
26. [Source](https://www.similarweb.com/top-websites/)
27. [Source](https://www.similarweb.com/website/yandex.ru/#ranking)