OREANDA-NEWS. April 14, 2010.  Yandex launches web portal yandex.by. Now Belarusian web users have a Yandex of their own to find answers to their questions.

Yandex’s new localized search engine supports Belarusian language and returns results based on a new ranking formula customized exclusively for Belarus using MatrixNet, the company’s proprietary technology. Users in Belarus can make search queries on yandex.by in both of the nation’s official languages and receive locally relevant results. In response to the search query [Constitution], yandex.by returns the Constitution of Belarus, while the search [theater] retrieves information about the National Opera and Ballet Theater in Minsk, as well as links to websites of other theaters in this country. The Belarusian Yandex speaks to its users in two languages – the front page and the search results pages are available both in Belarusian and in Russian.

All of Yandex’s key services on yandex.by have been customized to meet the needs of the local audiences. Yandex.Maps features a detailed map of Minsk, Yandex.Afisha offers show times in Belarusian cinemas, and Yandex.Auto shows cars for sale across the country. Prices on Yandex.Market and Yandex.Auto are listed in Belarusian rubles. Yandex.Mail gives its Belarusian customers an opportunity to create a free account in the yandex.by domain.

“The more quality Belarusian content there is, the better answers for Belarusian requests we’ll be able to find, the more visitors will be attracted to the Belarusian websites”, says Alexander Laryanovsky, head of Yandex's Regional Development. “To support internet development in Belarus is in our best interest, and we are keen to offer ready-to-use services and tools to local website owners to help them develop their resources”.

Yandex offers excellent opportunities for contextual and media advertising. Contextual advertisers can place their ads individually via Yandex.Direct, Yandex.Market or through one of Yandex’s partner agencies. Media advertisers can run their online campaigns through Yandex’s exclusive partner in Belarus, JSC Video International-Minsk Ltd.
Yandex enjoys a weekly audience of more than 1.2 million Belarusian users. The number of Yandex users in Belarus has more than doubled in the past year.