Yandex opens its content recommendations platform to all publishers

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Russian search giant Yandex is creating a new publishing platform that lets content creators of all sizes — from media companies to “ordinary users” — post directly to its Yandex Zen content recommendations feed.

Zen, which launched in 2015, uses artificial intelligence to suggest content to each user. It’s integrated into Yandex’s mobile app, home page and the Yandex web browser. The company says Zen is available in 50 languages and more than 100 countries and has 6 million daily users just in Russia. Zen users have spent an average of 20 minutes per day on the platform so far this month (May 2017).

With the new content development platform, it sounds like Yandex is turning Zen into something similar to Apple News and Google Newsstand. On Zen, publishers will be able:

… to create their own channels with text, video and advertisements, run media projects, and experiment with mobile formats. Companies can use it to tell their stories, promote their brands, distribute marketing materials and use native advertising to engage with their customers.

Yandex is also launching a new content format called “Narratives” that’s been tested by the likes of Nike, Vogue, Esquire and others. It’s described as “a series of easy-to-flip-through screens for multimedia content such as photos, GIFs, videos and text.”

The publishing platform is launching in Russia first, and Yandex says it’ll expand to other markets later.


About The Author

Matt McGee is the Editor-In-Chief of Marketing Land and Search Engine Land. His news career includes time spent in TV, radio, and print journalism. After leaving traditional media in the mid-1990s, he began developing and marketing websites and continued to provide consulting services for more than 15 years. His SEO and social media clients ranged from mom-and-pop small businesses to one of the Top 5 online retailers. Matt is a longtime speaker at marketing events around the U.S., including keynote and panelist roles. He can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee. You can read Matt’s disclosures on his personal blog. You can reach Matt via email using our Contact page.


 

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