Yandex launches a desktop application for managing PPC campaings

Yandex.Direct, the PPC platform of Yandex, has been around since 2001 and is the oldest system of contextual ads in Russia (Google launched AdWords in Russia in 2002). Even though it displays ads to over 22 million people every day and attracts hundreds of new advertizers from Russia and overseas, the user interface is, let’s say, not the most convenient. Managing large PPC campaigns through Yandex web interface is a challenging task. But from now on it will be much easier for all search marketers. Finally Yandex launched a desktop tool for managing Yandex.Direct accounts, similar to those of Google, Bing and Yahoo!. Please meet  Direct Commander!

The tool is available for Windows and Mac, but unfortunately the user interface is in Russia only. The first version of Commander is not as powerful as AdWords Editor, but it provides all the basic options you need for day-to-day PPC optimization. With the help of Direct Commander you can easily:

- Change campaign and ad settings (targeting, budgets, alerts, site exclusion, automated campaign management features such as Autofocus etc.)

- View statistics

- Create, edit and manage ads

- Add, remove and modify keywords

- Manage your presence in Yandex Catalog

- Import data from XLS and CSV files

The interface is very convenient, in my personal opinion. Commander window is divided into 3 panels

1. Campaigns

2. Ads

3. Keywords

The panels can be minimized if needed. I really like the fact that you don’t need to switch between tabs, but can edit the campaign at all levels simultaneously.

Direct Commander window

Of course, since it is the first version, there are a lot of functions that are missing. For example, it is impossible to download campaigns into Excel. Would be also nice to have the Yandex keyword tool (Wordstat) incorporated into the tool.

I am looking forward to more features in Direct Commander, but it’s already a big improvement. The tool is going to be great help to all search engine marketers optimizing for Yandex.

Russia: Advertising on Yandex

In Russia over 46 million people used the Internet in 2010 comprising 33% of the total population according to Euromonitor which defines internet users as those using the internet from any device (including mobile phones) in the past 12 months and generally covers users between the age of 15-74. The Internet is a powerful channel in Russia for advertising goods and services while promoting your brand or reaching your end buyer via contextual advertising. Yandex, a Russian search engine (also operating in Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan) has a average search market share for 2010 of 64%. Yandex offers advertisers a sophisticated service for placing text ads on both its search result pages and millions of pages on its advertising network, in total showing ads to over 30 million people daily. The Yandex.Direct Advertising Network covers various business spheres, from construction to banking, and diverse areas of interest. Yandex.Direct allows for targeting by location (down to city level) and by timing for ad exposure, along with thematic and behavioral targeting on partner sites. Yandex also offers display ad placement on the pages of its most popular services, such as Mail, News, Weather, Traffic, Market etc, as well as on the Home Page - a single placement that will bring you 13 million unique views daily! Yandex has English-speaking professionals who can advise you on the most effective campaign strategy for your business and help you set-up the process that brings potential customers to your site. An English-language log-in system is available that lets you monitor the campaign in real time. It enables you to track visitors, expenditure and set up goals. Online campaigns with Yandex are perfect for a sales-push to a specific audience or for company branding. If you are looking to make boost your sales and company recognition in Russia, Yandex is the answer!