Russia's leading Internet search engine company Yandex experienced a revenue increase of more than $300  million during 2008, a rise topping 80 percent over 2007 year end figures, the company announced Thursday. The strong 2008 revenue figures came as Yandex released preliminary and yet-to-be-audited financial earnings. Yandex Advertising Network Helped 2008 Earnings Rise Yandex did not release financial outlook estimates for the 2009 year, however chief executive Arkady Volozh said that the search company was revising its budget weekly due to the present economic uncertainty. Volozh spoke Thursday at the Troika Dialog investment forum. Yandex is Russia's most-used search engine, followed by Mountain View, California-based Google and Russia's Rambler, according to figures from Liveinternet. According to recent search engine usage metrics, Yandex holds nearly a 50 percent share of the search market in Russia, and after a lengthy period of planning the firm is expected to become a listed company on the United States stock market. The online advertising business has shown speedy growth in Russia, where it was expected to reach a total of $685 million in 2008, according to a study from Mindshare Interaction. On Thursday Yandex said that more than 85 percent of its revenue came from text-based search advertising. Russia's Search Leader Yandex Revenue Rose More Than 80 Percent During 2008 In July 2008 Google agreed to acquire Russia's ZAO Begun advertising agency for $140 million from Rambler  Media Ltd., which operates the country's third largest search engine behind Yandex and Google. Google co-founder Sergey Brin is of Russian descent, his family coming to the United States when he was six years old. Yandex said Thursday that during 2008 the average number of advertisers on its search engine site rose by more than 50 percent, while revenue from advertising its Yandex Advertising Network on its partner Web properties almost tripled. Russia's leading search company employs about 1,700 workers in Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Ekaterinburg in Russia, Kiev, Odessa and Simferopol in Ukraine, and in California. Related Links:
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10:28 pm on Feb. 6, 2009 (utc 0)