Yandex Launches Browser Leveraging Its Cloud Expertise

MOSCOW AND THE HAGUE, October 1, 2012, Yandex (NASDAQ: YNDX), the leading internet company in Russia operating the country's most popular search engine and most visited website, today announced the release of its own internet browser in Russia.

A pioneer in information retrieval technologies, Yandex has been delivering cutting-edge products and services finely tuned to the evolving needs of internet users in Russia and abroad for more than 15 years. Now the company is bringing its expertise to internet browsing.

"Cloud-based browsing is a next-generation answer to the challenges of the modern internet," said Arkady Volozh, CEO of Yandex. "To make the internet experience faster, easier and safer for everyone, we have built a cloud-based browser that integrates the best of our products and services and is open to other web developers."

In-depth knowledge of web page structure and user behaviour allowed Yandex to create a browser that facilitates an easy and safe internet navigation. The Yandex browser features a merged search and address bar, which can be used both to surf and to search the internet. The browser also gives its users a choice of search engines with which to power their search. Users do not need to change the settings - a new search provider can easily be picked at a click for each specific search.

The users of Yandex's browser can see locally relevant information, such as current traffic or weather conditions, in real time, right in the browser interface. Equipped with proprietary machine-learned automated translation technology, the browser considerably expands the browsing territory for those who speak only one language. The company's cloud-based safe browsing technology, together with Kaspersky Lab's security solution, enhances the browser's safety by warning the users about potentially malicious websites.

The Yandex browser uses the WebKit engine, popular with a large number of web developers. The browser's user interface is based on the open-source Chromium code. The Yandex browser platform has through a technological partnership with a key long term partner been expanded to incorporate Opera Software's Turbo technology, which allows to boost the browser's page loading capacity even with a slow connection. The Turbo mode will be included in the next browser release. In addition to the basic open-source components, the browser has also been augmented with out-of-the-box plug-ins, including the latest versions of Adobe FlashTM and a PDF reader.

The Yandex browser supports Windows and Mac OS and can be downloaded at browser.yandex.ru, browser.yandex.com.

About Yandex

Yandex (NASDAQ:YNDX) is Russia's leading Internet company, operating the country's most popular search engine and most visited website. With the mission to answer any questions Internet users may have, Yandex aggregates and organizes extensive local, national and international content offering a broad range of country-, location- and user-specific services. Yandex uses its expertise in applied mathematics and data analysis, as well as its in-depth knowledge of languages, cultures and preferences of Internet users in many countries, to develop advanced search technologies and provide information retrieval services to web users across nations and cultures. Yandex search, as well as many of the company's other products, is available in versions tailored for mobile and other digital platforms and devices. More about Yandex at company.yandex.com.

Contact:
Media Relations
Vladimir Isaev, Ochir Mandzhikov
Phone: +7 495 739-7000
E-mail: pr@yandex-team.com