Yandex develops own browser, plans three mobile platforms
MOSCOW. April 27 (Interfax) - Yandex, Russia's largest Internet search engine, has developed its own browser and plans to develop three mobile platforms, company chief executive Arkady Volozh told Interfax.
"For Internet search engines in the personal computer segment, the main channel of distribution is a browser," Volozh said. "One of the most popular browsers in the world is Google's Chrome, where our search cannot be set for default, and is difficult and time-consuming to set through the menu. Therefore, one option for solving this problem could be to release our own browser."
Google last year set its Chrome browser (Russian version) to allow Internet searches only through its own search engine, which led to a decline in Yandex's share of the Russian Internet search market.
Yandex said that despite the difficulties in Chrome, Yandex search is still used more often than Google.
Nonetheless, Volozh said that Yandex last year developed its own browser, which it is keeping "on standby." The Yandex.Internet browser was developed on the basis of the Chromium browser. On the browser market, Yandex is represented through partners, primarily Mozilla (Firefox) and Opera, and expects to continue working according to this model.
"But in case the model changes, we are considering various options, including the promotion of our own product," Volozh said. Yandex estimates that its browser, including the previous version, has been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times.
Another Russian Internet company, Mail.ru, also developed its own browser at the beginning of this year. In January the company offered users its own branded browser based on Chromium open source project, which sets Search@Mail.ru as the default search tool.
The success of a search engine on mobile platforms depends, on one hand, on agreements with equipment manufacturers. However, the Android OS for mobile devices has licensing restrictions and often prohibits the installation of any search engine other than Google. A proprietary mobile platform is needed to solve this problem.
Last year, Yandex acquired St. Petersburg's SPB Software, which developed a shell, or user interface for mobile devices that use Android. It is now called Yandex.Shell.
Volozh said there are fewer searches from mobile devices than from personal computers. "If we want to find something, we sit down at the keyboard. While the voice interface is not for everyday use and this function is needed more in automobiles," he said.
He also said users of mobile devices far more actively use map services, and Yandex.Maps allows searches for products, showing what is available and where in the user's vicinity. "This could become one of the main search functions on mobile platforms," Volozh said.
The company currently receives most mobile search requests from users of Android smart phones and iPhones. The number of searches is approximately equally divided between the two platforms, though the number of iPhone users is far lower, Volozh said.
Volozh also said that the company, in addition to Yandex.Shell, plans to develop its own mobile platforms (shells) for iPhone, Microsoft operating systems (Windows Phone and Windows 8) and for Samsung's Bada OS.
