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Transitioning from Google Ads to Yandex Direct: Key Considerations for a Successful Ad Launch

News

The temporary suspension of advertising targeting users in Russia was announced by the Google Ads advertising system on March 3. However, for businesses seeking to promote their products and services in the Russian market, an alternative option is available—the Yandex Direct advertising system. In this article, we will delve into the opportunities that Yandex provides for advertisers.

Yandex Ecosystem: Empowering Advertisers

Yandex has developed a comprehensive suite of services designed to assist advertisers in evaluating demand and advertising costs, as well as in creating, launching, automating, and analyzing advertising campaigns. Let’s dive into the details.

Keyword Selection

Selecting the right keywords is crucial for effective search engine optimization and precise customization of contextual advertising. The success of an advertising campaign heavily relies on the formation of a strong semantic core, which impacts search result rankings and conversion rates.

Yandex’s search engine continuously gathers information about user queries, and this data forms the foundation of the convenient Yandex WordStat service. This tool allows advertisers to gain detailed insights into the needs of Russian internet users, track trending topics, and select the most relevant keywords.

While Google Trends can be considered a comparable tool, Yandex WordStat outshines its foreign counterpart in terms of functionality and performance.

Service Advantages: Simplicity and Speed

When discussing the advantages of this service, it is important to highlight its simplicity and high speed of operation. This free service offers exceptional functionality, enabling you to:

  1. Determine query frequency in Yandex using exact, phrasal, and broad match options.
  2. Access statistics tailored to a specific region.
  3. Utilize the “Query History” feature to identify seasonal trends.

Budget Forecast

Yandex.Direct Budget Forecast is seamlessly integrated into the Yandex advertising system. This service performs calculations for potential bids, provides impressions forecasts, and allows you to estimate the cost of advertising under specific conditions.

Service Benefits: Enhanced Budget Calculation and Average Cost per Click

The service offers notable advantages, including the ability to apply various filters for precise calculation of the advertising budget and average cost per click. These filters include:

  1. Region selection: In some countries, you can even specify the city for more accurate results.
  2. Device targeting: Choose to display ads on all devices or exclusively on mobile devices.
  3. Period selection: Set the timeframe for calculations, whether it’s a week, month, quarter, or year.
  4. Currency preference: Select the desired currency for budget calculations.
  5. Keyword customization: Optimize the selection of keywords to fine-tune click prices.

However, it’s important to acknowledge that the service also has limitations. Firstly, the budget calculation is limited to Yandex search only, as it doesn’t provide data on ad impressions across the network. Secondly, not all low-frequency queries can be used to determine click prices.

Migrating Ads to Yandex.Direct

Yandex.Direct is a powerful tool for placing contextual advertisements on Yandex pages and participating sites within the Advertising Network. Advertising on Yandex.Direct follows a pay-per-click model, rather than paying for impressions.

In our previous article, “Overview of Yandex Advertising Opportunities,” we discussed various advertising formats, targeting options, and the Yandex analytical system. This information proves valuable for those starting fresh with configuring an ad account and campaigns.

In this article, we will delve into the process of transferring an already configured ad campaign from Google Ads to Yandex.Direct. Let’s explore the step-by-step procedure:

  1. Log in to Google Ads Editor using the account that contains the desired campaigns.
  2. Within Google Ads Editor, navigate to Account -> Export.

Important Note: Ensure that only one campaign is selected for download at a time.

  1. Once the file has been successfully downloaded to your computer, proceed to Yandex.Direct and access the “Managing Ads with Excel” feature located within the Tools section.
  2. Click “Upload from CSV” and select the downloaded file.

Migrating Ad Campaigns from Google Ads to Yandex.Direct

To seamlessly transfer all your ad campaigns from Google Ads to Yandex.Direct, follow these steps:

  1. Creation, Launching, and Tracking:
    • Yandex.Direct enables you to create, launch, and monitor the status of your campaigns efficiently.
  2. Additional Services:
    • Yandex.Direct API: Utilize the Yandex.Direct API to develop applications for managing your advertising campaigns. This allows you to incorporate custom bid management algorithms tailored to your needs.
    • Yandex.Direct.Commander: This tool is specifically designed for managing large-scale campaigns during the launch of contextual advertising. Commander simplifies working with extensive amounts of data, making it easy to handle.

By following these steps and utilizing the additional services provided by Yandex.Direct, you can seamlessly migrate all your ad campaigns from Google Ads and continue managing them effectively on the Yandex.Direct platform.

Google Ads Still an Option… For businesses that deem advertising on Google within Russia crucial and believe there is no alternative, a solution exists. However, we must note that it may not be suitable for everyone, and its effectiveness could be temporary.

Following the widespread blocking of Western resources, many individuals have resorted to using VPNs. You can utilize a VPN to configure and run ads by simply changing your location.

Specifics of Setting Up Google Ads Campaigns amidst Blocking:

  1. Set up a worldwide campaign and exclude irrelevant countries (since selecting Russia directly is no longer possible, we employ the exclusion method).
  2. Use geo-specific queries (e.g., “buy a dress in MOSCOW,” “invest in real estate in KRASNODAR”).
  3. Incorporate location information in ad headlines.
  4. Utilize specific and phrase match keywords while avoiding broad match.
  5. Carefully manage negative keywords.
  6. Continuously monitor the queries triggering your ads and apply negative keywords accordingly.

Please note: Visa and MasterCard cards cannot be used for topping up ad accounts within Russia anymore. Hence, this method is only suitable for companies operating in Russia but with representative offices abroad, enabling them to fund their Google ad accounts from other countries.

Inevitable Consequences:

  1. Mobile app segments will be heavily impacted, as Google Ads served as a primary source for app installations.
  2. Companies relying on traffic generated from search engines will experience a significant loss. According to Yandex Radar, 38% of Russians use Google search.
  3. Competition among advertisers on Yandex.Direct will intensify, driving up client acquisition costs.
  4. The absence of fully-functional YouTube in Russia will particularly affect advertisers focused on video advertising.

Under the current circumstances, brands must swiftly adapt to new conditions and transition to available advertising systems. For efficient and high-quality configuration of your ad campaigns, reach out to the QB Agency marketing agency. Our experts offer a comprehensive range of services for setting up and managing advertising campaigns on Russian platforms such as Yandex.Direct, myTarget, VKontakte, and Odnoklassniki social networks.