Results from Facebook pages will soon begin appearing in Yandex, the leading search engine in Russia. Yandex.ru will also get a Facebook widget on its homepage.
It’s another example of search engines gaining access to the growing trove of information on Facebook’s social graph, and making search a bit more social. Just two weeks ago, Facebook deepened its ties with Microsoft’s search engine, Bing.
But the partnership also puts a wrinkle in Facebook’s relationship with investor Mail.ru (formerly known as Digital Sky Technologies). Mail.ru and Yandex are rivals, competing aggressively for eyeballs in Russia’s booming internet market.
When DST invested in Facebook last year, much was made of the deep well of knowledge that DST chief Yuri Milner would bring to Facebook, thanks to his experience developing Russian web companies. But the $200m investment in Facebook did not garner Mr Milner a board seat at the company, which would have given him more influence over Facebook’s strategic direction.
The deal with Yandex demonstrates the growing importance of the Russian internet market, where nearly 60m people are on the web. Facebook launched its Russian language site in 2008, and has been gaining share there from local social networks like VKontakte. Earlier this year, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg reaffirmed his commitment to expanding in the country.
Mr Milner likely hopes this means Facebook will pay more attention to his businesses in the country, perhaps by striking a partnership with Poisk@Mail.Ru, his group’s search engine.
