Could Google Have Some Real Competiton?

According to analysis from comScore, Yandex sits 7th overall in the number of searches conducted worldwide with a 91% growth from 2008 to 2009. This puts Yandex ahead of sites like Facebook and Ask.com in the volume of search queries conducted.

Initial feedback appears to be quite positive, with many praising both the quality and design of their search results.

Search engine land has an interesting quote from Duncan Morris about the quality of search results provided by Yandex,

Take for instance a search for "buy viagra online", a hotbed of all that is bad on the internet. At the time of writing 3 of the top 5 results Google returns are from hacked .edu domains. Its hard to look at viagra SERPS and not think spam, but Yandex returns the cleanest set of results Ive seen for such a search.

Its not clear if Yandex will use the site to compete with Google on a global stage, or if they plan on targeting Russian users searching in other languages. Either way, its another major search engine to keep your eye on.