Russian search engine behemoth Yandex has joined the ranks of Google and Bing in offering advertisers the opportunity to become officially certified in Yandex advertising.
For those of us familiar with Googles user friendly interface however, the exam poses quite a challenge (especially if your Russian is not up to scratch). Upon discovering this qualification, I jumped at the chance to improve my knowledge of the platform. If this is something you would be interested in, below are a few points worth taking into account before getting started:
The exam conditions:
- 40 multiple choice questions with 30 minutes to complete the test
- Unlike Google exams, you cannot leave a question to go back to later. You must answer it immediately or fail the question
- If you do not pass the test the first time, you can retake it in a week. The next two attempts will be available after three months each and if these are also failed, you will have to wait a further six months (after which the slate is wiped clean)
- You must have managed a Yandex campaign for at least three months if you are at an agency, or six months for an individual to sit the test
- The test is free of charge and can be found here: https://yandex.ru/adv/expert (you will need to log in to access the page)
- The pass mark is 93% (!)
Preparation:
I found the help centre to be very useful in improving my knowledge and understanding, so it’d be worth having a good read through all of this material if you’re using Yandex, regardless of whether you plan to sit the exam or not:
https://yandex.ru/support/direct/?id=990397
Before taking the exam, Yandex recommends taking the practice exam, which you have 99 attempts at. You’ll be a pro at checking boxes in no time. Below is an example of the kind of questions youll face in your preparation: Nailed it!
The exam
After being satisfied with Chromes translations of all of the revision material I assumed that the exam would be understandable. However, many of the English translations of questions/answers made no sense whatsoever. Heres an example:
For us Yandex aficionados out there, this question can be made sense of – although be warned, there is less than a minute allocated per question.
To conclude, it’s great news that Yandex is offering a qualification for advertisers that want to improve their offering and stand out from the crowd. However, unless you speak Russian then I’d recommend waiting for the English version of the exam which is due later this year. Good luck!
Insights
