Yandex introduces new updates to its search algorithm on a regular basis.

Similarly to Google, Yandex often makes important algorithm updates.

The below table lists Yandex algorithm updates from the most recent to the oldest and also links to further reading about them.

 

Date Update Reference Overview
November 2022 Y2 Yandex introduced a new version of the search – Y2. The most important thing in the update is video search with voice-over, search for objects, and big topics.
September 2022 Falsehood & Mimicry Penalty Enforced – Mirror Update The update was implemented to reduce the likelihood of users going to a non-original site (a mirror site), and a special algorithm checks resources were implemented for a number of signs. Further reading about Falsehood & Mimicry Penalty Enforced – Mirror Update can be found here.
December 2021 YATI  YATI update is meant to forecast whether a user would receive the best potential answer to their inquiry on a given page, their ranking algorithms are equipped with neural networks and machine learning.
October 2021 Low-quality business Yandex’s new algorithmic filter “for low-quality business” is the start in the Search Engine’s fight against fraudulent sites, scammers, dishonest affiliates, and other low-quality “dubious” sites. Further reading on Low-quality business can be found here.
June 2021 Y1 Y1 algorithm introduced the wording/concept of Поиск без поиска (Search, without search), which is known in the Western SEO world as Zero Click Search. The new and also improved features are: search for and skip to relevant fragments within videos and quick replies. You can read more about Y1 update here.
2020 Yandex 2020 Algorithm Update Summary Read about September 2020 Algorithm Update Summary and  Yandex 2020 Algorithm Update Summary here.
December 2019 Vega Update The Vega update is a significant Yandex update containing more than 1,500 improvements. The Vega also updated the search algorithms to group similar pages together using AI, meaning that through the clustering technique, the resources required to crawl, store, and score the web can be used more efficiently, increasing Yandex’s search index to 200 billion documents. The article on the Vega update can be found here.
2019 Yandex 2019 Algorithm Updates Summary You can read about Yandex 2019 Algorithm Updates Summary here.
November 2018 Andromeda Andromeda updates include improvements such as enhancements to the “quick answer” functionality and the introduction of “experts” to aid users in getting better answers (quicker) for their queries and giving users an easier way to recognise the most accurate and relevant sites directly on search results pages through the allocation of official site badges.
March 2017

August 2017

 Baden – Baden

Korolyov

 The Baden Baden update was focused on making it harder for websites with over-optimized, keyword-stuffed texts to rank for competitive keywords, thus allowing better quality results to shine through.

Korolyov works to improve the foundations of Palekh algorithm update, analysing more potential search results in a much more comprehensive fashion, in real-time, a lot faster.
November 2016 Palekh Palekh was designed to improve how the core algorithm understood and interpreted long-tail search queries. Using a series of neural networks, it worked to understand semantics and establish dominant and common interpretations of a long tail query to return search results that were relevant, even if the search terms themselves weren’t physically present in the content.
February 2016 Vladivostok Vladivostok changed Yandex’s core algorithm and how websites and content cater for the mobile user and mobile experience.
May 2015 Minusinsk Minusinsk is a link-based algorithm update that required that Webmasters should stop using link spam and other manipulative methods to influence search results.
2015 AGC Filter  AGC Filter update focused on websites selling and placing links.
 2014 Search Result Manipulation Russian link networks performed a “link strengthening” service, which was becoming a real problem.

They would manipulate search results user data by excessively clicking on client results, or websites within their network linking to client websites under the premise it would improve the performance of the client site, directly and indirectly.
November 2013 AGS 40 AGS 40 update targeted websites that were built to drive affiliate link clicks or advertising revenues through impressions.
2012 Kaliningrad The algorithm update took into account a user’s search history and behaviors on search results pages.
2011 Reykjavik Reykjavik update search results are based on a user’s browser language and search language preference, it can be argued that this was Yandex’s first step towards user-level SERP personalisation.
September 2010 Obninsk The update further improved the algorithm’s ability to detect which region a website was based in, even if the webmaster had neglected to indicate a region in Yandex.Webmaster. The Obninsk algorithm also had a negative impact on websites using low-quality link spam.
2010 Krasnodar (Spectrum) 2010 saw the introduction of Spectrum in an event known as the Krasnodar update. Spectrum divides queries into 60 different semantic categories and then calculates the weightings and proportions in which the answers should be presented to the user, diversifying the top ten search results.
April, June & August 2009 Arzamas The update enabled users to manually determine if they only saw results from their own region, where Arzamas made this decision automatically based on whether or not the query needed local or national results.
September 2008 AGS filter AGS was a penalty, and if you were hit by it Yandex only showed one to ten pages of your whole website within its search results (this was changed in 2014 so that there were no more page restrictions).
June 2008 Magdan v2.0 Version 2.0 of Magadan took into account the uniqueness of content, and the search engine began to understand the difference between commercial/non-commercial and local/national queries.
May 2008 Magadan Magadan also came with a “test version”, and webmasters could visit the now-defunct buki.yandex.ru, test the search results, and leave feedback for the Yandex search team.
September 2008 Nakhodka Nakhodka update targeted promoted websites’ internal pages within search results, rather than just the homepage. Nakhodka also aimed to tackle the issue of cloaking much more aggressively.
2008 8 SP1 (Yandex algorithm) 8 SP1 introduced “Trust Rank” to determine to credibility (not age) of the website as a ranking factor. This also took some of the weighting off backlinks as a factor.
July 2007 Unnamed 2007 Update Yandex began introducing new ranking and factor weighting formulas for single, and multi-word queries. It also marked the start of Yandex search team support.
2006 Arzamas Arzamas enabled users to manually determine if they only saw results from their own region, where Arzamas made this decision automatically based on whether or not the query needed local or national results.
2005 Nepot Filter (unofficial name) The update was Yandex’s first venture into controlling link spam. Rather than link quality, this filter imposed a penalty on the links themselves and specifically sought out websites that acquired big volumes of unnatural links in short spaces of time.