Yandex is well-behaved and while .ru centric, is used world wide. Your choice to allow or block. If you don't want it, put a disallow in robots.txt

born2run what did you learn when you used our Site Search (upper-right corner) and read the numerous discussions we've had about Yandexbot and the benefits of websites listed in the Yandex Search Index?

I let in Yandex and have for years, but then I tried their search for my stuff and...it is not very good. Still, I encourage competition.

I get a steady but small amount of daily traffic from Yandex; slightly less than Bing. For better management, use Yandex Webmaster Tools [webmaster.yandex.com]

For the question as posted, the answer is “Only you can decide”.

Now, if you wanted to start a more general discussion on “Should I exclude search engines from countries outside my primary market and/or target audience?” ... well, that would be interesting, but it’s a different thread.

@keyplyr, I followed the Yandex link to their Webmaster Tools and had a look around, then discovered that they wouldn't let my browser (Firefox) leave to come back here. I have noticed a few websites that do this, no matter how many times one hits the Back button. Of course I had allowed their scripts to run. Doesn't seem like nice behaviour.

@Martin Potter - I use Yandex Webmaster Tools every day and have not seen that. Maybe something on your end?

Just tried Yandex Webmaster Tools and no issues.

@keyplr Can you find all your web site's documents using Yandex search?

Yes, all pages listed in my sitemap.xml are indexed by Yandex. Their Webmaster Tools shows which documents are indexed, just like Google Search Console & Bing Webmaster Tools.

There are a couple odd things about YWT, but it basically works the same.

I started receiving more traffic after I opened my YWT account.

I have noticed a few websites that do this, no matter how many times one hits the Back button.

If it doesn't work for me after a few clicks, I give up on the Back button--which I rarely use anyway--and pull down the History menu instead. That’s assuming it was the only tab I'd got open, which is rarely the case.

Thanks guys i will allow yandex and definitely register witn YWT

Maybe something on your end?

@Keyplyr: You could be right -- maybe a script that they wanted another script running that I hadn't noticed yet (NoScript). Have to admit that I was just anxious to get back to the forum.

And @lucy24 is right, as always, about using History. I really should get in the habit.

Yandex is a respectable company with a good history of playing by the rules. They've made remarkable progress over the years and have positioned themselves as the number 3 search alternative, not an easy feat.

Their US office is located in Palo Alto (Silicon Valley.)