Unified Performance Campaign
One Yandex Direct campaign across Search, the Advertising Network, Maps and Product Gallery. The expert mode that gives the most control on Yandex.
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Yandex Geo ad product
Yandex Maps Priority Placement (Yandex Geo) Management
Priority Placement is a location-based performance product that makes your business stand out in Yandex Maps and Yandex Navigator. The standard blue pin on the map turns green, the business card moves higher in search results, and the card gets extra fields such as promotions and buttons. It is not a click campaign; it is a visibility product that raises your chance of being chosen when someone looks for food, a service or a shop nearby.
Purpose and appearance
What do we use this format for?
We use Priority Placement for brands running restaurants, cafes, services or shops in Istanbul or in tourist areas. When users compare nearby options on the map, it highlights the business with a green pin and a higher position; the aim is more routes, phone calls and card visits. For multi-branch brands we put the budget into the branches with the most routes and searches.
Funnel stages it serves
- Awareness
- Consideration
- Conversion
- Loyalty
Standard listing vs. Priority Placement on Yandex Maps
The most striking detail in Yandex's presentation concerns competitor cards. With a standard listing, your competitors can appear in the similar places section under your business card. With Priority Placement, that relationship flips: you appear among similar places on your competitors' cards. In categories where users compare several options on the map, such as restaurants, cafes and car services, this difference directly affects the chance of being chosen.
- A green pin instead of blue, so the business stands out on the map
- Higher positions in search results
- Promotion and campaign details shown in search results
- A business card enriched with buttons and extra information
- In the branded version, the business logo on the pin
How Priority Placement pricing works
In Priority Placement we do not bid in an auction. Yandex's machine learning model sets the price automatically based on the business category, location, campaign duration and estimated audience. In the same category, a branch in a busy Istanbul district and one in a quieter area can be priced differently. So for multi-branch brands we assess branches one by one and start with locations where routes and searches are most frequent. Yandex's new beta interface has simplified setup, but the branch selection decision is still ours.
Who uses Yandex Navigator and Maps in Türkiye?
According to Yandex's Q3 2025 data, Navigator and Maps have more than 5.5 million monthly active users in Türkiye, with 127 million routes and 34 million searches a month. About 74% of routes are built from Istanbul. Among user interests, restaurants rank first at 82%, and holidays and travel second at 43%. According to Yandex's 2024 data, 80% of users use location services to search while on the move.
This tells us two things. The product makes the most sense in Istanbul, and most of all in food and everyday service categories. In tourist areas, Russian-speaking visitors also use the map heavily, which is a second opportunity. For a single-branch business in Anatolia, however, the audience may be small; in that case we recommend putting the budget into Google store visit campaigns.
We fix the business card before the campaign
Priority Placement pushes a bad business card forward but does not fix it. Before the campaign, we check the address, opening hours, phone number, photos and category of the card in Yandex Maps. Wrong hours or an old phone number on a highlighted card means showing wrong information to more people. To see the overall picture of visits to physical locations, we put Yandex route and search data next to phone and WhatsApp calls and, where possible, till data, and read it in a Data Studio dashboard. Formats for brand awareness inside the map, such as banners and billboards, are covered on our Navigator and Maps media ads page.
Yandex Geo: Priority Placement: when do we recommend it?
We recommend it
- Businesses in Istanbul with a physical location, such as restaurants, cafes, shops, car services or showrooms
- Restaurants, cafes and rental points in coastal areas that win foreign visitors within walking distance through the map
- Categories compared side by side with competitors on the map
- Chains that want to split branch budgets by route and search volume
We don't recommend it
- Brands with no physical location that only sell online
- Single-branch businesses in regions where Yandex Maps usage is low
- Businesses that cannot keep business card information up to date
How we manage Yandex Geo: Priority Placement
- Card auditWe fix business cards in Yandex Maps for address, hours, category and photos.
- Branch prioritizationWe choose which branches to start with based on route and search volume.
- Standard or brandedWe choose the option based on how much a logo pin adds to brand recognition.
- Promotion contentWe prepare the campaign and offer text shown in search results.
- Monthly reviewWe report routes, calls and card interactions by branch and update the branch list.
Yandex Geo: Priority Placement: metrics and requirements
Metrics we track
- Routes built
- Phone calls
- Business card views
- Clicks to website
- Cost by branch
What you need to get started
- A Yandex Maps business card with verified address, hours and category
- A branch list with priorities per branch
- A logo for branded placement
- Promotion details to show in search results
Official sources
The Brand Move Yandex Team
Contact us nowTo learn more about Yandex Geo: Priority Placement or other Yandex ad formats, contact The Brand Move Yandex team today.
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Yandex Ads overview
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ExploreFrequently asked questions
Yandex Geo: Priority Placement: frequently asked questions
What is Yandex Maps Priority Placement?
It is a Yandex Geo ad product that highlights your business in Yandex Maps and Navigator with a green pin, higher positions in search results and a richer business card with promotions and buttons. A branded version adds your logo to the pin.
Do we pay per click for Priority Placement?
No. Yandex's model sets the price automatically based on category, location, campaign duration and estimated audience. We assess cost through routes, calls and card interactions per branch, and remove branches with low interaction in the monthly review.
What is the difference between the green pin and the logo pin?
With standard Priority Placement, the pin turns from blue to green. With Branded Priority Placement, the business logo appears on the pin. A logo pin helps users spot well-known brands on the map immediately; for unknown single-branch businesses its extra value is limited.
Our competitors appear on our card. Can we prevent that?
With a standard listing, competitors can appear in the similar places section of your card. Priority Placement reverses this, showing your business among similar places on competitors' cards. In competitive categories, that is the main reason we recommend the product.
Is Yandex Maps advertising worth it in Türkiye?
Mostly in Istanbul and tourist areas, and for food, travel and everyday service categories, where Navigator and Maps usage is concentrated. For single-branch businesses in regions with low usage, Google store visit campaigns are usually the better choice.
Let's run a first Yandex Geo: Priority Placement review together.
In a free call we review your search terms report, conversion settings and budget split, then send you the first three fixes in writing.
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