Yandex Türkiye unveiled a series of summer updates Friday, introducing new artificial intelligence-driven tools for finance, travel planning, and search functionality, as part of efforts to broaden its digital services and strengthen its presence in Türkiye’s growing tech and mobility markets.
The new offerings, branded Yandex Travel and Yandex Finance, aim to help users plan vacations and business trips more efficiently while providing real-time financial data. These features are integrated into Yandex’s search engine Yazeka and its answer platform Yandex Cevap, which now includes a “Reasoning Mode” to deliver deeper, more structured responses using wider information sources.
Yandex Türkiye CEO and Yandex Search International Chief Executive Alexander Popovskiy emphasized the company’s ambitions to expand in Türkiye’s ride-hailing sector, which he said remains underserved and heavily regulated.
“We have always been saying that the Turkish market is significantly underserved in terms of ride-hailing, in terms of taxi services,” Popovskiy told Turkish news agency Anadolu. “The current regulation is very strict. Supply is very limited. It is sensible in such cities like Istanbul.”
Popovskiy estimated that Istanbul’s ride-hailing market could support up to ten times more taxis than currently operate and suggested the sector’s financial value could grow fivefold if liberalized. He stressed that liberalization would benefit users, drivers, fleet owners, and platforms alike.
As a preparatory step, Yandex is gaining experience in cities such as Ankara, Izmir, and Antalya before fully entering Istanbul’s competitive market. Yandex Go recently received an electronic service license from Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, a key milestone toward expanding in the city.
In travel, Yandex Travel allows users to compare hotel and flight prices across multiple partners, with plans to add other transportation options like buses. Popovskiy said the company aims to integrate artificial intelligence more deeply to transform travel planning into an interactive, chat-like experience.
Yandex Finance Türkiye provides users with AI-powered access to currency exchange rates, stock prices, cryptocurrency updates, and economic news. Popovskiy said it offers a more comprehensive experience than similar services elsewhere and is working toward integration with Yazeka to potentially deliver personalized financial recommendations.
Yazeka, Yandex’s answer engine, now handles nearly one in four search queries in Türkiye. Its latest feature, Reasoning Mode, enables users to request more detailed answers by drawing from a wider range of verified sources.
“With internet search, you should always remember the balance between quality and speed,” Popovskiy said. “If you want a more comprehensive answer, you just click one button. And then Yazeka starts thinking more deeply about your request.”
Popovskiy also hinted at future plans for Yazeka to become a standalone application, possibly with its own unique personality.
The 2025 updates mark a significant push by Yandex to expand its footprint across Türkiye’s mobility, travel, finance, and AI sectors.