Yandex Launches Personalized Ad Targeting in the Max Messenger

• 67% of surveyed Direct clients name Telegram as a priority channel through the end of 2026;
• 56% name the Max messenger.

"Now that an ad is targeted not at a channel's audience but at a specific user, it starts working as a performance tool — and over time it will compete not only with promotion on other content platforms, but also with behavioral advertising on other surfaces," said Oleg Ivanov, Director of Product Development at the Yandex Advertising Network.

How to promote channels and blogs?

The new format is designed not only for businesses. Channel owners and influencers will be able to use it to attract audiences to their blogs: in Direct, users can promote both the channel itself and individual posts.

Placement terms:

• payment is charged for clicks on the ad;
• when setting up a campaign, the advertiser can specify a target cost per subscriber — the system will optimize placement based on this metric.

A channel can be promoted in Max both within the messenger itself and beyond it — in Yandex Search and on Yandex Advertising Network sites. To launch, it is enough to provide a link to the channel: Direct will automatically select campaign settings and can create a landing page for ad clicks. The new format is available through the Unified Performance Campaign or the Simple Start tool in Yandex Direct.

Background of the launch

In the spring of this year, Yandex began testing ads in Max channels. In May, advertisers gained the ability to launch advertising posts in the messenger through the Unified Performance Campaign.