Online advertising is a set of paid formats for showing ads in search engines, ad networks, and social media: the advertiser pays for an impression or a click, and this placement is kept separate from free, organic search results. In Google, search ads are labeled «Ad» so they aren’t confused with regular results, and a position in organic results is decided by algorithms — it can’t be bought, neither in Google nor, according to Yandex Advertising’s own training materials, in Yandex. Below, we cover which online advertising channels exist, how they work in general terms, and which signals point to the right channel for a given task.
Below: a breakdown of the channels with links to a dedicated article on each, how advertising works in general, which systems currently operate in Russia, a table for picking a channel for your task, and the typical steps for launching a campaign.
What types of online advertising exist
Online advertising channels differ in where and on what basis an ad is shown. For most businesses, that comes down to four formats and one related practice that isn’t advertising at all:
- PPC (paid search) advertising — shown in search results, triggered by a user’s query.
- Advertising on ad networks (the Yandex Advertising Network and similar networks) — shown on partner sites and apps.
- Targeted (paid social) advertising — shown based on audience characteristics, not a search query.
- Advertising in Telegram channels — a separate placement format inside the messenger’s channels and chat bots, with its own ad account.
- SEO — not advertising, but it solves a similar task: appearing in search without paying for every impression.
PPC (paid search) advertising
PPC advertising shows an ad when a user’s query matches a keyword the advertiser set — either exactly or close in meaning: with typos, synonyms, or a more specific phrasing. In Russia, the main PPC system is Yandex Direct. For more on what PPC advertising is and how it’s structured, see the dedicated article.
Advertising on ad networks (YAN)
The Yandex Advertising Network (YAN) is a system for placing ads on Yandex’s own services and on partner sites and mobile apps. Unlike paid search, here an ad can reach someone who isn’t currently entering a related query but is reading an article or using an app on a similar topic. For more on how the Yandex Advertising Network works, see the dedicated article.
Targeted (paid social) advertising
Targeted advertising on social media shows an ad not based on a search query but on audience characteristics: age, interests, location, and behavior within the social network itself. For more on how targeted advertising on social media works, see the dedicated article.
Is SEO advertising?
No. SEO is work on a website so it appears in organic search results, not in ad placements. Google sells only ad space and states directly that a high position in search results can’t be bought; Yandex Advertising’s training materials say something similar — in organic results, algorithms evaluate how useful pages are, and a position there can’t be bought. The rest of this article covers paid formats only. For more on how SEO differs from advertising, see the dedicated article.
How online advertising works
Despite their differences, online advertising channels share a common mechanism: an auction for each impression, pay-for-result pricing, and ad moderation.
An impression is a single appearance of an ad on a user’s screen; a click is a visit to the advertiser’s site through the ad. The advertiser sets keywords or audience characteristics and the maximum price they’re willing to pay per impression or click. The auction is an automatic selection of ads among competitors for every impression, and the system looks at more than just the bid size: in Yandex Direct, ads are ranked by a combination of the bid, an ad quality coefficient, and a predicted click-through rate for that specific impression, and the final price is set by competition with the neighboring ads in the same auction.
The advertiser pays for the result of the impression. In Yandex Direct, for example, you can pay for each click on the ad or for each target action on the site — a conversion; which pricing model is available depends on the system and the specific campaign’s settings.
Moderation is a check of the ad against requirements for advertising materials before it’s shown. In Yandex Direct this applies to every ad without exception: until an ad fully passes moderation, it isn’t shown.
Where you can run advertising in Russia
Among PPC systems, Yandex Direct is the one that operates reliably in Russia — on Yandex search and on the Yandex Advertising Network. For more on how Yandex Direct works, see the dedicated article.
Targeted advertising can be launched directly on social networks, through each platform’s own ad account, separately from Yandex Direct. A separate format is advertising in Telegram channels and chat bots, also launched through the messenger’s own ad account. We don’t go into the details of these specific ad accounts here — the general principle of audience-based targeting is described in the targeted advertising section above.
How to choose an advertising channel for your business
The right channel isn’t the one considered «best» in general — it depends on the task: what kind of traffic you need, how narrow the audience is, and whether you’re willing to pay for every impression.
| Business task | Suitable channel | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You need traffic for a specific commercial query right now | PPC advertising | Impressions start once moderation is passed, without waiting for the page to rank in organic results |
| You need a narrow audience by interests or demographics, not by query | Targeted advertising on social media | Targeting is set by audience characteristics, not by what a person is typing into search at that moment |
| You need a presence in search without paying for every click | SEO | You don’t pay the search engine for a place in organic results; the cost is the work on the site, not each visit |
| You need reach and engagement around the brand, not a one-off click on a query | Content and social media promotion | Works on attention and ongoing contact with the audience, not on matching a specific query |
A business often has more than one task, and channels can be combined: for example, PPC advertising covers demand for specific queries right now, while SEO or content work on people who aren’t searching yet but may become interested later.
How to start an advertising campaign
Regardless of the channel, launching a campaign goes through the same steps.
- Define the goal. What should happen after the impression: a site visit, a form submission, a call, a purchase.
- Describe the audience. For PPC, what queries someone with this task enters; for targeted advertising, what demographic and behavioral traits they have.
- Choose a channel for the task. Using the table above, or a combination of channels if there’s more than one task.
- Prepare the ad and the landing page. The landing page is the page the ad leads to after a click. Its content needs to match what the ad promised, or the visit won’t turn into a submission.
- Set the bid and budget, and submit the ad for moderation. There are no impressions until moderation is passed.
- Launch the impressions and analyze the result. After launch, you look at which queries or audiences generated impressions and clicks, and adjust the campaign based on that data.
Frequently asked questions
How does PPC advertising differ from targeted advertising?
PPC advertising shows an ad based on the query a user enters; targeted advertising shows it based on audience characteristics, regardless of what the person is searching for at that moment. Details of each channel are in the articles above.
Can you use several advertising channels at the same time?
Yes, that’s a common practice: PPC and targeted advertising solve different tasks and don’t exclude one another. Whether to combine channels depends on how many tasks you need to cover and how much time you have to run several campaigns separately.
What happens to traffic if you stop advertising?
Impressions stop. In Yandex Direct, impressions stop if the campaign was stopped manually or the account ran out of funds. This decision doesn’t affect organic results: a position there is decided by algorithms, not by an advertising campaign’s budget.
Do you need SEO if you already run online advertising?
It depends on the task and on how stable demand for the topic is. If queries on the topic hold steady over time, SEO gradually reduces your dependence on paying for each click; if you need fast traffic for a limited period, advertising is the more reasonable choice. We cover when each channel fits and when you need both in the article «SEO vs. PPC advertising».
Which channel should you start with on a limited budget?
It depends on the traits of the task, not on which channel is considered the cheapest. If you need traffic for a specific commercial query right now, that’s usually PPC advertising; if the audience is narrow and easier to describe by interests than by query, that’s targeted advertising on social media. The table above helps narrow the choice to one or two options, and from there it’s worth testing against your own data rather than general advice.
Sources
Documentation the article relies on (checked October 28, 2026):
- Google Search: Ads on Search.
- Yandex Advertising, training materials: What organic results are and what they consist of (in Russian).
- Yandex Direct Help: Keywords; About the Yandex Advertising Network and partner networks; How the auction works in Direct; Maximum conversions; Moderation: questions and answers; Troubleshooting: ad impressions.
If PPC or targeted advertising fits your task, let’s discuss which channel to start with and how it fits into the rest of your marketing.
→ Discuss advertising for your business
If your task is closer to reach and content, you can look at content and social media promotion.