Zen (recommendation system)

Zen is an example of the implementation of a weak artificial intelligence technology. It uses artificial intelligence to adapt to a user.{{cite web|url=http://gosindex.ru/news/iskusstvennyj-intellekt-v-yandeks-brauzere-pomozhet-osushhestvlyat-poisk|title=Искусственный интеллект в "Яндекс.Браузере" поможет осуществлять поиск - ГосИндекс|website=gosindex.ru}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite web|url=http://ftimes.ru/tech/35516-yandeks-vypustil-brauzer-s-rekomendatelnym-servisom-dzen.html|title="Яндекс" выпустил браузер с рекомендательным сервисом "Дзен"|website=ftimes.ru|access-date=2017-04-07|archive-date=2017-04-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170408083019/http://ftimes.ru/tech/35516-yandeks-vypustil-brauzer-s-rekomendatelnym-servisom-dzen.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://teleconom.ru/news/yandex-zen-new-format.html|title=Yandex Zen запустил новый формат для публикаций новостей|website=teleconom.ru|date=2 September 2021}}{{cite web |url=http://presstelegraph.com/2016/10/03/todays-stock-alert-whats-in-yandex-nv-after-todays-significant-increase/ |title=The Press Telegraph|website=presstelegraph.com|access-date=2017-04-07 |archive-date=2016-10-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161013085116/http://presstelegraph.com/2016/10/03/todays-stock-alert-whats-in-yandex-nv-after-todays-significant-increase/ |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |url=http://presstelegraph.com/2016/10/01/notable-reporting-yandex-nv-cant-burn-your-short-portfolio-has-another-weak-session/ |title=The Press Telegraph |website=presstelegraph.com|access-date=2017-04-07|archive-date=2016-10-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161002125134/http://presstelegraph.com/2016/10/01/notable-reporting-yandex-nv-cant-burn-your-short-portfolio-has-another-weak-session/ |url-status=dead}}

To analyze the interests and preferences of users, Yandex used information about sites that have been visited, as well as user-specified interests.{{cite web|url=https://habrahabr.ru/company/yandex/blog/302856/|title=Будущее браузеров и искусственный интеллект. Дзен в Яндекс.Браузере|date=8 June 2016 }}

The system analyzes the user's favorite sites and other behaviors with the aim of creating a unique model of the user's preferences.{{cite web|url=http://sdelaicomp.ru/nastrojka-sistemy/kak-vklyuchit-yandeks-dzen-na-kompyutere-v-brauzere.html|title=Как включить Яндекс Дзен на компьютере в браузере|website=sdelaicomp.ru|date=13 September 2016}} With an increasing amount of data about the user, the system can offer the user more relevant and topical content, including content from sources unfamiliar to the user.{{cite web|url=http://appcompass.ru/yandeks-testiruet-lentu-dzen-v-beta-versii-svoego-brauzera-dlya-ipad/|title=Яндекс тестирует ленту Дзен в бета-версии своего браузера для iPad|last=AppCompass|date=16 August 2016|access-date=7 April 2017|archive-date=26 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326051023/http://appcompass.ru/yandeks-testiruet-lentu-dzen-v-beta-versii-svoego-brauzera-dlya-ipad/|url-status=dead}} Zen adapts to the changing interests of the user.{{cite web|url=http://iot.ru/gorodskaya-sreda/iskusstvennyy-intellekt-v-rossii-dostizheniya-i-osnovnye-napravleniya-razvitiya|title=Искусственный интеллект в России. Достижения и основные направления развития - iot.ru Новости Интернета вещей|website=iot.ru}} For example, if a user begins to read about architecture, content on this subject will appear in their content feed more often.{{cite web|url=https://www.rbc.ua/rus/lnews/yandeks-vypustil-brauzer-personalnoy-lentoy-1465384194.html|title="Яндекс" выпустил браузер с персональной лентой рекомендаций|last=Rbc.ua}}{{cite web|url=http://www.metronews.ru/novosti/jandeks-vnedril-v-svoj-brauzer-iskusstvennyj-intellekt/Tpopfh---1YfAmszJ1PfM/|title="Яндекс" внедрил в свой браузер искусственный интеллект. Новости - Россия. Metro|website=www.metronews.ru|date=8 June 2016}}

File:Collaborative filtering.gif]]

The technology that underlies Zen was adapted by Yandex and CERN for use in the Large Hadron Collider. It is used to provide in-depth analysis of the results of physics experiments taking place at the LHС.{{cite web|url=http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/147320-cern-boosts-its-search-for-antimatter-with-yandexs-matrixnet-search-engine-tech|title=CERN boosts its search for antimatter with Yandex's MatrixNet search engine tech - ExtremeTech|date=1 February 2013}}{{cite web|url=http://www.computerweekly.com/news/450400955/Yandex-bakes-AI-into-smartphones-to-start-OTT-fightback|title=Yandex bakes AI into smartphones to start OTT fightback}}

In 2017, Yandex announced the launch of a platform that allows companies and independent authors to publish media content (articles, photos, videos) directly to Zen.{{cite web|url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3312252|title="Яндекс" запустил платформу для создания контента независимыми авторами|date=30 May 2017}} The platform also allows popular authors to earn money by using micropayment channels and ads.{{cite web|url=https://rb.ru/news/yandex-dzen/|title="Яндекс" раздаст $1 млн лучшим авторам контента на новой платформе "Яндекс.Дзена" - Rusbase|date=30 May 2017 }}{{cite web|url=http://incrussia.ru/news/yandeks-zapustil-blog-platformu-dlya-izdateley-i-brendov/|title="Яндекс" запустил блог-платформу для издателей и брендов|date=30 May 2017 }}

In August 2021, the "Videos" section was launched in Zen. It contains videos up to 1 minute long created by Zen bloggers.{{cite web| title= «Яндекс» запустил в «Дзене» аналог TikTok — ленту с короткими видео|url= https://vc.ru/media/278081-yandeks-zapustil-v-dzene-analog-tiktok-lentu-s-korotkimi-video |publisher=VC|date=2021-08-05|access-date=2023-02-09|language=ru}}

In 2021, the company paid out over 2 billion rubles to authors of publications.{{cite web| title= «Яндекс.Дзен» выплатил авторам постов больше 2 млрд рублей в 2021 году|url= https://vc.ru/media/340330-yandeks-dzen-vyplatil-avtoram-postov-bolshe-2-mlrd-rubley-v-2021-godu |publisher=VC|date=2021-12-27|access-date=2023-02-09|language=ru}}

Prior to the launch of the platform, Zen feeds consisted only of publications selected from publicly available sources.{{cite web|url=https://daily.afisha.ru/news/8650-yandeksdzen-prevratili-v-platformu-dlya-sozdaniya-kontenta-s-vozmozhnostyu-monetizacii/|title="Яндекс.Дзен" превратили в платформу для создания контента с возможностью монетизации}}

After buying Zen, VK began to implement changes. In January 2023, the limit on uploaded videos was increased from 10 GB to 30 GB.{{cite web| title= В Дзене увеличен лимит на загружаемые видео|url= https://www.seonews.ru/events/v-dzene-uvelichen-limit-na-zagruzhaemye-video/|publisher=VC|date=2023-12-31|access-date=2023-02-09|language=ru}} In February 2023, users got an opportunity to withdraw money through the VK Pay service.{{cite web| title= Дзен позволил авторам выводить доход от монетизации через VK Pay|url= https://www.seonews.ru/events/dzen-pozvolil-avtoram-vyvodit-dokhod-ot-monetizatsii-cherez-vk-pay/|publisher=VC|date=2023-02-02|access-date=2023-02-09|language=ru}}

The opportunity for monetization came when, in 2017, Zen became a platform for creating content, not just distributing it.{{Cite web |date=2017-05-30 |title=«Яндекс» запустил платформу для создания контента независимыми авторами |url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3312252 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906201939/https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3312252 |archive-date=2018-09-06 |access-date=2021-09-09 |website=Коммерсантъ |lang=ru}} Zen-registered bloggers could get paid for their posts if they collected a minimum of 7,000 reads in a week.

In 2019, Zen paid more than 1 billion rubles to authors for placing advertisements in articles.{{Cite web |date=2020-04-24 |title=Яндекс.Дзен запустил рекламу в видео и упростил правила монетизации |url=https://kod.ru/yandex-zen-video-monet-apr-2020/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210909164643/https://kod.ru/yandex-zen-video-monet-apr-2020/ |archive-date=2021-09-09 |access-date=2021-09-09 |website=Код Дурова |lang=en}}

In May 2020, bloggers on the platform had the opportunity to place widgets with goods from Yandex Market: at that time, such social commerce was implemented only in articles.{{Cite web |title=«Яндекс.Дзен» развивает социальную коммерцию |url=https://telecomdaily.ru/news/2020/05/19/yandeks-dzen-razvivaet-socialnuyu-kommerciyu |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210909164650/https://telecomdaily.ru/news/2020/05/19/yandeks-dzen-razvivaet-socialnuyu-kommerciyu |archive-date=2021-09-09 |access-date=2021-09-09 |website=telecomdaily.ru}} In November 2020, the platform signed an agreement with marketplace "Joom" with similar conditions for adding widgets, and in April 2021, after successful testing, placement of Auto.ru widgets became available to all authors of channels with connected monetization. The general principle of getting money from such widgets is that bloggers get paid for clicking from the widgets posted.

In March 2021, widgets began appearing not only directly in bloggers' content, but also on article cards in the feed, as well as under the articles themselves.{{Cite web |title=Яндекс.Дзен добавит товарные виджеты в ленту и под статьи |url=https://www.seonews.ru/events/yandeks-dzen-dobavit-tovarnye-vidzhety-v-lentu-i-pod-statyami/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210909164643/https://www.seonews.ru/events/yandeks-dzen-dobavit-tovarnye-vidzhety-v-lentu-i-pod-statyami/ |archive-date=2021-09-09 |access-date=2021-09-09 |website=SeoNews |lang=ru}}

At the first stage of the launch of the short video feed Yandex allocated 50 million rubles to reward bloggers.

In 1997, Yandex began research into natural language processing, machine learning and recommendation systems.{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/12/yandex-woos-smartphone-makers-with-ai-browser-and-launcher-partnership-programs/|title=Yandex woos smartphone makers with AI, browser and launcher partnership programs|first=Ingrid|last=Lunden|date=12 October 2016 }} In 2009, the proprietary machine learning algorithm MatrixNet was developed by Yandex, becoming one of the key components that Zen functions on.

The first Yandex service to introduce the use of recommendation technology was Yandex.Music, which was launched in September 2014. This technology was then implemented in Yandex.Market and Yandex.Radio.

In June 2015, a beta version of Zen became available.{{cite web|url=https://vc.ru/n/zen|title="Яндекс" запустил тестовую версию рекомендательного сервиса для читателей СМИ|first=Konstantin|last=Panphilov|date=9 June 2015|access-date=7 April 2017|archive-date=15 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215215200/https://vc.ru/n/zen|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://webmasters.ru/news/v-google-chrome-poyavyatsya-rekomendacii-4753/|title=В Google Chrome появятся рекомендации|website=webmasters.ru}}{{cite web |url=https://tvrain.ru/news/jandeks_zapustil_agregator_publikatsij_dzen-388971/ |title="Яндекс" запустил агрегатор публикаций "Дзен"| work=TV Rain |date=10 June 2015}} At first, the Zen content feed showed only content from the media, and the service was only available to the 5% of users of Yandex Browser on Android that had registered a Yandex account. Prior to this, Zen was available in an experimental form on the webpage zen.yandex.ru.{{cite web|url=http://izvestia.ru/news/617290|title="Яндекс" официально запустил "Дзен"|date=8 June 2016}}

In the following months, other types of content were added to Zen, such as image galleries, articles, blogs, forums, videos from YouTube, etc.{{cite web|url=https://meduza.io/news/2016/06/08/yandeks-zapustil-servis-personalnyh-rekomendatsiy-statey-dzen|title="Яндекс" запустил сервис персональных рекомендаций статей "Дзен" — Meduza}}{{cite web |url=http://istreetwire.com/2016/07/15/stocks-in-the-spotlight-endeavour-silver-corp-exk-baker-hughes-incorporated-bhi-yandex-n-v-yndx/ |title=Stocks in the Spotlight: Endeavour Silver Corp. (EXK), Baker Hughes Incorporated (BHI), Yandex N.V. (YNDX) {{!}} istreetwire |website=istreetwire.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160718222128/http://istreetwire.com/2016/07/15/stocks-in-the-spotlight-endeavour-silver-corp-exk-baker-hughes-incorporated-bhi-yandex-n-v-yndx/ |archive-date=2016-07-18}}

In 2017, Zen launched Narratives, a special content format for mobile devices. Narrative is a set of slides with texts, photos, videos and GIFs. In January 2018, the format became available to Zen authors.{{cite web| title= Яндекс.Дзен о нарративах: мы создали микроформат с замашками лонгридов|url= https://www.cossa.ru/news/195012/|publisher=Cossa|date=2018-02-16|access-date=2023-02-09|language=ru}}

In September 2022, Yandex sold the service to VK.{{cite news |url=https://techcrunch.com/2022/09/12/yandex-news-zen-vk-sale-completes/ |title=Yandex's sale of News and Zen to VK completes | first=Natasha | last=Lomas | work=TechCrunch | date=12 September 2022}}{{cite news | url=https://techcrunch.com/2022/04/28/yandex-sells-news-zen-vk/ |title= Yandex signs deal with VK to sell its media products, News and Zen | first=Natasha | last=Lomas | work=TechCrunch | date=28 April 2022}}{{Cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/23/russia-yandex-sell-news-service-state-tightens-grip-online-media | title=Russia’s Yandex to sell off news service as state tightens grip on online media | first=Andrew | last=Roth | work=The Guardian | location=Moscow | date=23 August 2022}}

The platform has ad-based business model. In September 2017, Zen's revenue amounted to 200 million rubles.{{cite web| title= 22 млн пользователей в день и потенциальные 18,9 млрд рублей выручки в год: что получит VK после покупки «Дзена»|url= https://vc.ru/media/412721-22-mln-polzovateley-v-den-i-potencialnye-18-9-mlrd-rubley-vyruchki-v-god-chto-poluchit-vk-posle-pokupki-dzena

|publisher= VC|date=2021-10-12|access-date=2023-02-09|language=ru}}

In 2020, the planned revenue amounted to 13.1 billion rubles. According to the results of the fourth quarter of 2021, the planned revenue amounted to 18.9 billion rubles.{{cite web| title= 22 пользователей в день и потенциальные 18,9 рублей выручки в год: что получит VK после покупки «Дзена»|url= https://www.rbc.ru/newspaper/2022/03/16/623087019a7947ec823374bd

|publisher=RBC|date=2022-03-15|access-date=2023-02-09|language=ru}}

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Category:Recommender systems

Category:Yandex