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Article3 min read

Yandex Announces Autumn Ad Discounts: Why Cheap Impressions Don't Equal Orders

In September, Yandex introduced seasonal terms for display ad formats. I analyze what an impression discount means and what business owners should verify before launching a campaign.

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On September 14, 2026, Yandex announced seasonal offers for display advertising. These include discounts on cost per thousand impressions (CPM) and cashback for specific formats. The most prominent figure in the announcement is "up to 44%."

However, I would first read the terms before calculating savings. The offer applies to specific formats and packages, not all ads in Yandex Direct. Specifically, descriptions for some premium placements mention packages starting at one million rubles. For small businesses, this is a significant threshold that limits the relevance of the news.

What Exactly Becomes Cheaper

CPM is the cost per thousand impressions. Reducing this price allows you to buy more impressions for the same budget, assuming other conditions remain equal. By itself, it tells you nothing about the number of paid orders.

An impression, a click, a lead, and a purchase are distinct events. A person might see a banner and remember the company without clicking the site immediately. Or they might click, get interested, and leave because they couldn't find the delivery cost. Therefore, you must read the ad report alongside your business results.

Cashback from seasonal offers should not automatically be treated as a refund to your bank account. The announcement refers to using funds in subsequent campaigns of the relevant formats; specific terms and deadlines vary.

First, determine the campaign's objective

Display advertising can either introduce your company to the audience or remind them of an offer. If the goal is immediate sales, you must separately plan how to connect an ad impression with a subsequent action. Not every view will result in an immediate click.

For an initial assessment, I would note three things in plain language: who we are targeting, what the user should understand, and what they can do next. "Maximum reach" does not explain why a specific store owner should allocate this particular budget.

Suppose a company offers delivery in only one city. Even an attractive cost-per-impression figure won't help if a significant portion of the audience cannot use the service. Verifying the target geography and the offer itself is more important than an eye-catching discount number.

The website must deliver on the banner's promise

If the ad directs users to a specific product or service, the landing page must clearly state the terms for that exact offer. Visitors should not have to search again for prices, delivery timelines, or ordering methods among unrelated sections.

Before launching, test the landing page on a mobile device: open it via a standard mobile connection, fill out the form, and verify that the lead appears in your CRM. For an online store, also test the checkout process with payment. Money spent on impressions cannot fix an error that prevents leads from reaching your sales team.

Agree on which leads count as valuable for your business. Re-submitting the same form and a new lead from a different customer should not be mixed uncontrollably in reports. Otherwise, an improved metric might be mistaken for actual demand growth.

Questions to ask before approving the budget

What is included in the package, what limitations apply to the format and period, and how is the final cost calculated? Where will the ads appear, and can you see the distribution across platforms? By what result will the team decide to continue the campaign or change it?

Answers must fit your specific business. If a package requires a disproportionate budget, it is not a missed opportunity; the offer is simply designed for a different scale. I would not increase spending just to secure a discount.

The autumn announcement is a good reason to recalculate suitable placements. However, you should still start with the offer, target audience, and a working path to conversion. Then the discount will improve an already thoughtful plan rather than becoming the sole reason to launch the campaign.

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