According to TechCrunch.com, Yandex, the search engine often called the Google of Russia, announced they are buying Auto.ru, for $175 million in cash.
Auto.Ru is a site not just a domain name.
Auto.ru has been around since 1996 and currently has some 400,000 unique listings for cars for sale.
“Auto.ru is the most popular automobile-related website in Russia and operates the largest and most detailed classifieds catalogue for new and used cars in Russia,” said Alexey Tretyakov, VP of Commerce at Yandex, in a statement. “Users come to Auto.ru to research what vehicles they should buy, read the latest auto news, search for tires and spare parts and buy and sell their vehicles. The acquisition of Auto.ru will enable Yandex to provide more comprehensive answers to users’ questions and expand our capabilities in auto classifieds.”
Generic with national identity in what is still a nascent market (it’s good to be the King)