I make small Windows programs, and the hardest part for any independent developer is simply getting people to find out the program exists. So I took another step: my screen recorder is now advertised through Yandex Direct — Yandex's advertising system that shows ads in Yandex search.

What Yandex Direct is

Yandex Direct is Yandex's official advertising platform (direct.yandex.ru). When someone searches in Yandex for, say, “screen recording software”, they may see a link to my site among the top results, marked as an ad. Yandex is used by millions of people in Russia, so it is a convenient way to show the program to exactly the people who need it.

What I set up there

  • The screen recorder is advertised. The ad leads to the program page where you can download the demo.
  • Shown in Russia only. The campaign targets the Russian audience searching in Russian.
  • Desktop only. The program runs on Windows, so the ad is shown to people on computers and laptops, not phones.
  • Pay for the result. I pay not just for impressions, but for a useful action — when a person downloads the demo.

Why I did this

  • So the program can be found. People search for a solution to their task — and can land on my simple app right away.
  • So people reach the site to download the demo. The main goal is for a person to calmly try the program.
  • So the budget is not wasted. Paying for downloads rather than empty impressions means the budget goes to real interest.

Why this matters for trust

Advertising on a major platform is not handed out blindly: Yandex vets advertisers and the sites their ads point to through moderation. That is not a guarantee of the program's quality, but it is a sign that a real author stands behind the site — not some random throwaway page.

The program is paid, but there is a free demo

The program itself is paid, but it has a free demo — you can download and try it before you decide. The ads are not there to chase numbers; they are there so you can calmly download the demo and decide for yourself whether the program suits you.

See the screen recorder

In short

  1. My screen recorder is now advertised through Yandex Direct in Yandex search.
  2. Shown in Russia only, on desktop only, paying per demo download.
  3. The goal is for more people to find the program and calmly download the demo.