Sputnik (search engine)

Last updated
Sputnik
Sputnik (search engine) logo.svg
Type of site
Search engine
Web browser
Available inRussian
Owner Rostelecom
URL www.sputnik.ru
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional, free
LaunchedMay 22, 2014;9 years ago (2014-05-22) [1]
Current statuspublicly inactive, government use unclear [2]

Sputnik was a search engine owned by Rostelecom, a Russian state-owned telecommunications company. It markets itself as an engine geared towards "local services". [3] At the end of the week of the launch, it was responsible for 0.01% of the search engine traffic in Russia, compared with 62% for Yandex and 28% for Google. [4] It went through the maximum in February 2016, with 11 thousands hits (compared with 121 million hits of Yandex). In January 2017, Sputnik was the 15th most popular search engine in Russia, with 1 / 32,000 times the hits of Yandex.

Contents

Despite the traction Sputnik first got during its release, the engine had two million visitors within the first week, but it was unable to compete with other search engines as time passed. In 2017, less than 1% of Russians used the engine, as they had a preference for Yandex and Google. [5] The launch of Sputnik was deemed unsuccessful by the President of Rostelecom, Mikhail Oseevsky. In order to help bring in users, Oseevsky wanted to make Sputnik the primary search engine for government agencies and businesses, but he got little to no support for this. [6]

Russia spent $20 million to create Sputnik. In 2015, Sputnik only brought in 136.6 million rubles in revenue. The company's lack of advertisement on the website and unpopularity took a toll on Sputnik. [7] In 2018, Rostelecom filed Sputnik LLC for bankruptcy, the reason being the company was unable to pay its debt. The base amount of the loan taken out was 3 million rubles, but with interest acquired overtime, it was 10.6 million rubles altogether. [8]

Rostelecom officially took down the search box from the website in 2020. The only thing that remains of the site for visitors is links to other projects created by Rostelecom. [9]

Creation

In 2012, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin requested Rostelecom as the sole creator of e-government systems. [10] At the time, a technology company, KM Media, was working on a search engine already and Rostelecom bought them out. [11]

Features

A feature that Rostelecom released on Sputnik was Stalker. This feature was released to alert users when they have come across dangerous viruses and/or malware. [12]

Browser

Sputnik Browser
Initial releaseSeptember 30, 2015;8 years ago (2015-09-30)
Stable release(s) [±]
Windows

5.6.6291.0 (November 16, 2021;2 years ago (2021-11-16) [13] )

iOS

2.3.8 (June 20, 2018;5 years ago (2018-06-20) [14] )

Android
1.3.3.166 (June 11, 2021;2 years ago (2021-06-11) [15] ) [±]
Written in C++, JavaScript
Engine Blink
Operating system
Platform IA-32, x86-64
Available in Russian language
Type Web browser
License Freeware
Website sputnik-lab.com

There is an associated web browser, also Sputnik, derived from Chromium.

Other platforms

In early 2015, a smartphone version of Sputnik was released for smartphones and tablets and in late 2015, a version came out for PC for OS and Windows. [16]

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References

  1. "Rostelecom launches a beta version of its search engine platform "Sputnik"". Rostelecom. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
  2. "Поисковик "Спутник" прекратил работу" (in Russian). RIA Novosti. 10 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  3. "Search Sputnik portal". TAdviser. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  4. Bodner, Matthew (1 June 2014). "Test: How Does State Search Tool Sputnik Compare to Google and Yandex?". The Moscow Times. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  5. "National search engine "Sputnik" finally closed". Tek Deeps. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  6. ""Rostelecom" declared unsuccessful attempt to create gosposhlina" . Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  7. "Rostelecom closed superexpensive national search engine "Sputnik"". TAdviser. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  8. "Search Sputnik portal". TAdviser. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  9. "Search Sputnik portal". TAdviser. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  10. "Путин поручил "Ростелекому" создать поисковик, мобильные приложения и еще 10 ИТ-систем - CNews". CNews. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  11. "IN 2014, THE STATE SEARCH SYSTEM "SPUTNIK" WILL OPEN IN RUSSIA". 11 October 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  12. "First review of the Sputnik browser for Windows. First review of the browser Satellite for Windows Search engine satellite install". gettru.
  13. "Sputnik Browser". 2021-11-16. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  14. "Satellite - Browser on the App Store". iTunes Store. 2019-02-20. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
  15. "Satellite / Browser". Google Play Store. 2021-06-11. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
  16. "Search Sputnik portal". TAdviser. Retrieved 21 September 2022.