This is a news post originally published in October 2017. Details such as features, availability and offers reflect what was announced then and may have changed since.
Turkcell’s CEO Kaan Terzioğlu introduced the long-awaited domestic search engine Yaani at a press conference.
Sharing information about Turkcell’s newly built data center in the Gebze district of Kocaeli, Terzioğlu said, “As a country, 96% of our data is kept abroad.” Presenting the facility as the country’s largest data center, he said it:
- Has retina-scan doors and 33,000 fiber connections,
- Holds LEED Gold and Tier 3 certifications,
- Is built to withstand a fire lasting 120 minutes and a magnitude 9 earthquake,
- Has 210 thermal cameras and 10,000 square meters of usable area,
- Has 6,400 control sensors and hosts more than 20 global brands.
Terzioğlu also noted that 20% of Turkcell’s revenue comes from voice and calls and that it is a digital operator. After saying that the data centers planned for Ankara and Istanbul were at the project stage, he began presenting the domestic search engine they had developed over 2.5 years of continuous work.
Yaani: A Mobile-First Search Engine
Unlike expected, Turkcell did not launch Yaani at yaani.com.tr. Presented as mobile-first, the search engine can be downloaded from the App Store and Google Play. Terzioğlu stressed that data belonging to users in Türkiye would be kept in the country, and added that they would offer a digital advertising service.
He said users of other operators, not only Turkcell customers, can use Yaani. Promising extra benefits for Turkcell customers, he listed Yaani’s features:
- A family protection mode
- Effective targeting in location-based searches
- For Turkcell subscribers, 1 GB of internet valid for one week on first installing the search engine (fizy and maps not included)
- Turkcell would soon offer Yaani as a mobile browser
- Yaani can be set as the default search app on Android, but did not yet have this on iOS
- A private mode that lets you browse sites without being seen
Yaani Could Come to Browsers in December
Terzioğlu said Turkcell was also thinking about its email infrastructure and might make a browser-based move after the mobile app. Mobile-first Yaani was expected to be used in web browsers too.
Stating that they had no cooperation with Yandex or Google, he said Turkcell might advertise on well-known search engines in the future. Wanting at first to let Turkcell subscribers use Yaani, the company didn’t give a firm date for when the domestic search engine would fully launch.
You can browse sites through Yaani, but it doesn’t make sites mobile-responsive. Anything else about Yaani can be found on the yaani.com.tr/sss page.
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