January 2026 brought a steady stream of developments from the “other” major search ecosystems beyond Google, spanning Russia, Korea, Vietnam, and China. This roundup walks through the key moves and signals from Yandex, Naver, CocCoc, and Baidu, focusing on what matters for search, AI, and digital strategy.
Yandex
- Yandex announced “Yandex‑01,” a large, publicly accessible urban tech space in central Moscow, positioned as a flagship venue where technology, culture, education, and media will coexist on more than 10,000 square meters across three floors.​
- The project is framed as opening in 2026 in the Chkalov House at Kursky Railway Station Square, reinforcing Yandex’s push to present itself not just as a search engine, but as a broader consumer technology and cultural brand embedded in urban life.​
For SEO/visibility context rather than direct news, several January 2026 “Yandex SEO in 2026” guides and explainers emphasize that the company has continued refining its machine‑learning‑driven ranking models toward user intent, satisfaction, and engagement, with strong focus on spam filtering and behavioral signals.
Naver
- Naver published a Personal Information Protection Report and a companion Privacy White Paper in late January 2026, summarizing its privacy and data‑protection activities over the previous year and laying out its research stance on privacy and data security.​
- The publication stresses that privacy and data security are “top priorities,” which is relevant given Naver’s parallel push into more agentic/AI‑enhanced services (search, messaging, super‑app functions) discussed in early‑January AI and data news digests.
- Separately (context, not strictly January‑only), Naver is continuing a multi‑year expansion of its Sejong data center, with earlier reports stating phase‑two construction was planned to start by January and run toward 2028–2029 completion, underlining the infrastructure ramp for AI and search.​
CocCoc
- There were no major internationally reported January 2026 news items or clear algorithm/search‑product updates for CocCoc in the sources surfaced. The engine continues to be referenced mainly in general “top search engines” lists and regional overviews rather than in discrete January‑dated announcements.
- Practically, for SEO and market‑tracking purposes, January 2026 commentary tends to treat CocCoc as a stable, Vietnam‑focused alternative alongside Google, rather than highlighting new features or policy shifts in that specific month.​
Baidu
- Baidu kicked off 2026 by announcing plans to spin off and list its AI chip unit, Kunlunxin, on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, positioning the chip business as a standalone public company while remaining a Baidu subsidiary.​
- The proposed spinoff is intended to unlock investor value, expand Kunlunxin’s financing options, and raise its profile in the AI‑semiconductor market; Baidu owns about 59% of Kunlunxin and the unit reportedly hit over 3.5 billion yuan in revenue and breakeven in the previous year, with strong growth expected into 2026.​
- The move sits within China’s broader policy push for domestic AI‑chip capacity amid U.S.–China tech tensions and export controls, with Kunlunxin positioned alongside Huawei Ascend, Cambricon, and Alibaba’s chip efforts.​
- Coverage in China‑focused business roundups in January 2026 also highlights Baidu’s AI business momentum, including milestones such as large user bases for its AI assistant products (e.g., references to its AI assistant reaching around 200 million monthly users), underscoring AI as the strategic growth story around the core search business.
