Ynet is one of the major Israeli news and general-content websites, and is the online outlet for the Yedioth Ahronot newspaper. However, most of Ynet's content is original work, published exclusively on the website and written by an independent staff.

Ynet was launched in June 2000 in Hebrew only; and in 2004 launched its online English edition Ynetnews. In addition, Ynet hosts the online version of Yedioth Aharanot's media group magazines: Laisha (which also operates Ynet's fashion section), Pnai Plus, Blazer, GO magazine, and Mentha. For two years, Ynet had also an Arabic version, which ceased to operate in May 2005. Ynet's main competition comes from Walla! Mako and Nana. Since 2008, Ynet is Israel's most popular internet portal, as measured by Google Trends.