Digital advertising in Russia - statistics & facts
Digital advertising has displayed tremendous growth in Russia over the past two decades, in line with the rising internet penetration rate and an increased use of social media, online video platforms, and e-commerce. In 2024, it was estimated to account for an over-60-percent share of the total advertising spending in the country.
Despite a slight drop in 2022, digital advertising in Russia picked up in 2023 and remains an attractive promotion channel. The segments that are expected to drive further growth are programmatic and mobile advertising, whose shares will increase in the years until 2029.
Digital advertisers
The main categories of advertisers in the Russian digital advertising market are financial services providers and online marketplaces, whose budgets represented approximately 12 percent and nine percent of the total in 2023, respectively. Among the different channels, advertisers invested the most on ads on internet services, at around 387 billion Russian rubles. To compare, the spending on digital press placements was close to 21 billion Russian rubles.Leading interactive advertising formats
Performance ads represent the largest segment of interactive advertising in Russia. In 2023, the spending on performance placements reached almost 353 billion Russian rubles. Furthermore, Russia witnessed a rapid growth in online retail media advertisements, or ads run by a brand on a retailer's e-commerce site or app, with their budget rising by 227 percent in 2023 relative to the previous year. The digital classifieds spend increased in recent years and was forecast to reach almost 330 million U.S. dollars in 2029.Impact of the war in Ukraine
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Google Ads stopped operating in Russia. Furthermore, as Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram were restricted in the country, advertisers could not place ads on them any longer. Equally important was a large number of foreign advertisers leaving Russia. Among selected international companies, Booking.com occupied the largest share in the country's digital advertising spending, at over one percent as of March 2022. Faced with these challenges, market players promoted on other social media networks, such as VK and Telegram, as well as used other formats, such as targeted SMS marketing. As a result, the spending declined by two percent in 2022.Despite a slight drop in 2022, digital advertising in Russia picked up in 2023 and remains an attractive promotion channel. The segments that are expected to drive further growth are programmatic and mobile advertising, whose shares will increase in the years until 2029.
