Spending for advertisements on the Russian-language Internet grew to 21.86 billion rubles ($729 million) in 2010, an increase of 40% from 2009, estimates MindShare Interaction. The global media network said further that Russian retailers were the biggest spenders last year: their total outlay alone increased by 67%.
Contextual advertising represented 13.7 billion rubles ($457 million) or 63% of the total—up 44% from 2009, whereas display advertising accounted for 8.16 billion rubles ($272 million) or 37% of the total—up 33% from 2009.
The combined expenditures of the top ten advertisers on RuNet in 2010 grew 61%, to an amount of almost $100 million. Those advertisers are Renault-Nissan, Procter & Gamble, MTS, MegaFon, Peugeot Citroën, Volkswagen Audi Group, Vimpelcom (Beeline), Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, and Nokia.
Renault-Nissan spent more advertising on RuNet than any other company, shelling out $15 million in 2010, more than double the amount of $7 million that it spent in 2009. By comparison, the biggest spender in 2009, Russian mobile operator MTS, who expended $10 million that year, increased its expenditure to just $10.15 million in 2010. Nevertheless, MTS still ranks third in 2010, following Procter & Gamble.
The strong 2010 increase followed a crisis year, during which online advertising expenditures stagnated.
A March 2010 study by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Interactive Advertising Bureau estimates that by 2013, the total amount being spent on online advertising in Russia will reach $1.3 billion.
Sources: TechRockets, Kommersant
