The Russian government is likely to hire the services of Mail.Ru Group, a leading Internet group, to boost voter turnout in next year’s presidential election, the business publication RBC reported Wednesday. The authorities bet such a digital strategy is likely designed to dispel concerns about a weak mandate for Russia’s next president.
According to RBC, a procurement order was filled by Russia’s Central Electoral Commission. All offers were due by Aug. 10. Mail.ru Group is reportedly the government’s favorite, though RBC heard from sources close to the Kremlin that other companies like Rambler & Co are also contenders.
Mail.Ru Group — which is listed on the London Stock Exchange — controls some of the most popular online resources in Russia. According to Mediascope/TNS Global, its consolidated monthly audience in Russia reaches some 53 million PC and desktop users aged 12-64. The group thus claims to be in a position to reach nearly 90% of all Russian Internet users (more than 85 million).
Ask Putin questions? There’s an app for that
Among the group’s properties is VKontakte (VK.com), the leading social network in Russia (far ahead of Facebook) which attracts 43 million monthly users according to Mediascope.
Also parts of the group are Odnoklassniki (OK), another popular social network, and Mail.ru, a major portal and webmail service.
Odnoklassniki has already been involved in the Kremlin’s communications. On June 15, users of the OK Live app received the opportunity to ask questions to the Russian president during the “Direct Line with Vladimir Putin” TV program. Some 279,700 questions were submitted, including 2,000 ones in video format. Just two questions were actually asked to Putin during the TV show, RBC reports.
This story has been republished by VentureBeat, a syndication partner of East-West Digital News.
