In an article published yesterday in the Kommersant Vlast weekly, the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin has proposed a range of measures to give a “strong, appropriate and balanced response” to the information war that he claims the US and its allies are waging against Russia. The measures include imposing new restrictions on the Internet: Bastrykin …
Last week VKontakte (VK.COM), the leading social network in Russia and a property of LSE-listed Mail.ru Group, announced the settlement of its legal battle with Warner Music Group (WMG) through a confidential out-of-court agreement. Under the agreement, VK users will be provided with legal access to WMG content though UMA, a Russian supplier of music content, and other authorized platforms. …
VKontakte and Warner Music Group settle legal battle out of court Read More
On behalf of taxi drivers, the Federation of Russian Car Owners (FAR) has filed a complaint with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev over the low prices dictated by taxi service aggregators, the RBC news agency reported Tuesday. The complaint by FAR said that the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) had refused to initiate legal action against Uber, …
Russian taxi drivers complain over Uber’s pressure on prices Read More
LeEco, a Chinese company which offers a Netflix-like video streaming platform as well as a variety of electronic devices, is set to enter the Russian market this summer, Kommersant reported last week, citing a source familiar with the company’s plans. The business daily has learned that LeEco is seeking to hire two top managers from JD.COM — Victor …
On the steps of Netflix: China’s LeEco prepares to enter Russian market Read More
Timescenery, a Russian startup that offers “a new approach to travel, leisure, personal and business time management,” has raised $600,000 from RIO, a Moscow-based asset management company. The investor has received a 15% stake in the company, which has been valued at $4 million, Rusbase reported last week, citing representatives from the startup and from …
Russian startup Timescenery secures $600,000 to provide “all trip plans” to travelers Read More
Virool, a San Francisco-based video ad startup founded in 2011 by a Russian team, has closed a Series A round of $12 million. The funding, which comes from Menlo Ventures, Yahoo Japan, 500 Startups and Flint Capital, will accelerate the company’s North America, Latin America and Europe plans. The company also aims to develop across the APAC region “with the strategic sense of …
Video ad startup Virool raises $12 million to “make advertising human” Read More
Bad news makes some people want to rip out their hair. But one Russian man claims reading it caused his to simply fall out. A Moscow resident, who says he’s suffering permanent stress and is losing his locks after reading too many negative news stories is suing Russia’s Yandex News for 1 million rubles (around $15,000). Roman Maslennikov argues …
Moscow man sues Yandex for publishing so much bad news his hair fell out Read More
Earlier this month Yandex.Direct announced a new addition for advertisers’ geo-targeting options that will show ads to users worldwide who enter a specific location in their search query. Previously, Yandex geo-targeting capabilities only targeted users that were physically located (or were using an IP address) in a location an advertiser selected to target in their …
Since Russia’s new law on the “right to be forgotten” took effect on January 1, 2016, Yandex — Russia’s most popular Internet search engine — has received 3,600 takedown requests from 1,348 people. The company says it has complied with 27 percent of these requests, rejecting the rest. Yandex says its high rejection rate has …
Yandex reveals the early results of the ‘right to be forgotten’ Read More
Russian Search Marketing, a Yandex-sponsored online resource for international marketers, has published a blog series on Russian Internet user demographics. Beginning with young adults on the Internet in Russia and continuing up to the 55 and older crowd, these posts provide insight into how Russians of varying ages use the Internet. There are marked differences in what devices …
How Russians of varying ages use the Internet: A research for international marketers Read More
According to the research company Bersin, the international market for interactive instruments used to evaluate job seekers is estimated to be worth $2 billion a year. The market recently welcomed the arrival of a new member, Skillaz, created by a former Kaspersky Lab collaborator, Andrei Krylov, and Grigory Dudash, a former employee of Nival, which is the company behind …
A Russian video interview service hopes to shake up the HR market Read More
Google has been dealt a blow in its ongoing battle with European regulators — the Internet giant has lost its anti-monopoly appeal in Russia. The Moscow Arbitration court has upheld a previous ruling from the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) that found Google had abused its dominant market position and broken anti-competition legislation. The crux of the complaint …
