Mail.ru to outstrip Yandex by audience in Russia's Ru. Internet

Updated April 21, 2008

   TNS Gallup Media research company has presented the first results of the Internet-audience calculation throughout Russia. The data corrects the idea of the largest online portals popularity: in March Mail.ru became the Ru.net leader by the daily audience volume - 5,85 million people - outstripping Yandex (5,56 million) by 290 000 people. These portals have surpassed Rambler by this index twice, though the advertisers have perceived it as comparable with them by an audience until now.

   TNS Gallup Media company, that has been calculating the Internet-audience since autumn, 2006 in Moscow, has already presented the data about the all-Russian audience of six largest websites within the framework of the annual "Internet and business" conference for the first time. TNS Gallup Media director for mass media calculations Ruslan Tagiev specified that these are the March results. He promises the all-Russian data about the calculated TNS resources appears in the April report. Within the Web-Index project framework TNS calculates an audience of 100 Internet-resources by the so-called site-centric model: special counters set up on websites recognize the already selected respondents. The all-Russian selection numbers 5 000 people (2 000 Muscovites among them) representing the urban population of the country aged 12-54 years.

   The first TNS data for Russia testify that in March Mail.ru has outstripped Yandex by the daily audience scope (number of people who visited the resource at least once a day): 5,85 million and 5,56 million people respectively. Although Yandex is leading in the single Moscow: 2,117 million against 2,064 million people. By the weekly and monthly audience scope, both in Moscow and throughout Russia, Mail.ru yields to Yandex insignificantly (see Table below).

   Mail.ru vice-president Anna Artamonova says the portal leadership by the volume of the all-Russian daily audience is the result of the active regional company development. "A search is not a daily necessity for users", explains Mail.ru lagging by the daily scope Yandex press secretary Mikhail Ushakov. He marks that Yandex’s core index is a number of search queries as the company earns on the context (search) advertising foremost. In 2007 it brought around $130 million to Yandex, and less than $10 million to Mail.ru, supposes IContext agency president Maria Chernitskaya. According to her calculations, the whole context advertising segment has attained $225 million. As considers director general of Mediaselling company Lev Gleyzer, Mail.ru stake in the media Internet-advertising segment (banners, pop-up items and other formats), which volume has exceeded $220 million in 2007, equals around 20%, and Yandex - 10%.

   Rambler falls behind the largest Ru.net online portals by the daily scope of the all-Russian audience more than twice (2,77 million people), as well as behind the online community Odnoklassniki.ru (3,74 million people) as it follows from the TNS March data. "The advertisers have perceived Rambler as a portal until now, comparable with Mail.ru and Yandex by an audience", marks Mr. Gleyzer. "Judging by TNS data, they can correct their budgets". According to its reporting, in 2007 Rambler Media holding has gained almost $33,9 million on the media Internet-advertising, and the 2008 plan is no less than $40 million "We are actively investing into new projects now, in the new version of a search in particular, and an audience should up due to that", is optimistic Rambler Media PR-director Alexander Kovalev. The investments volume exceeds $25 million as has earlier reported a source in the company.

   The calculations of the all-Russian Internet-audience will be popular among the producers of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) foremost. The largest advertisers in other medias and FMCG-companies in their marketing policy are always relying on the researches data, as explains the director general of Prior.ru agency Sergey Spivak. Research department head of MindShare Interaction Julia Udovenko reminds that in 2007 FMCG-producers’ expenses in the media Internet-advertising segment have totaled around $34 million.

All-Russian audience of Internet sites

Audience scope* (million people) in March, 2008

*Number of people who have visited a site at least once within the indicated period (day, week or month). The calculated audience lists the inhabitants of the cities with more than 100 000 population aged 12-54 years.