Archive of TheNextWeb.org
Written on November 7, 2008 – 11:59 am
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
Rambler Media, mother company of popular Russian portal Rambler.ru, faces tough times. Their share of web searches has dropped from 15 percent in January to 8 percent now. To make things even worse, Rambler thought to receive $70.1 million in cash from Google for Begun - Rambler’s contextual advertising company - yet the Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly Service refused Google’s application. Rumor has it that a man called Putin inspired the service.
As a result, Rambler Media has to lay-off fifty percent of its staff, Quintura reports. Sources say that divisions responsible for Rambler’s company non-core products will be hit hardest. Examples are telecom provider Rambler Telecom, photo sharing community Rambler-Foto, video sharing community Rambler Vision, and IT news site Ferra.
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Written on October 23, 2008 – 7:38 pm
Mircea Goia, Next Web US Webtipr
Not everybody likes Google, although many of them uses it.
It seems some high power people in Russia don’t like Google either. At least, they don’t like how Google tries to enter in each and every regional market.
This time Google tried to buy the contextul advertising firm Begun (a subsidiary of Rambler.ru search engine and the second biggest player in the russian contextual advertising field). The russian search engine (among the top three in the country) agreed to sell its division to Google for a reported $140 million.
But the authorities (Federal Antimonopoly Service - FAS) said that Kokuna Holdings Limited (owned by Google) failed to provide all the documentation needed to close the deal.
The chief of the FAS Igor Artemyev told Vedomosti, that “Google has not provided accurate and adequate information about the structure of ownership and therefore was refused“.
A source close to shareholders Rambler told Vedomosti that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was not pleased by Google taking over the local market as it did in other markets.
It’s not that hard to believe this rumour considering Mr. Putin’s past actions.
Written on August 6, 2008 – 3:29 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
The online advertising market in Russia is a good business to be in: it has been estimated at $260 million in the first half of 2008. This is an increase of 73 per cent compared to the same period in 2007, says MindShare Interaction.
The contextual advertising accounted for $161 million or 62% of total online advertising spending, while display advertising accounted for 38% ($99 million) of total online spending.
No wonder that Google recently acquired Begun, one of Russia’s most important advertising agencies. They’ve plenty of experience with contextual advertising, which might come in helpful when Google will introduce contextual pre-roll ads on YouTube.
Written on July 18, 2008 – 10:00 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
A few weeks ago I wrote a sarcastic article about Google’s efforts to gain popularity in Russia. Native search engines like Yandex and Rambler dominate this market, and Google obviously has been feeling threatened by that. So in the first week of June, the search giant started a billboard campaign in Moscow. This move looked like it was made out of desperation. Today Google made a more serious effort by acquiring Russian contextual advertising service Begun for 140 million dollars from Rambler. 
Probably to conquer some market share - as it grants them access to 40,000 advertisers and 143,000 partner sites - but could there be a second - more important - reason? Maybe this acquisition has something to do with Project Spaghetti - Google’s plan to generate more advertising revenue from YouTube.
Begun introduced contextual video advertising just last month
As I reported on June 30th, Begun integrated contextual advertising for video content on Rambler’s video sharing community, Rambler Vision. From that day on, 1.3 million visitors per month (and counting) would see the ads. Advertisments are based on the tags and are sold on a CPC bases.
This ad-introducing experience might come in handy when Google integrates video advertisement on YouTube.
YouTube only generates $200 million a year
Because YouTube badly needs a advertising strategy. Last week, the Wall Street Journal got two anonymous sources talking about YouTube’s failing advertisement strategy. The video giant generates 10 billion video views a day, but ‘only’ manages to make $200 million a year from advertising. Thus the Google-owned company might introduce pre and post-roll ads, said the sources to WSJ.
Welcome to the Valley, now let’s make money
You see the connection? Not only will Google gain more popularity in Russia, it has also acquired a company that knows how to make money from ads. Google will gladly welcome these fellas in Silicon Valley to turn YouTube in a profitable business.
Written on June 30, 2008 – 3:28 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
Rambler Media, one of Russia’s leading Internet companies (€38 Million in 2007), has announced contextual advertising for video content. Its advertising division - Begun - will integrate Begun.Videocontext on Rambler’s video sharing community, Rambler Vision. That means 1.3 million visitors per month will see the ads.
Each video appearing on Rambler Vision is tagged according to its content and as a result,
advertisements can be displayed beneath relevant videos. Rambler claims to be the first Russian web service to profit from contextual ads, which is remarkable, as online videos attract more Russian viewers than cable TV channels. Begun will sell the ads on a CPC bases.
If you’re a Russian reader, let me set you at ease: you can easily click the ad away.
[Via: Quintura]
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