banning advertising from foreign agents will not stop brands from cooperating with them

Participants in the advertising market and blogging agencies believe that the new law banning advertising by foreign agents will reduce their income by 50–80%, but only for six months. Russian advertisers may be replaced by brands from friendly countries, and some domestic companies will simply budget for fines. Foreign agents have a very loyal audience, experts explain, so advertising on the channels of such authors, especially against the backdrop of restrictions, can be “perceived overly positively.” According to experts, last year the income of foreign agents could reach up to 5 billion rubles.

Kommersant interviewed participants in the advertising and blogger markets about the prospects for monetizing advertising from foreign agents after the adoption of a law banning such placements. JAMI LUP CEO Yulia Dolgova expects a significant drop in the income of foreign agent bloggers, up to 80%, since most of their audience is Russian, as are advertisers. Other Kommersant interlocutors in the market estimate the drop in income at 50–60%. On February 28, the State Duma adopted in the third reading a law on a complete ban on advertising on all resources of foreign agents on any platforms, as well as advertising on such resources. The advertiser and distributor will be responsible for violation.

Immediately after the adoption of the law, there was a statement by Ekaterina Gordeeva (recognized by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation as a foreign agent) about the suspension of the YouTube project “Tell Gordeeva” (1.64 million subscribers; according to Kommersant sources, one integration can cost about 1.5 million rubles). “Now advertising is a crime with us. It’s hard to believe that someone would decide to commit it out of noble motives, risking their business, themselves, and loved ones,” says her message on the Telegram channel. According to Ms. Gordeeva (recognized by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation as a foreign agent), the project existed with funds from advertising integrations. For example, the YouTube channel of Yuri Dud comes under attack (recognized by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation as a foreign agent, 10.3 million subscribers, one integration, according to Kommersant, can cost 3 million rubles): most of its advertisers are Russian brands, like “Profi.ru”, Flowwow service, “Aviasales”. Kommersant was unable to contact the authors.

According to RBC, large advertising agencies will include in contracts provisions for unilateral termination of contracts if the advertising distributor is recognized as a foreign agent.

At the same time, Kommersant’s interlocutor in the advertising market believes that the decline in advertising revenues of foreign agents will continue for a maximum of six months – “until they adapt to working with new partners and schemes.” For example, brands from friendly countries entering the Russian market, but with foreign legal entities, can become advertisers of foreign agents, Ms. Dolgova notes: ““Banned” bloggers can monetize their own audience, which resists the suspension of the channels, by introducing paid subscriptions.” Kommersant’s interlocutors on the media market admit that illegal bookmakers will continue to advertise with foreign agents.

Now foreign agents are opinion leaders with an established and extremely loyal audience, which is “ready to express support in any form,” says TWIGA PR managing director Evgeniy Temperamentov: “Any advertising on the channel of such authors, especially against the backdrop of restrictions, can be perceived extremely positively and bring real benefits advertisers.” Therefore, he suggests, some advertisers will be willing to take the risk and budget for the fine.

Mr. Temperamentov notes that, according to ERIR, Russian brands spent more than 130 million rubles on advertising with foreign agents in 2023. “But only 15 foreign agents uploaded data on advertising campaigns into the system (out of 769 persons in the Ministry of Justice register as of February 16,” the expert clarifies. “And more than 200 Russian individuals and legal entities placed advertisements with foreign agents (according to Ministry of Justice for 2023)”. According to his estimates, the income of foreign agent bloggers at the end of the year could exceed 5 billion rubles.

Yulia Yurasova