Digital Advertising in Russia 2026: Where Ad Budgets Are Heading

Within digital advertising in Russia, there's long been no single trend of "everything grows equally." Some segments—contextual and targeted ads on major platforms—are growing moderately, while others—retail media—have shown explosive growth for the second year running. We break down the market structure and what this means for those planning advertising budgets for 2026.

Online Services Remain the Largest Segment

Contextual and targeted advertising on platforms like Yandex, VK, and similar services is the largest digital advertising segment: according to ACAR data, it accounted for approximately 510 bln ₽ in 2025, up 9% year-over-year. This remains the foundation of advertising budgets for most brands, but growth rates here are more modest than in younger segments.

Retail Media—The Fastest-Growing Segment

Advertising within marketplaces and e-commerce platforms (retail media) reached 224 bln ₽ in 2025—a 40% increase over the previous year, with another 35–40% growth projected for 2026. This is the fastest-growing digital advertising segment in the country: brands are going where ads are shown to people at the moment closest to a purchase decision.

Money is shifting to where advertising can most easily be directly linked to sales—not just impressions.

Early 2026: Market Growing Slower, but Still Growing

According to ACAR data, in Q1 2026 the Russian advertising market reached 220 bln ₽—up 5% compared to the same period last year. The most notable growth here was again shown by the online services segment: 117–118 bln ₽, 8% more than a year earlier. This is a reasonable slowdown after the abnormally rapid growth of 2025, not a signal of stagnation.

What This Means for Media Planning

The divergence in growth rates between segments is a signal for brands to diversify their media mix: keep the core budget on proven online services, but allocate a growing share to retail media and measurable channels like influencer marketing with end-to-end analytics. Investing budget in only one channel in 2026 is less effective than distributing it across segments with different growth rates and different roles in the funnel.