The post was not passed: bloggers did not abandon advertising on Instagram, despite the ban

Russian bloggers, despite the ban, continue to advertise goods and services on Instagram (owned by Meta, a company whose activities are recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation). 4% of budgets remain in this social network, experts estimated the share at 400-500 million rubles. However, according to the Association of Bloggers and Agencies, this share has decreased from 20% since last year. For YouTube, it remains at 21.7% compared to 48% a year earlier. The main budgets go to Telegram and Russian platforms. How influencers circumvent the law is in the Izvestia article.

How bloggers circumvent the ban

Russian bloggers continue to advertise goods and services on Instagram, despite the law banning it in force since September 1, Izvestia found out. It is still actively published, especially among influencers with an audience of up to 200 thousand subscribers — the so-called medium and small segments, Izvestia found.

Some bloggers advertise openly and are not afraid to even mention manufacturers of goods and services, but there are also those who try to circumvent the law: they do not formally designate such posts, submitting them in the format of personal advice or recommendations. Often, such content is posted in stories that disappear after 24 hours, which further complicates control. For example, one blogger from Kazan talked about a residential complex, another reviewed a dress from an online store, and a third mentioned a school for children. Visually, such publications practically do not differ from regular content, so it is easy to hide the advertising nature of the post.

In the run-up to and after the introduction of the ban on advertising on this social network, the volume of budgets allocated to it has significantly decreased. If by the end of 2024 the share was about 20%, then by September 2025 it had decreased to 4%. This was reported to Izvestia by the Association of Bloggers and Agencies (ABA). According to a source in the media market, despite the drop, in absolute terms we are still talking about large sums — about 400-500 million rubles.

According to the Association of Communication Agencies of Russia (ACAR), in 2024 YouTube was the leader in terms of advertising investments: it accounted for 48% of the total market (approximately 27.6 billion rubles). Telegram and Instagram then occupied the second and third places, sharing 20% each (approximately 11.5–11.6 billion rubles each).

However, by the fall of 2025, the market structure had changed. According to the ABA, the share of foreign platforms has decreased significantly. Telegram came out on top with a share of 46.3%, displacing YouTube, which now occupies the second place with 21.2%. In third place is VKontakte, which has strengthened its position and occupies 12.7% of the market. Among TikTok resources — 6.7%, Twitch — 6.1%, Odnoklassniki - 2.8%, MAX — 0.6%.

Most of the audience moved from Instagram to Telegram, YouTube and VKontakte. TikTok and Twitch are also trying to take their share of attention, the ABA noted. Spending on online advertising remains at the same level as last year, which indicates the importance of digital marketing.

Izvestia has requested information about the first fines and violations from the FAS and Roskomnadzor. The Antimonopoly service said that the agency receives requests regarding the distribution of advertising after September 1, 2025 on certain Internet resources, they are considered in accordance with the established procedure.

How do the experts explain this?

In some cases, some bloggers may still have obligations stipulated in contracts, where unilateral refusal of which may be fraught with penalties, said Yaroslav Shitsle, head of the It & Ip Dispute Resolution department at the Rustam Kurmaev and Partners law firm.

"It is likely that publications continue at their own risk in the hope of avoiding responsibility, or the cost of integration already includes a potential fine that may be imposed on the violator," he noted.

Yaroslav Meshalkin, an expert on digital communications, believes that some bloggers have not even heard about the ban, while others hope that they will not notice what they are doing, while the rest mask the advertising and try to present it "natively" — as if it were a sincere interest in a particular product, service or place. However, all these are rather naive positions that threaten serious fines, he noted.

— On authorized sites, the main privilege is the ability to place ads without fear of punishment. I did not notice any special preferences for bloggers or advertisers, although the demand for placements increased significantly in September. At the same time, the cost of advertising, for example, on Telegram, is higher than on Instagram, and this can have an impact," he said.

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However, the attention, engagement and loyalty of the audience on Telegram is also higher, especially among microbloggers and medium—sized channel authors, which should be taken into account by brands that are looking for new application points for their budgets, the expert added.

Russian sites have a great privilege — this is the legal placement of ads, so advertisers prefer to be deployed on them, said Yulia Zagitova, founder of Breaking Trends, Secretary of the Union of Journalists of Russia.

According to her, another important advantage is feedback. Russian social networks treat Russian-speaking users well and are ready to listen to them. Unlike Western platforms, where Russians are restricted and are not allowed to run ads normally, she concluded.