Russian Law Mandates Social Advertising Quotas for Major Websites
On April 22, 2021, the State Duma passed the third reading of bill No. 1109512-7, which introduces new regulations for social advertising on the internet, the selection of a social advertising operator, and rules for working with advertisers. The law establishes a mandatory quota of 5% for social advertising placement. While similar requirements already exist for television and banner advertising, there was previously no mechanism for enforcing these rules online. According to the explanatory note, this gap limited non-profit organizations’ access to advertising tools for promoting their initiatives.
How the Social Advertising System Will Work
The operator of social advertising—a specially selected non-profit organization (NPO) appointed for five years—will calculate the required share of socially significant content and determine the available formats for distributing social advertising based on an approved methodology. The Ministry of Digital Development will select the operator from organizations whose founders do not include foreign citizens, foreign organizations, or international organizations.
The authors of the bill believe that this regulation will provide NPOs with tools to promote their initiatives and allow them to inform the public about their activities on the internet in the most effective way.
Who Will Be Affected by the Law?
The law applies to owners of information resources that offer advertising to Russian users and have a daily audience of more than 100,000 users. As a result, companies such as Yandex, Mail.ru Group, Rambler, Google, and Facebook may be affected. Additionally, the requirements are proposed to extend to owners of advertising systems that use specialized software to distribute ads on third-party websites.
Industry Response
Participants in the advertising market have generally supported the initiative, although they acknowledge that the implementation mechanism is not yet fully clear. In their opinion, compliance with the new requirements is unlikely to have a significant impact on the overall market volume.