As a result of YouTube’s slowdown, popular Russian bloggers have seen their views on the platform fall by 12–78%, they write Vedomosti, citing data from the analytical company JagaJam, which takes into account the indicators for viewing long videos and vertical videos (Shorts) for the period from July 22 to August 25, compared with the same length period before the slowdown – from June 17 to July 21.
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Children’s blogger Vladislav Bumaga (channel “A4”; 66.2 million subscribers) saw his total views on YouTube for the specified period fall by 78% to 100.4 million. Former member of the “A4” team Vladislav Chasheyko (channel “Glent”; 21.9 million people) saw his views fall by 54.4% to 58.6 million, tech blogger Valentin Petukhov (channel Wylsacom; 11.4 million subscribers) – by 12% to 21.2 million, etc. Some bloggers have reduced the number of videos they publish on YouTube.
Petukhov told Vedomosti that the number of views on the Wylsacom channel has dropped by an average of 10–15%, also pointing to the seasonal factor, since “the end of July and August is the time for vacations and then preparation for the school year.”
According to Mediascope, the average daily reach of the YouTube video hosting service (desktop and mobile versions) decreased from 46% for the period from July 15 to July 21 to 41% for the period from August 19 to August 25 (data on Russians over 12 years old is taken into account). The reduction in views on YouTube is due, among other things, to the fact that after its slowdown, Russian video bloggers began to more actively duplicate their content on alternative platforms, believes JagaJam CEO Artem Lipko.
It should be noted that VK has a service called VK Video Transfer for transferring videos from YouTube to the video hosting service “VK video”. A similar function was launched by the Russian video hosting service Rutube in August 2024.
Experts noted that before the slowdown, 40-60% of advertisers’ influencer marketing budgets were spent on YouTube. Despite the slowdown, advertisers are in no hurry to leave YouTube, adopting a “wait-and-see attitude,” said Maria Litoshina, director of digital products at the PHD advertising agency (part of Media Direction Group). At the same time, they are already asking advertising agencies for alternative options for conducting campaigns – VK, Rutube, Nuum (owned by MTS), etc.
If YouTube is further slowed down or completely blocked in Russia, advertisers targeting children and youth audiences (under 25) may have marketing problems, says Mark Khludnev, founder of the Digital Church advertising agency. This may also affect luxury and premium companies that have developed a high-income audience on YouTube, says Litoshina. “If YouTube is no longer available in Russia, luxury brands may likely abandon integrations into blogger content and focus on image placements,” she says.
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