Researchers have identified the socio-demographic characteristics of readers of Russian online publications.

Analytical company Data Centric Alliance ( DCA ) investigated the socio-demographic characteristics of readers of Russian online publications. This made it possible to determine which editions are preferred by men, and which are by women, that citizens with high incomes and citizens with modest earnings read. For analysis, the researchers chose the 30 most cited online resources for May 2015, according to the version of Medialogia.

“In the entire set of users that we have data on (more than 60 million), for example, 5% accurately indicated their gender as male - in some kind of online testing or in social networks. We take all the data about these 5% and reveal the characteristic behavior - from queries about potency and to news of football. Then people with similar behavior are marked in the database as men. With women - the same scheme. After that, a small percentage of undistributed remains, ”DCA representative Anton Shestakov told Izvestia.

For identifying an audience with alcohol addiction, for example, researchers searched for users who had visited the sites of an alcoholism treatment clinic, alcohol counseling pages on the problem of alcohol, and so on over the past two months. Similarly, they defined theater lovers, athletes and other categories.
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It turned out that the poorest segments of the population read Kp.ru, Gazeta.ru and M24.ru. The most well-to-do people read Kommersant.ru, Meduza.io, Inosmi.ru, Slon.ru, RBC.ru. Among idle citizens the most popular are E1.ru, LifeNews.ru, Rg.ru, Kp.ru, Izvestia.ru. Family readers prefer M24.ru, Newkaliningrad.ru, Russia.rt.com, Gazeta.ru, Kommersant.ru. Sports fans are interested in Izvestia.ru, Russia.rt.com, Kommersant.ru, Slon.ru, Rib.ru. Theatrists popular sites M24, Newkaliningrad.ru, RBC.ru, Izvestia.ru, Rg.ru.

Among gamblers, the most widely read publications were regional portals Business-gazeta.ru, M24.ru, Newkaliningrad.ru, Kavkaz-uzel.ru, Russian.tr.com. The most indifferent to gambling people read E1.ru, Rbc.ru, Echo.msk.ru, Vesti.ru, Polit.ru. People who are interested in rehabilitation from alcohol addiction choose Kommersant.ru, Euromag.ru, RBC.ru and Vesti.ru.

According to the Izvestia interlocutor, data on the audience of various resources are becoming increasingly valuable. There are companies that collect and sell this information. If another code is installed on the site, for example, to demonstrate a set of share buttons on social networks, then the information about the users behavior on the site can be sent to the creators of this code. The data collected from several similar sites make it possible to identify certain patterns in the behavior of a certain group of users with similar interests.

However, the Ministry of Economic Development considers such data collection unsafe. The agency has prepared a draft order banning the use of Google Analytics, Piwic and other foreign web attendance counters on the official websites of government agencies.