“Only the elect will continue to grow”

It seems that the rapid growth of the Internet advertising market in RuNet, which we have seen in recent years, has come to an end. The general crisis has affected even this relatively prosperous sector. Well, if this year we see at least some growth, albeit by a couple of percent. There is a risk that the market may even go into a minus. According to the latest forecasts , published today in the Vedomosti newspaper, the situation looks depressing.

All large companies of the Runet register falling. According to its CEO Dmitry Grishin, Mail.ru revenue grew in January and February compared with the same months of 2008 by 3-4% (in dollars). In general, this year the market will have “zero growth,” he believes. Yandex completed the first two months of 2009 with a slight decline (in dollars), says its representative Mikhail Ushakov.

According to Dmitry Ashmanov, director general of Mindshare Interaction advertising agency, the growth will be only 5-7% (in dollars). And this is despite the fact that in 2008, according to the agency, the dollar growth of the market amounted to 55% ($ 592.5 million).

The rise of the first months is a residual effect, Ashmanov warns; Further advertising will decline. March by all signs will be worse than January – February, Grishin agrees from Mail.ru. Only favorites will continue to grow.