Some kind of stream: YouTube audience in Russia has almost halved since its slowdown

The average daily audience of the YouTube video hosting service has almost halved since its slowdown — by 23 million people in seven months, and by 14 million on average, according to Mediascope data. If in August 2024 the video service occupied the fourth place in terms of the average monthly audience in the rating of popular Internet resources, now it is already in seventh place. He was overtaken by such platforms as VKontakte, Telegram, Sberbank. According to experts, it's hardly worth waiting for the audience to fully return to YouTube in the near future, since there is only one trend right now — the development of their own media platforms.

Which services are included in the rating of the most popular

In Russia, the average daily reach of YouTube video hosting has decreased by 23 million people over the past seven months, from 52 million in August 2024 to 29 million in February 2025, according to Mediascope data reviewed by Izvestia. The average monthly coverage decreased by 14 million people. According to this indicator, YouTube previously occupied the fourth place in the ranking of popular Internet resources in Russia, but now the service has slipped to seventh place.

In general, the rating itself has changed since last summer. The top five sites now looks like this: in the first place "Yandex", its coverage has grown to 102 million people, the second — in Google (101 million), the third — WhatsApp (owned corporations Meta, recognized as extremist and banned in Russia) — 97 million people, "Vkontakte" has risen from fifth to fourth place with coverage of 93 million, a Telegram from the sixth moved into fifth (90 million).

Other ranking participants also rose one notch: Sberbank took the sixth place with an audience of 82 million people, and took the eighth place after YouTube. Mail.ru With an audience of 77.3 million people, Wildberries is in ninth place with an audience of over 77 million people. Ozon closes the top 10, which was not included in the rating at all in August 2024 - its average monthly audience was 77 million people.

The data is presented for Russians over the age of 12 who have accessed the platforms at least once via mobile phones (including applications) or a computer.

In 2025, Roskomnadzor twice brought Google LLC (the owner of YouTube) to administrative responsibility for failure to delete prohibited information under Article 13.41 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation. The court imposed fines on the company in the amount of 7.6 million rubles, the press service of Roskomnadzor told Izvestia. They noted that at the moment 67.7 thousand illegal materials remain on the video hosting site.

What awaits video hosting in Russia

The situation with YouTube in Russia remains uncertain, and its development depends on many factors, including the political situation, Internet regulation and user behavior, said Yaroslav Meshalkin, managing partner of the Heads'made digital communications agency.

— The return of the YouTube audience is possible only if a compromise is reached between the platform and the Russian authorities. On the part of the site, this will include meeting the requirements for data localization, limiting illegal content, restoring accounts of Russian opinion leaders, and so on," the expert said.

Globally, a fragmented video hosting market may form in Russia, where YouTube will coexist with local platforms, but not dominate as before, Yaroslav Meshalkin noted.

Kristina Petrova, founder of the PR Perfect communication agency, believes that the longer YouTube slows down in Russia, the more difficult video hosting will experience later. This is primarily due to the fact that content producers, and after them the audience, are actively starting to use alternative platforms: VK Video, Telegram and others, she explained.

"Over a long period of time, both authors and viewers will get used to these platforms and, most likely, will not want to leave domestic platforms, everyone is too tired of constant changes," the expert added.

The slowdown of YouTube in Russia is a strategic turning point for the video content market. You can see how the audience really began to flow to Russian platforms — VKontakte, Rutube, Telegram, said Yulia Zagitova, founder of Breaking Trends, secretary of the Union of Journalists of Russia. It is important to understand that YouTube remains a global ecosystem with a unique archive of content that does not just reset, she noted.

— It is obvious that a further decline in coverage will make it less attractive to businesses and authors. Today, many bloggers and companies are already reviewing their strategy and starting to "build a house" on other platforms, the expert said.

According to her, YouTube is likely to retain a core audience in the niches of education, expert content and business, which are focused on the international market. However, the mass entertainment segment will definitely move away — to a place where it is easier to monetize and more stable with access.

It's hardly worth waiting for the audience to fully return to YouTube in the near future. There is only one trend now — the development of our own media platforms and content import to local services, Yulia Zagitova summarized.