Dozhd reported problems with access to video advertising in RuNet

The Dozhd TV channel reported problems with displaying video ads in RuNet. They are associated with the blocking of the Google service library by Roskomnadzor.

Details

• Kirill Bushev, the channel's digital director, told The Bell that problems arose with the display of Google video ads, as well as advertising that advertisers buy from the channel itself. It appears in the form of pre- and post-rolls in the programs posted on the site.
• Some users have not seen commercials for the past few days. Ad blocking also causes delays in loading pages with videos.
• Bushov estimated the channel's losses at up to 100,000 rubles a day. According to him, the TV channel will either have to return the money or compensate for the losses of direct customers.
• According to the TV channel, the problems arose due to the blocking by Roskomnadzor of the IP address of the Google service library, which is necessary for displaying video ads. We are talking about the address 64.233.162.95, it is included in the register of banned sites based on the decision of the Prosecutor General's Office. The service library responsible for displaying pre-rolls and post-rolls is located on the imask.googleapis.com domain. Its blocking is associated with the inclusion in the registry of Roskomnadzor of the IP addresses of the Google Fonts universal fonts service.

Context

• Roskomnadzor began blocking Telegram by a court decision dated April 16. Escaping from blocking, the messenger constantly moves to new IP addresses, forcing Roskomnadzor to update the register of banned sites.
• Telegram uses, among other things, the IP addresses of Amazon and Google cloud services. Their blocking has already led to numerous failures in the work of Russian sites.
• Over the weekend, Roskomnadzor added to the list of banned sites the IP addresses where the main Google services are located (for example, the Google.com page). Later, the service explained that these are the addresses that Telegram used to bypass the block.
• At a meeting between representatives of the service with the IT industry on Wednesday, Deputy Head of Roskomnadzor Vadim Subbotin said that the service failed to convince Amazon of the need to block Telegram in Russia. Interaction with Google, on the contrary, is becoming more constructive, a substantive dialogue has begun, Subbotin specified.

The blocking of Google IP addresses initiated by Roskomnadzor hit not only the business of the American company, but also the Russian companies using its services. In the event of increased pressure on Google, the losses of Russian business will also increase.

Vladimir Motorin