Advertising blockers

The State Duma forbade to make money on Instagram. This is what bloggers think about it

On March 25, the State Duma adopted a bill, from September 1, prohibiting the Russians to place advertising on Instagram and Facebook. The law concerns advertising on other blocked resources, for example, on YouTube and Twitter (social network X). State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin explained this by the need to limit the possibility of prohibited foreign companies to receive income from Russians:

“With this decision, we protect the interests of our country and citizens, block one of the sources of income for owners of prohibited information resources,” the official said. The New Europe talked with Insta-bloggers and asked what they think about it.

It gets not funny

Valentina (more than 30 thousand subscribers) began to record funny videos during the pandemic and published them in Tiktok. Since 2023, Valentina began to make humorous make -ups about makeup, where in the author’s manner she comprehended trend videos on how to use cosmetics. The blogger duplicated all her content on Instagram.

-It was the goal of my life-to be funny in any form. It is desirable on the Internet to become popular. Vanity and the desire to divert - [my motivation], says Valentina.

When the girl found her recognizable style, advertisers came after the new subscribers.

The news of the adopted law makes the blogger be nervous. Instagram advertising is its main income:

“I also have a telegram channel in which there are few people, so there is a penny there is a penny there,” the girl says. - In Tiktoka, there has never been an advertisement at all.

What to do now, Valentina does not yet know: "As Coco Chanel said, I will think about it tomorrow." She is waiting for advice from her manager - but so far she only calms the blogger that the advertisement will remain, the format will simply change:

“I don’t know, she convinces me simply because it is her work, or she really thinks so.” I’m waiting for us to collect something collectively, ”says Valentina.

So far, the blogger wants to strengthen the activity in the permitted Tiktock in order to monetize the content there.

There is a word, but there is no blog

Mikhail (less than 10 thousand subscribers) began his blog as amateur: he laid out Storis, where he joked a lot and showed his life, sometimes commented on political events. Friends and acquaintances advised the man to engage in his account more thoroughly - they said that he was ridiculously joking and interestingly telling stories.

“I actively covered the ongoing social changes, in 2019–2020 this was nominally permitted,” recalls Mikhail. - Amendments to the Constitution, municipal elections, lack of independent candidates to the Moscow City Duma, Navalny's poisoning and all rallies on these topics. When I laid out Storis about the elections to the Moscow City Duma, I, with tiny views, wrote 10 people each, asked where to look at the candidates in their district. It was felt what the force of influence on people in blogging.

In 2023, the blogger began to lay out memes with opposition politicians and experts - the audience began to grow. This happened even despite the self -certification that Mikhail was forced to engage in the beginning of the war.

- Previously, I openly called the names and events, now I hint and wink, but my audience reads it well and understands Aesopov language. Together we stood in the lines of Nadezhdin, hundreds of people wrote to me that they put signatures in different cities and countries. Together we survived the terrible events of February 2024, ”the blogger explains.

Now the blog, according to a man, is not particularly developing, Mikhail himself has become less interesting - too many intra -regulation conflicts. Anyway, Mikhail believes, the format of political memes has outlived itself.

Michael is rarely advertising, but he does not want to stay without it at all. He considers the adopted law of the wrecking, “especially for small and medium -sized businesses” - “VKontakte” to him completely seems to him a useless platform for monetization of content:

- “Alternative” sites where the state wants to drive users, such as VKontakte, simply does not work. They have no organic issuing [content to users] and growth, a blogger community.

No matter how much they tried to invest there, in Target - no involvement, as if there are dead souls, ”says Mikhail.

According to a blogger, a complete ban on advertising will steal a profession and income from him:

“People who decided to professionally engage in blogging, regardless of the state, gained the audience with their talent, creativity, perseverance, financial investments to develop accounts, and now they actually cannot use the fruits of their work,” Michael complains.

"I really love Instagram"

Angelina (more than 100 thousand subscribers) began to engage in blogging in 2019, when she realized that she spent a lot of time on Instagram. The girl thought that watching the tape and laying out posts should bring income. The blogger decided to devote a blog to cook food - then there were not many accounts on this topic.

-The blog developed quickly and intensively, almost without any investments, but at the cost of constant creation of content-then bloggers laid every day. Of course, the social network has changed a lot over the years, but I still love Instagram very much - the blog has become my main work, ”says Angelina.

Thanks to the blog, Angelina sometimes began to receive orders for closed culinary seminars. So the girl received the second source of income. However, unlike the less popular colleagues, Angelina before the war began to think that it would be nice to lead other social networks - suddenly what would happen to Instagram. With the outbreak of war, the girl began to act actively - she started and began to develop accounts in Telegram, YouTube and VKontakte. Angelina feared that advertising would be banned immediately, with the ban on Instagram.

“I am surprised that the authorities were pulling for so long - for me it was not a blow because I was preparing,” the blogger explains. - My precaution and paranoia played into my hand. But I know a huge number of people who did not expect such a setup, and, of course, it is difficult for them now. I hope that over time, this law, like many other unfair laws, will go into oblivion when the [political] situation changes.

Now the girl gives lectures and holds seminars at which she shares her professional knowledge. Advertising on Instagram, according to Angelina, brings her no more than 20% of the total income.

“There is nothing good in the ban,” says Angelina. -Everything changes, so I have no illusions. I worry about my colleagues and for those for whom Instagram is a large source of earnings.

Fines for individuals are still small there, and for companies, of course, large. Perhaps this measure will be selective, they will be fine only the most guilty or someone indicative. But of course, I do not want to take risks, and I will not sell advertising from September 1. My friends and I managed to joke that now all the bloggers will go to his, where they will be given a lot of money at the cost of life.

"Some bloggers will not take out"

Marina, the purchasing manager of advertising on Instagram, believes that it is impossible to give accurate forecasts, while there are no clear explanations about how the law will work,. We can only assume that the format will change, and the advertisement itself will go into the gray area:

“I think that this will globally lead to an increase in advertising prices, the product will be even more expensive, and the profit will fall,” Marina believes. - Some bloggers will not take out and finish their activities, traffic will go to telegram.

The manager said that large bloggers were ready to adopt the law and began to master other social networks since the beginning of the war. In her opinion, it was a logical outcome:

-In some great surprise, this did not become. In general, the market has already learned how to adapt to various moronic laws that this will also survive, ”the girl believes. - The deputies have repeatedly explained that Meta does not receive money from Russian advertising, money goes directly to bloggers. I think this law was lobbied by Gazprom-Media, [to overtake the audience] VKontakte.