WebProNews

Tag: Russia

  • Russian Official Faults Google For “Manipulations” In Egypt

    Google’s attempts to "do no evil" and defend Wael Ghonim may have raised the Russian government’s ire.  Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin has been quoted blaming more than one executive for contributing to the Egyptian revolution.

    According to a new Reuters article, Sechin said, "Look what they have done in Egypt, those highly-placed managers of Google, what manipulations of the energy of the people took place there."

    Assuming that quote’s completely accurate (and translation issues or some other small misunderstanding could come into play), Sechin’s drawn some interesting conclusions.  First, consider the words "they" and "managers," implying that Ghonim wasn’t acting alone.

    Then there’s the term "manipulations" to consider, since it has some pretty unpleasant connotations.

    This might cause more than a few problems for Google.  The Russian government isn’t known for tolerating rabble-rousers, and Google’s already had trouble competing with local search company Yandex.  Negative PR or a formal penalty of some sort wouldn’t help.

    Sechin has a bit of evidence on his side, too.  The official Google Twitter account has at least twice tweeted in support of Ghonim, and Eric Schmidt’s also indicated a certain level of approval.

    Huge relief–Wael Ghonim has been released. Our love to him and his family.less than a minute ago via webA Googler
    google

    We’re incredibly proud of you, @Ghonim, & of course will welcome you back when you’re ready – cf. http://goo.gl/2BDGpless than a minute ago via webA Googler
    google

  • Yandex Reports 43 Percent Revenue Increase

    The Russian search company that has had little difficulty fending off Google in its homeland is also doing rather well financially.  Today, Yandex announced its 2010 financial results, and the company saw its revenues increase by an impressive 43 percent compared to 2009.

    That puts Yandex’s revenue for 2010 at about $410 million, which is a tidy enough sum.  As for some other achievements, an official announcement explained, "Revenues from contextual advertising grew 45% year-over-year."

    Also, the number of Yandex’s advertisers increased by more than 40% on a year-over-year basis, totaling around 180,000 in the end.

    Meanwhile, according to the Russian Association of Communication Agencies, the overall Russian online ad market grew by just 37 percent between 2009 and 2010, putting Yandex – which controls roughly a 64 percent share of the local search market – ahead of the curve in almost every respect.

    Arkady VolozhAll this led Arkady Volozh, Yandex’s CEO, to state, "The highlight of 2010, as we see it, is that by constantly improving our product quality we managed to increase our share in the search market.  The considerable revenue increase we report this year reflects two important trends – a post-crisis revival of the small and medium-sized businesses and a shift in advertising expenditures from other channels towards online advertising."

    Last week, Volozh gave an interview indicating that he thinks Google and Facebook will continue to trail local companies in Russia, as well.

  • Russian President Joins Twitter

    Another very significant person has come to recognize the value of Twitter.  Today, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev stopped by Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco, met with the company’s executives, and sent his first tweets.

    Medvedev’s very first tweet, available in either Russian or English thanks to the creation of twin accounts, read, "Hello everyone!  I’m on Twitter, and this is my first tweet."  He then sent four more tweets in quick succession, which seems like a good sign he’ll stick with Twitter.

    Another indication: Medvedev, who’s gaining followers at a rapid pace, at one point wrote, "Thanks everyone for visiting my Twitter page.  I hope to keep your interest."

    Meanwhile, as you might imagine, Twitter’s representatives were all smiles.  On the Twitter Blog following Medvedev’s visit, Biz Stone wrote about being "honored" by the president’s "generous" decision to stop by.

    Stone then worked in a mini-commercial for his site, adding, "Recognizing the power of new technology and learning to leverage it to advance humanity in positive and meaningful ways is a powerful display of leadership.  It was a great chance for us to share our passionate belief that the open exchange of information can have a positive global impact."

    Anyway, in addition to Twitter, President Medvedev will visit Apple, Cisco, and Yandex while he’s in California.