Mail.ru is quitting its ambition of building a Russian Twitter, having failed to build sufficient scale. Instead, it’s aiming to consolidate its ownership of a leading social network. Read more »
Russia’s new internet blacklist agency is busy naming “illegal” sites ISPs must block. But the government says search engines should not be blocked for pointing to those sites with excerpts of illegal content. Read more »
Russia’s new internet blacklist may not be the only force threatening available of Google’s business in the country. If new reports are to be believed, Mail.ru also wants to stop using Google’s search service. Read more »
Browser maker Opera launches a music service in to a Russian market that badly needs legal options, whilst iTunes Store’s debut is reportedly shelved. Read more »
Russian TV broadcasters are beginning to cooperate to ensure one site can become the go-to video portal. But Videomore doesn’t yet have 100 percent partner coverage. Read more »
In Russia’s fast-growing internet scene, Mail.ru is successfully marshalling its diverse arsenal of social network and game services to attract paying users, while its social advertising prospects turn down. Read more »
TechCrunch’s CrunchBase has become a repository of information about tech startups. Now a Russian outfit wants to replicate the model, connecting investors with Russia’s fast-growing scene for a monthly subscription. Read more »
Around the world, rival services are gobbling up emerging markets by rebadging Google’s software. Yandex is the latest, with its own Chrome-based web browser and alternative Android app store. Read more at GigaOM »
Russian video aggregator ivi.ru is raising $40 million more. The money will be used to license TV and movie content, as investors hope decreasing piracy and willingness to pay for content can make for success. Read more »
Russia’s lacklustre music market desperately needs strong legal digital services. Now Apple may be about to play that role, finally launching in the country, according to reports. Read more »
Moscow-based search engine Yandex is hoping to steal a march on international rivals with a new music subscription app for the iPhone — but it’s gambling that users will be ready to stump up cash for the service in a country where paid-for digital music is […] Read more »
Facebook’s rise has come on the back of astonishing international growth — but it needs to keep expanding everywhere, and in every way, to keep up with investors’ expectations. Where can it find the silver bullet? And how will it happen? Read more at GigaOM »
Russia’s leading social network, Facebook copycat vKontakte, loses an appeal against a copyright conviction – is that an opportunity for Mark Zuckerberg in Moscow? Read more »
Ten years ago, Plastic Logic looked like it had all the elements in place to become a world-beating startup. Now it’s ditched its attempts to become a household name and decided to focus on licensing its technology instead. So where did it all go wrong? Read more »
Russia’s government has commissioned the building of a system which would let copyright owners identify unauthorised use of their works online. Read more »
Russia’s online listings market could be about to explode, and investors want a piece of it. The latest beneficiary is a Craigslist-style site that also wants to be like eBay. Read more »
The stereotype of Russia as a haven of copyright infringement could be a thing of the past, after officials in Moscow said they were considering holding internet providers liable for illegal filesharing that takes place on their networks. Read more »
The music industry is battling to stop piracy through Russia’s largest social network so that it can turn the country from a digital backwater in to a top music market. vKontakte, which is often called a Facebook copycat for its similar features and design, includes built-in […] Read more »
Russian web incubator Fast Lane Ventures is developing a reputation for building big businesses fast, with the sale TV channel Shopping Live — its second significant exit inside a couple of months. Read more at GigaOM »
Mail.ru’s DST may have spent $187.5 million taking ICQ off AOL’s hands, but it’s in no rush to make a direct return on the veteran IM servic… Read more »
It’s not just in western markets that content sales are moving rapidly from physical to digital. One of Russia’s largest electronics retaile… Read more »
Online ad spend in Russia grew 56 percent through 2011, surpassing print media to become the country’s second-largest advertising medium. Read more »
Ozon, often called the “Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) of Russia”, is looking to consolidate its lead over local rivals by buying one of the country’s largest online retailers, shoe store Sapato.ru. Read more »
One of the more popular instant messaging mobile apps is taking a $10 (£6.32) million investment from a Russian investor. Read more »
Today brings news of yet another round of capital-intensive cost-cutting for the challenged mobile phone maker Nokia: the company today anno… Read more »
Some numbers out today that underscore the challenge telecoms operators have had in attracting customers to their pay-TV platforms, includin… Read more »
Russia’s big Mail.ru portal is trying to ape Chinese companies’ microblog boom by launching its own Twitter clone. Futubra launched in beta… Read more »
We know that consumers in China love Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) products, and that Apple is famous for the lines that form outside its stores in adv… Read more »
When you consider the internet, on-demand services, games consoles, mobiles, apps and [fill in your personal favorite here], we have more wa… Read more »
FilmOn, the premium-content internet streaming site that met controversy earlier this year over lawsuits involving CBS (NYSE: CBS), CNET, an… Read more »
Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud of Saudi Arabia, an investor in media titans News Corp. (NSDQ: NWS) and Time Warner (NYSE: TW… Read more »
Confirming earlier reports, T-Mobile USA will be the first carrier to sell a Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Windows Phone in the U.S. — a key market for… Read more »
Nokia (NYSE: NOK) is taking its new device strategy up one more notch: today, it started to ship the second of its first two Windows Phone d… Read more »
Nokia’s luxury device brand Vertu — the epitome of conspicuous consumption with gold-and-diamond handsets priced in the six figures — has… Read more »
Following on from its acquisition of mobile software developer SPB at the end of November, Yandex is making one more move to increase its ub… Read more »
Taking a page from its search counterparts in the East and West like Baidu (NSDQ: BIDU) and Google (NSDQ: GOOG), Russia’s Yandex has scooped… Read more »
Russia’s leading search engine’s Q3 profit almost doubled to 1.7 billion rubles ($56.9 million) as advertising sales went from strength to s… Read more »
Russian portal and social network operator Mail.ru Group’s half-year growth continued in to Q3, during which revenue was 59.1 percent higher… Read more »
Looks like Russia’s search giant Yandex is following in Google’s footsteps once again. Yandex is taking its services to new screens by inkin… Read more »
Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) today finally got the keys to Skype, so to speak: the deal for Microsoft to buy the internet telephony giant for $8.5… Read more »
