International Conference “Internet and Socio-Cultural
Transformations in Information Society”.
Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, September 7-12, 2013
REGULARITIES IN THE BEHAVIOUR
OF THE RUSSIAN INTERNET AUDIENCE
Alexander SHARIKOV,
Professor of the National
Research University «Higher
School of Economics»,
Moscow, Russia
CONTENT
1. A few figures on Russian Internet
2. A brief history of the Russian Internet
audience research
3. Contemporary results of the Russian
Internet audience research
A few figures on Russian Internet
At September 7, 2013 in
Russia there were
around 5,7 mln
registered second-level
domains:
.RU – 4,8 mln
.РФ – 0,8 mln
.SU – 0,1 mln
Source: StatDom.ru
In 2012 the number of Internet users
in Russia took the 6th place in the world
and the 1st place in Europe
Rank
Country
Number of
users (mln)
1
China
571,3
2
USA
254,3
3
India
155,6
4
Japan
100,8
5
Brazil
99,0
6
Russia
76,5
7
Germany
68,8
8
Nigeria
55,5
Source: World Bank, 2012
55% of Russian population aged 18 and
elder use Internet, at least, once per month
53% use
Internet, at least,
once per week
43% use Internet
daily
Source: Institute Fonda Obshchestvennoye Mnenie
(FOM Public Opinion Foundation Institute), 2013 Q1
A brief history of the Russian
Internet audience research
The Internet audience research in Russia
began in 1995 (WCIOM, COMCON-2 et
al.). The number of Internet users were
under 1%, i.e. at the level of statistical
error.
This process was initiated by advertising
actors because in USA in 1994 the first
Internet banner appeared. It was the
advertisement placed by AT&T company.
In 1996 automatic Internet
counters were introduced
in Russia.
The company «Stack»
introduced in Russia the
search engine «Rambler»
and counters.
But information about audience produced by
internet counter was not enough for
advertising actors because it was impossible
to reveal demographic structure of the
audience.
In 1998 the Russian company “InfoArt”
organized the first “Russian Internet
Population Census”.
The number of Russian Internet users was
estimated at 2,2 mln.
A conventional “portrait of average Russian
Internet user” was compiled:
• male
• age 25-30
• higher (university) education
• IT specialist
• using the Internet from his office
1998 is the beginning of the Internet audience
monitoring measurements in Russia.
Among first research centers started these
kind of measurement were :
• COMCON-2
• Gallup Media
Data obtained both with Rambler’s counters
and monitoring polls revealed some regularities
in Russian Internet audience behavior.
In particular, they discovered that:
• number of users entering into cyberspace
depends on time of day
0,4
0,3
0,2
0,1
Data by «Rambler», 1998.
6:00
0:00
18:00
12:00
6:00
0:00
18:00
12:00
6:00
0:00
18:00
12:00
6:00
0:00
18:00
12:00
6:00
0:00
18:00
12:00
6:00
0,0
0:00
Audience size,%
• number of
users varies
periodically day
by day
In particular, they discovered that:
• The minimum of audience size was
observed at 5:00
0,3
0,2
Data by «Rambler», 1998.
4:00
3:00
2:00
1:00
0:00
23:00
22:00
21:00
20:00
19:00
18:00
17:00
16:00
15:00
14:00
13:00
12:00
11:00
10:00
9:00
8:00
7:00
6:00
0,0
5:00
0,1
4:00
• the maximum
of audience
size was
observed
during working
day time (12:0018:00)
audience size, %
0,4
Contemporary results of the
Russian Internet audience
research
In modern situation some different
tendencies are observed although the
conclusion about periodicity is true.
12
Percent of population
10
8
6
4
2
00:00
18:00
12:00
06:00
00:00
18:00
12:00
06:00
00:00
18:00
12:00
06:00
00:00
18:00
12:00
06:00
00:00
18:00
12:00
06:00
00:00
18:00
12:00
06:00
00:00
18:00
12:00
06:00
0
Data by TNS-Russia Jul-Dec 2012, Russian cities 100.000+, age 12+
The shape of the audience size day part
distribution has been changed.
12
Percent of population
10
8
6
workday
4
weekend
2
05:00
04:00
03:00
02:00
01:00
00:00
23:00
22:00
21:00
20:00
19:00
18:00
17:00
16:00
15:00
14:00
13:00
12:00
11:00
10:00
09:00
08:00
07:00
06:00
0
Data by TNS-Russia Jul-Dec 2012, Russian cities 100.000+, age 12+
5:00
4:00
3:00
2:00
1:00
0:00
23:00
22:00
21:00
20:00
1996
19:00
18:00
17:00
16:00
15:00
14:00
13:00
12:00
11:00
10:00
9:00
8:00
7:00
6:00
The audience size has markedly increased in
leisure-time (19:00-01:00).
2012
Now they observe the level of weekly cycling
of the Russian Internet audience size.
54,1%
53,9%
53,4%
53,2%
51,5%
46,6%
Averaged Daily Reach, %
43,4%
Monday
Tuesday
W ednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Data by TNS-Russia Jul-Dec 2012, Russian cities 100.000+, age 12+
Jul '13
May '13
Mar '13
40
Jan '13
Nov '12
Sen '12
Jul '12
May '12
Mar '12
Jan '12
Nov '11
Sen '11
July 2010
Jul '11
30
May '11
Mar '11
Jan '11
Nov '10
Sen '10
Jul '10
May '10
Mar '10
Jan '10
Nov '09
Sen '09
20
Jul '09
May '09
Mar '09
Jan '09
Nov '08
Sen'08
Jul'08
May'08
Mar'08
Jan'08
Nov '07
Percent of population
There is one more level of cycling that could
be characterized as seasonal one.
80
70
60
50
July 2013
July 2012
July 2011
July 2009
July 2008
10
0
Data by TNS-Russia Jul-Dec 2012, Russian cities 100.000+, age 12+
It is interesting to compare day part
distributions of Russian Internet audience
versus to both TV and radio audiences.
40
35
Percent of population
30
TV
25
Radio
20
15
10
5
Internet
05:00
04:00
03:00
02:00
01:00
00:00
23:00
22:00
21:00
20:00
19:00
18:00
17:00
16:00
15:00
14:00
13:00
12:00
11:00
10:00
09:00
08:00
07:00
06:00
0
Data by TNS-Russia Jul-Dec 2012, Russian cities 100.000+, age 12+
Will the Internet be a serious competitor of
traditional television ?
Percent of
respondents
The Internet is not a serious competitor for the
traditional television
23,5 %
The Internet is (or will be) a competitor for commercial
TV operator
17,6 %
The Internet can be a competitor for all traditional
television
18,6 %
The further technological development will lead to
convergence of traditional TV and Internet-TV
14,4 %
Difficult to say
25, 9 %
Data by the Institute of Sociology, Russian Academy of
Sciences, December 2012, Russian population aged 18+
The «portrait of an average Internet user» in
Russia in 2012 г:
• female
• aged 30-35
• high school
education
• using Internet at
home
Data by TNS-Russia Jul-Dec 2012, Russian cities 100.000+, age 12+
The transformation of the «portrait of an
average Internet user» in Russia 2012 vs 1998:
1998
2012
Male
Female
Aged 25-30
Aged 30-35
Higher education
Higher education
Office
Home
The age distribution of weekly Internet
audience in Russia in 2012 (Q1)
100
90
Weekly Reach, %
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
12 15 18 21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45 48 51 54 57 60 63 66 69 72 75 78
18
Age, years
Data by TNS-Russia Jan-Jun 2012, Russian cities 100.000+, age 12+
The age distribution of weekly audience for
Internet, TV and radio in Russia in 2012 (Q1)
100
90
TV
Weekly Reach, %
80
Radio
70
60
Internet
50
40
30
20
10
0
12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78
18
Age, years
70
Conclusions:
1. The Russian Internet which was formed in early
1990s, initially, was developing as an professional
cyber-environment for specialists in the field of
information technology until the end of 1990s.
2. The growth of the audience during last 18 years
modified Russian Internet’s functions. At 2013 the
most spread functions seem to be entertainment
and interpersonal communication via Internet.
3. During 18 years of Internet research in Russia some
specific regularities in behavior of the total Russian
Internet audience have been discovered.
Conclusions:
4. The total Russian Internet audience demonstrates,
at least, three levels of periodicity: daily, weekly and
yearly. These regularities could be used to predict
the total Russian Internet audience size in the
nearest future.
5. Comparisons of the total Russian Internet audience
day part distribution versus, on the one hand, the
total Russian TV audience day part distribution and,
on the other hand, the total Russian radio audience
day part distribution lead to the conclusion that the
Internet is not a strong competitor for both radio
and television in the nearest future.
Conclusions:
6. The interesting tendency in the demographic
structure of the Russian Internet audience is
observed. In 1998 it was, mainly, men of 25-30 years
old, specialists in IT technology who used Internet in
their office. In 2013 it is, mainly, women of 30-35
years old, working in very different areas who use
Internet at home.
7. Such transformation could be explained by new
communicative forms (as for example, social
networks) and a very large number of
entertainments existing in the modern Internet.
Thank you!