Max launches testing of ads in messenger channels
Max has begun testing advertising tools in messenger channels via VK Ads. In the first stage, other channels are being advertised, with targeting configured by user categories.
Advertising placements have started appearing in channels of the national messenger Max. The platform's press service confirmed to AdIndex the start of testing of advertising tools; details and the timeline for a full-scale launch will be revealed later.
A source close to VK said that Max is testing ad inventory via VK Ads. The technical foundation is the Discovery platform — VK's unified solution for recommendation systems, search, and advertising, which ensures the display of relevant ad offers. In the first stage, other channels of the messenger will be advertised. When setting up a campaign, an advertiser will be able to choose targeting across different user categories. There will be no advertising on the Sferum education platform.
Dmitry Gulyaev, director of the Russian Association for Electronic Communications (RAEC), noted that advertising in Max already existed — in the format of authors' posts in channels. He called the expansion of ad inventory a logical step in the platform's development.
The advertising segment has been growing all year
Talk of full-fledged promotion in the messenger has been going on throughout 2026. In May, users of Yandex Direct gained access to ad posts in Max as part of a beta test, according to the official Direct blog. Launching required creating a single performance campaign: specifying the desired messengers and targeting, designing the post — and the ad would automatically appear in suitable channels on both platforms at once (Telegram and Max) or on either one at the advertiser's choice.
Influencer marketing in the messenger is showing multiple growth. From January to May 2026, the number of advertisers placing integrations with bloggers in Max grew 18-fold. The number of companies buying advertising from influencers increased 7.5-fold over the same period. The average integration cost rose 4.7-fold, and total advertising spend — 37-fold. Max's share of the total volume of labeled advertising content increased from 0.8% in January to 5.3% in May.
According to the Unified Register of Internet Advertising (ERIR), from January to June advertisers registered placements in Max totaling about 1 billion rubles, Vedomosti reported. Activity grew several times compared to the same period of 2025 — even though Max only began full operation in Russia in March of last year.
According to estimates by the agency Wowblogger, Max's share of advertisers' influencer marketing budgets reached 17% in April. In February 2026 it was practically zero, and in the third quarter it could grow to 30%. The estimate was provided by Daria Musintseva, head of client service at Wowblogger, based on an analysis of about 240 public channels and 1,000 ad placements conducted jointly with Maxstat.
Original: vedomosti.ru
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