MAX Messenger Ad Spend Hits 3.5 Billion Rubles, Up 30-Fold

More brands are buying in

In spring 2026, only 4.3% of survey participants regularly included MAX in their campaigns. By autumn that share had climbed to 31.4%, said Alexander Kuksa, co-chair of ARIR's influence marketing committee.

Overall, 58.6% of participants placed ads in MAX in autumn 2026, compared with 29.3% in spring.

Audience and new ad tools

MAX's daily audience passed 90 million people in October 2026, VK's press service said. The platform became the largest in Russia by average daily reach in April and took first place by monthly reach in May, based on Mediascope data.

In October, MAX opened targeted promotion to advertisers through the VK Ads dashboard. Ads can be placed in communities with at least 1,000 subscribers, and more than 1,500 channels were available at launch. Advertisers can also buy placements in MAX through Yandex's ad network, which launched monetization for channel authors with audiences of 1,000 or more.

At the end of October, MAX developers added new tools for creators. Community owners can now manage promotion through the Channel Tools mini-app, enable donations, run giveaways and host live streams.

The figures suggest MAX is quickly moving from a new messenger to a mainstream advertising channel in Russia, helped by a growing audience and a widening set of buying options.