Performance in Russia in 2026: what remains of Google Ads, what grew out of VK

When Google Ads fell off in 2022, many marketers decided that performance in Russia was dead. Three years later, I am leading five projects with performance budgets starting from 1 million rubles per month - and none of them have Google. What replaced, what broke, and why VK Ads is better now than in 2021.

It annoys me when fellow marketers on LinkedIn write “there is no longer normal performance in Russia.” This is either a lazy excuse or ignorance. Since 2022, the Russian performance market has undergone a complete reset: VK Ads has grown three times in functionality, Yandex Direct has switched to neural network campaigns, Telegram Ads has ceased to be a “premium channel for b2b.” I work on these platforms every day - and in 2026 they give results that were not there in 2021.

Performance in Russia 2026 is not “Google come to life.” These are VK + Yandex Direct + Telegram Ads, in which marketers have learned to work without hope of the return of foreign platforms.

State of Google Ads in 2026 (via VPN/proxy)

To close the topic right away: Google Ads technically works in Russia - through VPN, proxies, foreign cards. Can be used. But worth it Whether is another question.

What I see in clients’ practices in 2026:

• Of my 5 projects with a performance budget, 0 (zero) have Google Ads enabled.
• On average for the market, Google is used by ~10–15% of companies, mainly b2b with international clients or e-com with Europe.
• CPC on Google for Russian audiences through a proxy is 30–50% more expensive than it was in 2021, because niches compete with each other for a reduced traffic pool.
• Analytics via GA4 on VPN - draws “dirty” data, Search Console dashboards are partially irrelevant.

Conclusion: Google Ads for the Russian market in 2026 is a residual channel, not the basis of the strategy. The time and nerves required to maintain it (replenishment through foreign accounts, VPN provisioning, block monitoring) often outweigh efficiency.

VK Ads: what has changed since 2021

If I were to bet on one platform for Russian performance in 2026, it would be VK Ads. I'm being honest. And not because “there is nothing else,” but because they true grew up.

Major shifts

• New office with auto-bidding, conversion optimization, A/B tests of ads - everything that was not in the old “Market Platform” of 2021.
• Look-alike audiences based on pixel events - they work, I tested them on 4 projects. Reach expands by ~3–5x, while CPL remains within +20% of the direct campaign.
• Integration with CRM via webhook — you can now set up automatic return of conversion data from VK to any system. Previously, this was through files and manual import.
• Reels format on VK Video is a separate channel, cheaper than classic creatives, and has not yet “burned out” like Reels on Instagram before the blocking.

Specific figures from 2025 projects

Here are the averages for my 5 current projects in different niches:

These numbers are better than what I saw in 2021 on average for the same products. 20–30%. Not because the auction has fallen in price (it has not fallen in price), but because VK tools have learned to better fit into the segment.

Yandex Direct: major shifts

Yandex Direct is the second main performance channel. I usually have 40–50% of the budget goes here, another 30–40% goes to VK. What has changed:

Neural network campaigns

The main shift 2024–2025 - Yandex Direct launched the “Campaign Wizard” with full auto-optimization. The algorithm itself selects sites, rates, and creatives. It works (I've been testing since October 2024) - on 6 out of 8 projects it outperformed manual setup by 10-25% in CPL.

Where it doesn’t work: projects with a very narrow ICP (b2b SaaS, medtech with precise positioning) - the algorithm blurs the audience, CPL grows. I leave the settings there manually.

YAN-targeting by interests

In 2025, the interest models in YAN were updated - now you can target the “interest “buy a gaming PC” that has been active for the last 30 days” with accuracy at the level of Facebook in 2018. This the best thing in YAN in its entire history.

Telegram Ads: how it has changed

In 2022, Telegram Ads was a “premium channel for b2b and fintech” with a minimum budget of €2 EUR per CPM. Now, in 2026, the situation is different:

• Minimum budget – €1.5 EUR per CPM, auto-bidding works
• Look-alike by channel subscribers is the basis of the strategy
• Support for media formats (pictures in posts, videos up to 60 sec)
• CPL for gaming — 80–120 ₽, for fintech — 250–400 ₽, for e-com — 150–200 ₽

This is already comparable to VK in unit-economics. Not an “additional channel”, but the main one for certain niches - especially where the audience is “Telegram-native”: AI startups, crypto, gaming, fintech.

Comparison table - where which channel works better

Summary of my projects - in which niches which channel gives the best CPL/ROAS:

The main surprise: some niches only work on VK

Counter-intuitive insights from the last 18 months: for specific niches VK Ads are cheaper and more effective than any combination of Yandex Direct + Telegram.

Specifically - gaming for regions (my expertise on EZ KATKA and NEMIFIST). For this audience:

• Interests intersect with thousands of thematic groups on VK
• Young (16–28), but solvent - parent’s wallet or first salaries
• Active in the comments - high engagement convenient for look-alike
• Yandex Direct doesn’t catch it well, because they don’t Google much, they click more on content posts

In EZ KATKA in 2024, the CPL on VK was 140 ₽ - versus ~400 ₽ in Yandex Direct. 2.8 times cheaper. Telegram Ads also worked in this niche, but with less volume.

What I'm Doing in 2026: 4-Step Startup Process

If tomorrow there is a new client - performance in Russia 2026, I do this:

1. Audit of existing traffic — I unload all campaigns for the past year, calculate CAC, LTV, payback. Most often, there are 2-3 non-working hypotheses, on which 30% of the budget is burned.
2. Test grid for 30 days — VK Ads (60% of the budget) + Yandex Direct (30%) + Telegram Ads (10%). Minimum 3 creatives in each channel. The budget is exactly for testing hypotheses, not for scale.
3. Redistribution by unit-economics — after a month, I calculate the CPL for each channel, leave those where the CAC is less than LTV/3, and cut the rest.
4. Scaling with a budget of 60% for the best channel - usually this is either VK or Yandex Direct, depending on the niche. Telegram Ads and the second channel - I leave it as “underline” for a constant influx.

What opponents say - and what they are right about

The most common counterargument: “VK Ads is for an audience of 35+, there is nothing there for young people.”

They are right about one thing: VK's user experience for young audiences is really weaker than Telegram's. But performance capabilities (that is, tools for a marketer) are different. VK Ads targets active users, not “all registered”. And there are active young people there - especially in the gaming communities, EdTech, e-com.

Mistake - Confusion UX perception of the platform with marketer's tools. These are different layers.

What to pick up on Monday

If you are a CMO/marketer and think, “everything is done through Google, what should I do?”

1. Don’t panic - performance in Russia is alive, just different channels.
2. First VK Ads, then Yandex Direct, then Telegram. In this order for most niches.
3. The test campaign budget is at least 300K ₽ per channel for 30 days. Less is a statistical error.
4. Auto-bidding and neural network campaigns in Yandex Direct - turn it on. They are working.
5. Look-alike in VK based on pixel events is a must-have, not an “option”.
6. Consider unit-economics, non-subscribers and coverage. This will save you from ineffective channels in 30 days, not in 6 months.

If you want to analyze your performance strategy, write @dipustovalov. The audit takes 3-5 working days, then a 90-day plan with distribution across channels.

Related materials: a complete guide to performance marketing 2026, ROAS/ROMI calculator, CPC benchmarks in Yandex Direct.