Streaming film footage
from Rambler Kinozal

In the first half of 2008, Russian online video advertising totaled 30 million rubles — or $1.2 million — according to Aegis Group's AdWatch.

Over 50 percent of total spend was for video banner advertising. Other online video ad formats included pre- and post-roll, in-video banner ads, product placement and video player branding. (The industry is sufficiently young that industry players are still experimenting with what works, writes Quintura, interpreting from RBC Daily.)

The Russian online video ad market is forecast to hit 87 million rubles — $3.5 million — by the end of 2008, accounting for less than one percent of total online advertising in the country this year.

This week Rambler Media, a major player in the Russian online ad space, debuted Rambler Kinozal, a free video download service — the first such offering in Russia. Users are permitted to download licensed, high-quality videos, buttressed by ad support. Advertising within the videos will be sold by Index20, an ad agency.

Technology from Hiro-media, an Israeli company, and the UK's VoWeb supply the underlying structure of Kinozal. It is compatible with both Windows Media Player and Apple's Quicktime.