Rambler Media is a diversified internet group which operates or has interests in some of the leading internet brands in Russia. The Group seeks to capitalise on the opportunities arising from the expected growth and development of the Russian internet, media and advertising markets.

The global Russian speaking audience approximates 280 million, of which approximately 140 million are in Russia. Russia has rapidly become one of Europe’s largest online communities, third after Germany and the UK, with 30 million Russians online in 2007, representing about 26% of the Russian adult population (source: The Public Opinion Foundation). This percentage is forecast to more than double by 2010, according to the Russian Ministry of Communications, which could make Russia the largest online market in Europe.

The overall Russian advertising market is growing very strongly, and internet advertising is the fastest growing segment. Online display advertising was estimated to have increased by 60% year on year in 2007 to US$160 million including VAT (2006, US$100 million) (source: 2007 – Video International, 2006 - Russian Association of Communication Agencies / AKAR). In addition, text based advertising on Russian-language internet sites soared to US$225 million including VAT in 2007 from US$110 million in 2006. In 2007, revenue from Internet advertising accounted for around 3% of the total advertising market compared to 10% on average in more mature markets. As a consequence and in order to follow the media consumption trends in Russia, internet advertising is forecast to grow faster than any other media.

History

The Rambler name first made an appearance in 1996 when the Rambler internet search engine was developed.

In 2003, Rambler launched Rambler TV, a free-to-air non-fiction, documentary and entertainment network. In 2004, Rambler launched SMXCOM, later renamed Rambler Mobile, to generate revenues from mobile value-added services such as SMS, ring tones or games. At the time, internet penetration was still low in Russia and the TV and Mobile markets represented attractive opportunities for growth.

Rambler Media, which is a Jersey incorporated group, was formed in June 2004 to act as the holding vehicle for the interests in all the companies in the Group. In 2005, Rambler Media listed on AIM, the junior market of the London Stock Exchange (LSE: RMG), raising US$30 million to finance its continued expansion. In the months that followed the IPO, internet usage started to take off in Russia and in the interest of the Group and its shareholders, Rambler Media refocused its strategy on consolidating its leadership on the Russian internet space.

In December 2006, Prof-Media, one of Russia's largest media holding groups and a major private investor in most sectors in the Russian media market, became Rambler Media's majority shareholder by acquiring approximately 55% of Rambler Media.

In January 2007, Rambler Media completed the sale of its TV business for US$23 million.

In March 2007, Mark Opzoomer was appointed CEO and Arthur Akopyan was appointed CFO. A new management team was formed during the second half of 2007.

In August 2007, Rambler announced the acquisition of a further 25% stake in contextual advertising company Begun for a cash consideration of US$18 million, bringing the Group’s total ownership of Begun to 50.1% and providing Rambler with one of the leading positions in the Russian text-based advertising market.

In October 2007, Rambler announced the formation of a strategic partnership with IMHO VI, part of Video International, the largest media sales group in Russia, to sell display advertising on Rambler’s pages from January 2008. Rambler announced in March 2008 that it had further reinforced this relationship with IMHO VI through the sale of a 51% stake in Index20 to IMHO VI. As a result of this, Index20 and IMHO VI have successfully started selling banner advertisements on Rambler’s web pages in partnership with each other to further optimise Rambler’s advertising revenues.

The Group presented a new strategy in February 2008 with the mission to improve the group’s profitability, accelerate sales growth and make Rambler.ru Russia’s leading open gateway to the web and destination of choice for Russian internet users, advertisers and partners.