📺 Smart TV Market in Russia Sees Rapid Growth — and a Bot Attack
In 2025, Russia’s Connected TV (CTV) segment finally came of age. At the CSTB.PRO.MEDIA 2026 forum, experts noted that smart TVs are now present in 67% of households, and advertisers no longer treat this channel as an experiment.
The market has shifted from counting devices to analyzing real viewers. Measurement systems now account for co-viewing (when the whole family is in front of the screen), making CTV data comparable to traditional TV metrics.
Growth is driven not by new TV purchases, but by the time people spend in Smart TV apps, watching content whenever it suits them.
Classic person-level targeting in CTV remains impossible, which is still the main barrier for brands trying to segment their audiences.
Explosive interest in the market has also attracted cybercriminals. According to Getads, up to 40% of ad budgets are being siphoned off by fraudsters. Bots expertly mimic legitimate apps and spoof publisher IDs, so advertisers end up paying for fake inventory instead of premium traffic, undermining transparency across the entire market.
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