VK bans third-party ad networks

Popular Russian social network VKontakte will no longer allow ads from advertising systems other then its own to appear on its pages. The move was effected today.

A source in Social Tank, VK's official ad placement partner, told theRunet that on the same day, the social network is launching a unified advertising network for app developers. VK's management say the decision is due to the need for 'strict moderation' of all ads, and that a unified network is the only way to ensure only 'quality and effective' ads appear on the network. "All other advertising systems cannot guarantee high quality and meet all our requirements", said VK's technical director Andrey Rogozov.

Social Tank, part of Creara Group, will take care of connecting new sites and applications to VKontakte's advertising network. Ads from VK's own systems are currently only shown to visitors who are logged in to the social network. The site allows webmasters to chose what ad network will provide impressions for unauthorised users.