Russian Internet is developing astonishingly fast! 2011 was a great year full of important events and big changes. Russia became the fastest growing online advertising market in Europe. But even the key players, like Yandex, underestimated the tempo Russian Internet usage grew in 2011!

In his latest presentation at SES San-Francisco (August 2011) Preston Carey, Yandex Business Developer in the US & Europe, presented a forecast that suggested that Russian Internet audience will reach 80 million users by 2014:

Now, it appears, the number of Internet users in Russia reached 70 million already by the end of last year, according to the Russian Ministry of Communications.

This makes Russia the largest online market in Europe leaving the former leader, Germany, behind with its 66 million Internet users.

The Ministry of Communications is very optimistic about this development. They expect the number of Internet users in Russia to reach 90 million by 2014.

Related posts:

1. State of mobile marketing in Russia
2. Russian Online Advertizing Market Fastest Growing in Europe
3. Internet in Russia: stats, numbers and other interesting facts
4. “8 Interesting Things About Online Marketing & Social Media In Russia” – a great article I found via Twitter