YouTube has become less popular than Telegram due to the slowdown of its operation in Russia. For the first time, the messenger has surpassed the video hosting platform in monthly audience reach among people over 12 years old and has taken fifth place in the overall ranking of Internet resources.
In January 2025, the number of Telegram users who access the application at least once a month amounted to 90.6 million people. This is 6.9 million more than a year earlier, and 1.8 million more than in December 2024.
At the same time, the reach of YouTube in Russia, which began to decline due to the slowdown of the service, decreased from 95.5 million in January 2024 to 86.9 million in January 2025. This data is provided by the analytical company Mediascope.
In recent months, the top three among Internet resources in Russia has remained unchanged. "Yandex" is in first place with a monthly reach of 102.3 million people. Google is in second place (101 million). WhatsApp takes third place (97.5 million). The social network "VKontakte" is in fourth place, having surpassed YouTube at the end of December last year.
Since December 19, 2024, users in Russia have faced serious problems when trying to play videos on YouTube. Problems arose both when using mobile operators (MTS, "MegaFon", "Beeline", T2) and when connecting through wired networks. As a result, video service traffic in Russia fell by 10%.
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