Restrictions on VPN operation are beginning to hit online sales: sellers on marketplaces are recording lower traffic and a drop in the number of spontaneous purchases. This is especially noticeable against the backdrop of failures when transitioning from ads.
As market participants note, users with VPN enabled are increasingly unable to open a product card — the page simply does not load. As a result, paid advertising clicks do not convert into purchases, and the likelihood of a target action is approaching zero.
According to industry estimates, losses are already reaching 2–3% of advertising transitions. At the same time, the effectiveness of placements on social media and search is falling — especially on Russian platforms.
Buyer behavior is changing as well. If earlier the path from advertising to payment took seconds, now it is interrupted at the access stage. As a result, "emotional" purchases, which account for a significant share of sales, are becoming less frequent.
Against this backdrop, the marketplaces' own internal tools are benefiting. Sellers are increasingly having to shift budgets inside the platforms — into native advertising, SEO, and promotion in search results.
At the same time, Telegram remains a stable channel: links continue to spread, but transitions through them do not always work if the user is using a VPN.
Experts note a paradox: the most active and solvent audience most often uses VPN, but it is precisely this audience that is now facing the greatest restrictions.
As a result, the market is gradually restructuring — the speed of purchases is falling, and the familiar "saw it — bought it" model is beginning to malfunction.
Read more on the topic:
- FAS takes on Wildberries and Ozon: conditions for sellers raise questions
- Not Protocols, but Servers: the VPN Market Awaits a Large-Scale Purge at the Infrastructure Level
- Hosters are being turned into controllers: amendments for the second reading of "Antifraud" will mandate refusal to host VPN services