A study by MaxStat and Yandex Advertising reveals that 61% of administrators now manage their channels in the Max messenger as a professional business. The platform saw significant growth from January to August 2026, with the number of public channels increasing 3.2 times to 475,400. Total subscriptions reached 336.6 million, while the volume of publications grew nearly sevenfold to 64.5 million.
The professionalization of the market is evident, as 79.2% of administrators manage multiple channels, and 48.6% work within editorial teams. Advertising remains the primary revenue source, with 62.5% of administrators sourcing advertisers independently. Between May and August 2026, the number of Yandex advertisers using Max for promotion tripled, and the inventory of channels available via Yandex Direct grew from 2,000 to 11,700.
Investment in Max channel advertising surged across key sectors between May and August 2026. The automotive industry led with a sevenfold increase in spending, followed by pharmaceuticals, medicine, and real estate, which saw sixfold growth. Education-related advertising investments grew fivefold. Currently, 56% of businesses using Yandex Direct identify Max as a key new platform in their media planning.
Administrators are increasingly focused on advanced analytics, with 66.3% using such tools regularly. However, 87.9% of respondents emphasize the need for better monetization infrastructure. To address this, Yandex has integrated monetization and analytics tools into a single interface. Over the past three years, the company has paid out more than 6 ₽ billion to authors and administrators.
