RIF 2004: The Courage to Be Itself
By 2004, the forum’s ecosystem had fully taken shape. Participants had divided roles naturally, and the global market presented no surprises. Some attendees even complained about the predictability, yet most welcomed the fact that RIF—having survived the investment boom and subsequent collapse—had finally entered the calmer waters of a mature business environment.
As in the previous year, the forum was hosted at the Lipki resort. The 2004 event gathered over 550 participants. Despite changes in its main organizing team—now supported by Russia’s Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications—attendees noted that “the main players remained the same.” That stability was seen as a reassuring signal for Runet.
Asking the Right Questions
As usual, participants reflected on the past year, pooling collective observations into a shared portrait of Runet. The roundtable “Numbers and Facts of the Russian Network” tracked changes in audience metrics, methodologies, and industry trends. Both marketing agencies and industry insiders contributed data, with measurement approaches adjusted in real time.
The government’s heightened interest in Runet sparked discussion at the panel “Internet, Society, Law.” Officials and experts exchanged updates on progress in e-government initiatives at federal and regional levels, including projects like “Electronic Russia” and “Electronic Moscow.” Representatives from the State Duma, the Government Apparatus, the Ministries of Transport and Trade, and even the Russian Orthodox Church joined the debate.
Technical debates also surfaced. At the “Last Mile in Russia” session, participants explored alternatives to dial-up access, such as GPRS, xDSL, Ethernet home networks, and wireless solutions. The dawn of mobile internet and Wi-Fi was framed as a challenge to content providers. Meanwhile, the explosive growth of IP telephony triggered conflict between traditional telecom operators and the rising digital sector.
The “Internet Marketing” section, under fire for overly aggressive advertising, had to defend itself. One talk—“Negative Attitudes Toward Online Ads: What Are the Roots?”—drew particular attention.
Building Local Expertise
A notable shift across sessions was the decline of comparisons with Western markets. When such comparisons did arise, they were framed as competition rather than as lament.
Search engines took center stage as a vital function of the internet. Discussions dissected their development, unresolved problems, and business potential. Participants debated: What makes a “good” search result? When does commercialization of navigation services become viable? These questions were urgent for Runet.
Advertising’s flip side was spam. Here, Russia outpaced the West, with providers and major email services reporting alarming figures. Participants cited anti-spam filters, blacklists, and new protocol development as key defenses. On cyberterrorism, the founder of Russia’s leading antivirus lab offered insights, while a spam distributor openly presented their own perspective—an unusual moment of candor.
Regions Step Forward
The provinces surprised Moscow with their professional approach to the information market. A presentation on the state of regional online media sparked wide interest, highlighting how TV projects gained interactivity through internet extensions. The question “Why does a TV channel need a website?” was answered with living case studies rather than abstract theory.
E-commerce finally emerged in the regions as a serious player. Instead of urging consumers to shop online, sellers now faced the opposite challenge: explaining why so few products were yet available on their sites. Pioneers of online trade compared notes with regional businesses, mapping similarities and differences in selling goods, files, and services.
Time on Our Side
As the event drew to a close, attention shifted to forecasts. What risks lay ahead, and where was stability to be found? Scarred by past volatility, participants searched for markers of both revolution and continuity—yet everyone hoped to hear something positive at RIF 2005.
In truth, 2004 was marked by major deals. Runet presented itself as a platform for serious business with high investment potential.
According to figures shared at the forum, Runet’s audience reached 14–15 million people in spring 2004. This was a period of explosive growth, driven largely by regional expansion and defying the gloomy forecasts of 2003.
Blogs gained traction, though viewed more as a social than commercial phenomenon. In advertising, contextual formats remained dominant. Mobile internet was only beginning to be discussed as a promising sector, while peer-to-peer networks, audio, and video streaming defined the cutting edge.
