Google has bought contextual advertising company ZAO Begun from it parent, the internet portal Rambler, for about $140 million. The advertising market in Russia is growing very strongly, and internet advertising is growing twice as fast. Search related text-based advertising on Russian-language internet sites soared to US$225 million in 2007 from US$110 million in 2006. Rambler estimates that internet advertising in Russia will continue to grow at around 50% per annum to reach over US$1 billion in 2010, with an approximately equal split between text-based and display advertising.

“Google is committed to giving Russian users, advertisers and partners the best possible service and
experience,” said Mohammad Gawdat, Managing Director Emerging Markets, Google. “This
agreement means more Russian users, advertisers and partners will get better search results and
more relevant advertising.”