Russia is closing its version of YouTube and TikTok
Nuum, the local Russian platform that allows users to stream videos and upload content, will close in June.
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Nuum, the local Russian platform that allows users to stream videos and upload content, will close in June.
MTC, the largest telecommunication provider in Russia and Belarus, is closing its platform Nuum more than a year after its launch, Russian outlet RBC reported, citing an MTC official.
The company announced a test service for Nuum at the end of 2023 and officially launched it in 2024. Nuum allowed users to stream, upload, and watch videos in horizontal and vertical formats and was seen and positioned itself as a Russian alternative to YouTube and TikTok.
In April 2024, soon after the service's launch, Natalia Bratchikova, the head of Nuum, told RBC that the platform had 5.2 million unique users and 40,000 content creators.
However, signs of trouble emerged less than a year after the launch. According to sources from the Russian outlet Vedomosti, the company started restructuring and optimizing this February. From the start of this year until February, 250 employees, or 70-80% of all staff, had left the company.
Last week, following poor financial performance of the platform, a MTC representative told RBC that it “wasn’t effective enough.”
According to data by technology research company Medias, Nuum had around 900,000 users a month by February. In comparison, the number of TikTok users reached 68.7 million during the same time.
A local expert told RBC that there is no demand for the local service in the Russian market when users can access websites like YouTube and TikTok, making it difficult to compete in terms of content creation.
MTC plans to operate Nuum until June 1st. After that, Nuum's technological infrastructure will be transferred to MTS's advertising division, AdTech, and used to launch an advertising network for video banners, focusing on e-commerce.
Russia often tries to emulate popular services offered by Western companies.
The country ramped up its local efforts after it invaded Ukraine and since has tried to replicate Wikipedia and create local consoles, among other projects. However, most of these attempts weren’t successful.