Surely every internet user has stumbled upon a pirate site at least once. In recent years, attitudes toward this phenomenon in Russia have been ambiguous. Officially, piracy is banned and subject to criminal liability, although until recently pirated content in cinemas was considered normal. Online, “pirate” culture has long taken root: some believe that “information should be free,” others see it as a business and a quick way to monetize someone else’s work, and still others simply want a convenient way to find the films or series they need.

Gazprom-Media Holding introduces new initiatives to combat online piracy

Sostav • 2025-05-21

Advertising on pirate video sites: risk or opportunity?

Sostav • 2025-04-29

Pirate rolls: which formats do illegal platforms prefer?

AdIndex • 2025-04-23

But have you ever thought about where the ads on such platforms come from? Who works with “pirate” traffic — and what is the real share of pirate sites in the SSP inventory?

Yesterday, I conducted a poll on this topic in my Telegram channel. The results were as follows:

• 15% — less than 5% pirate domains in total
• 6% — 5–15%
• 20% — 15–30%
• 12% — 30–50%
• 47% — more than 50%

The majority believe that the share of “pirate” video sites for an average HB adapter exceeds 50%! That said, some gave more modest estimates. This variance is telling — no one knows the real picture; everyone can only guess.

The stats are based on my current “pirate” list of about 8,000 domains. I originally compiled it for the Whitelist builder to automatically filter questionable sites (brand safety). The list is not exhaustive and will continue to be updated, but even now it provides a sense of the scale of the issue.

Surely every internet user has stumbled upon a pirate site at least once. In recent years, attitudes toward this phenomenon in Russia have been ambiguous. Officially, piracy is banned and subject to criminal liability, although until recently pirated content in cinemas was considered normal. Online, “pirate” culture has long taken root: some believe that “information should be free,” others see it as a business and a quick way to monetize someone else’s work, and still others simply want a convenient way to find the films or series they need.

Gazprom-Media Holding introduces new initiatives to combat online piracy

Sostav • 2025-05-21

Advertising on pirate video sites: risk or opportunity?

Sostav • 2025-04-29

Pirate rolls: which formats do illegal platforms prefer?

AdIndex • 2025-04-23

But have you ever thought about where the ads on such platforms come from? Who works with “pirate” traffic — and what is the real share of pirate sites in the SSP inventory?

Yesterday, I conducted a poll on this topic in my Telegram channel. The results were as follows:

• 15% — less than 5% pirate domains in total
• 6% — 5–15%
• 20% — 15–30%
• 12% — 30–50%
• 47% — more than 50%

The majority believe that the share of “pirate” video sites for an average HB adapter exceeds 50%! That said, some gave more modest estimates. This variance is telling — no one knows the real picture; everyone can only guess.

The stats are based on my current “pirate” list of about 8,000 domains. I originally compiled it for the Whitelist builder to automatically filter questionable sites (brand safety). The list is not exhaustive and will continue to be updated, but even now it provides a sense of the scale of the issue.

New adapter charts and pirate filter for Whitelist

PubMag • 2025-05-26

New filters and features in the Whitelist builder

PubMag • 2025-05-19

PubMag is growing: 4000 domains, updates, new filters, and acceleration

PubMag • 2025-05-16

Autonomous operation of HBTracker

PubMag • 2025-03-06

Overview of Yandex’s Header Bidding library

PubMag • 2025-02-13