Advertising on Telegram: how Telegram Ads, seeding and channel exchanges work

What kinds of advertising exist on Telegram

A few terms first. A channel is a public or private feed where an author posts and subscribers read. A post is a single publication in a channel. Reach is how many people saw a post. A sponsored message is an ad that the Telegram platform itself shows, not the channel owner.

Method	Where it’s shown	Who places it	How it’s paid	What you control	When it’s usually a good fit
Telegram Ads	A sponsored message in large public channels	The Telegram platform, after reviewing the ad	Per thousand impressions, at a rate you set	The text, the link, and the channels where it’s shown	You need to promote your own channel or bot on Telegram and manage impressions yourself
Direct seeding	An ordinary post in someone else’s channel	The channel owner	By agreement with the owner	Choice of channel, post text, placement terms	You need a specific niche audience and the framing in the author’s own voice matters
Seeding through an exchange or catalog	A post in a channel from the service’s catalog	The channel owner; the service handles the deal	Per the exchange’s terms	Choice of channels from the catalog, budget	You need to place posts in several channels without negotiating with each one separately
Yandex Direct	Posts and ads in the channels of Yandex Advertising Network partners	Yandex Direct; the algorithm picks the channels, or you do	Per click or per impression	Campaign settings, choice of channels	You already advertise through Yandex Direct and want a single ad account

The «when it’s a good fit» column is a guideline, not a rule: the same method can suit different tasks. For more on choosing a method, see the section «How to choose a format and measure the result.»

Telegram Ads: the official advertising platform

What Telegram Ads is and where ads appear

Telegram Ads is the messenger’s own advertising platform, at ads.telegram.org. According to Telegram, any user can place ads through it. In the Russian-speaking market, it’s often called «telegram ads» or «tg ads» (colloquial Russian shorthand for the platform’s name).

Ads on the platform are called sponsored messages. Telegram states that they appear only in large public channels. An advertiser can specify the channels where the ad is shown, so the ad matches the context. According to Telegram, personal chats and contact lists aren’t used for targeting.

Telegram’s documentation for app developers describes sponsored messages appearing not only in channels but also in bots, in global search results, and in a channel’s video player. Check the platform itself for which of these placements are available in your ad account: the set of options changes.

An ad consists of text and a button that opens a link to whatever is being promoted. The text length is up to 160 characters, including spaces.

Telegram Premium subscribers don’t see official sponsored messages. This doesn’t affect ad posts that a channel owner publishes themselves: all subscribers see those.

How to launch ads in Telegram Ads

Button names in the ad account change over time, so here’s the general sequence:

1. Log in to ads.telegram.org with your phone number: the confirmation arrives inside Telegram itself.
2. Top up the balance of your ad account. Payment is accepted in cryptocurrency.
3. Write the ad text and specify the link to whatever you’re promoting.
4. Choose the channels where the ad will show and set a rate per thousand impressions.
5. Wait for review: while the ad is under review, Telegram’s team checks its content, and it isn’t shown in channels.
6. After launch, monitor the statistics on impressions and clicks.

Top-up terms and available payment methods change, so check the platform for current information. We don’t name or recommend intermediaries that help with top-ups: vet them yourself.

What you can promote and which rules apply

The platform’s guide states that links in an ad must lead to a channel or a bot on Telegram. At the same time, the ad policies also set requirements for websites as a destination. Check your account, on the date you launch, for exactly what it’s allowed to promote.

The main requirements from Telegram’s ad policies:

• The text must be grammatically correct and clear: no profanity, no excessive use of capital letters, symbols or emoji, and no line breaks or lists.
• The language of the channel where the ad is shown must match the language of the ad and of the destination page.
• The channel or bot being promoted must have an avatar and a filled-in description. Empty and abandoned channels and bots aren’t allowed.
• Among other things, gambling, political advertising, uncertified medical services and drugs, narcotics, alcohol and tobacco, and weapons are prohibited.
• Advertised goods must comply with local law, and sellers must hold the necessary licenses.

The full list of requirements is in the platform’s policies; the link is in the sources list.

What the cost depends on

Telegram Ads runs on a CPM model. CPM is the price per thousand ad impressions, which you set yourself. The minimum rate and minimum top-up are stated in the platform’s terms and can change, so there are no specific figures here.

Your total spend depends on how many impressions you buy and at what rate. Competition typically affects the price too: popular channels and topics attract many advertisers.

Seeding: advertising in other people’s channels

What seeding is in advertising

Seeding is the paid placement of an ad post in another author’s channel. Such posts are usually written in the channel’s style, and the owner publishes them personally. This is the main difference from Telegram Ads: there, the platform shows the ad, while in seeding the ad looks like an ordinary post in the feed.

The term is also used more broadly, for other social networks and platforms. From here on, this covers Telegram only.

How to choose a channel for seeding

Choose a channel not by its subscriber count but by whether its audience matches yours. A checklist:

1. Topic. What the channel writes about and who reads it. Does that match your customers.
2. Growth pattern. How the subscriber count and post views change over time. Sharp spikes with no visible reason are a reason to ask questions.
3. Views relative to subscribers. Compare channels in the same topic against each other. There’s no universal «normal» ratio here.
4. Channel age. How long it has existed and whether posts come out regularly.
5. Amount of advertising. How many ad posts already run, and whether the regular content is getting buried under them.
6. Reaction to past ads. Whether previous ad posts got views, reactions and comments.
7. Statistics from the owner. Ask to see the channel’s statistics before paying.

Detailed statistics are available to channel administrators once the channel reaches a certain size. They include the subscriber count, average views and forwards per post, the share of subscribers with notifications turned on, and charts of growth, audience languages, and sources of new subscribers. The view counter under each post is visible to everyone, but Telegram states outright that these numbers are approximate.

Signs of an inflated audience should raise a flag: many subscribers with few views, repetitive comments, subscriber growth with no new posts. This isn’t proof, but a reason to check the channel more closely.

How to agree on placement

Before paying, pin down:

• the publication date and time;
• the post format: text, image, video, button;
• how long the post stays in the feed and whether it’s pinned. Channel offers sometimes use notations like «1/24» — ask the owner what they mean, since there’s no single standard;
• who writes the text and how many revisions are allowed;
• who labels the ad and how (more on this in the section on ad labeling);
• what report you’ll receive after the placement.

How to write an ad post for Telegram

• One idea and one call to action. A post that tries to say everything at once is usually forgettable.
• The host channel’s tone. The post is read by people used to the author’s style. Text that feels out of place stands out as an ad.
• The benefit in the first lines. In a feed, many people read only the beginning.
• One link with UTM parameters. A UTM parameter is an addition to a link’s address that lets an analytics system see where a visitor came from. This way you can tell apart clicks from different channels.

Ad exchanges and channel catalogs

An ad exchange is a service that lists channels along with their placement terms. An exchange usually helps you find channels, handle the deal and payment, and sometimes takes on part of the ad-labeling work. A channel catalog is a similar service, but usually without a deal built in: it helps you find a channel, and you negotiate with the owner yourself.

We don’t name or compare specific services. On any exchange, check:

• where the channel’s statistics come from: from Telegram itself, from the owner’s word, or from the service’s own estimate;
• who’s responsible for ad labeling and for submitting the related data;
• what happens to the payment if the post didn’t run, or ran at the wrong time;
• whether you can see the channel’s past ad posts before paying.

Advertising on Telegram through Yandex Direct

Yandex Direct shows ads as posts and ads in Telegram and MAX channels that are partners of the Yandex Advertising Network. Ads run in both public and private channels. The algorithm picks channels based on the campaign settings, or you choose them yourself. An «Ad» label and a link to an «About the advertiser» page are added to the ad. Payment is per click or per impression. Yandex’s training materials state that these posts are visible to all users, including Telegram Premium subscribers.

The main differences from Telegram Ads are the ad account, the billing, and the set of channels: you set up the campaign in Yandex Direct, and ads run only in Yandex’s partner channels. This format is available to advertisers from Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkey. We cover which other placements Yandex Direct advertises on in a separate article.

Ad labeling on Telegram: in brief

Online advertising, including posts in Telegram channels, must carry an «ad» label and identify the advertiser, under Russian law. It can only be distributed after an ad data operator (ORD) assigns it an ad identifier — known in the market as an erid token. Through the ORD, data on placed ads is passed to Roskomnadzor, Russia’s communications regulator. In addition, the law bans owners of personal pages on social networks with an audience over ten thousand users from placing ads on them unless the page’s details are included in Roskomnadzor’s registry. Check with your ORD and with Roskomnadzor’s materials on how this applies to Telegram channels and what to do in your case.

How to choose a format and measure the result

Which method suits which task

Task	What’s usually a good fit	Why
Bring subscribers to your own channel	Telegram Ads or seeding	Telegram Ads leads straight into the channel; seeding gives you the host author’s recommendation, which readers trust
Test an offer on a broad audience	Telegram Ads	You set the channels and the rate yourself, and see impressions and clicks in the statistics
Reach a specific niche audience	Direct seeding	You can pick the channel by hand and agree on how it’s framed
Promote a bot	Telegram Ads or seeding	A bot is an allowed destination for Telegram Ads; in seeding it’s just an ordinary link
Bring people to a website	Seeding	In seeding you can place a tagged link to a website and tell apart clicks from each channel
Run ads in the same account as other campaigns	Yandex Direct	Telegram channels are one of the placements of the ad system

If you’re comparing Telegram to advertising on other social networks, it helps to understand how an ad platform knows who to show an ad to: in targeted advertising, the audience is usually set through account settings rather than an agreement with the author of a specific channel.

How to tell whether the ad worked

What you can measure:

• In Telegram Ads — ad impressions, and how many times, after seeing the ad, users subscribed to the channel or launched the bot.
• After seeding — changes in your channel’s statistics: subscriber growth and the sources of new subscribers.
• On your site — clicks on links with UTM parameters, in a web analytics system.

Count not just subscribers but target actions: inquiries, purchases, bot launches that reach the scenario you need. A subscriber who doesn’t read the channel is worth nothing to the business. Compare channels and formats against each other using the same metric.

What keeps subscribers after the ad

After an ad click, only the channel’s content keeps a person there. If what they see next is sparse, random posts, the next ad campaign will start almost from zero. That’s why, before you advertise, it’s worth planning how to plan a channel’s posts a month ahead and how to produce many posts without losing quality. It’s also worth looking at how regular work with a company’s social media is organized — strategy, content plan, posts and data review.

Frequently asked questions

Can you advertise on Telegram in Russia?

Yes, as long as you meet the requirements of Russia’s advertising law: an «ad» label, the advertiser identified, and an ad identifier from an ORD. The law bans owners of personal social media pages with an audience over ten thousand users from placing ads unless the page’s details are included in Roskomnadzor’s registry. More on this in the section on ad labeling.

How many subscribers do you need to advertise your own channel?

In the Telegram Ads policies we reviewed, there’s no minimum subscriber count for an advertiser. But the promoted channel must have an avatar and a filled-in description, and empty or abandoned channels aren’t allowed in ads. For seeding, the host channel’s owner sets the requirements.

Can you advertise a Telegram bot?

Yes. In Telegram Ads, a bot is an allowed destination for an ad, though it must respond correctly to commands on both mobile devices and desktop. In seeding, a link to a bot is placed just like any other link.

How much does advertising on Telegram cost?

It depends on the method. In Telegram Ads you pay per thousand impressions at your own rate, and the minimum rate and top-up are set in the platform’s terms. The price of seeding is set by the channel owner or the exchange. In Yandex Direct, it follows the payment model you choose: per click or per impression.

Do Telegram Premium subscribers see the ads?

Official Telegram Ads sponsored messages are hidden from them. Everyone sees ad posts from channel owners, that is, seeding. According to Yandex, posts placed through Yandex Direct are also visible to Premium subscribers.