Ecosystem Expansion of Russian IT Companies: Growth Mechanisms, Audience Retention Tools and Institutional Constraints

In the context of the post-sanctions transformation of the Russian market, the digital ecosystems of Yandex and Sberbank have become key centers for consolidating services, user data, and audience attention. The relevance of the study is due to the need for a comprehensive analysis of the mechanisms of ecosystem expansion, going beyond the traditional assessment of financial indicators and taking into account marketing, behavioral and institutional aspects. The aim is to identify and systematize the economic, communication, consumer and institutional mechanisms through which Russian IT ecosystems increase market power and ensure audience retention in the post-sanctions period. Methods the work is based on a multi-level empirical analysis: the study of the corporate reporting of Yandex and Sberbank for 2022–2025; case analysis of advertising campaigns of the largest ecosystem services for 2022–2024; interpretation of data from the author’s online survey of users of digital platforms (n=208, February-March 2026); comparative analysis of Russian and Chinese platform development models. The results show that Yandex is implementing a transformational expansion model in which transactional O2O services, logistics and subscription become an independent growth center (revenue in 2025 reached 1441.1 billion rubles, the share of non-core areas exceeded 47%). On the contrary, Sber is building a synergistic model, strengthening the traditional banking core through payment infrastructure, loyalty programs and AI services (the effect of the introduction of artificial intelligence in 2024 exceeded 400 billion rubles). Consumer loyalty in both ecosystems is based primarily on the convenience of a single account (71.2%), habit (73.1%) and an accumulated history of interaction, rather than on unconditional attachment to the brand, which forms the phenomenon of pragmatic multiecosystem. Institutional resources, including the revolving door effect, are a significant factor in competitive sustainability. The scientific novelty of the work consists in combining quantitative, marketing, institutional and comparative perspectives within the framework of a single explanatory model of ecosystem expansion. The results obtained can be used to predict the strategies of digital platforms in the context of a tightening regulatory environment.

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