Roskomnadzor Now Requires Websites to Notify Use of Google Analytics

Posted by By Dan Taylor 2 Min Read

Starting mid-January 2025, Roskomnadzor began contacting major websites and media outlets about using Google Analytics. Due to rules on cross-border data transfer, the agency now requires official notification from site owners before using the service.

The requirement is based on Federal Law No. 152, which regulates personal data. Under Article 12, Part 3, websites must inform Roskomnadzor before transferring user data to foreign services like Google Analytics.

This rule has been in place since March 1, 2023. However, many sites have continued using Google Analytics without filing the required notice. As a result, Roskomnadzor started sending formal requests and demand letters in early 2025.

The agency is not banning Google Analytics. It only requires websites to notify it before using tools that process personal data and transfer it abroad.

To comply, website owners need to follow a straightforward process. First, they must temporarily remove the Google Analytics code from their site. Then, they should submit a notification through the Roskomnadzor website or by sending a paper form. The review process usually takes around 10 business days. Roskomnadzor can either approve or deny the request.

According to SEOnews, they also received a notification from Roskomnadzor. Their team found the process straightforward and submitted the form through the agency’s website. They are now waiting for the final decision.

Another key requirement is to inform site visitors about using analytics tools like Google Analytics and Yandex Metrica. Websites must collect user consent and include this information in their privacy policy documents.

Website owners are encouraged to act quickly to avoid compliance issues. Not submitting a notification while using these tools can have legal consequences under Russian data laws.

Dan Taylor
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Dan Taylor is the founder and editor of International Search Insights (ISI), the publication behind ReadIsi, and a Partner and Head of Innovation (Search & AI) at SALT.agency. He has worked in search for more than a decade, in-house and agency-side, and is regarded as one of the West’s leading voices on search engines beyond Google, including Yandex, Baidu, Naver and Cốc Cốc. On ReadIsi, Dan covers the engines and AI answer platforms that English-language coverage tends to miss: Baidu and ERNIE, Yandex and Alice AI, Naver, Cốc Cốc, Shenma, Sogou, WeChat and Weibo search, plus DeepSeek and Alibaba’s Qwen. He also keeps dated records of documented changes, such as the Yandex, Baidu and Naver algorithm update histories and the DeepSeek, ERNIE and Qwen model update histories. His approach is to take learnings from global search engines and apply logic with a high evidence threshold. A claim needs a source, patterns seen in one market are treated as a hypothesis until they are checked in another, and where the evidence is thin he says so. For brands, that means advice built on what can be shown, with measurement that separates being cited from being chosen. Dan is credited with coining the term “edge SEO” and won the inaugural TechSEO Boost research competition in 2018 for his work on CDN and edge changes for SEO. In 2026 he was credited with coining “Infinite Tail” to describe how keyword research is changing with AI search. He is the author of AI Search Marketing For The Travel Sector, writes for Search Engine Journal, Search Engine Land and Travel Marketing Guy, and has advised technology, SaaS, travel and enterprise ecommerce brands, including Cloudflare, GitLab and Airbnb. He has given multiple talks and panels at the International Search Summit in Barcelona, and has also spoken at Optimization Moscow, brightonSEO, Google Search Central Live Deep Dive Asia in Bangkok, Athens SEO and the Asia SEO Virtual Summit 2026, where his talk looked at how Baidu, Naver, DeepSeek, Tencent, Cốc Cốc and Yandex built their own AI answers.
Founder & Editor