Russia-Ukraine Conflict: 5 MarTech Organizations Standing up for Peace in Eastern Europe

Ukraine is home to rapidly growing IT and digital services. As the conflict between Russia and Ukraine rages on, many industries, businesses and people have been affected. As such, organizations worldwide have come forward to support Ukrainians affected by the Russian invasion. Specifically, many tech companies and brands are playing a significant role in showing support to the country in these testing times. While some of these companies have stopped their operations in Russia as a sign of protest, a few are funding charities supporting rehabilitation in Ukraine. 

Here are a few ways MarTech companies are supporting Ukrainian businesses and civilians.

1. Ahrefs Announces Doubling the Subscription

To support Ukraine, Dmitry Gerasimenko, CEO, Ahrefs, recently announcedOpens a new window that the company would double the platform’s subscriptions for anyone who would donate to the organizations supporting peace in the country. For instance, if a person donated an amount equivalent to a six-month plan, the company would provide them with an entire year of subscription. The upper limit for the offer would be for two years. All people have to do is donate to a charity listed on the company’s website or another approved charity and send the proof of payment to the company as per the instructions provided on Ahrefs’ website.

See more: Ukraine-Russia Crisis: Hacker Groups Take Sides As the Crisis Escalates

1. Google Donates to Ukraine and Restricts Russian State-owned Media

To show its support to Ukraine, Google and its employees are contributing $15 millionOpens a new window in donations and in-kind support to aid relief. The company will also donate $5 million in advertising credits to trustworthy intergovernmental and humanitarian organizations.

Further, as a sign of protest against the Russian government’s actions and to fight disinformation, the search giant has blocked Russian Times (RT) and Sputnik’s YouTube channels across Europe. The company has also put an indefinite pause on the Russian state-funded media’s monetization efforts across its platforms. Moreover, recommendations for Russian state-funded media outlets have been severely restricted.

1. Meta Prohibits Russian State Media Ads

As one of the largest social media platforms, Facebook is at the center of social media information flow in the war zone. During the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the Russian government announced a partial ban on Facebook as the latter refused to remove misinformation warning labels on posts related to the state-funded media. As such, Facebook’s parent company Meta went a step further and prohibited adsOpens a new window from the Russian state-owned and funded media. The company has also demonetized these accounts, restricting the Russian government’s ability to use Facebook as an information outlet.

Other social media platforms, such as Twitter, Reddit, and Snapchat, have taken similar steps and restricted accountsOpens a new window related to the Russian government and state-funded media outlets.  

1. Association of National Advertisers Announces Support to Ukraine

The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) announced a couple of days ago that it stands with Ukraine in this time of crisis. The announcementOpens a new window noted that many ANA members were either reducing their media spending or stopping their businesses in Russia. According to ANA’s data, 23% of its members did business in Russia. About 25% of these businesses had suspended their operations entirely or reduced their media budget in Russia ever since the government attacked Ukraine. Further, about one-third of the members said they intended to scale back or cease operations in Russia.

1. Contribee Waives Platform Fees

As the battle between the two countries rages, certain content monetization and crowdfunding platforms have restricted the accounts of charities supporting the military cause and using hate speech. On the other hand, Contribee, a Lithuanian content monetization platform, supports Ukraine in its own way. The platform is waiving the platform fees to 0% for organizations such as Come Back Alive that are collecting funds and allowing people worldwide to donate Ukrainian soldiers with helmets, body armor, and medical kits. 

Gediminas Ratkevičius, CEO, Contribee, saidOpens a new window , “Contribee does not allow content that may incite hatred, but in this case, it is necessary to help innocent people. We have morals and we are not like robots blindly following the rules like other platforms do — in such dire circumstances, our moral values should become the main priority.”

The founders of the content monetization platform have also gone further to ensure charities’ accounts are protected and the donation process is made as easy as possible.

See more: Microsoft Joins Apple, Google, and Others in the Big Tech Exodus Out of Russia

Wrapping Up

A few other MarTech companies are supporting Ukraine in a few different ways. For example, Grammarly has suspended its servicesOpens a new window in Russia and Belarus and will donate all its revenues earned from these two countries to the causes in Ukraine. On the other hand, Arthur Sadoun, CEO and chairman, Publicis Groupe, sent an internal memo to its Ukrainian employees that they would be guaranteed a salaryOpens a new window for the entire 2022. Similarly, communication and PR companies like WPP and Dentsu are extending financial support to their employees and partners in the affected region.

Here is a list of other initiativesOpens a new window companies have taken.

In these times, we believe that the MarTech community must stand with the Ukrainian civilians and support them in whatever way we can.

What efforts has your organization made to support Ukraine? Share with us on FacebookOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , and LinkedInOpens a new window .

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