What year were Odnoklassniki created?

Pavel Durov, the creator of the VKontakte website, is known to everyone today. Many people also know Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of the popular social network Facebook. Do you know who created the Odnoklassniki social network? If not, you'll find out now. After all, it is Albert Popkov who will be discussed in our article today.

Albert Mikhailovich was born in 1972, in the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Three years after his birth, the family moved to the capital of Russia - Moscow. When Albert Popkov turned sixteen, he entered a technical school, but at the same time worked as a programmer.

It is clear that Alberta was very fascinated computer field. Albert Popkov developed various software for Soviet needs and created various websites for American companies. Interestingly, Albert was not an excellent student at school, and after graduation he even sold batteries. However, very soon he realized that trading was not his field, after which he took up his most favorite activity - programming.


Albert Popkov himself recalls that at that time programmers were paid very little, so they had to work as hard as they could. At one time, Albert Popkov worked in the help desk as a full-time programmer. He even managed to make a career there, after which he received an offer to work in a larger and more reputable company. No one then suspected that Albert Popkov was the future creator of the Odnoklassniki social network, a site that would become very, very popular.

It was during that period when Albert Popkov had not yet left his previous office, but had not yet started working in a larger company, that he created his own social network “Odnoklassniki”. In the end, our hero received a high position, but then he already understood that the Odnoklassniki project was very promising. Therefore, a very serious choice had to be made: work and career in a new large company or promoting the Odnoklassniki website. In 2006, Albert quit and founded his own company. My own money was already running out, but in the same year I became acquainted with a Baltic company, the business entered a new phase: the technology platform was changed, new talented people appeared. The creator of "" felt that the project was beginning to develop rapidly.

And so, already in 2007, the Odnoklassniki website became a two-time winner of the prestigious award “For Contribution to the Development of the Runet.” In December of the same year, almost mass madness began. Many people in the Russian Internet segment realized that this was something new and interesting, that the Odnoklassniki website could help find long-forgotten friends from school and beyond. At this time, the website is very quickly and confidently entering the top ten most visited web resources.

In 2008, a whole judicial scandal broke out. It was connected with the fact that the creator of Odnoklassniki simultaneously worked for one of the British companies (i-CD Publishing) and worked on his Odnoklassniki website. Thus, the employment contract that was concluded was violated. No matter how funny it may be, the British employer argued that Albert Popkov was obliged to give away his entire business and all the profits made. Naturally, it is unlikely that this British company will ever realize its plans.



Be that as it may, today the Odnoklassniki website is successfully functioning; it has pages of millions of people who exchange messages and photos every day. And although this web resource lags a little behind the VKontakte site, nevertheless, Albert Popkov has earned respect and earned a lot of money from his project.

The Odnoklassniki website is a Russian-language and Ukrainian-language social network, an analogue of the Classmates.com website (English), used to find classmates, classmates, former graduates and communicate with them. The project was launched on March 4, 2006, its author is a Russian web developer Albert Popkov.

The site is one of the most popular resources on the Russian-language Internet, occupying, according to some data, one of the leading places in terms of monthly coverage for an audience of Russian Internet users aged 14-60, among sites not related to search engines and among all Russian-language resources.

According to the site’s own statistics, as of July 2011, more than 100 million users were registered, and site traffic was about 26 million visitors per day. One important information. When the design of the Odnoklassniki website was changed to a new one, the logo was also changed to a “man”, what does this person mean? if you turn the logo you will see that it is not a person but the signature “OK”

What does "OK" mean? OK - One Team

The project was launched in March 2006. The creator of the site, Albert Mikhailovich Popkov, who lives in London and works in the telecommunications field, took part in the creation of similar projects in other European countries.

In November 2006, the site already had 1.5 million users.

This is the data Wikipedia gives us

Here are more emotional statements about Popkov and his creation:

He created the website Odnoklassniki.ru and earned hundreds of thousands of rubles from the nostalgia of millions of people.

- Odnoklassniki.ru: this virus is worse than a computer virus.

- Odnoklassniki.ru are real killers... of working time.

If the Odnoklassniki.ru website leads some down the aisle, others lead to a psychologist.

Albert Mikhailovich Popkov was born on September 26 (according to other sources, September 25), 1972 in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

In 1975, the Popkov family moved to Moscow. At the age of 16, Popkov entered a technical school, and at the same time got a job as a programmer.Developed software for Soviet gaming computers "Corvette". In the 90s he traded on the market,worked as a pencil board dryer. In 1995, he began developing websites commissioned by American companies.(Canon, Simon & Schuster Publishing).

“I was not an exemplary student. I did not graduate from school, I left after the eighth grade. I worked as a salesman in a stall, as a builder, and even as a pencil board dryer at a pencil factory. In the early 1990s, I sold batteries at Luzhniki. But then I realized that this was not mine, and took up what he loved - programming. However, then people in this profession were paid little, so they had to work hard” - Albert Popkov.

Worked as a programmer in a help desk. I even made a career there and received an invitation to a similar, larger company. But according to his contract with his previous employer, he had to wait six months. It was during this time that the Odnoklassniki.ru website was created. Finally, Albert went to work, and took a rather high position - director of development in the help desk. But at a certain moment I had to make a choice. At the end of 2006, he finally quit. He returned to Moscow and founded a company. Moreover, at the initial stage, I paid all the expenses myself, and was already approaching the point where the credit limits on the cards were running out.

It was necessary to decide whether to sell the project whole, so that someone would develop it further, or go through all this, build a business, and attract investors.

The next important step was taken at the end of 2006, when Odnoklassniki became friends with a Baltic company and the project began to take shape as a business. A company was created, people began to appear. In the summer of 2007, the technology platform was changed. Before this, the project worked on what Albert wrote “on his knees.”

Thus, at the beginning of October 2007, the Kommersant newspaper published a note that the largest Latvian content provider Forticom, which owns the Baltic social network One, acquired 30% of Odnoklassniki for approximately $10 million. Thus, the estimated cost of the project was about $30 million.

Albert Popkov himself did not confirm the fact of the transaction to Expert: “We have indeed been cooperating with the creators of similar services in the Baltics since the beginning of this year, first of all this concerns technological partnership, and I hope that users both in Russia and in the Baltics. If we talk about the deal in the form that Kommersant described it, then it never happened and could not happen. The project really requires investments, not only technical, but also financial, and now we are negotiating financing for next year , so at the moment we cannot provide more detailed information. If you want to get an idea of ​​​​the approximate cost of the resource, focus on similar foreign projects."

From Popkov’s interview with KP (2007):

How did the idea come about to create a website that in six months became a brand worth several million dollars?

After college I was looking for myself. He even sold batteries. In the mid-nineties he left for Europe. Worked in interesting Internet projects. Including in the English analogue of Odnoklassniki.

So, Odnoklassniki is just a copy of a Western product?

Not really. I studied similar projects: facebook, classmates. And several small local options. I chose the most “delicious” and thought I could add my own. And he assembled Odnoklassniki like a puzzle.

In November 2007, we became two-time laureates “For contribution to the development of the Russian Internet.” In November-December, mass madness began, when millions of people almost simultaneously realized that the project was really interesting, that you could come here, find your friends and communicate with them. Since then, we have continued to experience explosive growth, and I hope that in this regard, the most interesting things are yet to come.

Since the time of one sensational science fiction film, it has been known that each “matrix” has its own “architect”. Social networks also do not appear on their own. Someone invents them, develops them and launches them, attracting millions of hamsters with the opportunity to spend their working day in offices as they please, but not working for the good of society. In general, we will talk about the Odnoklassniki website and its creator.

Albert Mikhailovich Popkov was born on September 26, 1972 in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. (According to other sources - September 25. Everything is confusing, as it should be in the biographies of celebrities.)

Legend has it that in 1975 his family moved to Moscow, where Albert Mikhailovich studied at a technical school and at the same time worked as a programmer at NIISchetMash, which stands for Moscow Scientific Research Institute of Computing Machinery. Moreover, he started working at the age of 16. At first - as a simple help desk employee, and then, as they say, he was promoted - he became director of development.

But at first things didn't go very well. Albert Mikhailovich himself told heart-wrenching details in one of his interviews, saying that programmers were paid little back then; they had to work part-time as a builder, as a battery salesman at the Luzhniki market, or as a pencil dryer.

According to another legend, the Odnoklassniki website appeared during a six-month break, when Albert Mikhailovich quit one job, but due to his contract he could not immediately find employment with competitors.

At first, the Odnoklassniki project ate up my savings and did not bring in any tangible income. In addition, the site, according to the creator, was written “on the knee”; no careful work was carried out on it. Limits on credit cards were running out, and the need to sell the resource was in the air. However, in 2006, things began to improve thanks to the support of an unnamed Baltic company, and on March 4, an epoch-making event officially took place - a new social network spread over the Runet.

The promotion did its job: the hamsters flocked to the site with such speed that it was necessary to install a more powerful engine. This happened in 2007. That same year, Odnoklassniki began receiving various awards. “For contribution to the development of Runet”, “People’s Ten”, “Russian Entertainment Awards” and the like.

By the beginning of 2008, madness had gripped almost all Russian-speaking offices on our planet. You could take binoculars and look into the windows of various offices in the midst of a working day - on most monitors you could see the Odnoklassniki interface. Jokes began to circulate that bosses communicate with subordinates through this site, because it works out faster this way.

However, the jokes did not sound very funny, because working time was lost. System administrators began to set restrictions in the firewall settings, cutting off the “office plankton” from the coveted resource.

Albert Mikhailovich reacted to the mass lockdowns something like this: “Did you close the doors? Let's climb through the window!

No sooner said than done. Those who got hooked on Odnoklassniki had a short-lived break - a mobile version of the site appeared. There’s no way to cut her off from phones, smartphones and other communicators.

Today Albert Popkov lives in London and probably no longer manages Odnoklassniki Ltd. At least, from unverified sources it became known that Albert Mikhailovich seemed to have sold his share, and the board of directors removed him from his leadership position.

The only reliable fact is that the brainchild of Albert Popkov now belongs to Mail.Ru Group one hundred percent. Mail.Ru themselves assure potential partners that the API of the Odnoklassniki website allows you to create various web applications on which you can make money.

So if you are enthusiastic and know how to program, then this is your chance to try your hand at it. Perhaps someday you will be ready to create your own project, which will turn out to be even more popular. After all, beautiful legends are spread precisely for this purpose, so that one or another famous person, through his own example, inspires people to great achievements.

True, it is unlikely that anyone will be able to achieve anything by spending a lot of time on social networks.

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Last edit: 2011-08-04 13:42:04

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Today, almost every person has their own page on some social network. In Russia and the CIS countries, Odnoklassniki has gained quite a lot of popularity. Currently, the social network is owned by Mail.Ru Group. The project appeared back in March 2006. Now Odnoklassniki is the seventh most popular in Russia, and fifty-fifth in the world.

Albert Popkov: biography

Many people are familiar with the movie "The Matrix". It was this film that made it clear that each “matrix” has its own “architect”. Social media also do not appear out of thin air. After all, someone develops them, promotes them and attracts millions of users who spend 24 hours a day on their favorite network. Such sites include Odnoklassniki, whose audience at the beginning of 2013 exceeded two hundred million people. However, the article will focus more on the person who created such a huge network.

Early years

Albert Popkov was born on September 26, 1972. The place of birth is the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

At the age of three, Albert Popkov moved to Moscow with his family. He studied at school rather mediocrely and left it after the eighth grade. Then he entered a technical school and at the same time began working as a programmer at NIISchetMash. There, Albert did quite well. He developed software for computers, which were in almost every school in the Soviet Union to teach children computer science.

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