Online casino operator Azino777 was the top video advertiser on Russian-language internet sites in the first half of 2018, but its profile is growing dangerously high in Russian political circles.

This week, Moscow-based business daily Vedomosti published a report indicating that the Curacao-licensed Azino777 was the largest online video advertiser on Runet, the Russian-language internet community, in the first six months of 2018.

According to audience research firm Mediascope’s survey of desktop internet users aged 16-24 in cities with populations over 100k, Azino777’s online video promos accounted for 7.1% of all Russian-language online advertising, a higher ranking than international giants Pepsi and Mars, as well as local online heavyweights Yandex, Mail.ru Group and Google.

Azino777 topped a similar Mediascope chart earlier this year, based on its ubiquity on illegal file-sharing sites. The site has produced several videos featuring well-known Russian rappers extolling Azino777’s virtues, despite Russian law explicitly prohibiting any form of online gambling beyond sports betting.