Odnoklassniki.ru is one of the most popular social networks on the Runet, where you can find your lost classmates, friends and acquaintances. At the moment, this network has more than 100 million registered users, and this figure continues to grow every day. But who created the Odnoklassniki website? There is an opinion that our intelligence service "had a hand" in the development of this site. But this opinion is wrong. The author and creator of the Odnoklassniki website is Popkov Albert Mikhailovich.

The biography of Albert Popkov begins with the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, where he was born on September 26, 1972. In 1975, the Popkov family moved to Moscow, where Albert studied at a technical school and at the same time worked as a programmer at the Moscow Research Institute of Computer Engineering. After graduating from an educational institution, a young guy begins to look for his place in life. It was not easy for programmers in the 90s, the salary was low, and they had to get out in order to earn a living. So Albert worked part-time selling batteries in the market, working as a pencil board dryer.

As you can now see, the one who created the Odnoklassniki website was an ordinary guy who also had a chance to experience the difficulties of everyday life, and not the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation. His strong passion for programming since childhood still gives excellent results. positive results in future. In the mid-1990s, Albert Mikhailovich Popkov left for Europe. There he works in profitable and interesting Internet projects, including the English equivalent of Odnoklassniki. Albert gains experience, studies popular projects in detail - facebook, classmates and creates his own unique Odnoklassniki project. Initially, the creator of the site Odnoklassniki did not expect that his site would be so commercially successful. Albert Mikhailovich Popkov develops his site simply as an entertainment portal, with which you can find classmates with whom you have not seen for a long time and would like to chat or meet.

When the site began to gain popularity, and it had 100,000 registered users, Albert realized how serious and successful an online project he had developed. In March 2006, the Odnoklassniki website was officially launched and by July 2007 the site had about 4 million users.

Currently, the site works with law enforcement agencies, but does not cooperate with FB services. The site also helps to find missing people, participates in charitable organizations. If you are planning to break the law, and you have an account in Odnoklassniki, they will definitely find you.

Now the site has become not only an entertainment portal, but also a means of helping those who find themselves in a difficult difficult situation. And this is an invaluable contribution to the development of public life. People who are in a financially difficult situation, for example, urgently need an operation, have a chance. Turn to a crowd of millions of people - and still there will be those who can help.

Every year more and more users appear on the site. Odnoklassniki are modernizing and becoming more and more interesting, entertaining social media. network for us. The one who created Odnoklassniki, the Russian web programmer Popkov Albert Mikhailovich, made a significant contribution to the entertainment and recreation industry of Runet.

Today, almost everyone has their own page in any social network. In Russia and the CIS countries, Odnoklassniki has gained quite a lot of popularity. The social network is currently owned by Mail.Ru Group. The project appeared in the distant March 2006. Now "Odnoklassniki" - the seventh most popular in Russia, and around the world - fifty-fifth.

Albert Popkov: biography

Many are familiar with the movie "The Matrix". It was this film that made it clear that each "matrix" has its own "architect". Social networks also do not appear out of thin air. After all, someone develops, promotes and attracts millions of users who spend 24 hours a day on their favorite network. These 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 to earn extra money as a programmer at NIISchetMash. There, Albert did quite well. He developed software for computers, which in the Soviet Union were in almost every school for teaching children computer science.

90s

In the early 90s, Albert Popkov graduated from his studies. In the future, he began to try many professions and work in various places. It is known that he managed to work in a pencil factory and as a salesman. In the mid-90s, he began to seriously engage in web design. It was then that he created his first serious websites for several large companies.

Early 2000s: the emergence of Odnoklassniki

In the late 90s, Albert Popkov received an offer to work for a large foreign company. The programmer agreed and went to England. By the way, he spent a long seven years outside Russia. At first, he worked in the camp of ordinary programmers and was engaged in the development of a search engine. Subsequently, Albert Popkov, the creator of Odnoklassniki, took the position of director of the software development department. Here, fifty programmers fell under his leadership.

The idea came to Popkov in recent months work in this company. Free time from the main work, he spent on the development of the site.

Return to Russia

The end of work for a foreign company came in 2006. The new project required more time and effort from Popkov. Albert Mikhailovich believed that his new development would certainly bring income, and decided to completely switch to its improvement. He soon left England and returned to Moscow. Already in the capital, he comes to the decision to create Odnoklassniki LLC.

At first, the project required huge financial costs, according to Albert Popkov. His fortune is now quite large, and then he often had to spend a lot of money out of his own pocket on the development of a social network. The turning point in the life of Odnoklassniki is the appearance of an investor from Riga. It is at this moment that the accelerated growth of the site and its promotion begins. The staff of the company's programmers is expanding significantly.

2007

By 2007, the audience of Odnoklassniki has increased significantly. Albert Popkov, whose photo has already been seen in many magazines and on television, decides to transfer the site to a new "engine". Soon the resource was ready to receive even more visitors. In the same year, the project begins to receive a variety of awards. In a fairly short period of time, it was possible to double the audience of the site, namely up to four million.

Social network revenues are beginning to be calculated in millions of dollars. "Odnoklassniki" was able to get into the top ten most popular resources in Russia. Only such giants as Google, Yandex, YouTube, Mile and Vkontakte could overtake them.

2008

The creator of the site "Odnoklassniki" Albert Popkov did not stop improving the project, and the growth in the number of users did not stop. In 2008, in every office you could see people on whose monitor this social network was open. Even directors of companies said that they began to communicate with their employees through Odnoklassniki, as it is really simple and fast.

In the same period, Albert Popkov, a genius in web design, creates a new project "Compare.ru". Now he began to devote quite a lot of time to a new brainchild, but he did not forget about Odnoklassniki. "Sravni.ru" is a site that allows the user to compare a huge variety of products, businesses, and so on. The main income of the resource comes from advertising placed on the pages, as well as from companies that have received the status of recommended in the resource. However, a scandal broke out to work normally on the promotion of the site.

i-CD Publishing scandal

In the same year, the firm, which Albert Mikhailovich Popkov worked for until 2006, filed a lawsuit in a British court. The company and several affiliates believed that Popkov was obliged to give the social network to them, as well as the funds that he managed to earn on it. The reason was that Albert Mikhailovich did not fulfill the conditions employment contract. After all, he began to develop Odnoklassniki while still an employee of i-CD Publishing. And since the company is also engaged in the creation of online projects, this was the reason for filing a lawsuit against Popkov. Subsequently, the parties agreed on the world.

year 2009

July 2009 was the moment when Odnoklassniki took fifth place in terms of Internet audience coverage. The growth in the number of users does not stop. Many companies are faced with the problem that their subordinates began to spend most of their time in this social network. In order to protect their employees from visiting Odnoklassniki, the directors instructed their system administrators to cut off access to the social network.

However, information soon appeared that the site was also released in a version for mobile devices. Regularly, Odnoklassniki began to receive improvements and additions to ensure a more comfortable audience on the pages.

2010

By 2010, the audience of Odnoklassniki users had grown to forty-five million people. Most of the visitors were between the ages of twenty-five and forty-five. In the spring of the same year, the first games appeared in the project, which were in the testing stage.

The end of summer was good news for many future users - the registration fee was abolished. Accordingly, the influx of people went with a vengeance. At the end of December, the audience got the opportunity to make video calls.

2011

The first innovation on the site took place in April. The developers have made an addition, thanks to which it became possible to divide your friends into groups. At the end of May, another novelty was introduced, which allowed the Odnoklassniki audience to log in using their username and password on other resources.

On the first day of June, users were able to listen and download music thanks to a new section. In the same summer, the developers released an add-on that allows you to link three bank cards s.

year 2012

In April 2012, the number of registered users reached one hundred and thirty-five million. Later, the developers added the ability to make purchases in Odnoklassniki with a zero account. The funds were debited when the balance was replenished.

In October, information was received that the resource would allow users to launch radio. A day later, it was announced that the audience of Odnoklassniki could independently customize the style of their page.

year 2013

This year has been very good for Odnoklassniki. On the first day, it was found that the number of users exceeded two hundred million people. Forty million users visited the social network daily.

At the end of February, the ability to create polls in communities was added, and at the beginning of March, the Armenian language appeared on the site. At the beginning of April, there was a serious failure, as a result of which Odnoklassniki was unavailable during the day. The problem was completely solved in three days.

At the end of June, a version of the site for visually impaired people appeared. That same summer, Odnoklassniki managed to get into the top ten global social networks. Soon the site acquired the English language, it became possible to search for acquaintances by date of birth.

Later years

The next years for "Odnoklassniki" pass as well as possible. The number of visitors to the resource is constantly growing. Developers regularly release innovations for the project, which bring a lot of new features.

Albert Mikhailovich Popkov himself continued to improve the first development, as well as Sravni.ru. Over the years of its existence, the project has developed significantly and received a lot of positive feedback from users.

Albert Popkov is a web developer, two-time winner of the "For contribution to the development of the Internet" award. Albert started working as a programmer at the age of 16, however, due to the low cost of such, he worked part-time as a seller of various products.
Since 1995, Popkov began to cooperate with foreign companies and develop websites in accordance with certain orders. The work of the young specialist was appreciated, and soon Albert receives several lucrative offers. From a full-time programmer, he first becomes the director of the development department, and then opens his own company.

Launch of Odnoklassniki

In 2006, Albert Popkov created a layout for the Odnoklassniki website, and a year later the resource began to work on a completely new platform. It was from this moment that the site gained mass popularity and in the same year received the first award. The project topped the ratings of the largest Russian social networks.

On the Odnoklassniki website, it is forbidden to post links to the pages of the main competitor - the VKontakte network.

The idea of ​​the site was borrowed by Albert Popkov from European resources. Such projects have been popular abroad for quite a long time. In Russia, the situation was the opposite. Odnoklassniki is a novelty in the network and instantly attracted the attention of many active users.

It is noteworthy that initially the project was not taken seriously by its creator. It was the so-called hobby. However, during the first year it is clear that the number of visitors to the resource is increasing at a rapid pace, so it became necessary to expand it to a larger audience. Initially, registration on Odnoklassniki was paid, but this function has now been canceled. Page creation is free.

In 2008, a high-profile trial took place. Albert Popkov had to defend his rights to the Odnoklassniki social network.

Resource owners

In 2006, when the question was being decided whether to sell the Odnoklassniki website or engage in its promotion on its own, Albert Popkov began to cooperate with Baltic investors. Thanks to significant investments, the site has noticeably changed the interface and gained enhanced functionality.

Initially, Odnoklassniki had four owners - a little more than 30% of the company belonged to Albert Popkov, the same amount to his wife, 18% each were owned by Digital Sky Technologies and Ou Tobias. In 2008, the situation changed, control over the network is carried out not by the developer and his wife, but by foreign companies, which now own 58% of the resource.

The social network "Odnoklassniki" today is perhaps one of the most popular in the world. It originally arose as a site for school graduates and other educational institutions. Her goal was to help people find those with whom they studied together.

An analogue of such a network already existed on the Internet. This is the Classmates website. However, residents of Russia and Ukraine could not communicate there.

After the birth of the “Wait for me” program, which is engaged in the search for people who, due to various circumstances, have lost contact with their relatives and friends, the country has faced another problem. Indeed, more and more citizens began to come to the program with a request to find their colleagues, former graduates of various educational institutions. This distracted the broadcasters from the search for those who are the business of a lifetime to find for relatives and friends.

Thus, the prerequisites for creation required the birth of such a site where people could find and establish contact with former friends and classmates, classmates and classmates.

And such a site finally appeared in 2006! Very soon, he firmly took one of the first places on the Internet. But who created the Odnoklassniki website remains a mystery to many. Some users claim that the network closely cooperates with the FSB and was created at his behest. However, this is not the case!

The project of creating this social network belongs to a native of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, who by the will of fate found himself outside of Russia, Albert Popkov. Anyone who comes to this site, it becomes clear that the one who created Odnoklassniki did not set himself the goal of helping the federal services, but was simply tormented by nostalgia.

After all, the Odnoklassniki registration system assumes that anyone who wants can report "all the ins and outs" about themselves, while others register under a fictitious nickname. Providing correct, complete user information is not required at all for registration. No one sets himself the task of checking the reality of the data that the user publishes on the network.

The one who created Odnoklassniki shares with site users: “Today, the site cooperates with but only because scammers of various types and levels have appeared on the Internet, and pedophile maniacs often go on the hunt to find their victims ".

Albert has an interesting fate. He is also called a millionaire who came out of the slum. And this is the real truth! Therefore, it is worth talking about this in more detail.

So, on the 26th day of the month of September 2012, the “father” of Odnoklassniki celebrated his fortieth birthday. The year of his birth is 1972.

At the age of nine, the boy and his family moved to Moscow from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Who has not heard about these difficult eighties? How many have they broken, how many ruined their lives!

Difficulties were not spared by the Popkovs either. There was a catastrophic lack of money in the family, so fourteen-year-old Albert decides to go to work. After all, a picture constantly stands before my eyes: a tired, exhausted mother at two jobs, constant shortages of one or the other ...

But the teenager only managed to work at the Moscow Pencil Factory as a dryer of planks for the production of pencils. The work took a lot of time and effort from the teenager, so Albert did not have time to study well.

And in the tenth grade, it became clear: the young man would not be allowed to take exams for omissions. It's funny, but the one who created Odnoklassniki in the twenty-first century and became a millionaire thanks to this was an uninteresting lagging student in the early nineties.

Why did no one see the young man's talents? This fact remains in question. But nevertheless, already at the age of sixteen, Popkov became a programmer.

Seven years of work at the Research Institute of Calculating Machine Building made it possible for Albert Popkov to become from a junior employee. But in the 90s, it was unrealistic to exist on the salary of an engineer in Moscow. Therefore, Albert had to leave the research institute and become a temporary supplier, he even traded on the market at Luzhniki.

But still, he did not leave his programming lessons, making remarkable progress in this area. Thanks to his perseverance and talent, Popkov received an invitation to London in 2000, where he participated in the creation of two large reference systems in the UK and a large-scale social network in Spain and Germany.

And in 2006, Popkov created the beloved Odnoklassniki website with his own money. The overwhelming success of the social network interrupts Albert's career in England. He returns to Moscow and completely immerses himself in work on Odnoklassniki.

But today, the one who created "Odnoklassniki" suddenly decides to leave his offspring. He begins work on a new project - the site "Sravni.ru". This new project is planned as a service for choosing insurance and banking services.

I think today most of the population has already heard about the amazing “loud” one that won the hearts of millions of people - the Odnoklassniki project. Let's take a little look at how it all began and gradually consider the splendor that we are shown now.

As far as the audience knows, the project was launched on March 4, 2006, by Russian web developer Albert Mikhailovich Popkov. It was he who wrote the first site of all the beloved "classmates"

Odnoklassniki history of origin and development

According to the Wikipedia source, until the summer of 2007, the portal worked on what Albert wrote “on his knees”. And only in 2007 the technological platform was changed.

Initially, “classmates” were launched as a multilingual social network that allows you to quickly and comfortably search for classmates, classmates, former graduates, as well as relatives and close relatives for further communication.

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

2007

year 2009

2010

The social network Odnoklassniki has more than 45 million registered users. According to TNS WebIndex, 56% of the audience are users aged 25-44. The share of managers and specialists is 19% and 28%, respectively. In early April, beta-tested games appeared on the site, developed by i-Jet.

- August 31 The network has abolished user registration fees.
— December 24 users of the Odnoklassniki social network got the opportunity to test the beta version of the video chat.

2011

— April 7 it became possible to divide friends into groups.
- May 31 the network has introduced a single authorization, with which its users can use their login and password for authorization on third-party sites.
- June 1st the network administration launched a new section "Music" in beta testing mode, in which users can play and where they can download MP3 files.
- 5'th of July the social network allowed users to “link” up to three bank cards to an account.
— September 19 The social network began indexing YouTube videos.
- September 27 a new top panel "Odnoklassniki" became available to users. It contains links to various projects Mail.RuGroup company.

year 2012

- 26 April the number of registered accounts reached 135 million.
- May 30 it became possible to use paid services with a zero balance. At the next replenishment of the balance, the amount that was taken on credit is withdrawn from the account.
- June 29 it became possible to download compositions officially provided by the copyright holders.
- October 30 The head of the social network, Ilya Shirokov, announced the launch of Internet radio within the site at the Mail.RuGroupUpdate conference.
- October 31 users were given a free opportunity to change the design of the pages to their liking, choosing from 39 provided themes.

year 2013

- 1st of January the number registered was about 205 million; more than 420 million gifts were given - 6 times more than last year.
- The 14th of February Odnoklassniki has reached 40 million daily users.
— February 16 it became possible to create polls in groups.
- March 25 the site became available on Armenian.
- April, 4 access to the site was closed to all users, due to technical problems. Since April 5, the site has been working, but with failures: many services are unavailable. Since April 7, the site has been fully restored
- April 30 a “vote” button appeared, available in groups for holding photo contests.
— June 14 the site became available in the Tajik language. According to LiveInternet, the number of visitors to Odnoklassniki from Tajikistan per month is 500 thousand people, of which more than 20% access the site through mobile devices. According to official reports, the Tajik language has become the last in the CIS. on which the Odnoklassniki website will be officially released.
— June 25 the site has created a version for the visually impaired and people with handicapped.
- 3 July the site entered the Top 10 global social networks.
- 4th of July the site became available on English language.
— October 8 there was an opportunity to search for friends by date of birth.
- 22 of October there is a function to edit your own comments.
- October 30 The Odnoklassniki app for Windows Phone has been updated.
- November 8 instead of ratings, badges appeared.
- 15th of November appeared new service"Delayed posting". Also on this day, the "Help" section was updated.
- November 28 the main page of the social network has been updated; it now features a poster for the film Odnoklassniki.ru: CLICK for luck.
— December 3 instead of badges, ratings reappeared.
- 12 December An online cinema was launched in the Video section.

year 2014

The data is not fictitious and is collected exclusively from the official source "Wikipedia".