Ranking of most frequently mentioned brands stirs bitter controversy

The company WebScan Technologies has published a ranking of Top 100 Most Frequently Mentioned Runet Brands in 2006. This year's ranking is topped by information agencies RIA Novosti, Interfax, and ITAR-Tass, while last year media outlets were nowhere near the top 100 brands. WebScan Technologies attributes this to the implementation of more stringent intellectual property protection controls on the Web. The information agency Regnum, which is not among the top 100 brands, has published expert opinions on the matter. A number of Internet company representatives have stated that methods used to form the rating are not transparent and its results are not to be trusted.