MAX channel regions: region pages, a filter and Worldwide
A MAX channel's region on datool.ru: region and district pages, the Region filter in the catalog and ratings, the new Worldwide territory and regions instead of cities. How regions are assigned and why tagging is being redone.
MAX channels on datool.ru have a territory: a Russian region, a federal district, a country or Worldwide. It powers region pages such as max.datool.ru/en/regions/ru-kda/, the Region filter in the catalog, ratings and collections, and the "same region" match among similar channels. This makes it easier to find local news, city communities or regional businesses and to compare channels from one area with each other.
On October 26, 2026 we simplified the markup: cities were removed from the territory tree, and international channels got a separate territory called Worldwide. A channel about Sochi or Novorossiysk now belongs to Krasnodar Krai. Region tagging has been restarted and is still in progress: regions are being added to channels gradually, after review, so some region pages have few channels for now. Below we explain how it works and how to use it.
How the territory tree works
Territories form a three-level tree:
- Country: Russia and other countries. Foreign countries only have the country node itself, with no regional breakdown.
- Federal district: Russia's eight districts, namely Central, Northwestern, Southern, North Caucasian, Volga, Ural, Siberian and Far Eastern.
- Region: Russia's 89 federal subjects, including oblasts, krais, republics, autonomous okrugs and federal cities.
Worldwide sits outside the tree. It is the territory for channels about the whole world: world news, geopolitics, foreign press, travel, studying and working abroad. It always comes last in lists and filters.
A channel has one territory, the most precise one we know. If a channel is clearly about Krasnodar Krai, it gets the region. If all we know is that it is Russian, it gets Russia. A district query includes all of its regions, and a country query includes all of its districts and regions.
Why we removed cities
Cities were confusing the markup. Different oblasts have towns with the same name, and channels from neighboring towns in one region often write about each other. Because of this, a city rule sometimes put a channel in the wrong place and sometimes excluded a perfectly good channel from a neighboring town in the same region. Regions can be detected much more reliably, and a region is usually what readers want anyway: "channels of Krasnodar Krai", not just of the city of Krasnodar.
We did not throw away the city rules. Each city rule now points to that city's region. We removed the exceptions that excluded neighboring towns and handled same-name towns such as Kirov, Donetsk and Blagoveshchensk separately. Before the switch, we tested the updated rules on every channel in the catalog: for 99% of the channels that had a region before, the rules find the same region.
Old city page addresses still work: they permanently redirect to the region page with the same filters.
The region page
Every district and region has its own page. The address is built from the region code: for example, Moscow is ru-mow, Krasnodar Krai is ru-kda, and the Central Federal District is cfo.
- Breadcrumbs show the place in the tree: Home / Channel catalog / Russia / Southern Federal District / Krasnodar Krai.
- Inside: lists nested territories with channel counts. On a district page, these are its regions.
- Search and filters: a "Title or link" box, category and audience size.
- Sorting: by audience or by quality index.
If a territory has no channels yet, the page says so plainly ("No channels here yet") and notes that catalog tagging is in progress. We never fill such pages with random channels.
The Region filter in the catalog, ratings and collections
You can pick a region in the channel catalog: the Region button opens a window with the country, district and region tree and a channel count for each node. The filter works together with all the others: category, subscriber count, activity, quality index and marks. For example, you can find active news channels in the Volga Federal District with a good quality index.
The same filter is available in the channel ratings: with it, the ranking by subscribers, growth, views or engagement shows the top channels of the selected region. In collections, the region window lists only the regions where the collection actually has channels.
The region is also shown on the channels themselves: the badge next to the category in the channel header and on catalog and rating cards leads to the region page. The Similar channels tab has a "same region" criterion: for a regional channel we pick neighbors from the same region and of a similar size.
How a channel's region is determined
- Rules. Automation looks for signs of place: a region or city name in the channel title, an address in the description, local phone codes and other reliable clues. National channels do not get a region.
- Moderation. Automation only suggests a region, and a person reviews the suggestion. A human decision always overrides automation, and automation never overrides a human.
- The channel owner. An owner who has verified the channel chooses the region or Worldwide in the Categories and territory form. Automation does not change that choice. The country and district are set by a moderator.
If you spot a wrong region, click Report an inaccuracy at the bottom of the channel page.
Tip
If you own a regional channel, verify it and set the region yourself. The channel will then appear on its region page and in the filter right away, without waiting for the tagging queue.
Who will find this useful
- Advertisers and agencies: find placements in the right region and compare them by audience and quality index.
- Owners of regional channels: see your competitors and your position among the region's channels.
- Public authorities and municipal services: find local communities, news and city channels in their area.
- Developers: the territory directory and the territory filter are also available in the API.
How to try it
- Open the MAX channel catalog.
- Click the Region button and choose a district or a region.
- Add a category or an audience size and click Show.
- To open the whole territory page, click the region badge on any channel or go to an address like
max.datool.ru/en/regions/<code>/, for example Saint Petersburg.
Categories and territories are covered in detail in the documentation.
Frequently asked questions
Why doesn't a channel have a region?
Region tagging is being redone after the switch on October 26, 2026, and regions are being added to channels gradually, after a moderator's review. In addition, national channels and channels not tied to a place do not get a region at all.
What happened to the city pages?
Cities were removed from the tree: a channel about a city now belongs to its region. Old city page addresses permanently redirect to the region page with the same filters, so saved links keep working.
How is Russia different from a specific region?
Russia is assigned to channels about which we only know that they are Russian. If the place can be pinned down more precisely, the channel gets a region. The country filter shows these channels as well as the channels of all its regions.
How can an owner set the region of their channel?
Verify the channel through the datool.ru bot, then open the Categories and territory form in My channels or in the "You own this channel" window on the channel page. The owner chooses a region or Worldwide.
Can I get a region's channels through the API?
Yes. The API has a territory directory and a catalog filter by territory, which returns the channels of a node together with all of its nested regions.
Region pages and the Region filter help you quickly find MAX channels in the area you need, and more channels get tagged every day. Start with the channel catalog and pick your region.
