Telegram advertising: sponsored messages in the channels your customers read

What is Telegram advertising and where do ads appear?

Official Telegram advertising runs through the Telegram Ad Platform at ads.telegram.org, where an advertiser logs in with a Telegram account and creates sponsored messages. These short ads are shown in public one-to-many channels with at least 1,000 subscribers, after the latest post. Telegram’s API documentation also describes sponsored messages in bot chats, sponsored results in global search and short text ads in the channel video player.

The format is strict:

• a title, up to 160 characters of text including spaces, and a button with the link;
• no line breaks, lists, gimmicky capitals or excessive emoji;
• at most one extra link in the text, and only to the same destination.

Half of Telegram’s ad revenue goes to the owners of the channels where the ads appear. This is different from buying a post directly from a channel owner: official sponsored messages are moderated by Telegram and sold in an auction.

Who is Telegram advertising right for?

Telegram advertising fits businesses that have a channel, a bot or a clear offer to promote and whose customers already read Telegram channels on related topics. Typical cases:

• growing your own Telegram channel with readers of related channels;
• sending people to a bot that takes orders or answers questions, where an AI chatbot can handle the conversation around the clock;
• reaching a narrow professional audience that follows specialised channels.

It does not fit every business. Among other things, Telegram does not allow ads for gambling, political or religious campaigns, alcohol and tobacco, dating, uncertified medical products and supplements, predatory financial offers or follower-growth services. And because a self-serve account offers no targeting by age or gender and Telegram has no retargeting of website visitors, Meta ads are usually the better choice when you need to reach people by demographics or past website visits.

How do targeting and pricing work?

You target places, not people. In your self-serve account, which is where I run the campaigns, you pick specific public channels and add them by link, so the audience is defined by what people already read. The ad language has to match the language of the target channel and of the destination.

Pricing is a CPM auction: you set a price per 1,000 views. Each ad has its own budget and runs until that budget is spent. Once an ad is created, you can’t reduce its budget or change its targeting; instead you use “Create a similar ad”. That is why I start with several small ads for different groups of channels and add budget only where the results justify it.

Who writes the ad texts?

I do. Telegram self-serve ads are text-only, so the wording carries the whole ad: you tell me about your offer and your customers, and I write several variants within the 160-character limit and Telegram’s style rules, with no line breaks, gimmicky capitals or excessive emoji. Each variant is checked before it goes to moderation, so the ads pass review without back-and-forth.

How do you pay for Telegram Ads in 2026?

Campaigns run in your own self-serve account, and you fund it yourself. The budget is paid in Gram, the token on the TON blockchain formerly called Toncoin (TON), renamed with effect from 15 June 2026. You add funds through Fragment with a TON wallet such as Tonkeeper or MyTonWallet, and buying Gram on an exchange may require ID verification. Telegram’s terms also leave any taxes on the purchase to the advertiser, and money on the ad balance can’t be withdrawn or refunded.

For companies that keep their accounts in regular currency, paying in a token is the main practical point to settle with the accountant before launch. The balance stays in your account the whole time: I set up and run the campaigns, but the budget never passes through me.

Russia is a special case: because of the 2026 blocking and the FAS position on advertising on restricted resources, I don’t recommend Telegram campaigns aimed at audiences inside Russia.

How are Telegram ad results measured?

Telegram’s own statistics show views and how many people joined the channel or started the bot after seeing the ad. Because self-serve ads lead to a channel, bot or post rather than to a website, those numbers are the first layer. The second is your own analytics: links from your channel or bot to the website carry UTM tags, so those visits and leads appear in GA4 next to your other channels. The monthly report puts channel joins, bot starts and website leads side by side with spend and cost per result.

Should Telegram be your only ad channel?

Rarely. Telegram works best as a complement: it reaches engaged readers of niche channels, while Meta covers targeting by demographics and Google covers search demand. The guide to choosing an ad channel compares all four platforms, and the digital marketing services page shows how they combine.

With codeyev you work directly with me, Ibrahim Aliyev. I pick the channels, write the ad texts within Telegram’s rules, take the ads through moderation and turn the numbers into next steps.