nizhny.ru — a site of the early Nizhny Novgorod Internet, listed in the directory of Nizhny Novgorod websites on nn.ru as the “Information Service www.nizhny.ru”; the directory description read “News online: politics, fashion, economy, society and culture”[1]. The first snapshot of the home page in the Web Archive is dated 28 November 1999[2]. Later the content of the domain changed: by December 2014 it hosted the site of the Nizhny Novgorod recruitment agency “Delovoy Nizhny” (Business Nizhny), with an address at 31 Marata Street and the line “nizhny.ru 1999 - 2014” in the page footer[3], and by October 2016 the address was occupied by a blog about hallway renovation that had nothing to do with the city[4].

The information service and its place in the nn.ru directory

We hold no snapshots of the early site itself — what is known about it comes from the listings of the nn.ru directory, the catalogue of Nizhny Novgorod websites. The service was filed under three categories at once: “Mass Media : Online Media and Online Publications”[1], “Projects : Internet : Portals and Universal Servers”[5] and “N-Novgorod and the Nizhny Novgorod Authorities : Local History Information”[6].

Next to the listing the directory showed the reading of the regional counter Counter.nn.ru (the site was registered there under number 2576[7]). The value changed over time: 827 on 20 June 2002[5], 731 on 3 August 2002[6], 1483 on 18 January 2004[1]. For the Archival study of the Nizhny Novgorod internet from the counter.nn.ru rating this is a measurable sign of prominence: in the “Online Media and Online Publications” category, sorted by rating, on 18 January 2004 the service stood fifth. Above it were “NTA Privolzhye” (2854), a news agency, the “Nizhny Novgorod Telegraph Agency” (2703), the publication “KompyuterPrice - NN” (ComputerPrice; 2217) and “SMI-NN.Ru” (1712); below it, the legal information service “TsMIKI. GARANT - N.Novgorod” (1288), the newspaper “Pokrovka, 7” (783) and the news agency “If-Region” (339)[1].

On 27 August 2002 the service made it into the directory's “The Very Best” section, which gathered the sites “that visitors to the directory click through to most often according to the data for the last 30 days”: 40th place, 248 click-throughs, rating 703 — between the portal “Culture and Leisure in Nizhny Novgorod” and “Nizhny Novgorod Directories”[7].

In the published voting results of Nizhny Novgorod Internet Day 2004 nizhny.ru itself does not appear. Someone else's project, however, ran on a third-level domain: the “Modern Musician's Portal” at mnemonic.nizhny.ru took part in the “Best Personal Site” nomination and scored 52 points[8].

The “Delovoy Nizhny” recruitment agency

The snapshot of 18 December 2014 found an entirely different site on the domain. The heading of the home page read: “‘Delovoy Nizhny’ — a recruitment agency of Nizhny Novgorod” (the site's own spelling is retained; in the Russian original the word for “agency” was misspelled). The menu consisted of the sections “Home”, “About Us”, “Services for Employers” (with the subsections “Recruitment” and “Submit a Request”), “Services for Job Seekers” (“Open Vacancies”, “Send a CV”, “Vacancy Search”) and “Contacts”; there was a search form and a site map[3].

Of itself the agency stated that it “has been working in the recruitment and personnel assessment market since 1999” and that over fifteen years it had carried out projects not only in Nizhny Novgorod but in other regions of Russia as well. As the home page reported, the recruiters took on the search for “top managers, middle and senior executives, specialists of rare qualification and staff of the blue-collar and office ranks”, and for every vacancy they drew up a “profile” that included “a psychological portrait of the future employee”[3].

Besides the services, the site kept a section of articles — “In what cases can one turn to the services of recruitment agencies?”, “How to bring up a professional?”, “Catch, little fish, catch!” — and a live classifieds board. Entries from 13–17 December 2014 are visible in the snapshot: “Lead debt collection specialist”, “A decent rotational-shift job”, “Sales assistant-cashier needed, Sovetskaya Street”, “Sales assistant at Mega for the New Year fair”, “Driver with his own Gazelle van looking for work”, “Real estate agent”[3]. The contacts in the footer: “Nizhny Novgorod, Marata St. - 31”, telephone +7 (831) 911-51-11, a feedback form; the line “nizhny.ru 1999 - 2014” stood there too[3].

What became of the domain

By 7 October 2016 nothing of Nizhny Novgorod was left on nizhny.ru. The address was occupied by the site “The Hallway — design and do-it-yourself renovation” with the categories “Renovation”, “Furniture”, “Wallpaper”, “Do It Yourself” and “Video” and with articles such as “A hallway bench with shoe shelves” and “Stone in the interior of a hallway”. The latest publications are dated 22–25 July 2016, the archive consisted of three months — May and August 2015 and July 2016 — and the page-by-page navigation promised 104 pages of entries[4].

The last snapshot of the address in the Web Archive is dated 6 February 2025[9]; in our register of closed Nizhny Novgorod sites the domain is marked as dead.

Sources

  1. web.archive.org — nn.ru directory, “Mass Media: Online Media and Online Publications” category, 18 January 2004 (archive)
  2. web.archive.org — First snapshot of the home page in the Web Archive, 28 November 1999 (archive)
  3. web.archive.org — Home page, 2014 (archive)
  4. web.archive.org — Home page, 2016 (archive)
  5. web.archive.org — nn.ru directory, “Portals and Universal Servers” category, 20 June 2002 (archive)
  6. web.archive.org — nn.ru directory, “Local History Information” category, 3 August 2002 (archive)
  7. web.archive.org — nn.ru directory, “The Very Best” section, 27 August 2002 (archive)
  8. web.archive.org — Nizhny Novgorod Internet Day voting results, 2004 (archive)
  9. web.archive.org — Last snapshot of the home page in the Web Archive, 6 February 2025 (archive)