Play Store & YouTube Block Payment-Based Services in Russia

Alphabet’s Google Play app store and YouTube halt all payment-based operations in Russia due to major banking issues triggered by the recent Western sanctions. The measure followed the suspension of Google advertising and YouTube channel monetization after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Following Up

As Google said in its latest statement on March 10, it halts all monetization features across all its online platforms. Now, the users from Russia can’t monetize YouTube Premium subscription, Merchandise, paid Channel Membership, and Super Chat. 

Despite the ban, Russia-based YouTube channels still can receive income from non-Russian viewers, ads, and other paid features. This doesn’t save the majority of popular Russian YouTube channels anyway as their main audiences are based in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. As for Google Play, it has already removed multiple Russian state media apps and publishers from the store and news feed. However, most free apps are still available for users from Russia. At least the support website says so. 

Apple’s App Store removed some of the biggest Russian state media apps too but leaves access to free digital products. It’s still unclear how Russian users can pay for extras in free-to-play games and services that feature free and paid subscriptions. Perhaps, it depends solely on content distributors. For example. Spotify Premium subscription is no longer available in the country, while the free tier works without any issues. 

Global Efforts

Google is not the first company to remove monetization options on its platforms. A huge number of other US and EU companies are limiting access to content distribution and monetization features to prevent Russian publishers from spreading misinformation about the war in Ukraine, which is called a “special military operation” by the Russian government. What do you think about Google’s efforts? Should the company do anything else to oppose military aggression? Let’s chat in the comments and don’t forget to share this piece on social media.