YouTube and Google Play Fee-Based Services Are Unavailable in Russia

Ethan James 14 Mar 2022

Google is discontinuing all of its payment-based services, subscriptions included, for Russia-located users of Google Play and YouTube as the market in this country is being heavily hit by Western sanctions, which poses massive banking challenges for foreign companies.  

From now on, users in Russia will not have a chance to pay for Google Play apps and games or buy various in-app purchases. Although current subscriptions will not be canceled right away, there will not be an option to renew those once they have ended. Russian developers who want to continue providing their products to users in this country will have to make their apps free to download and disable subscription services.

YouTube is also suspending all fee-based viewing services and monetization features in Russia, including YouTube Premium, Super Chat, Channel memberships, and merchandise sales. Content authors from the Russian Federation can still generate income from viewers outside the country.

In addition, Google has decided to follow suit of Twitter and Snap and cease selling online ads for all advertisers based in Russia, thus expanding other ad-related bans it has put in place since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Before that, Google banned RT and Sputnik mobile apps from Play Store, while Apple limited the ability to download these products for anyone but App Store users based in Russia.

Other tech giants that have stopped rendering their services on the territory of Russia following its outrageous and unjustified invasion of Ukraine include TikTok, Twitch, Netflix, Intel, Microsoft, and more.

Do you approve of Google’s decision to pull out of Russia? Do you think it will make a dent in Russia’s determination to continue its war on Ukraine? Speak up in the comments below!