Google deactivates Russian AdSense accounts, sends final payments

Google is notifying Russian YouTubers, bloggers, and publishers that their Adsense accounts are being deactivated and can no longer be used for advertising.

Google AdSense is an online advertising platform developed by Google that allows website owners, bloggers, and YouTube creators to monetize their content by displaying targeted advertisements.

As reported by Habr earlier today, the tech giant is sending emails notifying AdSense users located in Russia that earnings from July will be paid between August 21 and 26, provided that payment reception has not been suspended on the account and payment thresholds have been met.

From that date onward, monetization through these accounts will not be possible, and any remaining balance to the accounts will be attempted to be paid to the account holders within 60 days

For many Russian bloggers, website owners, and YouTubers, this decision will be a serious blow to their income, as Google AdSense is one of the most popular platforms for content monetization in the country.

Internet traffic monitoring platform SimilarWeb reports that Russia accounts for nearly 5.7% of YouTube’s traffic, only second to the U.S., so local creators have made significant revenue on the platform.

Still, this move doesn’t come as a surprise considering that Google Ads have been disabled on the territory of the Russian Federation since March 2022 after pressure from Russia’s telecommunications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, for allegedly spreading misinformation.

Around the same time, YouTube banned Russian state-funded channels, including those with ties to RT and Sputnik, to prevent misinformation on the video platform.

YouTuber Valentin Petukhov, who has over 11.4 million subscribers on his channel, Wylsacom, stated on Telegram that Google is merely responding to people who manage to bypass payment blocks imposed by Western sanctions on Russian banks. These blocks previously prevented creators from receiving their AdSense earnings.

“Even though the income from monetization has fallen tenfold, it hasn’t disappeared completely,” said Petukhov.

“I was saving money on my account, and now it’s not clear what to do with all this. The wording in the letter is kind of strange.”

BleepingComputer contacted Google to ask why and how it reached this decision, as well as why it has opted to stop AdSense in Russia at the particular time, and a spokesperson responded with the following statement:

“In March 2022, we stopped serving ads to users in Russia, as well as all ads on Google properties and networks globally, including YouTube, for advertisers based in Russia.

Due to ongoing developments in Russia, we will no longer be able to make payments to Russia-based AdSense accounts that have been able to continue monetizing traffic outside of Russia. As a result, we will be deactivating these accounts effective August 2024.” – Google spokesperson