Google has just brought ad monetization for publishers in Russia to a halt.
The incident has caused an uproar in the country as the impact is detrimental to the nation’s digital economy. As it is, Russia is isolated from the world, thanks to its many restrictions and ongoing tensions with neighbors. Now, seeing this is certainly going to have a negative effect.
Starting yesterday, the company would no longer enable monetization of ads across various publishing platforms. The list includes AdSense, Ad Manager, and AdMob. As per Google, the recent developments in Russia have led to this situation.
It’s not only publishers that will be impacted but also developers of apps and content creators.
The news is not shocking for many as tensions were at an all-time high recently. It’s not a matter of isolation but a part of the various actions the company has taken since the start of 2022. This is a continuation of that.
In the past, we saw Google putting an end to serving ads in Russia in 2022. After that, it demonetized content which it felt dismissed Ukrainian content. Lastly, it also cracked down against all channels that were sponsored by the Kremlin.
Google did confirm how it would be rolling out the final payments to those it felt were eligible for Adsense at the end of the month. However, that would only take place if no payment issues were present and minimal thresholds were met.
This means Russian creators will no longer be able to generate revenue through Google, which is a major decision. For years, many creators were making the most of their success through traffic that was non-Russian.
The latest decision has been slammed by many lawmakers in the country. They feel Google is segregating Russians from the world and promoting division in the online community.
As far as the financial implications are concerned, Russian creators will be affected the most. For so long, they were using the app to make money from global audiences. Now, that revenue is getting cut off.
This means a greater need to explore alternative ways for making money online is going to be a challenge or else they would face serious reductions in income.
Other than individual creators, there might be a bigger impact on the digital economy.
Remember, Google is a tech giant that holds a major share of the digital ads market. Removing itself from Russia will give rise to a space that local advertisers might never be able to fill.
As a result, there will be a decrease in spending for ads inside the country and that could impact the quality and number of posts published to Russians online.
As far as the future is concerned, we see Google’s exit from Russia as the perfect chance for national publishers to flourish. They will explore more creative opportunities and different apps to generate more revenue streams. Furthermore, it could lead to more development in the advertising sector.
The downside of Google’s actions could be other companies following in its footsteps, and that is never good for the economy.
Image: DIW-Aigen
Read next: Parents, Beware: YouTube Channels Continue To Target Children With Inappropriate Content
