Google had disabled the monetization feature of Russian YouTube channels as part of its embargoes against Russia. This situation negatively affected digital content producers whose most important livelihood is YouTube.
Russian YouTuber Yan Lapotkov, who has 5.4 million subscribers, is one of them. Lapotkov told Business Insider that his followers on social media are an alternative to Facebook and WhatsApp. That he had to redirect to platforms like VK and Telegram stated. However, this process is not as simple as it seems.
YouTube closed the advertising revenue of Russian channels!
Supporting the embargoes imposed on Russia, Youtube announced that it will turn off the monetization feature of many Russian channels and put them in the background.
It was over $ 500 thousand due to the YouTube ban in Russia
According to official records, Yan Lapotkov Earned Ruble 41.7 million ($576,500) in 2021. The famous YouTuber said that since the invasion, his YouTube channel has lost 99 percent of its revenue. Inviting his subscribers to VK and Telegram pages in his last video, Lapotkov also announced that he accepts donations with crypto money.
Stating that he took these steps to prevent the loss of income he experienced, he said, “We do not think that the situation is absolutely fair. We want to live and work in a global and open world, but unfortunately this does not seem possible at the moment.”
Yan Lapotkov, who shoots videos on many subjects, especially space, does not work alone, they work with a team of 10 people. According to Business Insider, Lapotkov’s channel was only released from commercials in December. 33 thousand 400 dollars won. 3 thousand dollars additional income thanks to YouTube Premium achieved.
YouTube can’t be replaced
Yan Lapotkov stated that although he can no longer earn money from YouTube, he turns to alternative platforms, but this is not an easy process. Expressing that YouTube cannot replace VK and Telegram, since the recommendation algorithm is much different, Lapotkov said:
The main problem is that these platforms cannot fully replace YouTube with their recommendation algorithms. VK and Telegram are perceived more as a news feed, a meme resource and a messaging app.
During the Russia-Ukraine war, many social media platforms were banned in Russia. These include Instagram and Facebook. Stating that Meta tolerates hate speech, the Kremlin administration also filed a legal complaint that the company is defined as an extremist organization.
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