YouTube and Google Play pause Russian payment services

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YouTube and Google Play pause Russian payment services

By Alexandra Leonards

10/3/2022

YouTube and Google Play have both announced they are “pausing” payment services in Russia.

In a statement, Google Play said it was stopping its billing system for users in Russia.

“Due to payment system disruption, we will be pausing Google Play’s billing system for users in Russia in the coming days,” wrote the company.

The move means that users will not be able to purchase apps and games, make subscription payments, or conduct any in-app purchases of digital goods using Google Play in Russia.

Free apps however, will remain available on the store.

According to Reuters, which first reported the news, both Google and YouTube had previously paused the sale of digital ads in Russia.

"As a follow-up, we're now extending this pause to all our monetisation features, including YouTube Premium, Channel Memberships, Super Chat and Merchandise, for viewers in Russia," said YouTube in a statement on Thursday, as reported by the news agency.

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