It’s evening. You’re sitting on the couch or lying in bed, enjoying some video on YouTube. You’re immersed in the video when suddenly it’s interrupted by an ad.
This does not occur in Armenia, as YouTube monetization is unavailable in the country. Meanwhile, the situation described above is very familiar to consumers in markets in the US, France, Kazakhstan, neighboring countries Türkiye, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and 78 other countries.
According to YouTube, monetization is a unique model that empowers content creators to earn money in various ways, including placed advertising, merchandise sales, and subscriptions.
This money is not just a source of income for content creators but also a financial means to create new, high-quality content.
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YouTubers— whether individual bloggers, media outlets, or other organizations— are unable to earn money from the Armenian views of their content.
Negotiations are Ongoing: Ministry
The activation of YouTube monetization services in Armenia “depends solely on the private, business decision of YouTube,” the Ministry of High-Tech Industry told us.
The government department informed: “In previous years, the Ministry has actively conducted negotiations with Google and YouTube to ensure the availability of YouTube services in Armenia,” adding that negotiations are ongoing.
This comes after Prime Minister Pashinyan assured in November 2023 that monetization would be available in the first half of 2024.
“If we rely on monetization, we won’t be able to make any content”
“Videos made in Armenia are monetized from abroad— from views in Europe and the US, for example,” Artur Devrikyan, an expert for Aravot’s YouTube channel, explains.
He points out that Armenian YouTube channels earn money through a limited number of markets. Views from Russia are also not monetizable due to sanctions.
Andranik Isahakyan, the screenwriter of the TV series Banakum (In the Army), aired from 2009 to 2012, has a newly-founded YouTube channel, where he publishes content with actors from the series.
“The money generated from monetization is very insignificant,” the screenwriter states, adding, “If we rely on this, we won’t be able to produce any content.”
Georgia is a More Convenient Country for YouTube
Artur Devrikyan elaborated that the lack of monetization is not the only issue on the Armenian YouTube sphere.
“There are commissions for cashing out money generated from outside views. These are quite high. If your content doesn’t align with AdSense standards, Google will withhold 30%,” he highlights. “On top of that, the state now says this income must be declared, and you must hand 10% to the government,” he adds, noticing that the government won’t do anything if something happens to your YouTube channel.
Devrikyan concludes— little remains from a person’s earned money. He generally believes that Armenia is not a convenient country for YouTube, unlike Georgia.
“In Georgia, the commissions for cashing out money from YouTube-generated income are negligible or non-existent depending on the bank. There’s no government charge either. I recommend that Armenian YouTubers open monetization accounts in Georgia, go there every couple of months and cash out their money,” he says, stressing that this is a more advantageous option.
An Unfulfilled Promise
The government periodically talks about the activation of monetization.
“The Ministry of High-Tech Industry is now promising us that the system will start operating in the first half of 2024. I hope this will truly happen,” Prime Minister Pashinyan announced at the end of 2023, expressing confidence that this would boost Armenian creativity and education on the YouTube sphere.
Since then, the Minister has changed. Whether this is related to the delay in the timeline is unclear.
In 2019, the then-Minister of the sector, Hakob Arshakyan, stated that Armenia was not included in the YouTube Partner Program, which is the reason for the lack of monetization.
“That’s why our bloggers and companies that want to make money from content register their channels in other countries,” the Minister had said.
Six years later, the picture is not much different. We checked the registration locations of the YouTube channels of ten Armenian individual bloggers, media outlets, and organizations on YouTube. All ten channels were registered in the US.
Of course, failing to activate YouTube monetization on time is not the only unfulfilled promise of this government, but it’s noteworthy that the government has not provided a specific explanation of what blocked the launch in 2024.
We also reached out to Google with this question. Our inquiry went unanswered.
On September 18 last year, Minister of High-Tech Industry Mkhitar Hayrapetyan received a Google delegation visiting Armenia.
During the meeting, “the opportunities to bring the cooperation with Google to a more effective level were discussed, including the activation of YouTube monetization in Armenia and the issue of correcting Google Maps.”
Dates were not mentioned.
The Ministry’s ‘Appropriate Steps’
In his conversation with Aravot, screenwriter Andranik Isahakyan expressed hope that monetization will eventually become available: “When monetization is activated in Armenia, it might be possible to earn money.”
The Ministry of High-Tech Industry assured us that they are taking appropriate steps to reach a decision on launching YouTube monetization in Armenia.
But so long as it remains inactive, we can continue enjoying content without interruption by short ads.
Arsen Aivazian
