Uzbek YouTubers may soon monetise content as talks with Google move on

Uzbek creators could get a share of advertising income from their YouTube videos in the future after Uzbekistan opened the door to monetisation in negotiations with Google. No launch date has been set, but the matter has been re-raised at a senior level.

Saida Mirziyoyeva, head of Uzbekistan’s presidential administration, met with Google’s vice president Karan Bhatia on Wednesday to discuss the YouTube Partner Programme (YPP). «Recent changes to Uzbekistan’s rules on personal data and digital payments opened up the possibilities for international payment systems to work in the country,» she said.

Neither Google nor the Uzbek side has announced a timetable for adding the country to YPP.

Unlike the neighbouring Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan is still absent from YouTube’s official list of countries where YPP is available. 

This means that a content creator in Uzbekistan might build a massive audience on YouTube but still be unable to join the standard programme that pays creators a portion of advertising and YouTube Premium revenue. YouTube can even run ads on the videos of channels not in YPP without sharing that ad revenue with the creator.

Read more: YouTube generated more than $60bn in revenue in 2025

How much could Uzbek YouTubers make?

This could potentially amount to tens of millions of dollars a year.

According to a previous estimate by Uzbekistan’s Centre for Economic Research and Reforms, creators’ potential annual YouTube advertising income ranges between $28.8 million and $50.4 million, based on approximately 36 billion annual views and assumed advertising rates of $0.80 to $1.40 per 1,000 views. 

If Uzbekistan were admitted, creators would still need to meet YouTube’s eligibility requirements. Currently, full advertising monetisation requires 1,000 subscribers plus either 4,000 qualified public watch hours in 12 months or 10 million qualified Shorts views in 90 days.

Read more: Google’s Gemini chatbot adds Uzbek language support

The talks come as Uzbekistan removes some of the technical and legal barriers that have complicated access to global digital services. Changes to data localisation rules have also helped advance negotiations for Google Pay and Apple Pay.