YouTube is experimenting with a new subscription that offers the most-needed feature. The biggest video streaming platform will completely remove ads for subscribers who are willing to pay €6.99 per month to get YouTube Premium Lite.
Google has been getting pretty liberal with ads inside YouTube videos. But viewers can get rid of all ads if they pay a monthly sum of €6.99 or (or local equivalent per month).
YouTube first creates a nuisance, and is now selling a solution:
One of the biggest gripes about YouTube is the ads. Frankly speaking, advertisements once strategically sprinkled inside videos are rapidly turning into a torrential downpour of promotional messages.
Advertising on YouTube has become a very big nuisance. Previously, the ads were short and few. Thereafter the number of ads started to grow.
YouTube ‘Premium Lite’ subscription offers ad-free viewing for less https://t.co/K3KhmOhp5d pic.twitter.com/pKHBD9EG5I
— The Verge (@verge) August 2, 2021
YouTube then started pushing longer ads that viewers could skip after five seconds. Then came the slightly longer non-skippable ads.
Lately, there are two unskippable ads in many videos. Moreover, a video will not only have an ad (or two) at the beginning but also at the end.
YouTube’s new Premium Lite plan offers ad-free viewing at a significantly lower price than the standard Premium plan https://t.co/pziP5uAy6K
— Android Central (@androidcentral) August 2, 2021
The Google-owned company stated indicated that advertising was its fundamental right. In other words, YouTube plainly indicated it will insert ads in videos even if the content creator does not opt for ad revenue.
All these ads are in addition to the promotional messages YouTube video creators themselves insert in their creations.
Will viewers happily pay to get Premium Lite to remove all ads from YouTube?
YouTube offers a Premium plan that costs around €11.99 a month in Europe. Needless to mention, it offers all videos without any ads. Additionally, there are other features such as offline downloads, and background play.
Now YouTube is experimenting with a slightly cheaper “Premium Lite” plan. The subscription reportedly costs €6.99 per month. The main, and perhaps the only advantage, or feature, YouTube offers with the subscription, is a totally ad-free viewing experience.
YouTube tests Premium Lite, a cut-down ad-free tier that ditches the extras https://t.co/opXMBaGWGA
— iMore (@iMore) August 2, 2021
It is interesting to note that YouTube is offering a solution to a problem that the platform created in the first place. A few ads inside videos are tolerable to most audiences. However, a barrage of ads after every few minutes significantly erodes the fun.
YouTube is testing a cheaper version of its premium subscription, focused purely on ad-free viewing. https://t.co/2RDUEnGQlF
— PCMag (@PCMag) August 2, 2021
It would be interesting to see how many subscribers does the YouTube Premium Lite plan gains. After all, it costs around 60 percent of the price of a regular Premium subscription. However, it only offers around a quarter of its benefits.
Despite the obviously limited features, the YouTube Premium Lite plan does eliminate the biggest nuisance that hampers an otherwise enjoyable pastime.