Google is already making YouTube Premium Lite worse

YouTube Premium Lite solely launched within the US two months in the past, however Google is already making modifications to its extra reasonably priced YouTube Premium different.

YouTube has begun to electronic mail Premium Lite clients to tell them that extra advertisements will quickly be showing on YouTube for them (by way of Neowin). Proper now, YouTube Premium Lite provides an ad-free expertise on “most movies,” with the first exception being music movies. On the finish of June, that may reportedly be modified to additionally now embody YouTube Shorts. Here is the e-mail YouTube despatched out:

“Thanks for being a Premium Lite member. Premium Lite provides fewer interruptions so you’ll be able to watch extra of the YouTube you’re keen on,” YouTube stated in its electronic mail to Premium Lite subscribers (by way of the TWiT.community forum). “We’re writing to let you understand that starting 30 June 2025, advertisements could seem on Shorts, along with music content material and while you search or browse. Most movies will proceed to stay ad-free.”

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Whereas YouTube introducing advertisements on Shorts for Premium Lite subscribers is not the worst factor that would’ve probably occurred, it is nonetheless a bummer for Premium Lite customers who take pleasure in searching Shorts.

In the event you’re unfamiliar with YouTube Premium Lite, it is a extra reasonably priced different to YouTube Premium, which provides fewer advantages. Notably, Premium Lite would not embody background play, offline downloads, or YouTube Music. Basically, all YouTube Premium Lite does is decrease the quantity of advertisements customers expertise. In the event you do not watch music content material on YouTube or Shorts, for essentially the most half, you will not expertise any advertisements with Premium Lite. This makes it a strong different for customers who do not look after any of the additional options Premium provides, and are simply inquisitive about seeing fewer advertisements.

Even with the modifications being made, Google nonetheless says that “most movies will stay ad-free,” which remains to be the case. However what worries me is that the service is not even six months previous within the US and YouTube is already making modifications to it. It virtually seems like its preliminary providing was too good to be true.

YouTube Premium Lite at the moment prices $8 a month within the US and YouTube Premium prices $14 a month, so it does provide fairly good worth in case you’re trying to free your self from the ad-infestation that YouTube has grow to be over the previous a number of years. Nonetheless, my largest worry is that that is simply the beginning of the modifications YouTube will make to Premium Lite over time, to entice extra individuals to go along with its dearer Premium tier as an alternative.

I hope I am unsuitable, and this transformation to Premium Lite is only a easy course correction being accomplished by YouTube, and that Premium Lite will stay the best way it’s now for the foreseeable future. However I worry YouTube will not have the option to withstand the urge so as to add extra advertisements to Premium Lite sooner or later, to make it much less of an ad-free tier, and extra of a restricted advertisements tier.

YouTube Premium Lite is at the moment obtainable within the US, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, the UK, Australia, Germany, and Thailand. Advertisements will start showing on Shorts for YouTube Premium Lite subscribers on June 30, 2025.

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