Youtube Paid Subscription Services launches Later this Year

Youtube will offer an ad-free paid subscription this year. The information leaked via an email sent to video creators.

You might end up paying to watch videos on Youtube. Google is going to launch a paid subscription later this year. The news has been revealed in an email sent to video content creators on Youtube obtained by Bloomberg.

Youtube’s new offering will offer the same videos just without any ads. Also included is an offline viewing feature. The revenue of the subscription is shared with content providers. Google has already launched a subscription service for music content. Music Key Beta launched 5 months ago. It allows users enjoy music without ads for a monthly fee and also offers offline access.

A paid subscription forces Youtube though to also offer premium content like Netflix or Amazon Prime. Youtube is already losing consumer online viewing time to those services. 

For my casual use of Youtube, I don’t mind the ads, but I actually would get the subscription for my kids. They watch a lot of Youtube content an option to keep ads away is great and worth some money. Youtube just got into trouble with consumer protection groups over excessive ads in the new Youtube Kids app.

A monthly fee of up to $10 would be acceptable, but Youtube also needs to up their premium content portfolio.