YouTube Premium Enshitification

General Discussion Media
1

Well, that didn’t last long… I received the following E-Mail from Google over the weekend (I removed all the links):

Thank you for being a Premium Lite member. Premium Lite offers fewer interruptions so you can watch more of the YouTube you love.

We are writing to let you know that beginning 30 June 2025, ads may appear on Shorts, in addition to music content and when you search or browse. Most videos will continue to remain ad-free.

While we hope that you continue to be a member, you can cancel your membership at any time here. To check the status of your account and billing information, go to your Settings → Purchases and Memberships page.

For more information about Premium Lite, please visit our YouTube Help Center. We appreciate and continue to learn from your feedback.

Sincerely,

The YouTube Premium team

After less than 6 months, they are adding adverts back into the subscription, for non-music video content and search. Luckily, I hardly watch any Shorts and I’ve only watched 2 music videos since I took out the Premium Lite subscription. I will see, how many ads now appear and how intrusive they are, when they turn up in search and browsing…

I’ve been using Premium Lite, because I was being offered more adverts than actual video, the record was 8 ad breaks of 90 minutes each in a 12 minute video! (Yes, each ad was 90 minutes long, an ad for some scam sounding charity that spent 90 minutes trying to convince you to take out a monthly donation with them).

The reason I went with Lite was that I don’t, generally, watch music videos, but if the ads are creeping back into the rest of the service I do use, I might cancel.

2

That’s madness, they’re plainly saying they don’t want to offer an ad-supported free tier.

I wasn’t even aware of the Lite subscription. I just checked my account and don’t even see an option for it. Maybe not available in my region? I feel that 14$ per month is justified considering how much I use it, but I could totally understand wanting a lower subscription amount. If there’s one thing I really can’t stand, it’s paying to watch adverts. I’d cancel if I was in your shoes.

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3

They released the lite subscription for 7.99€ in parts of Europe and the Far East at the end of last year or the beginning of this year. It was spread out to more regions in early 2025, including the USA on March 5.

Reading a couple of blogs, it looks like it isn’t offered to everybody. It usually appears in the YouTube app on the iPhone, for example, but not always on the web. I certainly set mine up over my iPhone as I don’t have a payment relationship with Google.

4

This is why it’s easier to sail the high seas.

5

I put up with the ads. Usually there’s a skip button so it’s bearable.

What winds me up, though, is how badly targetted they are. I have…

  • A coffee club subscription that I used to use, but cancelled
  • Ads for VRBO that popped up after I got back from a holiday in a VRBO property.
  • Holidays in Savannah. I’ve just got back from there.
  • Luminar ads, which I already subscribe to
  • Protective cases for iPhones and MacBooks. I don’t have either

etc. etc.

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6

I was finding more and more ads that you couldn’t skip over or you had to watch 2 minutes of ads, before you could skip…

The badly targeted ads for me were:

  • the damned charity 90 minute ad I mentioned above
  • Make-up for teenage girls
  • Incontinence slips for women 50+
  • vaccine for new born babies
  • Vaccine for shingles
  • Nappies
  • Cheap fashion clothes for young women

I’m 55 and male…

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7

Don’t you block/use Google stuff that can build a profile of you? So it’s just random I guess.

Mine is usually things I’ve recently bought or done. NordVPN is another one. Subscribed when I was in the US, immediately started getting their ads.

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8

Only partially, YouTube tracking isn’t blocked and, until recently, mobile use wasn’t blocked.

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9

Oh wow that’s bad , is it worth it just to upgrade so you don’t see the ads ?

10

Yes, if I was still stuck with the ads, I’d probably have given up on YouTube altogether.