YouTube is currently looking to bolster its premium subscription service, but in doing so, looks to be taking away from its free offering by limiting 4K streaming to its premium subscribers.
The online video platform has already been getting worse of late for free users, with the number of ads shown before a video reaching double digits thanks to their new ‘bumper ads’, but now YouTube is testing putting 4K behind a paywall.
So, after testing up to 12 ads on YouTube for non-Premium users, now some users reported that they also have to get a Premium account just to watch videos in 4K. pic.twitter.com/jJodoAxeDp
— Alvin (@sondesix) October 1, 2022
Google already added a fee for those looking to watch YouTube TV, the company’s live TV streaming service, in 4K, meaning the change isn’t out of the question.
YouTube has a global userbase of 2.24 billion as of last year, with only 50 million subscribed to YouTube Premium and YouTube Music.
With Google’s parent company Alphabet reporting a profit drop $3.397 billion AUD ($2.5 billion USD) in Q2 compared to the same time last year, ramping up the subscription numbers of it’s vast user base is a sure-fire way to up profits.
This is an optimal time for the change too as 4K TVs and screens become more common and the thought of being limited to lower resolutions is likely to push users to pulling out their credit card.
That being said, if you’re like me, I don’t mind watching YouTube in a lower resolution, as a lot of my screen time is done on my phone, where the pixel density (PPI) is already high at 1080p, let alone in 1440p. The biggest thing pushing me, and I am sure many others, away from free YouTube is the constant spam of ads.
As previously mentioned, the new feature is currently in testing, so there is nothing yet to say it will become a reality. YouTube is currently asking users to provide feedback on the change here.
