YouTube Premium prices increased tremendously in many countries

Google is significantly increasing the subscription fee for ad-free YouTube Premium in other countries, by as much as half in some cases. Anyone who doesn’t pay has to endure more and more ads, even in paused YouTube videos. Plus, the service makes it harder to use ad blockers. And because there would be nothing to watch otherwise, generative artificial intelligence (AI) must create more videos.

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No price increases have been announced for the time being in Germany and Austria; they already happened in the autumn of last year. The situation is similar in Turkey and North America. Google is now rolling out a big change in Switzerland: the family subscription (for up to five users) increases from 24 to 34 francs per month (around 36 euros), which amounts to around 430 euros per year. For individual users, the monthly price rises from 16 to 18 francs (19 euros).

This will be 56 percent more expensive for Swedish families, who will now have to pay 279 kroner per month instead of 179 kroner (about 25 euros). How Reddit users compiled Family prices are rising by more than half in Colombia, Norway and Singapore as well as Denmark. There the new family price of 279 crowns is about 35 euros, the new individual price of 139 crowns is about 19 euros. Exchange rates will determine whether Denmark or Switzerland is more expensive when converted to euros.

Netflix: Cheap additional subscriptions with ads

Charges for individual user subscriptions are also rising in the affected countries, notably Norway (+42%). In the euro countries Belgium, Ireland, Italy and the Netherlands, Google now charges one or two euros more per month than in Germany and Austria, where an individual subscription costs 13 euros and a family subscription costs 24 euros. In India, prices rose by almost a fifth in August, and Google is now turning the screws on pricing in several other Asian countries.

Apple Overload

Surcharges may be added to the mentioned prices if the subscription was taken through Apple’s App Store. Google passes a portion of Apple’s fees to customers. To prevent the effect of a possible wave of cancellations, YouTube is now offering “Premium Lite” in more countries than before. In Germany and Austria it costs six euros per month, includes fewer functions and is not ad-free. “Less” advertising is the vague promise of the data company.

There is no end in sight to the price surge. YouTube apparently has so much market power that it does not have to worry about any reaction from competitors. Owner Google can raise both ad prices and subscription rates without fear of losing sales.

The group is also increasingly countering with preventive measures. On the one hand, YouTube takes action against ad blockers, and on the other hand, YouTube cancels subscriptions that were taken under the pretext of the wrong location. Since prices vary greatly between different countries, this is an increasingly attractive savings model. Last week, the company introduced new AI tools for video production with YouTube Create and Dream Screen. In principle, YouTube has an obligation to disclose AI-generated content, but the list of exceptions is long.

(DS)