YouTube, the much-loved video streaming platform that once allowed us to use ad blockers to get the most out of the app and not have to sit through annoying, unskippable ads has now upped the price of the package that allows you to watch content without ads. It’s genuinely a lose-lose situation here.
YouTube in Australia is free, but to use the platform, you have to watch unskippable ads. In the past, many people used ad blockers to do what it says on the tin. YouTube then invested a lot of time and money into working out a way to stop you from using ad blockers – it was only last month this became almost impossible to block the ads. It really wants you to watch those repetitive ads on the Google Pixel 8 Pro (or is that just what it serves up to me?).
The solution? Buy an ad-free tier. But as of today, that ad-free tier for many is going up – by almost double for one of them (!!!).
YouTube has always been on the expensive end of the streaming service cost spectrum. Called Premium, $14.99 got you ad-free videos and allowed you to navigate away from the app on your phone and not have your music/sound stopped. That tier is now $16.99 a month. If you’re a student, you can get a month free, then pay $10.49 each month after that. But it’s the family plan that’s gone up by around 80 per cent.
Now, if you want a family plan (for up to five family members aged 13+ in the one household), you’ll be charged $32.99 a month. That’s $395.88 per year just for a handful of people in the one home to watch ad-free videos.
We’ve truly reached the part where the convenience-to-cost ratio is completely out of whack for streaming.