American tech giant Google is piloting a more affordable premium subscription tier for YouTube that will offer ad-free viewing without YouTube Premium’s other features like offline downloads or background playback.
The new ‘Premium Lite’ plan was spotted by a user recently, and YouTube subsequently confirmed the test offering in a statement given to The Verge.
Premium Lite is currently being tested in Belgium; Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden.
A spokesperson, in a statement, said, “In Nordics and Benelux (except for Iceland); we’re testing a new offering to give users even more choice: Premium Lite costs EUR 6.99/month; (or local equivalent per month) and it includes ad-free videos on YouTube.”
Premium Lite includes ad-free viewing across YouTube’s main app on web, iOS, Android, smart TVs, and games consoles; as well as in the YouTube Kids app.
However, it won’t include any YouTube Music benefits like ad-free listening; and it doesn’t include Premium’s other features like background playback; or offline downloads.
For those, who hate the amount of ads on YouTube; but aren’t too interested in Premium’s other features like offline download; Premium Lite sounds like a tempting proposition.
At its current pricing, it costs around 60 per cent of the price of a regular Premium subscription; while only offering around a quarter of its benefits.
YouTube’s said that the current subscription is in an experimental phase; and that it’s considering rolling out more plans based on audience feedback.
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