New YouTube Subscription Service
How many times have you really wanted to check out an interesting video or to hear a song on YouTube, but you had to watch a commercial for a product you are not interested in? Even with the “skip ad” option it can certainly be a pain. Google is planning to include a new subscription option that allows you to watch YouTube videos without ads.
It’s still not official when this will happen and what options the users will have, but it’s quite possible that the new subscription option will be available by the end of the year.
The new feature will be chargeable of course, but as Google/YouTube officials see it, this option will help both users and people who are posting their videos, and give them the option to remove any additional and sometimes unwanted content for a small fee.
With new revenue Google can push closer to streaming competition such as Netflix and Hulu.
One similar charging method was already introduced to users last November, when YouTube offered a special subscription for striving musicians. Since then, the company has spent millions of dollars to help talented individuals use their potential whilst boosting creative and original content on the website that has over one billion viewers every month.
As people spend more and more time watching videos online or on their mobile devices Google is hoping the new option will bring a new kind of content to their faithful users. Also, this feature will turn Google into a strong competitor of HBO Now, which debuted last week.
For a monthly fee, which is still unknown, users will be able to follow their favorite content without ads. It is also possible that this service will include offline access to its users.
YouTube said “While we can’t comment on ongoing discussions, giving fans more choice to enjoy the content they love and creators more opportunity to earn revenue are always amongst our top priorities.”
To make this possible Google will have to seek agreement from content creators. Right now they are in process of informing everyone who is uploading to YouTube about the new idea.
BTIG analyst, Rich Greenfield, said that we are living in a world where consumers don’t want to see unnecessary ads, so most companies are striving to provide this to their clients, like Netflix and Amazon.
The general plan is to increase income that is not based directly on advertising. This is a logical move that will broaden YouTube’s charging options. Since 2013 users have been able to pay for premium membership, last year it became possible to watch or buy movies like “The Interview” and five months ago YouTube enabled music videos without ads and in offline mode also, for 10 dollars per month.