Ad-Free YouTube Could Be Launching Next Month

YouTube has been around for more than ten years as a free service but this might be getting a bit of change soon.

We’ve been hearing about a YouTube subscription program for some time now, but if a new report is to be believed, the service may finally be close to launch.

YouTube states the ad-free viewing option will “create a new source of revenue over time” to supplement content creators’ current revenue generated from TrueView, pre-roll, display, and other advertising mechanisms now available on YouTube (which have all seen a very sharp increase in their value over the past couple of years).

YouTube itself has not been able to commit to any timelines about the new subscription service since the idea was floated about a year ago.

The mentioned date backs up earlier claims from industry sources that YouTube is looking to introduce its new ad-free service toward the end of October, though going by the email, it looks likely to be a U.S.-only offering at launch. Pricing is expected to be set at $10 per month.

The new branding only seems to show up as a notification blurb when you leave a video playing in the background as you switch to another app, or as a pop-up when you try to re-open YouTube later. The email reportedly tells content owners that they need to agree to YouTube’s new terms by October 22 or their videos will no longer be publicly listed.

In a statement being sent out to YouTubers, the site explains: “To give fans more choice, we will be launching a new ads-free version of YouTube, available to fans for a monthly fee”.

To accept, simply log into YouTube.com as “pakafka” from a desktop or laptop and follow the prompts by October 22nd. That outcome would be a loss for YouTube, a loss for the thriving presence you’ve built on the platform, and above all, a loss for your fans. We remain committed to working with you, as we always have. Of course, at any time, you can decide to re-enable monetization by navigating to your Account Features page.

Despite all the ad revenue YouTube generates from more than a billion users watching hundreds of millions of hours of video every single day, the Google-owned company still has a hard time turning a profit. Common FAQs can be found here.

If you have questions or encounter technical difficulties, we’re here to help: reach out to us for support here.