Google might make you pay more to watch 4k videos

Google is reportedly testing out a new feature that could impact the quality of videos you watch on YouTube. Over the weekend, many YouTube users took to Reddit and Twitter to lament how they were being asked to upgrade to premium subscription in order to watch videos in high resolution, TechCrunch reported. It is unclear when or how this restriction would be rolled out across the board.

Test run

Some YouTube users share screenshots showing playback of 2160p resolution video behind a text labelling it as a premium feature, The Verge reported. A Twitter user, @sondesix wrote in the capture of one of these screenshots:

So, after testing up to 12 ads on YouTube for non-Premium users, now some users reported that they also have to get a Premium account just to watch videos in 4K.

What remains unclear is if the online video sharing giant will go ahead to restrict all non-premium users to low quality videos. YouTube is directing users to leave give their feedback on the restrictions to enable the company ‘make improvements’.

Although the company is yet to officially respond to these concerns, a staff on Twitter confirmed that users seeing the new restrictions were part of a trial aimed at understanding the feature preferences of Premium and non-Premium viewers:

hi! it looks like your part of our experiment to know better the feature preferences Premium & non-Premium viewers. if you have more thoughts in mind, you can share it here so we can make improvements

Aggressive advertising

YouTube has gained notoriety for the aggression with which it promotes its premium subscription services; from displaying multiple banners urging users to subscribe to Premium and increasing the number of unskippable ads in videos.

Now, it would appear the YouTube is exploring other avenues to rake in more revenue. A half-year earnings report released by Google saw YouTube’s revenue of $6.87 billion fall below analyst expectations of $7.51 billion.

Only 50 million of YouTube’s 2.24 billion global users were Premium and Music subscribers as of 2021.

Sources used:

The Verge: YouTube locks 4K playback behind Premium subscriptions in latest test

Neowin.net: Google might force users to pay for Premium to watch videos in 4K on YouTube

TechCrunch: YouTube is asking some users to purchase a Premium subscription to watch in 4K

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