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YouTube tests cheaper, ad-free option in Europe

(Logo: YouTube/Google, Background image: Pexels, Graphic: The Desk)

Google-backed video service YouTube is testing a cheaper version of its premium plan in some European countries.

The plan, called Premium Lite, allows streamers to watch YouTube videos without advertisement interruptions for €7 a month (about $8.30 a month).

The plan is being tested in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden, according to technology news website The Verge.

Premium Lite lacks certain other features found on YouTube’s other subscription plan: There is no offline download perk, no complimentary music streaming via YouTube Music and no background playback of videos. Those features are relegated to the more-expensive YouTube Premium, which costs €12 a month ($14.25 a month).

Currently, there are no plans to test YouTube Premium Lite in the United States, where a premium subscription costs $12 a month with the same added benefits as the plan in Europe.

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About the Author:

Matthew Keys

Matthew Keys covers the business of broadcast and streaming TV, radio broadcasting, social media, technology and telecommunications. A journalist for over 15 years, Matthew previously worked at Thomson Reuters, KGO-TV in San Francisco, KTXL in Sacramento and McNaughton Newspapers. He received 9 California Journalism Awards between 2018 and 2020, and is a member of IRE (Investigative Reporters and Editors).
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