YouTube raises prices and viewers complain
YouTube raised Premium prices in the U.S.—individual plans from $14 to $16 and family plans from $23 to $27—and viewers are reporting unskippable ads longer than 90 seconds on the TV app. (techtimes.com) (thecooldown.com)
YouTube is charging more for Premium in the United States just as TV viewers report sitting through unusually long ads. (youtube.com) The new U.S. price for an individual YouTube Premium plan is $15.99 a month, up from $13.99, and the family plan is now $26.99, up from $22.99. Student plans rose to $8.99 from $7.99, and the annual individual plan moved to $159.99 from $139.99. (techcrunch.com) Several outlets reported that YouTube began emailing subscribers about the increases on April 10, with the higher prices taking effect in customers’ June 2026 billing cycles. New subscribers in the United States are already seeing the updated rates on YouTube’s signup page. (engadget.com) (youtube.com) At the same time, viewers using YouTube on smart televisions and streaming boxes posted screenshots showing unskippable ad timers of 90 seconds or more. Reports spread across Reddit, X, and tech sites during the week of April 7. (9to5google.com) (androidauthority.com) Those reports landed a month after Google expanded longer non-skippable ad formats on television screens. In March, Google said advertisers could run 30-second connected-television ads globally, and its ad help pages also describe 60-second non-skippable ads on YouTube TV. (blog.google) (support.google.com) Google’s own ad documentation says standard non-skippable YouTube ads run 7 to 15 seconds, while connected-television versions can run 16 to 30 seconds. That made the 90-second timers look out of line with the company’s published ad formats. (support.google.com) YouTube told Android Authority the 90-second timers were “not intentional” and said it was rolling out a fix. The company said the long countdowns came from a bug, not a planned test of longer forced ads. (androidauthority.com) The company has framed the subscription increase as a way to keep funding Premium features including ad-free viewing, downloads, background play, and access to YouTube Music. YouTube had last raised U.S. Premium prices in 2023. (variety.com) (9to5google.com) For viewers deciding whether to pay more, the timing is the story: YouTube is asking subscribers for another $2 to $4 a month while promising the extra-long ad timers on television were a mistake. (engadget.com) (androidauthority.com)
