Users may be able to watch ad-free videos on YouTube if they are willing to pay a fee.
Google-owned YouTube is considering starting a paid, ad-free version soon. Google Executive, Susan Wojcicki is overseeing the development of this project. In a statement, Wojcicki said, “It’s near term. There are going to be cases where people are going to say, ‘I don’t want to see the ads'”. This is the first time the world will see such a change in the world’s largest online video sharing website, who has previously only relied on advertising money for its revenue.
Along with the current business model of ads playing before videos, YouTube will implement the paid, ad-free model, which they believe will give users a choice between the two. There are several online channels that charge subscription fees to watch videos, movies or television episodes. These channels show ads on their sites, but there are some, like Netlflix, that don’t have any ads on their website.
In the past, YouTube had offered some of its content partners to charge users a subscription fee to watch their videos. This feature did not get off to a great start and in October 2013, the website added more content partners and expanded to several other countries. There are no details as to when the feature may kick in or the price that will be charged.
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