Google is currently conducting tests to relaunch the « YouTube Premium Lite » service, which was discontinued in October 2023 after limited interest in several countries. The updated service is part of Google’s efforts to provide new options for users who want to watch YouTube without ads and at a lower price than the traditional premium service.
In its first version, « YouTube Premium Lite » only offered ad-free viewing, without features like YouTube Music or the ability to download videos for offline viewing. The service was available in specific countries such as Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, and Sweden, before being discontinued.
In the new version of « YouTube Premium Lite, » Google confirmed to « Android Authority » that the service is currently being tested in countries such as Australia, Germany, and Thailand, but is still not available in the United States or some other markets. The new version differs from the old one in that it displays some ads and does not offer any additional features compared to the original plan, which was ad-free.
This move comes after Google raised prices for YouTube Premium in several countries by up to 55%, prompting the company to look for low-cost alternatives that suit users who prefer to get rid of ads without needing to take advantage of all the premium features.
So far, Google has not announced any details about its plans to expand the reach of the « YouTube Premium Lite » service to other countries, as this depends on the success of the experiment in current countries and the response of users to this new offer.
