How watching 4K videos on YouTube will cost you money.

When it comes to its Premium subscription, YouTube is becoming very desperate. The video-sharing company first tried to replace the two advertisements on videos with five, and now it wants to put 4K content behind a barrier.

On YouTube, Google has begun testing a new restriction on free users. Several free users have complained that the platform's 4K videos are no longer accessible to them. The update's screenshots were also posted by several of them.

The 4K option (2160p) includes a "Premium" designation beneath it, as shown in the screenshot up top, indicating that it might one day only be available to customers who are willing to pay.

However, this test is only open to a small number of people, exactly like the increased amount of advertisements. You are not a participant in the public test if you do not notice this restriction on your YouTube account.

Even worse, one of the most expensive social media subscriptions is YouTube Premium. You may watch videos without commercials and store them for offline viewing with this service, which costs $11.99 per month in the US. Additionally, it unlocks new YouTube Originals material and grants you unlimited skips with YouTube Music.

People in Pakistan will just have to use different techniques if they want to watch videos in 4K or avoid commercials because the subscription is still not available there. It is possible to watch YouTube without advertisements and if YouTube doesn't allow it, 4K videos in the future thanks to third-party services like YouTube reVanced. You should use it at your own risk because it's an unofficial YouTube version.

Up to 10 unskippable commercials were even being tested by YouTube before a video, but thankfully, that never advanced past the experimental stage. But it's obvious that Google is struggling to attract more Premium customers.

The premium YouTube Premium subscription offers advantages like ad-free viewing, offline video and music downloads, and background plays. Currently available for free to all customers, 4K video streaming may now also move to the premium tier.

Users on Twitter and Reddit complained over the weekend that YouTube had been requesting an upgrade to the premium plan in order to watch videos in 4K.

It's unclear whether the modification is a part of a small test or whether the business is considering limiting free users to 1440p resolution. When approached by TechCrunch about the article, Google declined to comment.

The business has experimented with numerous strategies to turn free users into paying customers. One of the most infamous was letting people watch a lengthy video uninterrupted by giving them up to 11 unskippable adverts before it began.

According to Google, YouTube Music and YouTube Premium now have 50 million subscribers combined. While the cost of these subscriptions varies by country, in the US, YouTube Music costs $9.99 per month and YouTube Premium costs $11.99 per month.

The search engine giant reported that YouTube brought in $6.87 billion in revenue for Q2 2022, significantly below expert projections of $7.51 billion. Therefore, it is predicted that the corporation will explore new strategies to boost the number of paid subscribers to its video streaming services.

The add-on channels are Showtime, HBO Max, NBA League Pass, and MLB.TV can now be subscribed to without purchasing a $64.99 per month base plan thanks to a new initiative that YouTube TV unveiled last week.