YouTube is tightening the screws on Premium family subscription subscribers. The platform has figured out how to get people to sign up for their own subscriptions.
If the plan participant does not live at the same address as the owner, he or she will receive a warning by email. If the data doesn’t match, the subscription is disconnected. The system works through electronic verification every 30 days
“Your YouTube Premium family membership requires all members to be in the same household as the family manager. It appears you may not be in the same household as your family manager, and your membership will be paused in 14 days. Once your access is paused, you will remain in your family group and be able to watch YouTube with ads, but will no longer have YouTube Premium benefit,” YouTube said in the letter.
The family plan allows you to share a subscription with five people, but the price depends on the region. For example, in Ukraine, a monthly subscription is significantly cheaper than in the United States: ₴149.00 versus $23. An individual subscription will cost ₴99, and a student subscription — ₴59. So we can see that the platform wants to make users spend more money, following the example of Netflix’s fight against password sharing.
Formally, the shared address rule has been in effect since 2023, but no one had ever properly checked it before. Now YouTube is actively monitoring it. The only way to get your access back is to contact support and confirm your eligibility. So far, there have been no massive blockings, but the first notifications have already appeared. All of this is happening at a time when YouTube is testing a new cheaper plan for two users.
Source: Android Police
Spelling error report
The following text will be sent to our editors: