Despite recent price hikes (or maybe because of them) overseas, YouTube continues to tinker with perks for subscribers to its Premium service. This time, the video sharing company is testing out a new feature, allowing Premium users to send ad-free links to their non-Premium friends.
YouTube lets plebs taste la vida Premium
YouTube clearly hopes to lure more people into its Premium tier with this move, giving regular users a taste of what it’s like where the grass is greener (and devoid of ads). Premium senders get a quota of up to ten ‘Premium’ links per month, and there does not seem to be a limit to the number of people who can receive the link. Sending out links to other Premium users will not affect this quota.
These types of videos can not be linked, though: YouTube Originals, Shorts, Livestreams, Movies, Shows, Art Tracks, and general musical content like official and premium music videos. Also, each ad-free link can only be viewed a maximum of ten times per month, and the link loses its “ad-lessness” after 30 days.
This is another of YouTube’s experimental features that can be found and activated in Settings. When a Premium viewer wants to share an ad-free link, they just hit the Share icon and find the “Share ad-free” option. Just like links from paywalled news sites can be sent by subscribed readers to their unsubscribed friends.
Sending ad-free links is currently only enabled for users in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, and the ad-free links can only be viewed by non-Premium viewers in these countries.
YouTube maintains that the feature is highly experimental, and is “subject to be withdrawn at any time.” If past experimental features are any indication, then chances aren’t good, since most experimental features never reach permanence anyway, even the useful ones. If adoption doesn’t reach critical mass, then it most likely will be abandoned.
