YouTube: You can’t avoid ads even if you pay for a Premium subscription

Are you still seeing ads on your YouTube videos even though you chose a premium subscription? Depending on the platform, this is completely normal. It actually announced that the paid option makes it possible to get rid of ads that interrupt viewing… but said nothing about the others.

This is the hottest topic of the moment among all YouTube fans. A few days ago, the platform turned its back on years of free service by strongly encouraging its users to opt for its paid plan. Otherwise, they have to deal with the — not to say invasive — ads that are specifically present on the platform, as ad blockers block them permanently.

Naturally, this new restriction prompted millions of users to ditch their ad blockers and continue watching YouTube for free. Others chose the comfort solution and ended up falling for the Premium formula. This way, at least there are no more ads… except yes. Indeed, many users are reporting on Reddit and other social networks that ads are actually running on their videos despite their subscriptions being activated.

YouTube Premium has ads and that’s completely normal

However, all you have to do is look at the YouTube support page to understand that the situation is completely normal. ““You may still see branding or promotions embedded in content by the creator, as well as promotional links, shelving, and features in and around content added or enabled by the creator.” so it says Google. But there’s a big difference: These ads no longer interrupt the video.

The nuance therefore lies in the way ads are distributed. With YouTube Premium, you’re guaranteed to watch an ad-free video, whether it’s a pre-roll ad, a pause in the video, or even an on-screen insert. On the other hand, just to give this example, there is no such thing as not being exposed to an advertisement at the end of the video. An important nuance when weighing the pros and cons of purchasing a premium subscription.