This was my first thought as well. Both coursera and audiobooks are not free or ad-supported. Would these paid alternatives be as attractive if they had ad-supported options?

I watch more youtube than any other video platform and I am happy to pay the $13/month to be ad free. Is it a sustainable business model? That’s for the bean counters at Alphabet to know. For now, I am content.

I was happily a subscriber, but like most things Google does, they decided to switch things up for the sake of different. What I don't like about paying $18/mo for Youtube (family) is that they are still collecting truckloads of data about me and using it to target MORE advertisements.

If I pay for a service, it my expectation that you provide me a way to opt out of your additional revenue opportunities. To that end, $18/mo for premium is gouging, in my mind. The fact that Youtube is implementing even more ads tells me the service is bleeding customers or cash, maybe both, and Google is handling this by making the barriers HIGHER.

Google has their hooks deep enough into most people - charge $3.99/mo for an ad-free experience and grow the subscriber base.

From their POV it's perfectly reasonable - by paying, you showed you have the money thus you're very worthy target for more ads and tracking!

I see people loudly complaining about it. I don’t watch YouTube. I went from a paying customer to ditching it entirely. But clearly everyone complaining love YouTube and are watching hours and hours of video. So why not pay for it? It’s more sustainable in the long run.

Damn, that's a strawman I haven't seen before. How about we discuss it when it happens, not before?

so unsubscribe then you are paying subscription month to month its not a one time fee.

You have to pick and choose among them and the million other subscriptions though and they aren't the cheapest. If you watch it enough then I suppose it makes sense. Let's just go back to cable with one known cost.

Let's not. Because there's still ads bundled into that cable-model "cost". Anything I can do to get rid of that is a blessing.

Exactly my thought. As much as I hate advertising and Google business practices, I would rather pay to avoid advertisements if that is an option. For $15/month family plan for 6 users, I find it to be a reasonable deal.

Currently in the US, YT Premium (Family) is $17.99/month.

> $17.99/month

That... is quite steep as compared to India, where the family plan for YT Premium (if I recall correctly) costs Rs. 99/month, approximately $1.33/month. PPP is real :|

I was grandfathered from Google music family plan for same old price of $15 + tax. I am not aware of current price for new subscribers.

I do this. Its not cheap (12$ month), but it comes with "youtube music", which I'm starting to use a bit. like all things google, its a little difficult to figure out exactly what is going on.

I signed up for Red a few weeks ago and cancelled my Spotify account. Ad-free videos, offline vides and a reasonable music service. I think it's a great deal.

> Its not cheap (12$ month)

How much is a cinema ticket these days?

I pay for Youtube premium and that's not a comparison I had even considered.

The ad supported web has led to so many people feeling entitled to consume content for free. People have gone so far to feel that the ads themselves are the problem, without realizing that without them, you would have to begin to pay the real cost of the service.

Funny how so many people find watching a single movie (lets say you watch cheap, $8) for two hours acceptable, but unlimited access to billions of hours of content for $10 is unacceptable.