YouTube Premium Lite will show more ads

In March 2025, YouTube introduced a new, cheaper Premium Lite subscription plan, which effectively became an ad blocker for $7.99, as it didn't offer any of the other features of the regular subscription. In fact, it didn't even remove all ads, and now, according to Neowin, it will show them more often.

When announcing the new subscription, Google immediately noted that while Lite aims to remove ads from the video service, they may still appear when listening to music and searching for videos on the platform. Now, the company is making an additional statement about this.

According to an email that some YouTube Premium Lite subscribers have begun receiving, starting June 30, 2025, ads may begin appearing while watching short videos on the platform.

"Thank you for being a Premium Lite member. Premium Lite offers fewer interruptions so you can watch more of the YouTube you love," the email reads. "We are writing to let you know that beginning 30 June 2025, ads may appear on Shorts, in addition to music content and when you search or browse. Most videos will continue to remain ad-free."

YouTube Premium Lite is currently available in the US, Australia, Germany, Thailand, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and the UK, and may be expanded to other regions in the future.

The basic subscription costs $7.99 compared to $13.99 for the regular Premium. Considering that the plan will display more ads and does not include basic features like video downloading or background playback, its relevance is questionable.

Although, perhaps such a subscription has a right to exist, considering the fact that YouTube has been the most popular video platform on TVs for the third month in a row, where users are unlikely to spend much time watching short videos.

However, we would like to remind you that YouTube has previously started testing a new Lens search feature in Shorts, which allows users to quickly find various items mentioned in short videos.