Many of you used a VPN to subscribe to a low-cost YouTube Premium subscription? Unfortunately, the platform has decided to put an end to this trick.
If you are a regular YouTube user, you may have already been tempted to sign up for a YouTube Premium subscription. This paid offer allows you to benefit from many advantages, such as the removal of advertisements, access to YouTube Music, or the possibility of downloading videos to watch them offline.
But the price of this subscription can quickly rise, especially if you live in a country where prices are high. This is why many users have resorted to a trick: subscribing to YouTube Premium via a VPN connection abroad, in a country where the prices are lower. Personally, I pay 2.50 euros per month, instead of 12.99 euros/month, via Ukraine.
So far this trick has worked pretty well. But YouTube has decided to put an end to this practice, by canceling subscriptions taken out via a VPN connection abroad.
YouTube ends low-cost Premium subscriptions via VPNs
In its message, YouTube explains that “ your Premium subscription has been canceled because we believe you did not specify your actual country of residence when registering ».
The platform invites affected users to re-register for Premium in the coming weeks if they wish to continue to benefit from the benefits of the offer. Otherwise, their subscription will not be automatically renewed after the date indicated in the message.
This decision by YouTube does not seem to have been particularly well received by the users concerned. On social networks, numerous messages have been published from users seeking to reactivate a premium subscription via a VPN connection to a foreign server. Some even seem to have success by testing different VPN providers and different target countries.
But how long will these subscriptions purchased via a VPN connection remain active? It is obvious that YouTube has every interest in ending these memberships again, which are losing money.
A questionable decision?
YouTube’s decision to end low-cost Premium subscriptions via VPNs may seem questionable. After all, users who resort to this trick are only taking advantage of price differences between countries, which is not illegal.
But on the other hand, we can understand that YouTube wants to protect its revenue. Moreover, Netflix, or even Disney+, are also fighting against this practice.
