YouTube Premium: VPN trick soon no longer possible?

Google is taking action against a popular and well-known trick for a cheap subscription to YouTube Premium. Over the years, many users have used VPN servers to make substantial savings on their monthly subscription. Now the video platform has stepped in and put a stop to the VPN trick.

The VPN trick with YouTube Premium

With YouTube Premium, Google’s video service introduced a paid subscription in June 2018 that offers its users various benefits. Although the focus is on enjoying videos without ad breaks, there are also other features to enjoy. For example, videos can be enjoyed even when the smartphone display is switched off, which is particularly beneficial for podcast formats.

However, Google has been suffering from a similar problem to other streaming services or online services for years. For example, many customers use VPN clients to take out a premium subscription via a foreign server without further ado. This has no disadvantages for the user experience. After all, with a subscription taken out abroad, YouTube Premium can also be used in full in this country – and in some cases at significantly lower costs for users.

According to a report by Golem.de, Ukraine is a popular server location. While you have to pay a whopping 12.99 euros a month for YouTube Premium in Germany, it costs less than three euros there. That is less than a quarter of the price charged by YouTube Germany. It is therefore all the more understandable that the video platform wants to take action against the trick. Affected customers are already receiving a notification.

“VPN customers” are known

It is a fallacy that YouTube does not know which customers have taken advantage of the VPN trick. This is why the platform is currently taking rigorous action against them. A message has now been published on the Googlewatchblog that goes out to YouTube Premium customers without a subscription in Germany. In it, YouTube writes “Your Premium membership has been terminated because we believe that you did not enter your actual country of residence when you signed up with [country name]”.

It goes on to say: “If you wish to remain a member, you must re-register for Premium within the next few weeks. Otherwise, you will only be able to access the benefits until [date]. After this date, your membership will not be automatically renewed”. In addition to the VPN problem, YouTube would also like to take action against ad blockers, as reported by t3n. For example, the integration of advertising videos directly into the video streams themselves should help here.