Google prepares YouTube subscription plan

Google is preparing to launch a YouTube subscription service that will allow users to skip advertisements when watching online videos. In an e-mail sent to the creators of YouTube videos, who get a share of the advertising revenue generated by their work, it said it was taking “another bold step in favour of choice” by offering an ads-free version of YouTube for a monthly fee.

The move could increase competition with other online video services that already charge subscriptions such as Netflix and Hulu. Creators will receive revenue from the fees but the letter did not say how much it would charge or how the fees would be split. “By creating a new paid offering, we’ll generate a new source of revenue that will supplement your fast growing advertising revenue,” the YouTube team wrote in the e-mail, which asked recipients to update the terms of their contracts for the new service. The e-mail implied the service could come as early as 2015, saying: “It’s an exciting year for YouTube, as we push into uncharted territories.” YouTube is already working on a subscription service for its music videos, which is in beta testing, and users can subscribe to individual channels such as sports or language instruction channels, to watch their videos without ads.