YouTube is now cracking down on Premium accounts bought for cheaper using a VPN. A YouTube Premium subscription is ideal for those who spend hours on the video streaming platform. However, some users use ad-blockers or VPNs to avail themselves of these benefits, either for free or at a lesser price.
YouTube Starts Targeting Premium Subscriptions Using VPN
After cracking down on ad blockers, YouTube is targeting VPN users. It is said that some users spoof their locations using VPN to purchase cheaper YouTube Premium subscriptions. Notably, YouTube has varying prices for the Premium subscription in different regions. Users have confirmed buying a YouTube Premium subscription in Ukraine for $2.40 ( approx Rs 200), which is significantly lower than other places where it’s around $15 (approx Rs 1,300).
Several users have figured out that they can spoof their location to cheaper Premium plan regions like Ukraine using a VPN and signing up in the area. However, YouTube seems to have figured this out. The streaming giant confirmed to TechCrunch, that the company has the necessary resources to match a subscriber’s actual and sign-up locations.
The publication quoted a YouTube spokesperson saying that the company has a robust system in place to detect the location of the users. This helps the company provide the most accurate plan and offers to people. In case of a mismatch between the residing country and the signup country, YouTube prompts users to update their billing information.
Moreover, a Google Support representative confirmed to PCmag that “YouTube has initiated the cancellation of premium memberships for accounts identified as having falsified signup country information. Due to violating YouTube’s Paid Terms of Service, these users will receive an email and an in-app notification informing them of the cancellation.”
Notably, several people on Reddit claimed that their subscriptions were automatically cancelled. YouTube hasn’t confirmed the reason for the cancellation.
In India, the YouTube Premium subscription is priced at Rs 129 per month, Rs 399 per quarter, and Rs 1,290 per year. These are already among the cheapest plans globally and users need not spoof their location using VPN.
