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Earlier this month, YouTube started an experiment to see how users on the platform would respond if they limited 4K video playback only for paying premium users. A few weeks before that, YouTube was experimenting with showing at least five and up to 10 unskippable ads at the start of a video.
YouTube and several online platforms have hit a saturation point in terms of growth and are looking for different ways to increase their profits and revenue. One of the most common ways platforms like YouTube is to have certain top-tier features behind a paywall.
YouTube has officially stopped its experiment of limiting 4K video playback for paying, premium users. YouTube has restored access to 4K playback for all of its users.
YouTube’s official Twitter handle recently tweeted out saying so while responding to a query from a user.
YouTube is still looking for responses from users about their experiment of placing 4K video playback behind a paywall. While initially, most users were miffed about the exclusion, it makes sense to make features like 4K video playback a premium feature.
4K streaming uses a lot of bandwidth, which is a significant avenue of expenditure for YouTube. Moreover, if a feature like this is behind a paywall, users will have more of a reason to get a Premium subscription.
Moreover, this will allow YouTube to develop more tiers or plans for paying users, which can differentiate between feature sets. Furthermore, it will also limit YouTube’s expenditure, as not many people consume content in 4K, not on YouTube, at least.
It is still not clear what were YouTube’s findings from this experiment. So, it remains to be seen whether YouTube will place 4K video playback behind a paywall in days to come.
