For long, YouTube allowed its Premium Family Plan members to share YouTube Premium benefits across users, irrespective of their location. Now, it looks like the world's largest video sharing platform is taking a page directly from streaming services' playbook to decide who gets to share Family Plan benefits.
As reported by folks at Android Police, YouTube will now require its Premium Family Plan members to stay under one roof to share benefits. A new location-based verification system will check the eligibility of the shared account. Failing to meet the requirements, the user's account will get suspended and all YouTube Premium benefits will be revoked.
As evident from the above screenshot, users not in the same household as the account manager will lose access to Premium membership benefits after a 14-day grace period. After that, the user will still remain within the YouTube Family group but will be unable to enjoy ad-free streaming and other Premium perks.
Once downgraded to the free YouTube tier, the only way for the user to regain his access will be to contact Google support. Else, the affected user can always purchase an individual plan, which costs Rs 149 per month or Rs 1,490 per year.
Moreover, even if the members are located at the same physical address, they will still need to undergo a virtual check-in process every 30 days to confirm their eligibility. YouTube will reportedly use a mix of IP addresses, device IDs, and account activity to verify the same.
That said, this new crackdown from YouTube is likely aimed at boosting its Premium paid subscribers by forcing users to opt for either an individual plan or a new two-member premium plan. Although the initial radius of this strict enforcement seems limited, it will for sure expand to the rest of the world soon.
