When YouTube introduced its Premium Lite option in March, the goal was to give users a chance to experience fewer advertisements on the site. However, merely three months later, YouTube is poised to raise the number of ads that Premium Lite users will see, according to Dextero.

Subscribers were notified about the increase in ads through an email, which was shared on the TWiT Community forums and reported by the German news outlet Deskmodder.

The email declared, “We are writing to inform you that starting 30 June 2025, ads may appear on Shorts, in addition to music content and when you search or browse. Most videos will remain ad-free.”

The silver lining is that if you don’t engage with music videos or YouTube Shorts, you probably won’t notice much difference while using the app, aside from a few ads during browsing. Users who access YouTube primarily for music and Shorts will be the most affected. Even though YouTube Music subscription figures haven’t been very strong, YouTube still ranks among the most widely used music streaming platforms online, so this change is likely to impact numerous users.

Upon its launch, Premium Lite was promoted as a means to eliminate ads from “most videos” for $7.99 a month, which is a bit more than half the cost of the full $13.99 YouTube Premium subscription.

YouTube has had a complicated history with its audience regarding ads. The streaming powerhouse faced off with ad blockers in 2024, complicating ad elimination. Additionally, advertisements have gradually lengthened and increased in frequency on the free version of the service, resulting in considerable negative feedback from viewers.

For free users, some ads are anticipated to become even more disruptive. In May, YouTube revealed it was utilizing AI to pinpoint peak moments in videos and select those moments for ad interruptions. These Peak Points are a strategy traditionally used in television, where viewers must endure an ad break to witness the conclusion of dramatic cliffhangers or emotional scenes.