It looks like YouTube is following the same path as Netflix did earlier by cracking down on sharing family subscriptions outside of one household.
A few key points from the news:
- 📢 Notifications and restrictions: Some users are now receiving a message from Google. Their account still exists, but they lose the YouTube Premium benefits such as ad-free viewing and background play.
- 🌍 Still small-scale: So far, reports have only come from some countries.
- 🏠 Household verification: Users can contact Google to prove they do live in the same household in order to regain their Premium benefits.
- ❓ Unclear enforcement: It’s still not clear how Google is technically or practically verifying whether people live in the same household.
So this seems to be a test phase or gradual rollout, where YouTube is checking how strictly they can enforce the Family plan rules.
