Two California residents have filed a class-action lawsuit against Google, claiming that YouTube Premium fails to provide the ad-free, uninterrupted experience that Google advertises. William Fleming and Devin Rose filed the complaint Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, according to Media Daily News.
Plaintiffs Say Ads Appear Constantly Despite Premium Subscription: The plaintiffs allege that advertisements and interruptions often occur during streaming, including commercials for automobiles, local attorneys, and dietary supplements.
Fleming states he has subscribed to YouTube Premium since 2019 and uses the service for approximately six hours daily, yet continues to encounter frequent advertising. He claims that, in the past week alone, his viewing was interrupted by ads for a budgeting app, multiple gaming apps, and a privacy service called Incogni.
Rose says he has subscribed to the service since 2018 and continues to receive ads before and during streamed videos.
Marketing Materials Cited as Evidence: The complaint includes a screenshot from a YouTube sign-up page comparing the standard Premium plan with the lower-priced “Premium Lite” tier. Standard Premium is marketed as ad-free for all videos, while Premium Lite is advertised as ad-free for most videos.
The plaintiffs argue that a reasonable consumer would interpret this to mean that full-price Premium subscribers are paying for a completely ad-free experience, while Premium Lite subscribers accept some ads in exchange for a lower price.
Google’s “promotions” defence rejected in advance: The complaint notes that YouTube’s Help Center states that some videos viewed by Premium subscribers may include creator-embedded branding or promotions, such as promotional links, shelves, and other features added by the creator.
However, the plaintiffs preemptively counter that defence on two grounds:
- They argue that the Help Center page is not part of the YouTube Premium terms that consumers agree to when subscribing.
- They allege that Google deceives consumers by referring to paid advertisements as “promotions” instead of ads, dismissing the distinction in the complaint as “simply word games and double talk.”
Prior Legal Trouble for YouTube Premium: In 2022, two subscribers filed a lawsuit against YouTube and Google in an Oregon federal court, alleging that the companies violated Oregon law by automatically renewing paid ad-free subscriptions without providing sufficient notice to consumers. One plaintiff claimed they were unable to cancel the subscription and continued to be charged, while the other allegedly had to cancel their debit card to stop the recurring payments.
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