Overview

YouTube Premium's terms are complicated by being layered on top of Google's broader Terms of Service, YouTube's specific terms, and Google Play's payment terms. This "terms sprawl" means you're actually agreeing to multiple interconnected agreements that can be difficult to navigate.

With a score of 45/100, YouTube Premium lands in the middle of the streaming category. The service benefits from easy cancellation and good feature delivery, but is hampered by Google's extensive data collection practices and the complexity of understanding what you're actually agreeing to.

Key Gotchas

  • 🔴 Massive Data Collection Across Google

    Your YouTube Premium activity feeds into Google's broader advertising profile. Watch history, searches, and even pause/skip behavior is tracked and used for ad targeting across all Google properties - even though you're paying for an ad-free experience.

    Google Privacy Policy + YouTube Terms

  • 🔴 Terms Sprawl - 4+ Agreements

    YouTube Premium requires acceptance of: Google ToS, YouTube ToS, Google Play ToS, and YouTube Paid Service Terms. Changes to any of these affect your subscription, but you'll only receive notice for some.

    Multiple Agreement Structure

  • ⚠️ Content Takedown Without Recourse

    Videos in your playlists or saved content can be removed due to copyright claims or policy violations. You have no recourse even if you saved the content before it was removed.

    YouTube ToS Section 7

  • ⚠️ Family Plan Location Verification

    Google may verify that family members live in the same household and can terminate the plan if they determine members don't meet the residence requirements.

    YouTube Paid Service Terms

Positive Aspects

  • ✅ Straightforward Cancellation

    Can cancel directly in the YouTube app or through Google Play subscriptions. No retention calls or complicated processes.

  • ✅ YouTube Music Included

    Subscription includes YouTube Music Premium at no extra cost - good value if you use both services.

  • ✅ Offline Downloads

    Premium allows downloading videos for offline viewing with reasonable limits and no artificial expiration.

Score Breakdown

Category Scores

Fund & Account Control (25%) 12/25
Dispute Resolution (20%) 8/20
Liability & Indemnification (20%) 9/20
Transparency & Notice (15%) 8/15
Data & Privacy Rights (10%) 4/10
Exit Rights (10%) 4/10
Total Score 45/100

The Bottom Line

YouTube Premium is a decent streaming option if you're already embedded in the Google ecosystem, but the terms complexity and data collection practices are concerning. You're essentially paying for an ad-free experience while still having your viewing data collected for advertising purposes elsewhere.

The multiple layered terms agreements make it difficult to understand exactly what you're agreeing to, and changes can happen to any layer without clear notice.