Ad-free version of YouTube on the way -- for a price

Google is on the verge of launching an ad-free option for YouTube users. An email sent out to 'YouTube Partners' (or content creators) reveals that the company has plans to unveil a paid-for version of the video service that enables viewers to avoid the irritation of ads.

For content creators, YouTube says the plans offer a new way to pull in the cash: "we'll generate a new source of revenue that will supplement your fast growing advertising revenue". While there is yet to be an official public announcement, the news comes just days after Google came in for criticism for showing "unfair and deceptive" ads in its YouTube Kids app.

It's a venture that will almost certainly be welcomed by a large proportion of YouTube users, as ads are frequently picked out as being the bane of life online -- although many will already be aware that, on the desktop at least, installing the AdBlock Plus extension does much the same job for free. It is interesting to see that Google is sharing the news with content creators first rather than video consumers.

The email says:

Launching a new paid offering will require us to update your terms through your Creator Studio Dashboard -- a process that should feel familiar to anyone who went through a similar process three years ago when we began distributing and monetizing your content on mobile devices. Today mobile represents over half of all watchtime and mobile revenue is up 200 percent in the last year. Just as with mobile, we're confident this latest contract update will excite your fans and generate a previous untapped, additional source of revenue for you.

Google is yet to give an indication of a timescale for its spread into what it describes as "unchartered territories".

Would you be happy to pay to kill the ads?