YouTube Premium is quietly winning the war against ad blockers

YouTube is working hard to keep out freeloaders by devising new ways to circumvent ad blockers and force them to pay for premium subscriptions. Some of those tactics may be working, as shown by YouTube’s latest increase in paid subscribers, which the company revealed at a recent event.

During its Q1 2026 earnings call earlier this week, Google announced a new milestone for YouTube. CEO Sundar Pichai said the company gained 25 million subscribers in the last quarter alone, bringing the total number of paid subscribers to 350 million. This number includes subscribers of Google One, Gemini, YouTube Premium and YouTube Music.

While the executive didn’t announce specific increases for each paid service, he said YouTube Premium and Music saw “the largest quarterly increase in total number of non-trial subscribers” since the service’s launch in 2018. While Google usually combines statistics across all services, last month it was revealed that YouTube’s paid services alone had reached 125 million subscribers, although the figure also included free trials.

In addition to Pichai’s official note, Google’s chief business officer, Philip Schindler, was quoted cnbc Having said that, YouTube’s paid subscriptions have become a bigger revenue source than advertisements on the platform.

The recent increase in subscriber numbers suggests it may finally be working.

It remains to be seen whether Google can maintain the same growth during Q2, especially after it announced significant price increases. Earlier in April, the price of YouTube’s individual plan was revised from $13.99 to $15.99 per month, while the family plan for up to five members was increased from $22.99 to $26.99 per month.