YouTube Premium users cry foul over shopping stickers in Shorts

A salaried worker in her 30s, identified only by her surname Lee, said she was watching a short-form video on YouTube Premium when something stopped her cold: a product image for a cleaning supply had appeared in the middle of the screen. "I was focused on a movie-summary Shorts clip when a cleaning product purchase image suddenly popped up — it was jarring," she said.

Complaints are mounting among YouTube Premium subscribers over the appearance of promotional images in Shorts videos. YouTube Premium is a paid service costing close to 20,000 won ($15) a month. Users who pay specifically to watch videos without advertisements say the images are showing up anyway.

Regulatory bodies including the Korea Communications Commission and the Korea Fair Trade Commission have taken note of the controversy and examined whether the feature violates current law — but both say sanctions are difficult because the feature does not fit neatly into the legal definition of an "advertisement."

As platforms continue to diversify, calls are growing for the government to establish clear guidelines on what constitutes advertising in short-form video services.

According to industry sources Tuesday, discontent has been building among some paid subscribers since YouTube introduced its "shopping sticker" feature to Shorts last year.

Shopping stickers are product-image purchase links embedded in Shorts clips. Creators can adjust their size and placement freely, and revenue is shared among the platform, the creator and the seller.

YouTube has positioned the shopping feature as a core revenue stream for creators. According to the company, a domestic creator who launched a channel less than a year earlier generated more than 80 percent of their YouTube earnings through the shopping affiliate program as of November last year.

The problem, subscribers say, is that the feature appears even for YouTube Premium users. The service costs 19,500 won a month on iOS and 14,900 won on web and Android. Users who paid to avoid advertising interruptions find themselves unable to watch Shorts without purchase links cluttering the screen — prompting complaints that they have been "completely deceived."

Posts on YouTube's official community forum have piled up from users saying they find the shopping stickers disruptive even while using Premium. One post drew 2,703 responses from users flagging the same problem.

YouTube maintains that the feature is not a straightforward advertisement but a form of creator monetization. In an official notice, the company said YouTube Premium removes third-party banner ads and search ads, but added that "promotional links added by creators may still appear."

Regulators including the Korea Communications Commission and the Fair Trade Commission say they are aware of the controversy. The communications commission in particular has examined whether the feature violates the Telecommunications Business Act.

However, both agencies say sanctions are difficult because the feature does not easily qualify as an "advertisement" under current law. The Act on Fair Labeling and Advertising defines advertising as a business operator broadly promoting a product — but regulators say it is unclear who the "business operator" is in this case.

A Korea Communications Commission official said the agency had received two formal complaints about the shopping stickers but noted the ambiguity of the situation. "The stickers are applied by content creators, so it is unclear whether YouTube or the creator should be designated as the violating business operator," the official said, adding that further review was needed and that a corrective order and penalty surcharge could follow if a violation is found.

A Fair Trade Commission official echoed the difficulty, saying shopping stickers are links posted by creators, making it hard to hold YouTube responsible for the advertising. "It is unclear whether to treat this as a simple link or as advertising — if we were to launch a formal probe, we would need to survey consumer perceptions," the official said.

Industry observers say YouTube has in effect expanded its advertising reach through purchase links. With platforms growing more varied, voices in the industry say the government needs to set clear guidelines.

"This appears to be part of YouTube's broader push to expand its advertising products and generate additional revenue from its already massive subscriber base," one industry official said. "As platforms diversify, the scope of advertising widens and paid subscription tiers become more complex — the government needs to establish consumer-oriented guidelines to keep pace."