Video sharing giant, YouTube, is set to reduce video quality globally to ease the internet traffic during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Alphabet company is extending the policy it first instituted in Europe where regulators have asked major streaming services, such as Netflix to reduce their bandwidth usage.
Hitherto YouTube automatically adjusts the quality of your videos based on your internet capacity. Going forward, viewers will be served YouTube videos in standard definition instead of high definition, says the company. Users will still be able to watch in high definition if they want, but will have to choose to do so.
The use of streaming services have increased geometrically during this coronavirus pandemic because people are having to stay at home to contain the spread of the virus.
“We continue to work closely with governments and network operators around the globe to do our part to minimize stress on the system during this unprecedented situation,” Google said in a statement.
