It appears that the rumored ad-free subscription for YouTube is closer to reality, with plans to launch the service before the end of the year.

Rumors first surfaced last August that YouTube was working on an ad-free subscription option for YouTube users.   Susan Wojcicki then confirmed the rumors last October st Re/code’s conference, but since then, news has been scarce.  We now have a few more details, confirming Google plans to launch the ad-free service for YouTube by the end of the year, according to a report in Bloomberg.

It is also believed that this change would bring it more in line with competitors such as Netflix’ subscription service.  Netflix is one of the few competitors that has led to YouTube traffic declining during prime time hours recently.  According to Bloomberg, Netflix does well over double the streaming hours that YouTube does.

As for original programming, YouTube began making deals with their most popular YouTube stars, after rival services began wooing some of the most-watched stars away from the platform.

YouTube also has some experience with a subscription model with their YouTube Music Key.  But it is believed that many more would subscribe to an ad-free YouTube service even just for the convenience of not having to watch ads while viewing the latest cat video.

Verge reports that the expected monthly subscription fee will be around $10, which brings it in line with other monthly video subscription services.