With the coronavirus running its course around the world, workers have had to adapt to a new way of life. No longer can most businesses function in an office, and many have resorted to using remote services such as Zoom and Skype to get their business done. As you can imagine, the uptick in all these communication tools could very well result in increased internet traffic. Add in an increase of streaming, and you have a recipe for potential disaster. If not addressed in some way, we could see reduced speeds and an overall strain on the infrastructure. It’s because of this that the E.U. called for reduced quality for streaming services, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and YouTube, who have complied.

As it stands the U.S. has yet to have to go to such lengths. However, it looks like Google is taking proactive measures in the coming month. According to Bloomberg, YouTube will reducing the quality of their videos around the world in an effort to ease traffic. Over the coming days, users will see the quality dip from HD to SD for a month or so.

RELATED – YouTube To Make Original Content Available To All Users Next Month

Luckily, if you’re someone who simply can’t live without their HD YouTube content, you’ll be able to change it. As it stands, YouTube is simply making standard definition the default. Rightfully, they probably assume that most people don’t care or won’t notice and will just go along with the default setting, thereby reducing strain on our digital resources.

YouTube stated that YouTube traffic generally spikes in the evening when people get home from work, but since the stay-at-home orders from authorities, traffic has been more steady across the day. Given that Google is the largest consumer of traffic (even ahead of Netflix), it’s nice to see them doing their part.

“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.

Consider this your heads-up notice. If you truly hate the idea of watching videos in SD, then you should be able to change it.

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SOURCE: Bloomberg