You’re implying that YouTube being limiteZ to creators that don’t care about getting paid would be a bad thing.

I will be downvoted, but I'm not fooling myself. I don't care. As long as uBlock and yt-dlp still work, I'll use them. If Google breaks them, I'll resort to some automated screengrabbing + maybe some AI automation to click "skip" in a virtual machine or something.

People will use all sorts of excuses, like the ads are about gambling, or contain viruses, or are detrimental to mental health, or whatever. No, don't use these excuses. You just don't want ads, and it is still possible to not see them. That's respectable.

When Google's ads do all the following, I'll consider guilt:

a) Don't throw malware in their ads.

b) Don't throw seizure-inducing flashes in their ads.

c) Allow turning off gambling in their ads.

They are the ecosystem shapers, let them figure it out.

The issue is obviously one of trade-off.

Google pays content creators so little they have all started including ads in their videos. Si technically as long as you are counted they get paid. Meanwhile, Google is more and more aggressive with their own ads interrupting videos and pushing you to subscribe to their expensive offer.

Some people, like me, have just stopped watching YouTube. Other are turning to blocking ads.

It's the usual tug of war between revenues and UX but I don't think consumers have to feel bad about not playing by Google's rules.