[dageshi]

Based on the sheer volume of content consumed on youtube, some people might genuinely want to support the creators they watch without seeing ads. I'm forever seeing people on HN saying "just let me pay for it instead of watching ads" well youtube gave that option.

[freehunter]

"Let me pay for it instead of watching ads" is the part that's said out loud. The part that's only implied is "and stop tracking me, stop making recommendations with the sole purpose of distracting me/keeping me here longer, etc". The part that isn't said is "stop treating me like the product".

No one wants to pay for something where they're still the product being sold. Youtube Premium still has all its trackers, still recommends videos not that it think you will find interesting but that it thinks will keep you watching (for better or worse), and still feeds all of your data into the Google ads network for companies to target you on other websites.

[xmprt]

On one hand yes. On the other hand, YouTube recommendations are pretty great. The last time I went to the homepage on a fresh browser, I found almost none of the content interesting. If websites end up tracking users without sending ads and you have self control (turn off notifications and only watch for a fixed amount of time) then it's not an issue.

[therealx]

I fully agree, but I wonder what it will take to start this trend. Do any big sites allow you to pay for no tracking/not being the product?

[cambalache]

For real, imagine go to the doctor for any cause and just the day after being inundated by spam and people calling you offering health insurance.

[drusepth]

I registered a .us domain yesterday (which doesn't support WHOIS protection-esque anonymity services) and so far today I've received:

* 6 phone calls

* 4 voicemails

* 9 emails

all from what looks like companies from third-world countries offering business development services, website designs, app developers, logo design, etc, specifically asking about the new domain I purchased.

:(

[therealx]

Sounds like .us needs to be handled like .com was before those services even existed - either fake info or a free/cheap Voip line.

[pfranz]

It's kind of a surprising amount of money, don't watch any of the exclusive content or other services, but I pay for YouTube because I don't want my kid watching ads. I cringe when he has a teacher that plays a video and pre-roll comes up (I almost forget YouTube has ads). What's really annoying is that is school's Google account doesn't have it and his personal does...so there's a bit of annoying Google account juggling.