[spoiler]

I am always a bit conflicted when I see posts like theses. On one hand I also like free stuff, but on the other hand I also know running services like these costs money (and I'm not only talking about digital/IT resources).

Everyone has an idea of what they'd do, but nobody can agree on one. So, I guess the easy defaults are ads+premium, or a completely walled garden?

[aosaigh]

Just for the record, I don’t mind that there’s ads and I agree that they need to collect money somehow. I pay for lots of services and understand that platforms (and creators) need to make money. The issue I have is that it seems that YT have aggressively increased the number of ads they show now. I think you’re right: how much is too much?

[rchaud]

I'm not conflicted because no amount of $10 subscriptions will be enough for them to survive independently without being docked to the Google mothership.

Proof: YT Premium costs $14/mo. now. Would anyone say there's been a 40% improvement in the quality of the product?

[Pigalowda]

No but there’s been significant erosion of $ purchasing power

[rchaud]

Youtube's single largest capital expense is going to be Google Cloud. They're not paying market rates for that, and in any case, GCP pricing hasn't gone up to a level where YT would need to increase pricing by 40%.

They simply do not what their profitability price point is. And they never will, as they're not independent of Google.

[_imnothere]

Imagine paying someone who doesn't even stop invading your privacy when you're paying.