[Mordisquitos]

You would need a mass exodus of top YouTube creators to make the slightest dent on YouTube's bottom line. Meanwhile, any top YouTube creator leaving YouTube (to what alternative?) isn't hurting his or her bottom line, but rather nuking it from orbit.

[phailhaus]

It's not a sudden mass exodus they care about, but a slow decline in their brand's perception for users. Scam ads make YouTube look shady.

[carlosjobim]

You're making it out to be a decision, but it's not. Creators can upload their content on several platforms and collect revenue from all.

[Mordisquitos]

In that case the effect on YouTube's bottom line would be even smaller, if any. Creators posting their videos on other platforms would have a negligible to no effect on YouTube, given that it would remain the default (read "only") video platform for the overwhelming majority of the viewing public. A creator announcing "You may also see my videos on DailyMotion/Vimeo/Twitch/PeerTube/wherever" would simply be irrelevant to their mass audience, who would react anywhere between "Ok, whatever" to "I don't know what that means, ignore".

[BuyMyBitcoins]

Just because they can collect revenue from other platforms doesn’t mean it will be sufficient or anywhere near what they were getting at YouTube.

[carlosjobim]

Of course not, but it is a hedge against any decrease in revenue from YouTube, as speculated here. A hedge that doesn't cost anything.

[fsflover]

The act of publishing on PeerTube together with Youtube (or even one day earlier!) can be a good protest already in itself.