It may not be what that person meant, but, I kinda agree it might be a factor. The free experience has done nothing but become more and more terrible on youtube. The ads have become truly insufferable, and the UI is actively working against you. TV app in particular is borderline unwatchable.

I have always watched YouTube for free, and I am at a point where I am considering ditching the thing completely, because I am not paying another (quite expensive) subscription for it. I haven’t yet, but it has certainly slowed down how much I watch.

It’s so bad it’s even questioning some uses I had for the platform. I used to watch a video while I eat, stuff like that. What’s the point if I barely make it out of the initial ad tunnel just before dessert? And when I pause for just a minute to get something, I am immediately hit with another ad break as I resume?