I subscribe to Premium and quit a while back with this idea in mind. It didn’t work. The ads made me rage-sign-up-for-premium.

Of the various streaming platforms I subscribe to, I probably get the most value from YouTube.

Though I wish there was an option to get it for less without YouTube Muisc, that didn’t also lead to ads on YouTube itself. I was excited when I saw Lite announced, then I read the details and my excitement quickly faded and turned into disappointment.

Sure, then stop paying for it when they start showing ads in premium. It's a monthly subscription.

Not paying for it because it might become bad some time in the future is not a great argument.

So what's your argument? That YouTube shouldn't exist, or that it should be a charity? Something else?

I’m a Premium subscriber. If they show me a single ad I will unsubscribe immediately.

That’s the thing about modern capitalism. Making profit isn’t enough, the profit has to keep growing. So once the market is saturated, you either reduce perks, jack up prices, bundle new features to jack up prices (my GSuite bills doubled in ~3 years before I went in and adjusted the plan; the latest price hike “reflects the significant added AI value”), or find new ways to monetize the same users (ads, “partners”, etc.). It’s inevitable.