I get that it started for free with less intrusive ads, but YouTube has had a huge impact on the way we all share and consume information. Understanding how much money it takes to run a service with the technology needed to provide high definition videos on a site that is up 99.9999999% of the time, I have no issue paying for a service that has changed my life in many positive ways. Now I do hate price gouging like everyone else, but it’s inescapable from gas & groceries to all streaming platforms.
Honestly I’m with you. It recently told me I’ve watched > 1,620 hours of YouTube since switching to Premium a few years ago.
There’s a lot to hate about Google and price gouging, but honestly this is a service that’s well worth the convenience for me.