Sharing ad revenue has probably made a net profit for them. My guess is that the ad revenue incentivizes users to create compelling (and unfortunately sometimes

Sharing ad revenue has probably made a net profit for them. My guess is that the ad revenue incentivizes users to create compelling (and unfortunately sometimes controversial) at a far greater rate then it would if it were not sharing revenue. They are essentially paying for "quality" content the same way Netflix and HBO do only they have a brilliant model because they only have to pay if the video is successful. Whereas Netflix, HBO, and the like need to pay even if the show is a flop. If anything, they should be investing seed money into professional (Hollywood type) content creators. I'm sure they already are.