In reality, I don't pay creators to avoid ads. I can just use an ad blocker for that. I pay creators because I want them to keep making content and I know they

In reality, I don't pay creators to avoid ads. I can just use an ad blocker for that. I pay creators because I want them to keep making content and I know they can only justify doing that if they make enough money off it. I've used the word "donation" a few times, but I don't really see it as a charity. They're providing me a service and I'm simply allowed to pay whatever I want for it. To that end, YouTube Premium is a disappointment to me. It's fixed at $12/mo for everything. I can't donate more and I can't pay less in exchange for removing ads on only a few specific channels. On top of that, there is no transparency over how much money is taken by Google and how the remainder is split across the channels I watch. YouTube Premium is a service for people who can't or wont setup ad blockers, are already paying for Google Play Music, care about the exclusive content, or want to download videos with the YouTube mobile app. I use a PiHole and have no problem using a VPN to connect to my home network if I want to block ads on my phone. I still buy my music, so I don't care about the Google Play Music subscription. I don't care about the exclusive content and I can just use youtube-dl if I really want to download a video. The only reason I would get YouTube Premium is to support YouTube itself. But the questionable actions YouTube has taken to stabilize its ad revenue (coupled with the many problems of its parent company, Google) alleviate any guilt I might have otherwise felt. At this point, I only use YouTube because of their content monopoly.