The number of videos that now have sponsorships and ads embedded in the video (which to me is 100x worse than pre-roll ads - especially because I pay for Youtub

The number of videos that now have sponsorships and ads embedded in the video (which to me is 100x worse than pre-roll ads - especially because I pay for Youtube premium) is probably a significant cause here. It has made Youtube a far worse product for me. If you watch anything DIY or car related then most of the content you're consuming is just a long-form advertisement.