This is a bit disingenuous because the ads from 15 years ago are very different from the ads today. Additionally, YouTube didn't even have ads (of any form) for

This is a bit disingenuous because the ads from 15 years ago are very different from the ads today. Additionally, YouTube didn't even have ads (of any form) for the first few years and once they did roll them out, it was only given to specific creators who applied to be YouTube partners or people who were part of a network like Machinima or Maker Studio. Today, there are pre-rolls, post-rolls, unskippables, multiple ads in a single ad segment, mid-rolls, etc. That's significantly more than the ads from years ago. Also, ads often supports copyright claimants instead of the actual content creators.