Everyone uses an adblocker. It's not really circumvention if everyone is doing it. You know it, I know it, Google knows it. It's how they've been able to keep their YouTube monopoly intact. If everyone had ads from day one, YouTube would be another failed Google venture. The bait-and-switch is built on the idea that they can serve ads to people that will tolerate them and enjoy the network effects of having tech-literate people on board too.

YouTube is living counterfactually. I can live counterfactually, too. If YouTube were never free, then I would have never used it. They're trying to have it both ways, and so am I.