> it respects my time

> remove video thumbnail” and “remove YouTube shorts” chrome extension is a must install

Which is it? Does YouTube respect your time and attention as a user or does it prey on them? I'm pretty sure it's the latter.

The fact that you can pay to opt out of ads has always seemed like a weird business decision to me. Sabotage your ad viewership by siphoning off users with spending money for things like an ad-free subscription. I suppose it prevents losing users to paid platforms or those who just wouldn't tolerate ads at all, and gives an out for users who would otherwise contribute to the ads vs ad blockers arms race.